Page 31 of Forbidden Pregnant Mate

“What if you can’t?” Freya asked. “He’s dangerous. More than you realize. There was a rumor—arumor, not even a straight-up fact—that another shifter might try to challenge him for pack alpha when his father died. Isaac didn’t like that, so he challenged him to a fight. It was supposed to be friendly, just a training type of thing for fun. But Isaac killed him and claimed it was an accident. No one argued, and no one could prove otherwise. And Jenn isn’t the first time he’s tried to force himself onto a girl. He’s done it to others, though not to the same extreme as he did with Jenn.”

Inside, my wolf growled, flexing his claws restlessly, itching to kill an enemy we had no way of locating. He wanted to punish that shifter for hurting Jenn, to tear out his throat and make him pay. I couldn’t say I wasn’t feeling the same thing.

“He was obsessed with her for months, stalking her and finding out everything he could. He was relentless. And when Isaac sees something he wants, he takes it. No matter what.”

When she trailed off, I sat there awkwardly for a moment, staring at her like an idiot.

“Yeah,” I finally managed to say. “Yeah, she left out some important details.”

Freya snorted and nodded. “Sounds like her.”

My brain was swimming as Freya’s words continued processing. Isaac was worse than I’d imagined. I’d thought hewas a scumbag, but I hadn’t realized just how dangerous he was. The fact that Jenn had managed to fend him off with minimal scratches was only because Freya had been there. But the fact that the two of them had still managed to do it was incredible.

“Thank you,” I said. “Both for helping her that night and for coming to warn her. If you weren’t such a good friend, things would have turned out very differently.”

“Of course I helped,” Freya said. “It’s Jenn. You understand.”

I gave a soft smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Still, after everything Freya had said, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I understood why Jenn had downplayed everything, but the fact that she’d had to deal with Isaac for an entire year and had experienced something so terrible that night made it feel different.

More than ever, I felt the urge to go to her. I needed to be near her, as if I didn’t find her right then, I would go nuts. I wanted to be able to touch her, talk to her.

I went to knock on her door, but could already tell that she wasn’t in there. Her scent was stale. Then I heard rustling noises from the kitchen and headed down the stairs.

She was there, her back facing me, her blond hair trailing down her back. She was looking for something, completely oblivious to the fact that I was there, and she was humming slightly. The whole thing was rather cute, and part of me wanted to keep watching for another moment just to admire her. But a stronger part of me tugged me forward, wanting to be close.

“Hey,” I said, moving to stand behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist. I felt the beginning of a baby bump there. “How are you doing?”

“I really want peanut butter and jalapeños,” she said.

It was so blunt and matter-of-fact that I couldn’t help but laugh.

“I knew you were supposed to get cravings, but that wasn’t what I was expecting,” I said. “Do you want some marshmallows with that?”

“Watch it,” she growled. “Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t tear your head off.”

“Oh, I fully believe you could kill me in about two seconds,” I said. “But you won’t.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I’m too handsome, and you can’t control yourself around my irresistible charms,” I said. “And you’d miss the sex.”

“There’s this marvelous thing called a dildo,” she said, crossing her arms even as a smirk spread across her face. “I think I’d survive.”

“Sure, but can a dildo do this?” I stepped forward and nibbled her neck the way I’d learned she liked. She moaned softly.

“Okay, that I might miss,” she allowed.

I kissed her collarbone. “I do need to talk to you.”

She stiffened in my arms. “What?”

I let out a deep sigh. “I talked to Freya. She told me more about Isaac and what happened. Why didn’t you tell me how bad it really was?”

“I figured I got the point across without it,” she said. “I didn’t really want to think too hard about what happened.”

“No, I don’t blame you,” I said. “But I wish you’d felt comfortable telling me. I feel like you keep a lot back, and it makes me worry.”

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