Page 122 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter
I frown. “I still don’t understand how they got to me in the first place. I haven’t even really thought about it, but that was the scary thing. It wasso easy.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s your mate?” Akari asks.
I bite my lip. “Boyd told you they were the ones who grabbed me?”
She nods. “I don’t know. Fate has a weird way of bringing us together, and it’s not always fun or pleasant. Maybe your alarm bells didn’t go off because your wolf could sense something that you weren’t even aware of yet. Speaking of which…”
Her eyes dart down to my stomach.
I sigh. “Yeah…I’m pregnant.”
She gives me an encouraging smile. “You’re going to be okay.”
We get undressed in private and I wrap a towel around myself before going to the edge of the pool. I used to be shameless with getting naked in front of the other omegas, but now it feels strange. I’ve had my privacy transgressed on so many times in the past few weeks that I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to go back to the way I was before. I only take off the towel right before I slip into the spring, letting out a sigh of relief.
Footsteps sound at the door and I look up to find Tilda and Charlotte joining us, the two of them going to get changed. They wave before coming over and stepping into the water themselves…and it all feels so ordinary that it makes my heart stutter. The Rig is already starting to feel like a nightmare, fading as I settle back into my home.
I can’t forget, though.
Because that’s where all my memories of Javi live…and if he’s gone…
I burst out crying before I can stop myself, a sob wrenching itself out of my throat. I try to hide my face in the water, but the others crowd around me and Maggie reaches out to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.
“Hey,” she says. “You don’t have to do anything if it’s too soon.”
“That’s not it,” I say. “I’m just…I’m afraid that if I start to feel too comfortable, I’ll forget what happened, and I don’t want to forget everything with Javi.”
“That’s his name?” Charlotte asks. “Javi?”
I nod. “Javier Ortega.”
Tilda tilts her head. “Will you tell us about him?”
I look toward the water and the swish of waves from our movements reminds me of the Rig. It makes me think of all the moments that were hard…but all the ones that were nice, too. My nights on the Rig were scary, but I spent most all of them wrapped in his embrace.
“I don’t really know that much about him,” I say, my voice hollow. “He doesn’t like to talk about his past.”
Charlotte smiles. “That’s okay. Just tell us the love story. Can you do that? You know I love a good romance.”
I smile back—because talking about him, even a little bit, makes me feel like I’m with him.
“Yeah,” I say. “I can do that.”
So I tell them everything.
About the initial kidnapping, seeing my father again, being taken to the citadel. I describe the hunt, my father’s plan that horribly backfired to find the cruelest, toughest alpha to be my mate. I tell them that Javi has always been gentle, that even when I can tell he wants to be cranky, he can’t resist being kind.
And I tell them about our impossible baby.
“That’s twice now, huh?” Charlotte says. “Guess it’s possible for omegas to get pregnant with their mate outside of our heats…the more you know, I guess.”
“You’re pretty young,” Tilda says. “You know you don’t have to?—”
“She doesn’t want to hear that right now,” Maggie snaps.
“No, it’s okay,” I say. “I know. And I’ve thought about it…but I can’t decide until Javi wakes up.”
“And you don’t have to,” Charlotte says. “I mean…gosh, that’s quick. What’s it been, three weeks?”
