Page 59 of The Alpha's Forbidden Secret Baby

Xander raised a hand to cut him off. “The rule is that she can buy it back within thirty days of selling it. It hasn’t been an hour yet.”

The man’s mouth opened and closed as he prepared a line of defense, however, there was none.

“I’m prepared to pay double the price to get it back, however, that is the only offer you will be getting before things go awry. So, I will need you to think about this carefully before you make a decision.”

He stepped forward as he spoke, and the man took a step back. While it hadn’t been his intention to intimidate the man, he could tell that it had worked quite well as the man swallowed in fear.

His greed and fear were enough to convince him to part with his coveted jewelry.

Xander stepped out of the pawnshop, jewelry in hand as he returned to his car. He followed the path her car had taken before he lost her in the shadows and slowed down so he could follow her tire tracks.

It was easy enough to get to her village seeing as he had been there a few times, and it was even easier to locate her, although he hadn’t thought it would be.

For the first time since he visited her village, the whole place seemed to be empty. There were no kids playing around or adults going about their day. Instead, it looked more like a deserted encampment.

A blur from the corner of his eyes caught his attention before he could turn away to her former home. He watched as a few more people followed after the first blur that had turned out to be a boy, his faced mapped with excitement as he ran toward an unknown location.

Knots tightened in his stomach, and dread filled him as he left his car and followed a few paces behind them. He frowned as the people in front of him entered a barn. He stood behind them, close enough to see what was happening but not enough to draw attention to himself.

“For years, we have all known she was nothing like the good people of this village, but now, we have proof of just how different she is. She is not one of us. She is a monster, in cahoots with the devil, and has birthed a demon. Her demon son beat our children constantly, eager to spill blood, and she did nothing to stop him. Instead, she defended him at every opportunity.”

The crazed man was standing on a makeshift stadium with saliva shooting from his mouth as he spoke with so much derision and madness. He stopped for a moment and retrieved a tablet.

“Look. What normal human changes into an animal at night if not a demon?” he asked as the villagers strained to see the video, gasping and whispering among themselves as they watched.

“Bring her here. She must face the consequences of her actions and must be punished for bringing her demon child into our village,” he screamed. Two men rushed into the barn, pulling a slumped form with them.

Xander dug his nails into his hands as he stared with wide eyes at Rayla. Her head drooped to the side as they pulled her carelessly, tossing her on the floor like a sack of worthless things.

He dug deeper into his palm until the smell of his blood hit his nostrils. It was all he could do to stop himself from shifting and tearing everyone apart who bore witness to this cruelty and tolerated it, going as far as to accept it and staring at her with hate.

The sound of his blood pumping filled his ears, drowning out the voice of the crazed man whose words the villagers hung onto. He took in her appearance as he forced himself to stay still. Her hands and legs were tied together, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were torn. Dried blood stained her lips and chin, and she appeared to be finding it difficult to open her eyes.

Calm yourself, Xander.

His gums hurt as he held back his wolf’s desire to shift and rip them apart until they had all paid for what they had done to her, but he forced himself to calm down. Doing so would only put her at greater risk and would break the treaty between humans and wolves.

He grimaced, his mouth bitter from bile and the taste of blood. The last thing he wanted to do was be reasonable about this, and yet, he couldn’t risk the entirety of the werewolf community for the desire to satisfy his anger at seeing his woman hurt and disrespected the way that she was.

Look at me, Rayla, he willed her as he stared fixedly at her.

Her head remained down, and he did not know if it was because she was too tired and bruised to look up or because she simply did not want to look at the people who had betrayed and hurt her.

With heavy steps, he moved away from the crowded barn, pushing through people to get away as he forced himself to calm down. He took out his phone, dialing his friends’ numbers in a group call. He waited until they picked up, closing his eyes as he took the time to calm himself and resist the growing urge to rip the crazed man’s throat from his body. Even now, he could hear him speaking of the vile things he planned to do to their son, whom he called a demon.

“Xander, is this a call for a meet-up?” Asher asked.

“Guys,” he spoke before anyone else could say anything. “I need your help.”

The concern in his voice was easy to sense. There was no way he could hide how worried he was about the situation Rayla was in. Even worse, he was angry—angry at her for putting herself in this situation. She should have come to him; he would have taken care of it without her having to lift a finger. Instead, she chose to do all of this on her own, putting herself in grave danger.

The thought of what could have happened if he hadn’t thought to watch her through the shadows was not one he wished to think more about. It pained him to think how he would have felt, finding all of this out after it was too late.

What kind of a man was he if he was incapable of having his soulmate bear her soul to him? What kind of alpha did it make him if he couldn’t protect the one person that mattered most? How, then, could he be trusted to protect his people who put their trust in him?

“Xander? You’re being very quiet. Did something happen?” Callahan asked, bringing him back to the present.

He paced a bit as he figured out how to tell them. He chose to say everything that happened leading up to that moment.

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