Page 84 of Rejected Mate's Baby for the Alpha King

“There’s a young teenager hiding outside by the name of Darla. She’s been brutalized for God knows how long to keep Paisley in line. He betrayed you to save her. He’s just a kid, but so is she. If you walk out of this place right now like that, she will likely bolt and run, and we both know she won’t survive a week out here on her own. Get ahold of your wolf and let me see to Maya and your cub.”

My cub.

My wolf howled in agony, and I shook my head and crept back. When Irene tried to step forward, Jenson growled, but she bopped him on the head. “Stop that. He’s no threat to me, now.”

Kneeling next to Maya, she reached down and placed a hand on her chest. Was it rising? Was that just my imagination? “Electricity. She got hit with a lot of electricity,” Juniper said weakly.

“Okay. She’s in wolf form, so that’s good. Her wolf magic is protecting her. Her heart hasn’t stopped. Neither has her breathing. We just need to send the residual energy elsewhere so it’ll stop cooking her from the inside out.”

I shot forward, and Jenson immediately checked me. Juniper, still hanging from her chains, cleared her throat. “Maybe keep that narrative internal, witch.”

Knowing there was nothing I could do for Maya, I shifted and hurried to Juniper’s side. The keys were in Gideon’s pocket, so I grabbed them and released her. She practically fell into my arms and started to shift as I lowered her. Next, I checked on Dante. He was awake but still not shifting.

“Sorry, boss. I don’t know why, but I can’t call my wolf,” he said hoarsely.

“That’s all right. I can.” Placing a hand on his chest, I sought out his wolf and gently brought him forward. “Nash and Anna?”

“At the witch’s compound. Lunessa was going to work on him,” Irene said.

Taking a deep breath, I finally turned to see her standing over Maya’s body as she started to shift. Alarmed, I raced toward her. “Should she be shifting?”

“The danger to her is gone. I won’t know about…”

“Baby,” Maya whispered as she lay panting on the floor. Tears filled her eyes as she put a hand on her belly. “Did I kill my baby?”

46

Rhyson

“I have a heartbeat. I don’t know much about babies, but it feels pretty strong,” Irene said with a smile as she focused magic on Maya’s womb. “And I sense movement. Your baby is just fine.”

Relief washed over me. We’d made it back to the den, and everyone had healed. Nash still couldn’t shift on his own, but Irene and Janelle both thought it had something to do with the toxin he’d been injected with. He’d been the only one who was still human when we were attacked.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and closed her eyes. Her shoulder was still bleeding, but she wouldn’t shift back until someone had checked on the babe. I feared she’d lost too much blood.

“Let your wolf out,” I commanded. I wanted to just reach inside of her and pull it out, but I couldn’t reach it, and that drove me insane. Her eyes widened, and I realized my voice was harsher than I intended, but she did as I commanded. It was painfully slow to watch, and when her wolf emerged, she tucked her tail under her and bowed her head.

“Go rest,” I told her softly. “I’ll bring you some food later.”

She gazed at me one more time, and then turned and walked slowly from the room, her tail still tucked in. Irene, meanwhile, glared at me. “She saved your life, wolf.”

“At the risk of her own and that of our pup,” I said just as evenly. “If I thought for even a second that she would be safer, I’d drop everything and get her off this mountain.”

“She would be safer off this mountain. She would be safer in a cushy castle with her king by her side.”

At that, my lips quirked up. “I understand that you’ve never been off this mountain, but there is no castle for me. A beautiful home, yes, and one I have not seen in quite some time. Not that it is any of your business. Can you help Nash? Why is he affected when others were not?”

“Was he human when he was hit?”

I nodded. He was the only one who was human.

“Likely, the drug was meant to suppress all your wolves, but you’re all strong wolves. Most likely, your wolf magic simply burned through that side effect, except Nash was suppressing his wolf magic since he was in human form. Now that you’ve pulled his wolf from him, he’ll likely burn through it as well. If he doesn’t, he may need to see a healer for an antidote.”

He was still sleeping, so I let him be. Juniper and Dante were resting as well. Lunessa had taken Jenson back to Jax’s pack to give him a full report, and, I suspect, interrogate Paisley.

Gideon had planted a mole inside my group, and I was furious about it, but there was nothing I could do. I watched over my wolves a little longer, and when they were healed and able to shift with little trouble, I retired to my room.

I smelled Maya when I returned to the room, but she was nowhere to be found. “Maya,” I called out, keeping my voice gentle. “Come here.”

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