Page 15 of Pregnant Kidnapped Mate

“Can I see you again?”

There was only the briefest hesitation. If Dad or Jason found out, they’d kill me. But there was a pull to this man that I didn’t think possible. I didn’t want to lose him. Not after just meeting him.

“There’s a clearing not far from here,” I said. “With an oak tree in the middle. The only one in the area.”

He nodded. “I know it.”

“Can you be there in two days? Noon?”

He nodded, eyes not leaving mine. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

And that was the start of a six month whirlwind relationship. Until it suddenly ended.

***

I paced back and forth, letting my mind wander, trying to think of anything other than the fact that I was bored.

It wasn’t that there wasn’t stuff to do here. The internet was great, and Alek’s TV was massive. But you could only do that for so long before you were chomping at the bit. I wanted to go out, either go wander on a hike to explore the nearby areas, or just anything that involved me being outside.

But I didn’t want to go alone. The idea of running into a shifter without Alek was enough to keep me in the house. Still, cabin fever was a real thing, and I was definitely succumbing to it.

Alek walked down the stairs, toweling off his hair. It was impossible not to notice he was shirtless, and my heart thudded traitorously as my eyes traced the lines of his perfectly sculpted abs, the biceps that looked as though they belonged to a Greek god. The towel wrapped around his waist left little to the imagination, and I wondered what it would be like if I yanked the towel off and—

Knock it off, I chided myself. Right now, things were too complicated. I didn’t want to add physical attraction to the list of things muddying the waters.

“Hey,” he said. “How are you doing?”

I was going to say I was fine, but instead, I blurted out, “Not great.”

Alek paused, towel still held to his hair. He lowered it. “What’s wrong?” he asked, coming closer, tilting his head in concern.

“I’m just bored,” I admitted.

Alek gave me a sympathetic look, walking toward me and placing his hand on my shoulder. I thought I would recoil or flinch at his touch after all the anxiety and fear that had been plaguing me. Instead, I leaned into the touch, taking solace in the gesture.

“I get it,” he said. “I know it’s been a lot, and I know you haven’t gotten the chance to see or do anything.”

“Yeah,” I said. “But I don’t know what I would even do. It’s not like I want to go into a shifter town.” The word “shifter” still felt strange on my tongue. “So I feel stuck. Just a hike would be nice.”

Alek nodded and studied me, his face solemn. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can imagine that would be frustrating. I actually have an idea to help with that. I was coming down to suggest it.”

I straightened, eyes lighting up. “Really?”

He nodded. “There are some people I want you to meet.”

I froze, my breath catching. Images of hungry wolves, waiting to pounce, washed over me in a tidal wave.

He must have seen my expression because he gave a reassuring smile. “Relax,” he said. “You’ll like them. It’s impossible not to like them. They’ll force you to like them before it’s all over.”

“But they’re…like you?” I asked.

“They’re shifters,” he admitted. “But not like Dan.”

My mind raced, eyes darting around as I tried to think of what to say, looking at anything but him. The idea of meeting other shifters scared the shit out of me.

Then, an image washed over me, a group of laughing women. They were faceless, but there was something soothing about the image. And I suddenly got the sense that the people Alek wanted me to meet weren’t going to harm me. In fact, I felt the same sense of safety that I always had from Alek.

There was no reason for me to think that, but I’d had such weird strikes of intuition before, and they’d always turned out right. The sense of happiness and relaxation I got from that strange image was enough to calm me down. Whoever Alek wanted me to meet was safe. They wouldn’t harm me. And the thought of meeting new people was comforting.

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