Page 34 of Pregnant Kidnapped Mate

I muttered irritably, trying to temper the impulse to lash out even further. I’d never been great at not being reactionary. But now wasn’t the time to act without thinking. If Iris was in danger, I needed to be deliberate, figure out a plan, and stick to it. It was harder than I’d expected it to be. I exhaled, unclenching my fists.

“We have to stop them,” I said.

Jameson nodded. “Of course. We can start making sure she has 24-hour protection, even when you’re not there.”

Some of the tension ebbed from my shoulders. “Thanks. Yeah. Sounds good.”

“That does raise an interesting question,” Tannen said, tapping his chin. “Does knowing about the prophecy affect the outcome? Are we inadvertently going to cause the vision to come true by attempting to prevent it?”

“Ray of sunshine, you are,” Rand retorted. “And doesn’t help us either way.”

“We’re not going to let them take her,” Jameson said. “We’ll come up with a plan and try to make sure everything turns out all right, okay?”

“Yeah. Now’s not the time to go after them and tear them to shreds,” Tannen said.

“Not that it doesn’t sound very appealing,” Rand replied. “But you’re right. Things are already rough enough.”

“Great,” I muttered, running my fingers through my hair. I had to temper my frustration, to keep those urges down and not act on them, but I could try. For Iris’s sake, and for the sake of our cubs. “Right. Let’s figure something out. I also need to find out how to tell Iris all this.”

“Tell her the truth,” Malcolm said. “That girl’s stronger than she thinks she is. I’ve seen it. Soon enough, she will, too. But keeping it from her isn’t going to bring anything but more trouble. And I think you’ll be surprised at how well she handles it.”

Chapter 15 - Iris

A knock sounded on the door, but before I could do anything, the door burst open, the wood splintering as it slammed into the wall, two of the hinges breaking. A gunshot rang out, and a thump from across the room. I was frozen in place as a horrifyingly familiar figure strolled into the room, gun in one hand, knife in the other.

“Dad,” I said.

The smile he gave me was not particularly paternal. Behind him, Jason emerged, holding a long strand of rope loosely in both hands.

“Time to come home now, Iris,” Dad said, and Jason lunged toward me.

I screamed, trying to dart around them so I could get to the door and to freedom. But just as I neared it, a faceless figure appeared, blocking the doorway.

I blinked, heart racing. The apple I’d been holding had fallen to the ground. My entire body was trembling as the room swam in front of me with sickening vertigo. But my brother and father weren’t here. The door was intact.

“Iris?” Alek’s voice called from upstairs as heavy footsteps raced toward the stairs and down them. “Iris, are you all right? I heard screams.”

He gripped my shoulders, looking me up and down with concern

“I’m fine. Just a stupid vision,” I said, sounding less unfazed than I would like. It had seemed so real.

“You look really pale,” he said.

“I’m fine,” I repeated. “It was just very realistic.”

The fingers on my shoulders tightened as a flash of panic washed over his eyes. “How realistic?” he demanded.

My brow furrowed. “I don’t know. Pretty realistic?” I didn’t want to tell him the truth, just how real everything had been. I’d only had a few visions intrude the way this one had. For a moment, I hadn’t even realized it was a vision. Malcolm was teaching me the basics of how to control when visions happened and trying to teach me to focus on a certain subject. But he could only teach me so much in a short amount of time.

Alek frowned, scrutinizing me.

“What?” I asked, my skin crawling. He knew something I didn’t.

“Malcolm didn’t tell you what it meant?” he asked. When I shook my head, he sighed. “Figures. I guess he didn’t want to scare you.”

“Scare me? What didn’t he tell me?” The lump in my throat had swelled to double its size, seeming to cut off my airways despite the fact that I was still breathing.

“That the visions getting stronger means they’re more likely to happen.” He studied my face, then added, “And at some point, a stronger vision will inevitably come true. But Malcolm doesn’t know how you can tell when that’s the case.”

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