Page 12 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

“Yes, that’s what Brielle said. It’s early to know for sure, but…” I held up my glowing palm, the light having faded a little now to more of a soft glow than a blinding spotlight. “It’s not like any of this is in a pregnancy book.”

He nodded again, the muscles in his jaw flexing. Huh, apparently, this was howheprocessed.

Interesting.

It was strange to be going through this with someone who I didn’t reallyknow. Yet another thing out of order. The father of my child was a mystery to me, one I wasn’t sure I was ready to unravel.

“It feels real now,” I whispered, looking down at my lap. I couldn’t keep cataloging his every reaction. Because my brain was catching up to the scary part now. The omega part, where our daughter was marked for death before she’d drawn her first breath.

Another tear leaked out, followed by another, and another—too fast to hide or wipe away.

I startled when a warm, calloused thumb swept across my cheek, catching them.

“It’s going to be okay.”

His voice was a low promise that sent ahighlyinappropriate thrill through my system. I was buzzing with heat, electricity.

Want.

No fucking way, Leigh. Get it together, because we are not tapping that again. It’s already way too complicated, and that will not help.

“You don’t know that,” I argued, focusing back on the conversation instead of my traitorous body’s reaction to the man. “She’s an omega. She’s going to be hunted from day one, unless—” I froze, the other option hitting me in a rush.

Brielle’s aunt. She cursed Brielle’s mother to save Brielle. I could go to her, ask for thesamecurse. We knew there would be side effects, obviously, but?—

“No.” He barked the alpha command at me, and I flinched back at the sudden venom in his tone, the command rubbing my wolf the wrong way.

“Excuse me?”

“You are not doing it. I can see it on your face, and I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself. It’s not on the table.”

I jerked back from his touch, standing up to put myself fully out of reach. “I’m sorry, why the fuck do you think you haveanysay over what I do? Last I checked, we’re not together. This baby? She doesn’t give you license to tell me what to do, and I’m going to protect her any way I see fit. I’m hermother,and if you don’t like it, you can go fuck yourself.”

I was shaking with anger and had to focus hard to still my hands at my sides. I’d never been one for physical violence, but the urge to punch him square in his asshole, dictator jaw was strong.

Damn, I was hormonal.

No, screw that. He was a domineering jerk, and I was justified to be pissed off.

“You are her mother. And I’m her father. Protecting her ismyjob, and I’m insulted that you think I’d let you harm yourself, as if I’m incapable ofdoingthat job. Because if anyone’s life is on the line to protect her, it’s mine, not yours.”

If words could kill, I’d be dead on the floor from the acid inhis voice. Something in me wanted to hurt him, push him back just as hard as he was pushing me. And I knew it was wrong, I knew it, but the words flew out of my mouth anyway.

“You don’t know that you’re the father.”

He whipped back like I’d physically struck him.

And then I felt it: the utter fury rolling off him, a crushing weight of wrath. When he rose, I couldn’t help it; I flinched away from him. We’d flirted with anger before, both of us. But this was a level I’d never seen, and it was downright terrifying.

I shouldn’t have said that. It was wrong and petty and, frankly, not even a little bit true. I hadn’t been with anyone before him for eighteen months, and after, well, there was nobody.

But he didn’t know that, and even if I took it back now… shit.

I’m a terrible person.

But he didn’t say a word, didn’t lift a hand toward me. He just walked away for the second time today. Except this time, I knew with rock-solid certainty that I’d gone too far, and he wasn’t coming back this time.

EIGHT

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