Page 46 of The Protector’s Heart

Malachi chuckled. “I think you’re just trying to get Acksel used to having a kid around the house.”

“Jack is very handy, and he’s so adorable.”

Nila pressed the signed papers to her chest and sighed in relief. “We can drop these off at my lawyer’s office on the way home tonight.”

“I’ll have one of the omegas take them over,” Malachi said, reaching for his phone. As he pulled it from his pocket it buzzed, and he glanced at the screen with a frown, stepping away from the desk and few paces down the hallway.

“Wonder what that was about?” Brynn asked as she sat behind the desk.

Nila shrugged, but something about the way that Malachi suddenly tensed made worry streak through her.

Malachi cursed and disappeared into the breakroom so fast he was just a blur. When he raced back to the reception desk, he had her purse and coat. “Someone set a fire at the daycare.”

“What?” she shrieked, the papers falling to the ground as panic clawed at her.

Malachi held her coat for her, and it took her a second to realize he wanted her to put it on. “The guards went in to help get the kids out, and they realized that Jack was gone. Someone took him while the teachers and kids were panicking.”

Her legs turned to jelly and it was only Malachi’s strong grip that kept her from hitting the tile floor. He gave her a little shake. “Sweetheart, stay with me. We need to go to Acksel’s house and figure out how to get Jack back.”

She swallowed back the fear that lodged in her throat and put her coat on, following Malachi out of the clinic and into the bitter cold.

She tried not to think about how scared Jack must be. Had Damien grabbed him, or sent some of his buddies? Had they gotten his jacket and hat? Was he hungry or hurt or scared? Questions wheeled through her mind as Malachi tore out of the parking lot, the engine of his SUV roaring like a lion.

“We’ll get him back safely, Nila, I swear on my life.”

She wanted to trust him, but she was too terrified to do anything but stare out the windshield and pray that her son was okay.

* * *

Acksel’s house was bustling with activity. Nila sat on the couch while Malachi, Acksel, and a large group of men talked about Jack and her crazy ex. She was trying to be strong for her son, but she was scared senseless. She had no idea what Damien would do to Jack. She glanced at the clock. An hour had passed already.

She reached for a cup of hot tea that Jeremiah had made for her. He and a few other men were standing at the back of the room, not participating in the discussion on how to get her son back, and she glanced over her shoulder and looked at them.

Jeremiah stepped forward quickly and knelt behind her. “Did you need anything else, Nila?” he whispered.

“No, I just… I’m trying to distract myself by not thinking about what’s going on with my son.”

He smiled sadly. “I’m sorry for what you’re going through. Malachi will get him back.”

He patted her shoulder and moved to the back of the room again. She realized she was wondering about him and the other men back there because she didn’t want to think too hard about what was going on with Jack right now. She was about one dark thought away from losing it. Damien didn’t have a paternal bone in his body. She’d only left Jack with him once when he was a baby. She’d needed to go to the doctor and Damien had said he’d watch him, but when she’d come back a few hours later, Damien was gone and Jack was screaming in his crib. Damien said later that his dad had called a meeting and he wasn’t about to take a half-breed with him, so he’d left him, and then he blamed her for being a bad mother and not being there when her son needed her. She’d never made that mistake again, never trusted Damien alone with him.

Her phone danced on the coffee table as it vibrated, and she reached for it automatically. Everyone went quiet in the room as she checked out the screen and saw that it read ‘unknown.’ Swallowing hard, she answered.

The first thing she heard was Jack crying. Her heart clenched and her stomach dropped into her feet. Damien said, “I don’t have to tell you how disappointed I am in you, bitch. I told you that you would never be free from me. I own you, no matter what marks are on your neck.”

“Please don’t hurt Jack.”

He chuckled mirthlessly. “Half-breeds are of little value to the pack, and I’m too busy to keep an eye on him.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out as fear choked her. She managed to whisper, “Damien, please.”

“You’ll come crawling back to me by sunset, or your little half-breed takes a long walk in the dark woods. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes,” she squeaked.

“I’ll meet you at the place where you first spread your legs. Come alone, or you’ll never see him alive again.”

The call ended and she sat frozen, the phone pressed to her ear, her eyes filling with tears.

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