Page 21 of Reign

“Did he ever see me there?” Maybe there was something to Sophie’s idea that this was more about me than Ember…maybe...

Jed met my gaze. “I honestly don’t know. He never mentioned looking for an alpha Prime. Why? What would he want with you?”

I grinned evilly. “None of your fucking business. Now keep talking. Tell me why my mate can’t remember anything about me or her pack.” I leaned back and let Prime stare at him too. “And I suggest you convince me that you haven't used her in any way, fast.”

That elicited a snarl from him as his eyes darkened. Good. He was as off-kilter as me. Gods, I wanted to destroy this motherfucker. For stealing Ember from me, but even more for stealing her entire life from her. I couldn’t even comprehend how scared and confused she must be.

“Rex has labs, cells for test subjects, in a facility under his house. He had developed a substance that can suppress a shifter’s animal spirit long before I took a job with him. In tablet form, it releases a chemical slowly, and when taken regularly, it can induce amnesia, too. It also gives the user severe headaches if their animal spirit fights the substance and needs to be suppressed further.”

“You’ve beendruggingher? The woman you profess to have fallen in love with?” My teeth cracked, I ground them so hard.

His chin dropped to his chest, and he sighed heavily. “Look, I took a job as a security consultant with Manivera just over a year ago. I normally don’t work more than one job with a single employer. That way, I don’t get sucked into their shit. But Rex made it clear I could stay in his employ and be paid a shitload of money or disappear without a trace. I’m good at my job, but I can’t watch my back twenty-four seven without sleep. So I continued my employment with him. He had me work with Drake and you so I could determine if Ember was at the camp. Together we planned to get Ember away from you.” He paused. I just stared at him, my anger boiling, my breathing deep and quick. A growl began in my chest. He swallowed and carried on.

“Ember needs to get away from Manivera. Her wolf is fighting the drugs, and it’s taking more and more tablets to suppress it—but she can’t take them anymore.”

“Why?”

Jed slumped against the chair back, his breath leaving him in a whoosh. He lifted his gaze to mine. “Because she’s pregnant.”

I heard several sharp intakes of breath but had no idea who they came from. Blood was roaring in my ears; Prime was howling and scraping at my insides. I stood so fast my chair flew back. I needed to get away from Jed, or I was going to kill him. He’d kept my pregnant mate from me…

I shot out of the back of the cafe and into a small courtyard. The stink of stale rubbish and rotting food hit me, but I didn’t care. My Firecracker was pregnant. She was carrying my child. And they’d been kidnapped,from right under my nose!I’d let them both down...

“Hey, you okay, Con?” Owen’s question was careful and soft.

“I can’t...I can’t…” I blinked hard. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t breathe.

“I know, it’s okay. Let loose all you like, man. No one else is here or watching.”

At Owen’s words, I leaned forward, supporting myself with my hands on my thighs, gulping down air into my lungs and feeling as if I was drowning in guilt. I took some deep breaths, closing my eyes and picturing the greenest, most stunning eyes I’d ever seen until my heart rate calmed a little, and Prime backed off. I straightened and released one long deep breath. “Shiiiiiit.”

“You good?”

“No, not one bit.” I shook out my trembling hands. “But I will be when I get Ember back, and to do that, I need to talk to that kidnapping motherfucker in there.” I knew the child was mine, not his. It had to be. Ember had finished her season when they took her from me. I swallowed hard, knowing the two most important souls in this world were in danger because I’d taken too long to find them.

“Yeah, you do. And don’t kill him. At least, not yet. He’s here because he’s fallen under Ember’s spell. It’s in every line of his body. He genuinely does care for her, and he’s here for her, not you, so let him help her by giving you the information you need.”

I nodded, fortified my resolve, and, leashing my wrath, I headed back in. Jed's gaze followed me warily. I stood over him. Yeah, I wanted him to feel small and powerless, just like I had for weeks, unable to find Ember, not knowing for sure if she was alive or dead. “When did you find out she was pregnant?”

“Only a few days ago. Her scent has slowly changed over the time she’s been with me….”

I growled. “That better not mean what I think it does.”

He gritted his teeth before he spoke. “We haven’t had sex; let’s get that on the table. But I have slept in the same bed as her. I’ve held her...” His eyes went to where my nails scored into my palms, blood dripping onto the floor. Stone and B’nar came and stood behind me, knowing as much as Owen did that if I killed this shifter, we’d have a harder time getting Ember out. They wouldn’t be able to stop me if I chose to rip his head off, but they could slow me down, perhaps even enough for Owen and Sophie to get Jed out of my grasp alive, if not in one piece.

“She has been having nightmares more and more recently. I stayed with her to make sure she was okay.”

“That’s it? You didn’t touch her or try and fuck her?”

He looked me in the eye. “I didn’t say I didn’t touch her. But you wanna keep torturing yourself? Or shall we get to the point of my visit? This isn’t about you or me; she’s in danger, you asshole.” He froze when he heard the rumbling around him from the mounting growls.

“Yeah, watch your tone. You’re walking a knife-edge right now. And I sure as shit won’t stop them if they decide it’s time for you to die.”

“Sorry, but Rex is returning from a business trip tonight, and once he catches the scent that she’s pregnant, he’ll lock her down so tight you’ll never find her. He knows what a pregnant female smells like. He’s had women locked up, trying to get them pregnant, for years; even succeeded a few times from what I hear, though according to him, many of his offspring died when they weren’t strong enough for his training regimens.”

My eyes met Sophie’s. My sister, one who’d been groomed and suffered at the hands of that man for years. How many others had there been? Whatever I did to Rex would never be enough.

“How do we get to her?”

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