Page 16 of Pregnant Wolf's Mate

There wasn’t really a good option, at least, not where she was standing.

And just when she didn’t believe that it could get any worse, she realized that she couldn’t have been more wrong. The sound of feet racing towards her was just as bad as it had been the first time, only this time there was more than one set.

Shit! she thought, her skin crawling as she tried to scent the air for who might be approaching. It was impossible to tell when all she could smell was the brimstone scent that was coming off the demon wolf in waves. What if there is an entire group of them loose?

She shook herself at that thought. There couldn’t possibly be an entire group of demon wolves loose inside Silverdale. The pack would never allow it. And yet here one was standing right in front of her, looking as though he was ready to dash at her at any moment.

And as the footsteps drew nearer, he did. Macie screamed, utterly taken by surprise by the way he grabbed hold of her and twisted her around so that her back was flush against his chest. She felt his hand wrap dangerously around her throat and in the next second she felt claws beginning to dig into her flesh.

The two newcomers who skidded to a halt at the edge of the clearing might have given Macie a little relief if not for the fact she still found herself utterly defenseless and at the mercy of the demon wolf who now had her by the throat.

Ray and Lottie both hovered at the edge of the clearing, both of them glaring at the man who had put his hands on her.

“Get your filthy hands off her!” Ray snarled at the other man, throwing his hands down at his sides in a gesture to show that his claws were protruding and ready to be used if the demon wolf so much as moved a muscle.

“You don’t have to do this,” Lottie added, taking a half-step forward, looking over Macie’s shoulder at the demon wolf as though she were pleading with him. The desperation in her eyes might have made Macie’s heart swell if not for the fact her terror was growing with every second that she felt terrible claws so close to her carotid artery. If he so much as nicked her in the right place, she could bleed out before anyone could help her, especially without the full connection to her wolf that offered so many others in the pack the extra healing abilities needed to survive such a thing. When it came to things like this, she might as well have been human. And that knowledge made her feel sick to her stomach.

There was nothing she could do if this demon wolf wanted to end her life. And from the looks on Ray and Lottie’s faces, they didn’t think they stood much chance of helping her either other than attempting to look threatening.

“Just let her go and we can talk about this,” Lottie added, looking desperate. She took another step forward, and Macie felt the demon wolf’s grip tightening on her throat.

“Please, listen to her,” Macie whimpered, barely able to get the words out past the pressure on her throat. She was trembling hard now, every muscle in her body screaming at her to run.

She even closed her eyes for a moment, praying that for once she might actually be able to call up her wolf, that maybe now she was in real danger her beast might actually come to her rescue.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized she felt nothing, not even a hint of a claw or fang trying to protrude. In fact, she could barely even sense her wolf at all.

And when she looked at Ray and saw the way he was snarling, his own fangs protruding as he glowered at the demon wolf behind her, she wasn’t sure whether she was pleased at him being there or not. Her first ever shift had been in his presence, and yet now she was so terrified that she couldn’t even attempt to connect with her.

Maybe if she had figured out how to access her on her own, she wouldn’t feel that way. Maybe if she had done it all herself, she would be able to protect herself right now instead of having to rely on her packmates, one of them the last wolf in the world that she wanted to see after what she had just found out.

"Don't come any closer!" The demon wolf yelled and Macie felt the claws at her throat beginning to dig in. Heart hammering harder, she didn't like where this was going one bit. "Stay where you are or I'll rip her throat out!"

And it was then, hearing the words from the demon wolf's own lips, that Macie realized she had only one option left. So she screamed, "No! Please! Don't! You can't!"

Frantically and instinctively, she began to pull away from him as she squealed, "I'm pregnant!"

At the very same instant Lottie screamed, "She's pregnant!"

Macie wasn’t sure who was more shocked, herself and her sister, Ray, or the demon wolf behind her. The look on Lottie’s face mirrored her own feelings exactly, but Ray looked absolutely gobsmacked.

What happened next came so fast that Macie barely had time to react. The demon wolf growled deep in his throat, sounding utterly frustrated. Then in the next instant, he released his grip from Macie’s throat and shoved his hand hard into the small of her back, forcing her forward in a reeling motion.

Arms spread, feeling like a wingless bird, Macie fell forward, stumbling and struggling to keep herself on her feet as she reeled directly at Ray. The force with which she had been pushed forced her into his arms before she could do anything to try and stop herself. But, even in his shocked state, Ray caught her.

His arms wrapped around her immediately, and he held her as though he was terrified to let go until he was certain she wasn’t going to fall any farther.

Out of the corner of her eye, Macie saw a flash of blonde hair as her sister raced past them, straight after the demon wolf whose footsteps were already pounding in the opposite direction.

Macie was about to point out that they should probably follow them when Ray pulled back to hold her at arm’s length. Glaring down at her and speaking through gritted teeth, he asked, “Is that true?”

Feeling her heart sink into her stomach, Macie couldn’t stop from responding, “Is what true?”

“Are you…are you pregnant?” Ray demanded, his jaw clenching harder until she could see the strain going down his neck.

Just hearing the question from his lips made Macie want to shrink inside herself and disappear. And yet the terror she had felt at the thought of something happening to her, or worse, to the pup inside of her, she couldn’t bear to think about it. Suddenly, the question that she had asked Malia less than an hour before made far less sense to her than it had then. In fact, she couldn’t believe she had even allowed the thought to cross her mind or even the question to fall from her lips.

Closing her eyes, her face twisting with the anticipation of what came next, she whispered, “I am.”

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