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Once we get to the edge of the forest line, I pause and turn, quickly lifting my mate in my arms. She stills at my touch but allows me to carry her with her arms wrapped around my neck to steady herself. Her fear is evident in her darting eyes and short breaths. I do my best not to jostle her. I don’t want to cause her or her pup any pain. Jealousy and anger creep up at the thought of her carrying Shadow’s child, but I push it down.
I take a few steady steps away from camp into the dark cover of the forest, but she pushes away from my body, almost causing me to drop her. Her small noises are enough that she could potentially alert the pack. I grip her tighter and let a small, low growl escape my throat in anger at her efforts to leave me.
She stares straight into my angered gaze and speaks in a firm, yet low, voice. “I won’t leave them.” Her bravery is admirable, but I wish she’d just trust me.
“You will stay where I leave you and I will get them.” There is no compromise in my demand. I’m not taking her back there. No fucking way.
“They won’t go with you. They’ll scream.” Although her voice is soft and full of apprehension, her expression is one of determination. As the precious seconds slip by, I consider her words and I have to admit that she’s right. I’ll have to handle them as I did her. But there are two of them and a wolf that could easily wake if they scream before I cover their mouths.
Once again, I’m reminded of how dangerous this task is.
Knowing all too well the consequences of failing, I move quickly, holding her tight to me as I walk through the forest, staying out of sight, gaining ground toward the pups. I carefully step through the brush with slow, deliberate steps. The branches bend under my weight and I shift slightly to avoid breaking them. There’s nothing I can do about the dried leaves and debris, though. I move as slowly as possible, hoping the sounds of the night cover the low crunching beneath my feet. It takes far too long for my comfort, but there isn’t any movement in the camp, so I try to ignore the time ticking by. I can do this slowly, the night is long.
My heart pumps louder, racing in my ears, as we near their hut. If only I could simply turn around and take my mate away from here with a clear conscious, I would. But I can’t leave the pups and it’s obvious that she’ll fight me if I even think about trying. At least their hut is closest to the trees—that’s the only gift I’ve been granted in this shitty situation. We’ll grab them quickly and quietly before heading into the forest and straight for my car. The pack will lose our tracks there and we’ll be safe. Although I’ll be returning to give Shadow what he truly deserves.
I walk with her in my arms, and her tiny fist clutches my shirt as we move into the clearing, away from our cover and closer to danger. I gently set her down, but keep her body pinned to mine. Her swollen belly hits my chest as I stand, and again I’m reminded of the fact that she’s carrying Shadow’s child. Her bare feet gain purchase in the grass, but I keep my hands firm on her wide hips. My blunt fingernails dig into her skin; I just can’t let go. A bad feeling grows in my gut, and I feel as if I stop holding her, even for just a moment, I’ll never be able to hold her again.
My blood rushes cold through my veins, chilling every inch of my body. Terror grips me; I don’t want to let her go. She looks up through her thick lashes and her gaze pierces into me. Her hazel eyes are mesmerizing as they plead with me to give her this. It calms my wolf like I’ve never felt. She already holds a power over me that I can’t explain. I know she needs this. She needs them.
I grit my teeth and slowly release my firm grip. I’m not sure how I should stand as we move from the safety of the trees. The closer we get to the pups, every angle will present a danger to her. I can’t stand the thought that I won’t be able to shield her from harm’s way.
I decide to enter the hut first; if that fucker’s awake I’ll rip his throat out without hesitation. I won’t give him the chance to scream. I hate that I’m risking the safety of my mate. With one step in, I leave my arm out with my hand firmly clamped on hers. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust now that I no longer have the light of the moon to lead my way. I settle my eyes on a large form in the center of the hut. The prick is sleeping on his stomach, his shoulders rising slowly and steadily. I wait a minute to make sure he’s really asleep before searching the remainder of the small area. I recognize the fucker to be the one who grabbed my mate by her hair, and I resist the urge to just slit his throat. The only thing keeping me from doing it is the fact that the pups are in the room. They don’t deserve to see that.
My nose scrunches as I take in the smell of whiskey and urine. Sure enough, empty glass bottles litter the floor. I make a note to be cautious while making my way to the pups. Behind the man are two small bodies, both curled and wrapped around each other, obviously cold. My gaze heats with anger as I notice the only blanket in the room is covering the man who’s sleeping soundly. I’m nearly overwhelmed with the need to rip it from his body and wake the bastard just to beat the shit out of him. I close my eyes for only a moment, putting my emotions in check.
Waving my head ever so slightly, I motion for my mate to enter. She moves with quiet, deliberate steps. The sight of the man doesn’t cause her to stop; she moves past him with agility, even though the weight of her belly seems to make her body tilt forward with each step. Her legs are shaky and her balance is slightly off. It makes me want to reach out to her and help her, but there’s no fucking way I’m taking my eyes off this massive shifter who’s only a foot away from my mate. I’m focused on him while she’s focused on getting the pups.
I glance quickly at my stealthy mate. She’s squatting next to the pups’ sleeping forms and gently places her soft hand on the little girl. The pup shifts in her sleep and the sound of her slight movements makes my eyes dart back to the fucker I should probably just kill. With bated breath, I watch my mate stroke the backs of each of the children, trying to wake them gently.
They’re so small, I wonder how old they are. They can’t be much older than a year or two; their movements earlier were so clumsy. In my old pack, before Devin, there were plenty of little ones, but I hardly paid them any attention. The women cared for them. My father had three pups, all boys. I was the oldest, my twin brothers were only a year younger than me. So I’ve never bothered myself with small children, I’ve never had to. But here I am in a room about to rescue two children, with a mate who’s pregnant.
Fuck, life can really throw you a curve ball.
The little girl’s eyes open slowly as she turns to lay on her back and look up at my mate. She’s a bit bigger than the boy, so I imagine she’s older. A small smile slips into place, but as my mate places her finger over her lips and releases a small, “shh,” the little girl’s eyes dart to her father and then to me. Her eyes widen and she pales instantly. It’s a look of fear. My mate places her small hand on the girl’s cheek and tilts her head to face her. She mouths the words “it’s okay.” Fortunately, the girl is easily swayed by my mate, and I let out a heavy breath. My mate motions for the little girl to stand and hold onto her and she obliges, looking back at the other pup and giving my mate a questioning and worried look. She nods her head before handing the little girl to me.
I’ve never held a child, but I reach across the shifter’s sleeping body and take the little girl in my arms. My mate doesn’t waste any time reaching for the next pup. The little girl eyes me warily and I do my best to avoid her gaze, focusing instead of my mate. She gently picks up the sleeping little boy and tries to turn, but her balance is fucking awful and she nearly falls. She’s quick to steady herself, but the sudden jolt to the little boy wakes him. As the child looks up at my mate, a huge smile brightens his sleepy face, but then he opens his mouth. My mate raises the hand she’s steadying herself with to her lips, but it’s too late.
“Lulu!” The little pup’s squeal has my eyes darting to the sleeping shifter. Angry silver eyes stare back at me. Fuck! A loud growl echoes off the mud walls as I drop the little girl. Before he has a chance to rise, I grab his throat in my hand and push the strong shifter back down onto the bed. The little girl whimpers as my mate grabs both pups and runs out of the hut, an arm around each of their tiny waists, balancing them on her hips. I hear movement and rough, tired voices from the camp as my palm pushes against the shifters mouth to keep him quiet.
I grip his throat tighter as he thrashes under me. My knees keep his arms pinned as he struggles to gain freedom and attempts to suck in air. Every ounce of anger and fear I’ve felt for hours tightens my grip. His body bucks against mine but I keep him pinned, having the obvious advantage. Adrenaline races through me, I push down with all my might, covering his mouth to muffle the noises and crushing his windpipe. I can’t let him live. I can’t risk the pack coming after us so soon. My heart pounds with the thought of my mate and those pups, unprotected, running through the forest. I listen for the sounds of the other shifters, but the night is quiet as I continue to push all of my weight onto this asshole.
Whoever woke up from the initial noise isn’t making a sound at the moment. I pray they go back to sleep and don’t look around. The shifter’s milky eyes spike with red as his face puffs and sweats. I watch him as my knuckles around his throat turn white. Looking into his hard eyes, they slowly turn red as the blood vessels break, and I choke him to death.
The second his body goes limp, I’m off him and following the scent of my mate through the camp and to the edge of the forest. My heart races, keeping me on high alert. I can easily hear them running frantically through the trees, just as easily as I hear the sounds of the shifters slowly waking up. My mate and the pups are making too much noise. It’s only a matter of time before curiosity turns to alarm and the wolves realize what’s happening. I bolt through the forest, crushing branches and brushing my large body against the bark. It scrapes my skin, but with all the adrenaline pumping through me, I don’t feel a damn thing. Being quiet is no longer an option. I need speed. I need to get to them and get to my car as soon as possible.
They are literally running for their lives.
Through the darkness, I barely spot my mate as soon as I enter the tree line. She’s struggling to hold both pups and run. The sight of her cradling a child on each hip as she scrambles through the brush is terrifying. She wouldn’t get far on her own, I’ve already nearly caught up to her. As soon as I reach my mate, I hear the pack behind me. A loud howl is followed quickly with barks and growls of fury. Fuck, they found him.
They’re coming for us.
“This way.” I speak so my mate knows it’s me that’s coming up behind her, but she still let’s out a small scream as I reach for her and grab her. As if it couldn’t get any worse, the growl of knowing snarls echoes behind us.
“Hold onto them.” I hold her as tight as I can without squishing the now crying pups or her belly. It’s a fucking challenge. The bulkiness of all of us makes running through the trees much harder than it should be. My muscles scream as I push them faster and harder than I ever have. The quickest way back to my car leads us through a section of forest where the trees are far too close together for me to fit all of us at once. I have to scatter my approach and shuffle us around the trees, ducking through branches and jumping over fallen trunks. My arm scrapes against the bark, but I push forward. Better my arm than the pups. My lungs heave for air, but I push forward. I recognize the path I took earlier and feel slight relief that we’re close.
That reprieve doesn’t last as I hear the sound of several shifters barreling toward us through the forest. They must be in wolf form to be running so fast. Fuck, I wish I could hold onto my mate and the pups in wolf form. We would already be there. But we’re close. The pup on my mate’s left hip screams, no doubt realizing that we’re being chased. I push faster as a cold sweat breaks along my skin and my muscles ache.
Just as I see my car in the clearing ahead, a pup slips. I grab the little girl by the nape and keep running while struggling to keep my mate on my hip. I can’t hold onto them for much longer, but I can see the car and my mate is gripping onto me with everything she has. I nearly crash my body into the steel frame, only slowing the tiniest bit to save me from crushing my mate and the pups. I yank the passenger door open and push them in before climbing across the front of my car to get to the driver’s door. I shove the key in the ignition while the pups climb over the console and my mate furiously tries to get them in the back safely.
