Page 38 of Forbidden Pregnant Mate

“Sorry,” I muttered. “Just lost in thought.”

“You don’t want to be here, do you?” Alek asked.

For some reason, I wasn’t surprised that he’d figured it out. He wasn’t my best friend for nothing.

“It’s not just that,” I said. “It’s that something doesn’t smell right. Something is off. I just don’t know what it is.”

“Don’t worry,” Alek said. “Soon, we’ll get this taken care of, and then all we’ll have to worry about is making sure Malcolm doesn’t kill you when he finds out about you and Jenn.”

I grunted but didn’t say anything. Something was nagging at the back of my head, telling me I was missing something important.

I knew I shouldn’t be here; I should have been at the house with Jenn. Me being here was wrong, and it wasn’t just because I wanted to be back with Jenn, protecting her and our unborn cub. My instincts were telling me that something about this situation didn’t smell right. The only problem was that I had no idea what might really be happening.

“You all right?” Jameson asked, coming to sit down next to me.

“Of course I’m not,” I snapped. “I shouldn’t be here. I don’t like the idea of Jenn being by herself like this. I shouldn’t have listened to you.”

“We need you here,” Jameson said. “Trust me. I know what it’s like to leave behind people you care about when you want to make sure they’re safe. But this is what’s going to keep her safe. We’ll catch the guy tonight, and then this’ll all be over, and you can go back to Jenn and deal with your real problem, which is how to tell Malcolm about his daughter being pregnant with your cub without him murdering you after.”

I shot him a glare but didn’t say anything. My fingers flexed, curling in and out of my fists. I wanted to leave. Every instinct was telling me to walk away. Something kept prickling at my neck as if my instincts were trying to tell me something. But when your alpha orders you to do something, you listen.

Jameson sat there for another minute, waiting for me to say something. When I stayed mute, he sighed and pushed himself to his feet.

“We’ll get moving soon,” he promised. “And once that happens, things’ll go quickly. You’re needed here.”

And he walked away.

I mulled his words over in my head, and the more I thought about them, the more I disagreed. I wasn’t supposed to be here. My wolf was pacing restlessly, tugging me back toward Jenn. It was as if he knew something was wrong. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was right. This felt too easy.

Suddenly, I was hit with an overwhelming certainty that I needed to leave. Something was wrong. Jenn was in danger and she needed me, even if I didn’t know what was happening.

I shot to my feet. Alek stared at me, startled. Jameson turned from his conversation with Sam to look over at me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’ve got to go,” I said.

“What are you talking about?” Jameson growled, stalking over to me. He stood in front of me, staring me down. I didn’t look away.

“It’s a trick,” I said. “He knows where Jenn is. He’s heading there now. The large camp is the decoy because he knows we’ll put everything there. He has to know that Freya came here, so he came with a plan.”

“And this is theory or…”

“You know it’s a theory.” I snarled. “Where the hell am I supposed to have gotten evidence for it in the last handful ofhours? But you also know I’m right. Jameson, we can’t just let Jenn and Freya stay on their own.”

“You’re not thinking straight,” Jameson snarled. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam and Oliver watching with interest. They exchanged glances, then looked over at Alek, who shrugged. “I know why you want to go back, but if you’re wrong, then we’re going to need all hands on deck.”

“I’m not wrong, and you know it.”

My wolf was pacing, wanting to take a swipe at Jameson for his sheer idiocy. How the fuck could he be this dense?

“I’m not staying,” I snapped. “I’m going back to help Jenn. If you want to fight me over it, fine. But fight me after Isaac is dead and buried. In the meantime, I’m going back.”

“Klyte—” Jameson started, but I was already stripping, preparing to shift and race back to Jenn. I should never have left. I loved Jenn. She was mine to protect, mine to be with. And no one was going to say otherwise, including my alpha.

Sometimes, there was no course but to ignore your alpha. Especially when said alpha was being a dense idiot and not listening to you.

“What are you doing?” Jameson demanded behind me. I thought he was talking to me, so I just ignored him. But then a familiar voice spoke behind me.

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