Page 36 of The Wolf's Pregnant Rejected Mate

“Did they go after Rachel and the others at all?” Tess demanded.

Elin shook her head.

Mica put a hand on Tess’s shoulder. “We already knew that they were after you two.”

“But until now, we could make excuses. Say that they didn’t go after the men because they’re special ops and have special protections,” Tess answered, her shoulders slumping.

Christine’s lips pulled into an unhappy slash. “But I’ve put the talismans in all of you. Why would they still come after you when you also have that protection?”

Tess shook her head. “They don’t know that.”

“I’m sorry,” Elin said miserably. Tears filled her eyes. “You were so brave, Tess. And I was just… useless. I hate them so much! I hate feeling like…”

She turned her face away.

Tess rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Christine, can I go?”

Christine nodded. “Of course. But come back if you experience a fever, if there are signs of infection, or if that injury isn’t healed by tomorrow morning.”

“Thanks,” Tess muttered.

Mica started to go with Tess, but Tess told her to stay with Elin. Elin needed her more. Besides that, Tess carefully edited her version of the story to remove the death that was on her head. As she headed for the Alpha's house, a dark, heavy feeling filled her heart. Echo was there with Denzel while Mica was out, and right now Tess needed to hold the baby.

Though her arm ached, she held the precious boy close. She imagined what it would be like to hold her own baby but quickly pushed it from her mind.

The special ops team returned in human form hours later. They came from the direction of the clinic rather than the forest. Mica walked with Hayden, her arm around his waist. All of them were fully dressed.

“Can you take the baby again?” Tess asked Echo.

Echo took Denzel back. “Go to him.”

Tess blushed but raced outside. Ryder’s shoulder was bandaged, but he looked otherwise unharmed. She held her breath as she approached him, wondering what she should say. When she opened her mouth, though, Ryder cut in front of her.

His voice was utterly cold as he said, “Our sparring matches are canceled.”

Then he pushed past her and strode into the house. Tess stared after him. Mica turned a sorrowful gaze on her. The others in the special ops gave her looks varying from confusion to pity. But Ryder didn’t look back. So, Tess did the only thing she could—she walked away, too. And, like him, she didn’t look back.

Chapter 20 - Ryder

Ryder grimaced as he stared at his naked form in the mirror. They had run into a beast demon during this last hunt in the forest. A long gash ran along his side. Christine had stitched him up and taped gauze over the injury, but the pain throbbed through him. The heavy scowl on his face couldn’t stop the fear he saw burning in his own eyes.

It had been two months now since Hayden charged him with hunting down the big wolf—a month since the last attack on Tess and Elin.

And he was no closer to catching the wolf than he had been at the start of this. Every time he thought he was near, the big wolf would slip through his fingers. Every trap was evaded, every hunt unsuccessful.

The demons were growing bolder, too. In the last month alone, they had lost two more of the pack to the Demon Seed. They’d been out in the forest, just inside the protective circle, when they were attacked. The demons didn’t need to touch them to possess them. Those two both had tried to break into the vault where Zealuv’s prison was held.

One, they’d taken alive. They had tried the exorcism ritual on her, but it didn’t work. The demon had laughed at them. They threw her in the prison, where she promptly shifted into wolf form and tore out her own wrists. She’d bled out in seconds.

The other one didn’t give them any chance to question him. He’d nearly got Finn by the throat and kept fighting until they’d had no chance but to kill him. So the team knew the demons were still trying to free Zealuv, but it didn’t give them any way to trap that big wolf.

The one thing that seemed to be a bonus was that Sebastian didn’t seem to be with the demon pack anymore, and none of the current demons had any sort of mutation. Finn guessed—or hoped—that the host body couldn’t survive the process.

Blood, sweat, and dirt still clung to him. He’d refused to allow Christine to clean him up at the clinic; he only wanted the injury taken care of. She had told him not to get the bindings wet, so he submerged a washcloth in his sink and started to scrub the grim off his body. The coolness of the air against his damp skin helped to relax his body.

His mind, however, didn’t relax. He was failing the pack. He needed to catch that fucking demon and put him down before he could cause any more damage.

What did he need to do differently? This current approach wasn’t working. The traps weren’t useful. For years, the pack had lived in fear of Monroe. Now, Hayden was Alpha, and Ryder was Beta. They had sworn to the pack to protect them.

---