Page 11 of The Wolf's Bullied Pregnant Mate
“You definitely did, man. But if I remember correctly, you didn’t only scout the area.”
“Hell yeah, scouted some women for you too, when we got off the job.” He frowned. “That’s why I’m surprised you don’t dig Adalyn. She’s hot and your usual type.”
Before I could say that the very thought of sleeping with Adalyn made me want to claw my skin off, Hector groaned. “Don’t tell me I have to listen to this all afternoon.”
“Don’t be bitter because you can only pull the latest tech,” I teased.
But Hector didn’t roll his eyes. Hestalled. His mouth opened and closed, as if unsure of what to say. Then he shoved his glasses up his nose, averting his gaze. I was used to Hector’s ways: awkward at times but in control and authoritative when he knew what he was doing. But this was different. This was…shy.
“Hec?” Sweeney nudged. “Got somethin’ to share?”
“No,” he answered defensively.
“Oh, I think you do,” I laughed. “Ireallythink you do.”
“Leave it,” Hector muttered. But his ears were tinged red, and he was scowling down at his screen. I sidled up to him.
“Met someone special, Hec?”
“I haven’t seen anything but screens turn his head,” Sweeney chimed in. “She must berealspecial.”
“She is.” The confession clearly came out before Hector thought to keep it in. He looked up, alarmed. “I mean—”
“There it is.” Sweeney grinned.
“She’s—” Hector swore under his breath. “She works in the café in town. Like, the only café. She’s the one with the pink hair.”
“I’ve never seen her,” I said, sort of glad, because I didn’t want to tease Hector anymore about it. He looked embarrassed, and I knew he’d always maintained a more private life. I’d had my fun; I didn’t want to ruin whatever this was for him.
But I couldn’t resist one last dig. “Question,” I said. “Does she come with a screen saver?”
“Knock it off!” Hector cried but he was laughing with us now. “I’m serious. She’s real.”
“The real question is,” Sweeney added, “Have you talked to her?”
“Of course I have,” he muttered. “I have to order whenever I go there.”
“Oh, man,” I laughed. “I amsobeing your wingman.”
“No, you aresogoing to spray the area we spotted ahead.Go.”
With that, all laughter and bantering died down. We were back to being focused, on our mission for the day. Helping Hector out with love could come secondary. For now, I had a goal. Use the damn witch spell to block the portal from fully opening. Then we would go on to the next place, and the next, playing chase with a bunch of demons.
Sweeney and I launched ourselves across the trail, disappearing into the thick of trees, listening to Hector command our location through the earpieces we wore. We sprayed each side of a square, meeting back at the center, forming a barrier that a demon wouldn’t get past.
“Great,” Hector said. “That spell will expand outwards. Depending on where the demons go next, the defenses should reach out to form a blanket over the woods. The demons are predictable. They want to be where the people are. People are always hiking, so we can use that to predict their movement patterns.”
“So what does this mean for our next move?”
Hector laughed. “It means we’ve got a long day of running around ahead of us.”
Chapter 5 - Adalyn
The night was a balmy comfort, a quiet blanket to tuck around my shoulders as I moved through the Cove. This place hadn’t always been my home, but it had welcomed me. When Harper arrived more than four years ago, I made sure the island welcomed her, too.
From my studio, I descended down the street, glancing at the shadows that danced and played on the old roads. The island wasn’t flat—it was full of peaks, roads that went uphill slightly, pathways that veered down, towards the beach, and guardian-like mountains that loomed over the Cove. Silent, dark sentinels in the night, rising above the forest.
It was not the mountains I wanted that night but the beach.
