Page 53 of Impregnated By the Alpha

She laughed maniacally, and a shiver went down my spine. The woman sounded unhinged, as though she had lost any semblance of sanity.

“It wasn’t just to catch you—that’s just a perk. No, I set the traps so that if you caught up to me while I was trying to get Penny away from town, I’d be able to slow you down. And it worked,” she said victoriously.

My blood ran cold at the mention of Nile’s daughter. Of course she had been the one to take her. I felt like a fool for thinking two disappearances in a day weren’t connected.

“Where is she?” I demanded.

“In the cabin,” Diana said, nodding at the door behind her. “She was getting a little cranky about walking, so I put her in a time-out until she’s ready to make another choice.”

“If you hurt a hair on that girl’s head, I swear to the wolf god, I will kill you where you stand,” I threatened, teeth clenched in anger.

Diana’s eyes went hard, and her mouth contorted into a frown. “I love my granddaughter, unlike you,” she spat. “I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“If that’s true, then why did you take her away from her father?”

“Because he doesn’t need her anymore,” she said simply. “You forget, I know all about that new parasite you’re growing inside you. Nile decided to disrespect my Jana and start a new family with you. He’s cast poor Penny aside now, too, and replaced her with your spawn. So, I’m doing what needs to be done to protect my little girl. I’m taking her as far away from this godawful place as I can.”

The rope around my ankle was starting to feel hot, and I realized that while it wasn’t immediately touching my skin, it was pulled tight enough that whatever it was made of was leaching through the fabric of my jeans. I tried to focus on Diana, distracting myself from the fear and pain while I came up with a plan.

“That isn’t true, Diana,” I said, tears beginning to well up in my eyes as panic and pain threatened to overtake me. “Weboth love Penny. She is our joy, and our life. And she loves us, too.”

“We’ll see,” she replied. “I don’t think it’ll take too long for her to forget about you.”

I let out a small sob, unable to contain it any longer. The thought of waking up each day without Penny being a part of my life was more than I could bear. I needed to try to release the rope one last time. It would hurt, but not nearly as much as living without my daughter would.

I grasped the rope lightly this time, trying to wiggle it away from my leg, but it didn’t matter. No matter how little I was in contact with it, the pain was unbearable.

Diana laughed again as she witnessed my distress. “You should probably stop touching that,” she taunted.

“What is this damn thing made out of?” I asked.

“That? Just a silver rope infused with wolfsbane. Alpha Jasper left all kinds of fun goodies behind in these cabins when he moved to Pinedale.”

Chapter 26 - Nile

We had just finished our sweep of the western border of Pinedale when I saw the sun rise over the tree line to the east.

“Still nothing?” I asked Killian when he came over to check on me.

“No, alpha. There’s still no sign of Diana,” he said. “A lot of the men are reaching the end of their ability to keep searching. Do you think we should take a break?”

I looked around at the wolves from the three packs and realized how right he was. Exhaustion was drawn plainly on everyone’s faces, and I was sure I looked no better.

“You’re probably right. Let me talk to the other alphas, but we can pick this up after everyone has had a chance to rest,” I said.

Alpha Lex and Alpha Jasper walked toward me, repeating what Killian had said.

“Let’s head back to town,” I said. “I’m not sure I have enough mental acuity to convince Diana to return home even if we did find her.”

We walked slowly back toward town, but before we reached the city limit, Lex’s phone rang.

“Grace, what’s wrong?” he asked, eyes full of concern.

Her voice on the other end of the line was unintelligible, but her tone sounded frantic. Grace had always been one of the most level-headed lunas I had ever met. Her fear stoked my own, and I waited with bated breath for Lex to relay her message to the rest of us.

“I’ll tell him. No, stay with the packs. Get everyone to the community center, and I’ll call you when we find something. I love you, too,” he said, ending the call.

“Why does everyone need to go to the community center?” I asked.

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