Page 76 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

I’m about to launch myself at Lonnie and force the inevitable showdown, but suddenly his ears perk up and he turns away.

I would jump him right then and there, but I can’t. I’m frozen, because I heard it too: the wail of a small child.

Emmy.

It’s not coming from the house. It’s off to our right, toward the river.

Alicia must have taken her and run. It’s the only thing that makes sense. She left us to hold the wolves off and got Emmy out of here. It was the right decision, of course it was—but now Lonnie knows.

There’s not even a moment for me to process all this and come up with a plan to stop him.

Immediately, he turns toward the river and starts to run.

Vern shifts. “Go,” he gasps. It’s disorienting to see the wolf give way to this old, worn out man. “They’re going for Alicia. Stop them.”

He doesn’t have to tell me.

I break into a run, following Lonnie and the rest of his friends into the night.

45

ALICIA

Itfeelswrongtobe human right now. It feelsdangerousto be human. But if I shift, I can’t carry Emmy.

I try desperately to shush her cries. There are wolves in these woods, wolves who want to hurt us. We’re not far away from the house yet. If I let my wolf out, I would be able to run so much faster—but I have to be human.

I press Emmy to my chest, trying to quiet her cries. “Shh,” I whisper desperately.

I think it’s already too late. I can hear footsteps pounding. I can feel the ground shaking. I can smell them—

And then Lonnie breaks into view.

I’m going as fast as I can, but of course it’s not going to be fast enough. These are wolves. I’m strong, I know I am—I could probably hold my own in this chase if I were to let the wolf out—but as a human, I can’t do it. I don’t stand a chance.

They surround me quickly and close in on me, and then Lonnie shifts and grabs me by the arm.

I don’t bother trying to struggle. He’s so much bigger than I am, and he’s surrounded by his friends. There’s no way I’ll be able to get free, and if I try to fight, I’m going to get Emmy hurt. Instead, I crush her against my chest and get ready for a verbal fight—the only kind I can realistically engage in right now.

Lonnie leers at me. “Thought you could run away?”

“You want me to run away,” I say. “You—you want me to leave Greystone territory. You don’t want me here.”

That scares me badly. I know why he chased me, but why did he stop me? According to Brandon, he wanted me gone. Leaving should have been enough.

What’s changed?

A couple of the other men shift, though most of them remain in wolf form. They’re all strangers to me, although I do wonder if that’s just my fear getting the best of me. Maybe if I were calm, I would recognize these men.

It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who they are. What matters is that my daughter is in danger.

“Let me go,” I say, doing my best to control the shaking in my voice. “We’ll leave the pack territory. You’ll never see me or my baby again. I promise. You won’t have to worry about us.”

Lonnie looks at one of his men. “Take the kid.”

“No!”

They all ignore my scream. One of the men steps forward and rips Emmy out of my arms, and with Lonnie holding me still, I can’t do anything to stop it.

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