Page 31 of Pregnant By the Alpha Wolf

“Bullshit,” I snap, shifting back to human form, staring down at him as I keep him pinned to the ground. “Where is Willow? If you—”

“She’s here,” Griffen calls out. “Sara’s on her way. She’s unconscious but breathing.”

The relief that washes over me is short-lived as I look back down at Rian. “Why?” I growl, my fangs millimeters from his neck.

“I...I...” he stammers. “They knew...knew about...about us. They already knew.”

I shake my head. It’s not possible. “Yougave us up. Why?” I spit, slamming him back against the floor.

He whimpers and shakes his head again. “I’m telling the truth. They sent me a message, stuff about the Old World and what the vampires did. They said they knew we weren’t all vampires and weren’t all a threat…”

I recoil in disgust, my eyes narrowing as I look down at his pathetic and sniveling form. The sound of his voice makes my skin crawl, but a small part of me senses the truth behind his words. Not that it matters now—he is beyond salvation, and my grim determination to serve my own justice only grows stronger.

“And you thought betraying members of your own pack would save you?” I snarled, baring my fangs. “Your own father was a halfling.Youcarry his DNA.Youknow of our heritage. What did they offer you?”

I can sense the other alphas gathering around me, their heavy presence casting a somber mood over the lab floor. The scent of blood and death hangs in the air, and the hunters lie scattered on the ground. I’m briefly aware that the more Rian talks, the more he reveals to Jet and Kaiden, but I’m past caring.

“S-Simon said that if our pack stayed isolated and t-the monsters were eliminated…” He looks like he’ll begin losing consciousness soon, so I shake him. “They’d leave us alone. If we stayed hidden.”

“That’s it?” I scoff. “And you believed him?”

“And give them our research, so they’d know who…who was…” he trails off.

“…a monster?” I finish for him, my voice laced with disgust.

I stare at him for a moment, wondering at what point he felt his DNA was far enough removed from his vampire heritage to no longer consider himself a monster. I glance sideways at Jet, his expression set hard in anger and disbelief. Is there more betrayal to come? So many years trying to keep my pack safe, and this is what it has come to. It feels like a history that repeated itself so many times before has simply caught up with me again.

Betrayal and hatred.

“We’ve got a live one,” Kaiden says, dragging a half-conscious hunter toward the center of the room. I glance over.

“Good. We need someone to question,” Jet murmurs from his place beside me.

Rian coughs up more blood, dribbling onto the hard floor as he turns his head. “T-that’s Simon. He’s the one in charge.”

I nod, staring down at the young wolf who had once shown so much promise. I’m only glad his father isn’t around to see what has become of him. He was a proud wolf who embraced his heritage and understood what it meant to be a beta and defender of the pack. The fact that I was the one who gave Rianthe opportunity to follow in his father’s footsteps, only to be betrayed, weighs heavily.

I straighten up and look down at Rian, my decision made. I turn to Griffen, who holds Willow in his arms. He returns my gaze with understanding in his eyes. “He betrayed us all,” he growls.

Looking around, Jet and Kaiden nod in deference, their eyes narrowed, clearly affected by the carnage around us. I nod once in agreement.

“For your crimes against your pack and for betraying the trust of those who trusted you with their lives, I, Alpha of the Nicholson pack, sentence you to death. There will be no trial.”

Rian's eyes widen in fear as I grab him by the throat and snap his neck with a vicious growl. The sound of bones breaking silences the room as Rian's body goes limp in my grasp. I want to feel something for the young man who had been on his way to becoming an integral member of our pack, but all I feel is rage and confusion.

“Take the hunter to the clinic, chain him to the damn bed,” I snap, turning to Griffen and taking Willow from his arms.

Looking down at her beautiful face, I don’t know where the blood on my hands and body and hers begins or ends. She’s unconscious but appears to be waking, her face contorted in pain. My rage feels unending as I take in the bruises forming on her neck. I wish I could revive Rian just to kill him again more slowly. The metallic smell filling the air affects my vampire, and it howls, rattling around my head.

“Sara is here,” Griffen says quietly, and I hold Willow close, heading for the clinic.

Chapter 17 - Willow

I sink into the warmth enveloping my body; there are comfortable sheets, and I can smell my mate. My body feels unusually relaxed, as if I’m floating on a cloud. Something nags at the edges of my mind, but it’s almost completely brushed away by an all-encompassing sense of peace.

I hear Rowan’s voice, low and steady, and it makes me smile. My fingers move, looking for him in the tangle of the sheets. I wonder who he’s talking to. I open my mouth to ask him, but something seems to be stopping me.

“She’ll wake up,” I hear someone saying in the background, and I want to say I am awake, but the words don’t come out.

---