Page 47 of Pregnant Kidnapped Mate

Wolfsbane. An herb known to weaken shifters and cut off some of their abilities, including their ability to shift and heal quickly. But neither I nor the other Silver Wolves backed down from the group of barrels pointed at us.

“If by kidnap, you mean rescued her from this shithole and your abuse?” I said. “Then yes. That was me.” I stalked toward him. “Tell me where she is, and I will let you live.”

David’s laugh was jagged and rough. “And why would I tell you where my daughter is?”

“You’ve been using her for too long,” I growled. “I’m not letting you do this to her any longer.”

“She’s my daughter. Just because you knocked her up doesn’t give you any claim to her.”

Claim? The word made me want to tear him to shreds. He saw Iris as property. She deserved so much better.

“I’ll be able to find her regardless of your help,” I growled. “The only question right now is whether you get to live or not.”

David laughed, shaking his head. “You’ve got a lot to learn, wolf,” he jeered.

“You want to see me be a wolf?” I grinned, my teeth lengthening into sharp fangs. “I’m more than happy to oblige.”

I lunged forward, turning into a wolf as I did. But before I could get all the way toward David, the gun went off. Pain shot into my arm, and I collapsed, grunting and panting. I shifted back to human, hand going to my bleeding shoulder.

“Bullets coated in wolfsbane,” David said smugly, stalking toward me. Behind him, the rest of the men held their ground, waiting to see what happened. “Great stuff, isn’t it?”

I glared up at him as I panted, chest heaving. I wanted to shift back into a wolf and tear his throat out, but the poison my body was currently trying to fight off made it impossible. I staggered to my feet, willing myself to have enough strength to push through the pain and keep moving. It was the only way I would be able to protect Iris.

David laughed, clearly seeing the pain on my face.

“Why don’t I give you a more concentrated dose?” he asked, unsheathing a dagger at his hip. “How about one right in your heart?”

He lunged forward, knife raised, ready to stab downward into my chest. I dodged out of the way just in time, barely avoiding the slice of the knife. I didn’t know how much poison my body was currently fighting off, but I knew adding more injuries filled with wolfsbane could be deadly. I had to avoid getting scratched again.

He swiped with the blade, and I dodged again, trying to figure out an opening that would give me the freedom I needed to dart in and end this. But the flailing knife meant that I had to keep dodging. It was impossible for me to maneuver into striking distance without getting hit.

My shoulder ached and bled, and even though I could tell my body was fighting the poison, I also knew I wouldn’t be able to last forever. My body was taking too long to heal from the poison. If I didn’t end this soon, he’d get another jump on me, and I’d be dead.

I also didn’t have any weapons. I couldn’t shift, not with the poison in my system, so I wasn’t going to be able to use my claws or my teeth. I had no way to defend myself.

The knife swiped forward again, this time barely missing me. I knew I couldn’t wait around any longer.

Darting my hand out, I grabbed the man’s wrist, twisting it as hard as I could. David yowled, dropping the knife. Before I could reach down to grab it, he kicked it away, and it went skittering across the road.

Still panting heavily, I elbowed David in the face. He reeled backward as I raced for the knife. I may have been weakened by the wolfsbane, but I was still fast, and I managed to clear the distance before he could pounce on me.

I grabbed the knife and spun to see David right there. He grabbed my wrist, twisting it and trying to gain control of the blade, turning it so it was pointed at me rather than him. I grunted, turning it backward and pointing it toward him. I wasn’t going to let this asshole take Iris away from me. Not after all this time.

Thinking of her gave me a new burst of strength. Gritting my teeth, I lashed out with my legs, sweeping his feet out from under him. He collapsed to the ground, and I was on top of him. The blade plunged downward, piercing his skin, sliding through his ribcage and straight into his heart. David gaped, then stilled, his glassy, now-sightless eyes staring upward.

I stood straight, looking down at the corpse. My body was finally beginning to restore its strength, fighting off the poison, which, considering we were still surrounded by a bunch of humans with shifter-killing weapons, was a good thing.

No one moved for a long moment, everyone on both sides waiting for someone else to make the first move. Then Malcolm stepped forward beside me.

“Go,” Malcolm said to me as he looked at the stunned humans, all gaping at their fallen leader. Some looked angry, others looked frightened. “We’ll handle it from here.”

I didn’t know which house was Iris’s, but I could still track her scent. And I remembered her comment about having the biggest house in the village.

Those two things alone made me pull up short in front of a decent-sized home. No lights were on, but this was the strongest her scent had been so far. Arm and shoulder still aching, I pushed my way inside.

Silence was all that greeted me, and for a moment, I was worried that I’d been wrong. “Iris?” I yelled, my heart in my throat.

“Alek?” Though muffled, Iris’s voice was music to my ears, and she sounded stunned and relieved to hear me. “Alek, is that you?”

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