Page 43 of The Alpha's Bullied Pregnant Mate

“No, no, no,” the matron protested. “You don’t understand, my dear boy. You no doubt feel the commanding pull of the mark, don’t you? And you’re the strongest of us all. Now imagine how much it has probably been battering Isla for month.

“She’s pregnant now, as you said, and that makes the mark more volatile. There’s something else bonding you two together, something almost as strong as the bond mark. Your child. No, you can’t decide for Isla. Not for this.

“She’s under way too much stress mentally and we have to give her what she wants when she’s more relaxed. If we try to force her will, we run the risk of breaking her and if she breaks, she goes rogue.” Mrs. Agdluak touched Isla’s cheek, her fingers cool and bony. “No, we can’t risk that. Let’s allow her rest now. We will make a decision when she’s better, hmm?”

“I love her, mother,” Fannar insisted. “She thinks it’s the mark but I’m convinced it’s more than that. I will not let her go. I will not break that bond, not while she carries my child.”

“Come, dear. No need making a decision tonight. Tomorrow, we will figure this out. Alright?”

There was a silence in the room and Isla could hear the measured sound of her own breathing. After what seemed like a lifetime, she heard soft footsteps recede down the room, followed by a door closing a few moments later.

Isla lay in silence, counting seconds in her head, waiting to be certain that she was alone. She opened her eyes slowly and let out a deep breath she didn’t know she had been holding in.

Her heart thundered relentlessly in her chest. She sat up and threw aside her covers. She was in the palace. The bedroom they had left her in was the size of her living room and kitchen combined, and everything her eye touched was a lesson in luxury.

She needed to get out of here. Now. Fannar was certain he loved her, but she knew better. She knew how much he hated her as a child. Remembered how much he had bullied her. This new version of him was a lie he showed to the world. She knew the real him.

The bond mark had subdued him and had led people to see him as a changed person. She knew better, though. All she needed to do was break the bond, and all those feelings he claimed to have would vanish like fog in summer.

If she left now, Fannar would be left with no choice but to break their bond. This was the moment she had spent months preparing for and the time was finally right. She did a mental calculation of just how much she had stashed away and smiled for the first time that day.

More than enough. More than enough to start again and support herself and her child, which was more than she could hope for. She hated the fact that she was going to leave everything and everyone she loved behind, but she’d long made the decision to leave, and the timing was perfect now. It was the only thing left for her to do.

Isla looked around the room and found her purse and jacket sitting in a high backed chair. She pulled on the jacket and slung her purse around her neck and then walked to one of the massive windows.

Luck was on her side. The bedroom was on the ground floor and overlooking the garden behind. She eased the window open quietly and then climbed out into the cold. She slid it shut and the window made a noise she was convinced was heard by the entire house.

After several tense minutes, she was convinced nobody had heard her after all, and she made her way quietly through the snow and around the house. A few lights were on in some of the rooms and she skirted them as cautiously as she could. She was still a wolf after all.

She made it to the driveway and stuck to the shadows as much as she could until she was away from the palace grounds. And then she started to run. The moon was high in a cloudless sky, and it’s bright light reflected off the white snow, giving Isla just enough light to get by.

She tried not to think about how far away the palace was from her house, and focused more on the next step, and then the next one. And when she got tired, she took off her clothes behind a rock and shifted into her wolf. She slung the make shift jacket-bag over her shoulder and glided easily through the snow.

The run filled her lungs with life and she pushed herself faster and faster. It was a run of freedom and she could already imagine her life somewhere else. A different country, a different continent.

She would never run this freely again, and that thought hurt her more than anything else, but it wasn’t enough to dissuade her. She had her mind made up, and not being able to shift at will was a small price to pay for the life she could already envision herself living.

Her house appeared suddenly before her and she shifted back into her human form. The run had calmed and soothed her some, and she felt better than she’d done all day. She found her keys and unlocked the front door. She stepped into the house and paused in the doorway.

Her mother was sitting in front of the TV looking at her with a puzzled look on her face. “Isla, dear. Is there any reason you have returned home as naked as the day you were born?”

Isla blinked and then rushed forward to hug her mother. Tears poured out of her eyes. “It’s all a mess, mom. It’s all a mess. I’m leaving. Tonight.”

Mrs. Moon gripped her firmly. “What the hell are you going on about?”

Isla collapsed into the couch beside the older woman, naked and eyes streaking tears, and told her mother everything. She put the story together in a haphazard fashion, but she tried her best to leave nothing out. When she finished, her tongue felt dry and heavy from talking.

“I don’t have much time. They may have noticed my absence by now and would no doubt come looking for me here. I need to get out of Frost Peak, mom. I need to get out tonight.”

Her mother covered her mouth as tears filled her eyes. “Oh, my child. Why did you have to keep all this to yourself for so long? Would it have been so terrible to let me know? Was I such a horrible mother to you?”

Isla took her hands in hers and shook her head. “You were never a horrible mother, mom. You were the best mother I could have asked for, and you were always there for me. I just needed to go through that alone.” Isla got up abruptly. “I really need to get going, though. Would you help me?”

“Of course, I would,” her mother said. “I have some money stored away—”

“Not that, ma. I have enough of that already. I need to get out of town and I need you to cover for me. Tell dad I love him and tell him how sorry I am. Try to make him understand. Tell him everything. To anyone else, you never saw me before I left. Can you do that for me?”

Her mother bit her lip. “Actually, I have something I think will be very useful for you.” She slipped a ring out of her finger and handed it to Isla. “During the werebear war last year, I was one of the medics helping to treat the poisoned. I met the witch Luna of the Moonwood pack.

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