Page 11 of The Alpha's Forced Pregnant Mate

"I don't give a fuck about my head, I want you off me," I growled at him, still angry as hell. "And I have nothing to say to you. Let me go."

I was blindly jamming my thumb against my phone screen, trying to hit the 'retry' button to try and call Laura again. I'd never wished for an old-style button phone more in my life. My head was pounding, and despite how furious I was, I knew there was no way out of this without help.

Julian opened his mouth to say something, but then a sound emanated from near my chest, and I almost laughed from relief. The sound of a phone line ringing.

His expression hardened, and he snatched the phone out of my hands before I could stop him, but it didn't matter. My location was on, and they'd be worried enough by the halted call to come to my rescue I was sure of it.

Julian looked at the phone screen and growled in frustration. "I'm going to give you this back, and you're going to call them off."

I had sat up and scooted away from him but refused to take the offered phone. "No, I don't think so."

Julian closed his eyes, and I could see him processing his sudden loss of control of the situation. I expected him to rage, maybe even attack me, wishing true harm this time, but I was surprised when he raked a hand through his hair and sighed. "Then let me offer you a proposition."

Thrown off, I stopped prodding at the cut on my head and looked at him. "What in the hell could you possibly offer me?"

"Protection." I started to laugh, but he held up a hand to stop me. "Not for you. For your pack. I wouldn't even be in this territory, except I came here to offer Hector my wolves to guard the perimeter of Silverfang Creek territory in return for a simple favor. Our mate match changed everything, but I can still offer that. Call your wolves, tell them nothing is wrong, and you’ll gain the strength of my pack in your fight against the demons.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know…”

He raised an eyebrow, looking smug. “It was clear as day that you’d been fighting demons. You’ve got their blood on your boots, for one. Secondly, your reputation precedes you, demon hunter Whitney. Everyone in the shifter world knows who you are, and how good you are at what you do.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “But you tried to kill Naomi.”

His face shuttered, but then he shrugged. “Think what you want. That’s what the demons want, right? To turn us against each other until we’re all easy pickings?”

“How did you…”

“I’ve been fighting them for years,” he interrupted. “I was Danny’s right hand, his best fighter. Plus, I know you need help, whether you want to admit it or not.”

“I have a team.” I countered.

“I know you do. With one other unmated female wolf…and two recently mated males. How long until their mates call them home to stay, and want them out of danger?”

His words hit me hard. “But…I mean…the pack…”

Julian snorted. “Yeah, most of that pack isn’t going to fight demons. They’ve all got husbands, or wives, and pups. Demons? Not happening.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. He wasn’t totally wrong.

Julian held out my phone again, and I was annoyed with how tempting the offer was. “I’ve got ten unmated, well-seasoned wolves that have all fought demons before. Call off your friends, Whitney, and I’ll triple your manpower in a snap.”

“This isn’t something you can just snap your fingers and make it so,” I said, getting irritated. “This is a big deal, and I don’t know you. Why should I trust you?”

He took a step closer to me, and I wanted to scoot away but held my ground. “You don’t have to trust me. But I have more information about the demon attacks than you know, and if you have me dragged off by your hunters, then you’ll never get to know. You might hate me, Whitney, but we’ve got a common enemy, and that goes a hell of a long way.”

“You tried to kill Naomi,” I repeated. “Why in the hell would I trust you with anything?”

His jaw ticked, but he didn’t back down. “Naomi’s alive, isn’t she? Come on, Whitney. Ten wolves. Ten unmated, battle-ready wolves.”

I swallowed hard, looking at this man who had kidnapped me and tried to force me into mating with him. I hated him, but he was right.

Dammit, he really was right.

I snatched the phone out of his hand and called Laura, explaining that I had called and then lost service as soon as the call connected and that nothing was wrong. I told her I just needed some time alone, and she was sympathetic, agreeing easily.

Then I hung up and looked at Julian. “You’re going to swear an oath to me right here, right now, or I’m calling her back and you’re done. If you betray me, if you break your oath, if you try to harm my packmates in any way, I will kill you. I swear it.”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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