Page 31 of Betrayed Pregnant Mate

It’s painful, to see others, like Aris and Linnea, Bigby and Rosa, celebrating their love and growing their families when I know I’ll never be able to be with my mate.

“Bigby!” Aris says, a wide smile spreading over his face. “What the fuck, man—I thought you weren’t coming back for two weeks?”

“And miss the Halloween kick-off?” Rosa asks, popping a hip. “I’ve been told it’s a fate worse than death.”

“It is,” Bigby and Aris say at once, grinning at one another at the coincidence.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Rosa says, scanning the room. “I also heard from Maisie that there is a lot of interesting stuff going on and that I was missing out.”

“And I want to know what the hell you’re talking about,” Bigby says, walking further into the room, his hands landing on the back of a chair as he looks at Aris, “negotiating with vampires?”

Aris rolls his eyes, running a hand over his face.

“I didn’t say negotiate—I just think it might be a fair idea to start off as peacefully as possible. Avoid going in, guns-blazing.”

“Back me up, man,” Byron says, his face stony. “Why the fuck should we negotiate with those fuckers?”

“I hate to admit it,” Bigby says, after a moment, “but the humans would probably benefit from us putting off any more town-wide battles. They can be very forgiving, but public opinion on us is still recovering from the battle with the California pack this summer. They don’t like that much violence, and certainly not in the center of town.”

Byron looks at Aris, and it feels like something passes between them. A moment later, Byron stands, grabbing his laptop, and hurries from the room. We all sit, quietly, and I make a mental note to figure out what the hell that was about.

Byron and I used to be friends, back before. We’d always share rooms on assignment, and I thought I knew plenty about him. But it feels like I’m missing something here, like I’m on the outside, yet again.

“We got confirmation from Maisie that the wolfsbane sample Percy recovered was, indeed, the same strain as the compound in the serum,” Aris says on a sigh. “So that’s even more evidence that the vampires are connected to this. I don’t trust them, but I think this is the right course of action. Percy, Ado, I’m sending you out for more reconnaissance. Byron found some information about vampire activity in Elba, and I think that might be where our wolfsbane-growing vampires are. I want you guys to head out there and see what you can find without tipping them off that we’re looking.”

My skin pricks with the excitement of another assignment, and I try to keep from bouncing in my seat.

“Olivia, let Byron know that I want you guys to take a break from Varun’s hard drives to see if you can get into the vampire compound in Elba.”

“I tracked back through the IP address,” Olivia says, nodding, “I think I can get into their stuff—it’s not very specialized.”

“Yeah,” Aris says, nodding and raising his eyebrows. “With you and Byron on the job, it should take half the time. Aim to be done with that by the kick-off festival, if you can.”

Olivia stiffens at the mention of Byron but nods, burying her face in her tablet again.

“Speaking of the kick-off festival,” Linnea says, breezing into the room, her head of insane curls tied into a bun on the top of her head. “Don’t forget that you are all expected to be in the town square that weekend!”

“Right,” Aris says, nodding and putting a hand to his chin. “Because we’ll need the extra security.”

“Well, sure,” Linnea says, laughing as she sticks paper bats on the walls. Aris looks at her like she’s hanging the moon. “But also because it’s going to be a lot of fun! And you’re all required to come in costume!”

“You’ll look better in costume, anyway,” Aris jokes. “But seriously, having some extra security around is a good idea. After that vamp attack on one of our own—” I jump at him describing Veronica that way, and hate the way it makes my chest warm. “—we need to keep our eyes open to potential threats.”

He’s so distracted that he doesn’t notice when Linnea sneaks up behind him, reaching around and sticking a paper bat to his forehead, which makes us laugh, and Aris rolls his eyes.

Chapter 15 - Veronica

Despite how much I’ve protested, and told her I’m not much of a Halloween person, Linnea has insisted, over and over, that I absolutely need to come to the kick-off party tonight.

So, I’m standing in front of the bathroom mirror, curling my hair. I’ve done my makeup impeccably, with little drips of blood trailing down from my ruby lips.

Olivia, the girl with the bubblegum pink hair, said she had the perfect dress for a vampire costume, and that she didn’t want it anymore, so I could do what I wanted with it. I was shocked when she’d showed up at the apartment with it.

“Olivia,” I’d breathed, “this dress is gorgeous. I am definitely giving it back to you.”

“Don’t,” she’d said, her voice clipped. “I don’t even want to think about the person who got it for me. Besides, it suits your coloring way better, anyway.”

Reluctantly, I’d taken the dress, pulling it on. It hugs me in all the right places, a floor-length, black velvet gown so dark it looks red in certain lights. Paired with the lace gloves and sheer, spider-web cloak I found when Linnea took me to the local Halloween supply store, it’s definitely a look.

---