Page 28 of Bully Alpha's Secret Baby

I reach for her and brush my fingers against her arm, and she doesn’t pull away. Not yet. There’s a fire in her eyes, but there’s something else, too. Something that feels like the spark we had all those years ago, before everything went to hell.

“Damien,” she breathes, her voice shaky. “Don’t…”

But I can’t stop. I move closer, until we’re standing chest to chest, and I can feel the heat radiating off her body. “I was wrong,” I murmur, sliding my hand up to cup her cheek. “I should have fought for you. I should have—”

Jade gasps, and suddenly, she’s doubling over in pain with her hands clutching her stomach as she cries out.

“Jade!” I shout as my heart slams against my ribcage. I grab her shoulders, trying to steady her, but she collapses to the ground with her face contorted in agony.

“Jade, what’s happening?” I crouch down beside her, panic rising like a tidal wave.

But she doesn’t answer. She just groans and digs her fingers into the earth as pain wracks her body, and I feel completely helpless.

The sound of her pain echoes through the clearing, and my mind is racing a million miles a second. I try to think, to piece together what the hell could be happening. I’ve never seen her like this, not even when we were younger and we faced some of the most dangerous things out there. But this is different. This is personal.

And I have no clue how to help her.

Chapter 10 - Jade

The pain stops as quickly as it hit, leaving me gasping for air on the ground.

My vision clears, and the world snaps back into focus, but the memory of what I just saw—the shifter, the blood—still lingers like a shadow at the edges of my mind.

“Jade!” Damien’s voice is sharp and frantic as he crouches beside me. His hands are on my shoulders, steadying me, and his silver-gray eyes search my face for some kind of explanation. “What the hell just happened?”

I suck in a shaky breath, feeling the tremors still running through my body. “It wasn’t me,” I whisper, shaking my head. “It was… a vision. I saw something.”

His grip tightens just a fraction, and his eyes narrow in confusion. “A vision of what?”

“Someone’s being attacked.” My voice cracks, but I force the words out. “A shifter. I saw it—he’s in trouble, Damien. It’s happening right now.”

For a moment, his expression morphs, caught somewhere between disbelief and concern. Then, without missing a beat, he stands and pulls me to my feet. “Where?”

“I don’t know exactly,” I admit, “but it’s close. It felt close. I felt it, Damien.”

He doesn’t hesitate. He turns, scanning the tree line like he’s already putting together a plan. “Then we don’t have time to waste.”

I nod, swallowing the panic still clawing at my throat. I’ve had visions before, but none of them ever felt like this—so real,so immediate. Whoever that shifter is, he’s in danger, and we’re running out of time.

Damien’s hand finds mine, and without another word, we’re running through the woods with our feet pounding against the earth in sync with the thunder of our hearts. I can feel the urgency in every step, every breath, like the weight of the vision is pressing down on me, urging me forward.

As we run, I force myself to focus, to sift through the jumbled images that flashed through my mind. The shifter… he was in wolf form, and his dark fur was streaked with blood. The trees around him were dense, and the rocky ground was uneven. It wasn’t far from here, I’m sure of it, but something about the surroundings felt familiar. There was one tree that was bent at an odd angle that I know I’ve seen before…

“The neighboring pack,” I blurt out. “It’s happening near the Red Arrow territory.”

Damien glances at me. “You’re sure?”

I nod, even though the thought of running into Gray Reed’s territory makes my stomach churn. “It has to be. I’ve been through these woods enough times. It was their territory.”

He doesn’t argue, just picks up the pace. “Then we head to Red Arrow. If someone’s attacking one of Gray’s shifters, we need to stop it now.”

The forest rushes past us in a blur of shadows and moonlight as we sprint toward the border. My breath is coming in ragged gasps, but the adrenaline keeps me moving, keeps me focused. There’s no time to think about how dangerous this could be, no time to worry about what Gray or his pack might do if they catch us. All that matters is stopping the attack.

We’re almost there when I hear it: a low, agonized growl that cuts through the night. My heart skips a beat, and I pull up short, grabbing Damien’s arm.

“Did you hear that?” I whisper.

He nods, and his expression hardens as he slows his pace. “Yeah. We’re close.”

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