Page 15 of Pregnant Wolf's Mate

Shrugging his shoulders, he pointed out, “We may be inner pack rivals, but we are still members of the same pack and when someone or something threatens one member of the pack, they threaten us all.”

He saw Lottie cringe at that but before he could question her on why, she turned away again and began to race for the gates once more. “If you are coming, don’t slow me down again or I’ll leave you behind and find her myself.”

Ray had absolutely no intention of allowing that to happen. The clawing in his stomach, the way his wolf was trying to surge to the surface in order to search for Macie itself, it all made him feel sick.

No matter what happened, he had to find her. That much he knew. He just couldn’t understand why.

Chapter 9 - Macie

Feeling as though she needed to shift more than ever, Macie couldn’t bring herself to return to the manor. There were too many pack members there, too many people who would ask her what was the matter because it was next to impossible to hide strong emotions from other werewolves. It wasn’t just their noses that were powerful, it was their senses in general. And who knew? Someone else might smell the same thing that Lottie had smelled on her. How was she supposed to explain that one?

Instead of heading for the manor, she turned away from the apothecary and headed for the next best woodland in Silverdale, the woodland that skirted the very outer boundary of the entire community, keeping their place safe from the prying eyes of the outside world.

Finding herself a quiet clearing that blazed red with the dying light of the day, Macie closed her eyes and sucked in lungful after lungful of breath, hoping to steady herself enough to shift.

Though she had been trying not to think of him as much as possible, she had to now. Ray had been the only one to ever help her coax her wolf from the shadows of her being, and so she hoped that thinking of him now might actually help her rather than hinder her.

She thought of how it had felt for him to wrap his arms around her, how it had felt when she had pressed her back against his broad chest and felt his warmth envelope her. She thought of the sound his growling had made in her ear when he had been calling to her wolf. All of that and more overwhelmed her and for several moments she actually felt like he was there with her, his arms wrapped protectively around her all over again.

Just when she thought she might actually manage it, right when she was wondering whether she should have stripped off her clothes after all, her ears pricked to the sound of footsteps rushing towards her. The sound of heavy breathing and the rushing through the undergrowth set Macie’s teeth immediately on edge.

What was far worse was the scent that hit her nose when she lifted it into the air. It was a scent she had smelled only faintly before. It lingered upon the members of the pack who were forced into guard duty. But even the lingering scent upon them had been enough to churn her stomach.

Now the sulphuric smile of brimstone clotted in Macie’s nostrils and threatened to choke her. Instinctively, though the smell was disgusting, she turned towards the source.

It was at the very last moment that she found herself regretting having done so. The man burst from the undergrowth like a bullet. He barreled into her so unbelievably fast that she was flattened onto the floor before she even had a chance to realize what was happening.

Grabbing at the man atop her, she raked her fingernails across his face and braced herself for whatever reaction he might bring. It was only as the scent of him threatened to overwhelm her that the true extent of the danger she was in suddenly came into her mind. He’s a demon wolf!

Finally managing to untangle herself from his body, Macie jumped to her feet and crouched, looking as though she was prepared to shift at a moment’s notice. With a low growl in her throat, she glared at the man and asked, “Are you lost?”

Everything in her was telling her that she had to fight or run, but deep down she knew that neither was going to save her from this situation. She wasn’t fast enough to outrun a demon wolf, and she most definitely was not strong enough to overtake him in human form before he shifted into a fiery demon from hell.

One glance at his wrists told her that it would be all too easy for him to do so.

“Shit! Shit! Are you okay?” the man asked even as he clambered to his own feet, shaking leaf dust from his already soiled clothes. The concern in his tone shocked Macie even more than his barreling into her had and she straightened up, still glowering at him.

After all she had heard of the demon wolves, of all the warnings she and the other wolves had been given to stay well away from the dungeons and let the stronger, more experienced pack members handle it, the last thing she had expected from the man was concern.

Unable to think of anything else to say, Macie raised an eyebrow and responded, “Are you?”

She looked him up and down, able to tell from the looks of him that he had been down in the Silverdale cells for quite some time. His shirt was torn and tattered and a discolored brown color where it seemed to have once been white or maybe even cream. Though they seemed much closer to their original dark washed blue, his jeans weren’t much better and his bare feet looked sore, as though he had been standing in water for a long time and they were way past being wrinkled.

Maybe if she hadn't been so on edge, she might have actually pitied him. In fact, when he shook his head and started to speak, she actually did.

"I have to get out of here. I have to get back to my family."

There was such emotion in his tone, such desperation, that it clawed at Macie's insides and left her entirely uncertain of what she should do.

As though he sensed the moment of pity in her, he took a step forward, breaking the distance between them in a way that made Macie immediately step back.

"Please, you have to help me."

Macie took up yet another defensive stance, her hands balling into fists, her teeth bared. She prayed her fangs would protrude through at any moment. The last thing she needed right now was for a demon wolf to realize that she had no control over her own wolf. She would be entirely defenseless and at his mercy. It felt horrendous to know such a thing, to know that even this piteous, sad excuse for a man would be able to overpower her and make her do whatever he wanted if he so much as smelled that she couldn't call forth her wolf.

"You…you know I can't do that," she said through gritted teeth, shaking her head slowly so that she never took her eyes off him, never blinking. "I would be betraying my pack."

What choice do I have? she thought with a shiver. Help him now and have my pack flay me alive or refuse to help him and die now?

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