Page 29 of The Beast's Baby
He got the sense that he made her feel safe, despite what she had been saying earlier about him needing her more than she needed him. At this moment, she was leaning on him, as though wanting him to step between her and whatever was coming the same way he had stepped between her and that creep that had touched her back at the facility.
“There’s no point in running,” he said. “Fuck. Just do as they say. Okay?”
“Will they… hurt us?” she asked.
“Not you,” he replied.
“Because I’m special,” she murmured, face almost buried against his arm as though she didn’t want to watch the pack as it moved between the openings in the doors, entering the space slowly, eyes gleaming in the shadows.
“Yes, because you’re special and because… there’s something more,” he said. “You’re… important. To the owner. I think…” He wasn’t sure how to say it, so he just said it, “I think you’re blood related.”
“To who?” she asked, confusion marring her beautiful face as their eyes met.
“To the Maynard family,” he said.
Chapter 9 - Isobel
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She’d never had anything to do with the founders of MRM and the conglomerate it belonged to. She’d never had either her aunt or uncle give the smallest hint that she could have anything to do with them, and her makeshift parents weren’t liars.
Were they?
“That can’t be true,” she said.
Only, it made sense. Because why else would Cora and her crew be treating her with kid gloves? Was it only because she was the one naturally born female wolf in the trial, or could it be that they had other reasons? But… If they knew who she was, and they had forced this situation on her, then didn’t that make it sicker than she would ever have thought? If she was related to the people who had created the trial to begin with and she had been ensnared to take part in it without being fully informed, then what was the reason for them blindsiding her like this? Had they feared she wouldn’t want to do it? Had her participation been so important that they would take the choice away from their own blood?
“Why wouldn’t they tell me?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know them. I’ve never interacted with any of them. That’s way above my pay grade. And you being related to them somehow is nothing more than a rumor, that’s all. I don’t have anything conclusive to add to it. It’s just… the way Cora talks about you always made me wonder if there was much more to it than she was leading on. I wanted you to know because maybe you can use it now. You can… fake remember who your father is or something. Stall. Ask to talk to him.”
She couldn’t even think about somehow hatching a plan out of the information she’d been given. It was too fresh. “You don’t even know if it’s true,” she remarked. “Building a lie on loose rumors doesn’t sound very safe.”
“It’s worth a shot,” he replied. “It’s our only bargaining chip.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
She knew there was an accusation there and that he picked up on it. She couldn’t help it. In a way, it was a saving grace. She was standing too close to him, practically hiding herself behind his tall, broad frame, as though he was her shelter from the oncoming storm. She couldn’t rely on him. She shouldn’t. So, here came the first push meant to separate them. She knew her patterns too well not to know exactly that this was what she was doing.
Stop it, she wanted to tell herself.Let him protect you.
But she couldn’t.
Only, he asked, “When would I have told you? I didn’t think it’d come up like this. And I don’t know if it’s the truth so why would I tell you unless it was absolutely necessary? Right now, this moment makes it feel absolutely necessary.”
“Fine,” she said, glaring up at him, but his scent all over her skin and she almost closed her eyes to drink it in. She was still clinging to him like some needy damsel, but she didn’t want to stand alone. She didn’t want to be pulled away from him. The thought of going back to her cell and possibly never seeing him again was suddenly like grains of sand in her eyes and she blinked at the sensation, annoyed at the tears it produced.
Why was the creeping fear at once so overwhelming?
Why was she more afraid of being left alone now that she’d gotten to have him?
It was annoying. He was no knight in shining armor. He was just a man.
And she was no mere woman. She should shift, but then she raised her gaze to take in the dozen wolves spread out in a half-circle before them and she thought better of it.
There was no way she could fight them all by herself, and even if she was special and important and they might not kill her, there was no way she would be able to get away from them. And what about her stupid knight? Was she going to leave him in the dust? She couldn’t believe that it was happening, but there was a sense of loyalty kicking up that told her she couldn’t do that.
He'd risked everything to get her out of that place. His armor might not be shining since he’d been part of putting her there in the first place, but he sure was wearing one. If only he’d had a sword and a shield. If she couldn’t face the pack then she couldn’t expect him to, no matter how quick he’d proven his reflexes to be.
“Outnumbered,” she said.
