Page 17 of Pregnant Wolf's Mate

The next words that fell from his lips caused Macie’s eyes to open immediately, “Is it mine?”

She glowered at him, a low growl erupting from her throat. Anger surged up inside of her and for a moment she felt as though her wolf might actually decide to make an appearance. It was typical that it would do so now when she didn’t really have need of it, although the thought of clawing Ray’s ears off was definitely beginning to appeal to her.

“Of course it’s yours, you stupid furball!”

Snatching herself from his grip, she felt her anger subsiding into embarrassment and the heat in her cheeks started to run down her neck and into her chest. Not only had she just admitted to him that the pup she was carrying was his, but also that she had never really been with anyone else. Normally she wouldn’t have batted an eyelid at the thought of it but somehow, standing in front of Ray as she was, she felt small and fragile and innocent, and not at all the kind of she-wolf who could allow herself to be pregnant.

Had she just made herself look foolish or desperate or even both and another million things in between? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t even sure how Ray was going to react to the news. So far he just stood there, staring at her and looking pale. In fact, he looked quite ill, especially for a werewolf.

“How…how is that…” he began to stammer, shaking his head as though he couldn’t believe it. “What are we going to do about it?”

Macie wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about that. On the one hand, she thought he had absolutely no say in the matter considering it was her body. On the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel a small swell in her heart as she realized he had lumped himself in with her.

This isn’t the time, a small voice sounded in the back of her mind, and she knew it was right. This most definitely wasn’t the time. The throbbing at the side of her neck told her that perhaps the demon wolf had managed to cut her skin after all and reaching up, she touched the area where it throbbed.

When she removed her hand once more to look at her fingers, she saw that her fingertips were red with blood. Though it wasn’t a significant amount, it did concern her, not for herself but for her sister who had already dashed off in the direction the demon wolf had taken off in.

“We should discuss it later,” she said through gritted teeth, wiping the blood away from her neck and hoping that maybe she might actually heal just a little quicker than a human. “Right now we have to go after Lottie. We can’t leave her to take on a demon wolf alone.”

She half-turned, preparing to run after her sister and the demon wolf whose foul stink was strong enough for even her to follow. She hadn’t even managed to take a step when Ray darted forward and grabbed hold of her wrist, preventing her from going anywhere.

“You should wait here,” he insisted, shaking his head, his grip tightening on her arm.

“Like hell I will!” Macie snapped back at him, snatching her hand free of his grip. She was already fed up with men putting their hands on her and coming from Ray, it wasn’t any better. “My sister is out there!”

The defensive, dominant stance that Ray stepped into might have worked if she had been more connected to her wolf but as she was, in human form and with no desire to submit to him, Macie shoved him away from her.

“Macie, I won’t allow you to get hurt,” Ray snapped at her, reaching for her again. The protective nature of his tone both made her heart swell and pissed her off in equal measure.

She whirled back around to glare at him and snarled, “You have no right whatsoever to tell me what to do!”

With that, she turned and started to race off in the direction her sister and the demon wolf had taken before he could stop her.

Fucking werewolves, she thought begrudgingly as she went. The men especially were always determined to have the last say in everything, but there was no way in hell she was going to let Ray fucking McCormack tell her what to do. Even if she was carrying his pup.

Chapter 10 - Ray

Mind reeling with what he had just learned, Ray wasn’t sure he had the energy to fight with Macie right now. But one thing he knew for sure was there was no way in hell he was going to allow her to put herself in danger, not if she really was carrying his pup. Right now the truth of it didn’t matter. The possibility was enough to send him hurtling at full force through the trees after her.

And soon he was charging ahead, leaving her well behind, determined to be the one to meet the demon wolf head on if that was what it took to keep her and her sister safe. He was pretty certain that if he allowed anything to happen to Lottie, Macie would never forgive him. Though he didn’t know entirely why he cared so much, he decided now wasn’t the time for thinking, now was the time for action. And so, he ran as fast as he could, fighting his wolf as the beast tried to break free of his skin.

Though he would likely have been able to run faster once he shifted, the shift in itself might well cost vital seconds that he just simply didn’t have, not if he was going to stay well ahead of Macie and her shorter human legs.

And as he broke free of the woodland, struggling through the undergrowth that clung at his clothes like grasping fingers, his heart sank deep into his stomach. There before him, scaling the wall, was a huge flaming werewolf that had to have been at least twice the size of any ordinary wolf he had ever laid eyes upon. It scaled the wall easily, looking as though its claws had no problem holding onto the brick.

But the most concerning thing of all was the she-wolf standing at the bottom of the wall. She stood there unmoving, just watching, her head turned up to the wall as if she were admiring the advancement of the beast.

What the fuck? Ray thought, unable to believe what he was seeing. Racing forward, he snarled, “Lottie, what the fuck are you doing? You let him escape!”

“What was I supposed to do? Throw myself on top of a flaming wolf?” Lottie demanded, turning her glaring blue eyes upon him. For a moment she looked at him with as much aggression as her sister always had, and he had to grit his teeth in order to stop from offering a sharp retort.

Turning his attention back up the wall, he wondered what he could do to rectify the situation. Realizing Lottie was right was perhaps the worst thing about it all, and he found himself blurting, “How did he even get his spelled cuffs off? He couldn’t have been wearing them or his wolf would have just been a normal wolf.”

He thought for a second of the many, many spelled wrist cuffs that Malia and Emily had made in order to contain the beasts of the demon wolves within the Silverdale pack’s custody, and he knew from his own time as a guard that there were only two keys in existence, both of which had been left with the witches for safekeeping. There was absolutely no reason to remove the cuffs, so there had been no reason to keep them within the manor. And yet, this demon wolf had somehow managed to get his hands on one of them. At least, he had to have because he couldn’t possibly have removed it with sheer force. The witches’ magic spells were far too powerful for that.

For a second, Ray thought he saw a look of contrition pass over Lottie’s face. It was there just long enough for Ray to feel a stirring of instinct in his gut that told him all wasn’t quite as it seemed. Then just as quickly it was gone and Lottie shrugged her shoulders, still glowering at him. “How the fuck should I know? Just because I actually gave chase when you stood there looking like an idiot doesn’t mean you get to interrogate me!”

“Fuck, Lottie, what did you do?” he snarled angrily, his hands tightening into fists.

---