Page 1 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
Chapter 1 - Adalyn
A wolf was haunting my dreams.
A wolf had been haunting my dreams for weeks now, my nightly visitor, coming to taunt me whenever I felt like I had a grip on everything.
The wolf stood in the shallow pool of water beneath a thundering waterfall—a place familiar to me, a place I welcomed into my dreams—and I took a tentative step towards it. Chilled, icy water washed over my bare feet, and I winced. My hiss made the wolf’s ears twitch.
Its eyes gazed back at me—somehow familiar, but I couldn’t place them. In the darkness of the waterfall, they glimmered like rich emeralds, a green fire blazing within their depths. I couldn’t tear my eyes from it. They pulled me closer, and my steps became more sure. I didn’t pull away or resist that tug towards a beast that was supposed to be my enemy.
Those green eyes simply watched me, surrounded by fur that was almost black. The wolf was sleek, and I raised my hand to brush my fingers through its fur. I stopped. Held myself back.
I was aware of my body in the ice-cold pool and asleep on my bed, twitching, one hand raised in my sleep as if I was truly trying to reach for the wolf.
I blinked.
The wolf disappeared.
A man was beneath the waterfall, no longer in the pool itself, but stood on an outcrop of rock beneath the crashing water. Those same green eyes gazed out at me. A slick of black hair was pushed off his forehead, exposing tattoos that ran down the sides of his shaved head. I had yet to figure out what they were.
He raised a hand to me. A snake tattoo wrapped around his right bicep, its tongue hissing out towards his elbow. The other was fully blacked out with ink, intricate swirls breaking up the edges towards his forearm.
Who was I to say no to that outstretched hand? I was powerless—willingly so. Within seconds, I clambered onto the rock, one hand slipped into his. The roar of the water around us shielded us from anything else, and he pulled me tighter towards him. My other hand pressed to his bare chest, feeling the droplets slide down over powerful muscles beneath his skin.
The man smiled down at me, towering over me easily. His smile was wreathed in darkness, pure danger, and power. His hand folded over mine, engulfing the length of my fingers easily.
“I was always meant to come here.” His voice was deep, curling like velvet around my ears as he dipped his mouth towards me. “We were always meant to reunite our bloodlines, Adalyn.”
Before his mouth pressed to mine, I woke with a gasp. Not to a waterfall but in my bedroom. No wolf, no man. Just my own harsh breaths punching out of me as I sat up with a start. Dawn hadn’t yet broken outside my window, but the room flickered with a golden glow. Every candle was lit, and my hair stood on end as I tried to wrangle it back into a hair tie.
I snapped my fingers, and every candle extinguished. I sighed, slid from my bed, and checked my phone.05:58.Great. Two minutes until my alarm went off. Fatigue weighed heavily on my bones, trying to coax me back beneath my sheets, but I pushed on, padding over to my kitchenette to brew a strong coffee.
As the machine whirred to life, filling the silence of my studio apartment, I thought over my dreams. It was my fourthdream of the same thing that week. The same wolf, the same man, the same location, the same words he uttered at the end.
Zephyr Brent, part of the new group of shifters that started to frequent the island. Thanks to my best friend, Harper, who had a life with the group’s leader, Alex, and Zephyr, Alex’s best friend, the two of us formed a tentative civility. At first, we had even gotten along. I had teased him… Until I found out exactly who he was and what wolf line he came from.
They’ve come back to protect the island. It’s fate, Adalyn. I am not telling you to befriend them, but do not make an enemy of them, my grandmother, Greta, had urged.
“Yeah, well,” I muttered, “They made an enemy of me first when they killed my parents.”
It hadn’t been Zephyr himself, but I didn’t like that he couldn’t keep to himself. I practically tasted my distrust around him; it was that thick.
My coffee machine beeped noisily, and I picked up my drink, sipping as I began to get ready.
I had bigger problems than wolves and tiredness.
Namely, my grandmother’s store to be opened in half an hour.
***
There was a mirror near the counter, and I sat behind it, crossed-legged on the swivel and beaten office chair. Catching sight of the dark circles beneath my eyes, I sighed. Dreaming of Zephyr was the last thing I wanted to deal with on top of everything else. I needed good sleep; I neededfocus.
Yvanna, a regular, came in at six-thirty on the dot to purchase her usual herbs and crystals. She was a young witch in training, younger than my age of twenty-five, and I had been the one to mentor her. She was working on shields with me. Every morning, she updated the pocket of herbs she tied to her belt loops. I rang her items up, trying to feel the caffeine’s effect much sooner than they wanted to work.
“Addie,” she said quietly. She shifted, hovering. “Say, there are some rumors going around. Rumors that the shifters are the cause of all the demon activity.”
I hesitated. My grandmother had been careful in her advice on how to deal with questions and rumors. We were supposed to assure but not enable. Comfort but not confirm.
“The demons have always been active,” I told her. Yet we all knew they had fallen quiet for a long time. Itwastrue: wolves and witches coming together once again on the island had attracted them. “But if you keep up with those lessons and join me with the shielding work, then we will be well-protected.”
