“Damn,Harris—Ithought you said he’d fuck her to death!Butlookit her—she’s still alive.”
“Fuck—you’re right,”Harrisanswered, sounding disgusted.“Wecan’t let ‘em live after this—he got her pregnant for sure.She’llhave another one of those monsters growing in her belly if we don’t stop it.”
“I’ll get the trank gun,” the otherAlphareplied.
“Good—you shoot the cursed wolf, andI’llgetLadyJamison,”Harrissaid.
That woke me up.
I sat and tapped theBeastanxiously on the shoulder.
“Hey, big guy—we have to get out of here!”
He looked up at me, butIsaw no comprehension on his big, golden eyes.ThenIheard the crack of a rifle and something zinged past me, close enough thatIcould feel the wind of its passing.
“Fuck—missed!”IheardHarrisgrowl.
It was then thatItruly understoodIwas going to be running for my life.
I scrambled to my hands and knees and began crawling as fast asIcould towards the tree line.Iheard another shot and then theBeastroared in anger.
“Fuck—you hit ‘im!”the otherAlphacried.
“I was aiming at the widow—he got in the way,”Harrissnapped.“Hurryup and trank him—he’s gonna be pissed if he figures out we’re trying to kill his mate.”
Then came thepfft!sound of the tranquilizer gun.Tomy horror,Isaw a feathered dart protruding from theBeast’sfurry hide.
“No!”Icried.“Oh, no!”
I still wasn’t quite sure howIfelt about what had happened in theMoonGladethat night, butIdid know that theBeastwas part ofKor.Ididn’t want him to die!
But ifHarrishad thought he could sedate my mate inBeastform as easily as he had in human form, he was wrong.TheBeastroared in anger and charged for the tree line, seeking to punish his persecutors.
“Kor, wait!”Icried, but my voice was drowned out by the panicked shouts of theAlphasunder the trees.
“Shoot him!Fuckingshoot him!”IheardHarrisscreaming, his voice gone high as a girl’s with terror.
“I’m fucking trying—he’s too damn fast.Run, just r?—”
The last word ended in a breathless scream and then there were terrible, wet, ripping sounds like flesh being torn off bones.
The ironic thing was, if theAlphashad come out into the moonlight andShifted, they might have had a chance in their wolf forms.Butas humans, they were no match for the eight-foot-tallBeast.Hetore through them like tissue paper, spraying blood and breaking bones in a ruthless slaughter.
I tried not to look—Iwas glad of the shadows that hid the worst from me.Istaggered to my feet and ran as well asIcould—which wasn’t very well, sinceIwas so wobbly, into the forest.
FIFTY-TWO
VIVIENNE
Naked and disoriented, clutching my breeding belly with one hand and fending off branches with the other,Imade my way home.Itseemed to take hours beforeIsaw the light still burning in the kitchen ofWolvertonManor, but at lastIstaggered through the front door and collapsed.
I lay there panting, in the entryway for some time, just trying to orient myself again.Ifelt likeIhad just woken up from a nightmare—Imust have been sleepwalking and ended up by the front door.
But thenIlooked down at the bulge in my belly and knew this was no dream.TheBeasthad knotted me and bred me and then sealed me shut, in the way maleWeresdo, in order to keep his seed inside my womb where it could take root.
OhGod, wasIgetting pregnant with his baby even now?Andif so, was it theBeast’sbaby…orKor’s…or both somehow?
I didn’t know butImade myself get up and stagger to the shower.There,Irinsed off the grass stains and dirt and the seed that had leaked out of me—but there wasn’t much.ThoughIrinsed and rinsed between my legs, theBeast’sseal held tight.