“We need to find that Herb guy,” Shawn told Trip.
“I may have him.I found a guy named William Benson who is a registered Pantera member.”
“What makes you think he’s Herb?”Shawn asked.
“Well, he’s a known botanist for the Pantera.Seems like as good a place as any to start,” Trip said with a shrug.
“How deep is he into Pantera territory?”Marcus asked.
“That’s the best part, he’s on the outskirts.”
“Let’s go pay him a visit.”
They all piled into Trip’s truck and headed out.Shawn thrummed his fingers on his leg the entire ride over to the botanist’s house.There was too much at stake if this guy wasn’t the Herb they were after.Shawn trusted Trip’s gut, and he seemed to think this would be the guy.That or Trip was feeling just as desperate as Shawn was.They all must have been crazy because they were driving into Pantera territory in broad daylight to all but kidnap one of their elders.Shawn just hoped that the guy lived far enough in the outskirts that they could get a good enough coverage to get in and drag the guy out without alerting the entire pack.
Chapter 29
El
A full weekhad passed since they had taken El from her mates.She hadn’t admitted it to Willow or the others yet, but she was positive she was pregnant as well, too.Not only was her belly beginning to round out, but also she was having morning sickness and strong cravings.They told her Willow was seeing to all the proper prenatal care she would need being a shifter, but El had been raised as a human, so every fiber of her being was telling her she needed to see a doctor.Wouldn’t a shifter baby need prenatal vitamins, too, if not more so than a human baby?
“El, would you like a bowl of cereal?”Willow asked, pulling El from her thoughts.
Persia and Leilani were gone for the day.El was jealous that they got to come and go as they pleased.At this point, El would just be grateful for a day outside.Her stomach growled, reminding her Willow had offered her food.
“Yeah,” El told her.
She stood up and headed to the kitchen and took over making her bowl of cereal.El didn’t want anything more from Willow than what was necessary.
“Cereal is full of all the vitamins and nutrients you need for the baby.It’s the equivalent of prenatal vitamins,” Willow told her.
El stopped what she was doing and eyed Willow carefully.It was as if the woman had been listening to her thoughts.El shook off the idea; she was getting paranoid with all the craziness that had been going on in her life.El didn’t acknowledge Willow’s statement but made a mental note to eat as much cereal as she could stand going forward.
“El, I know you feel I betrayed you, and I suppose in a way I did by withholding information, but I truly do miss our friendship.I have your best interests at heart.”
“Willow, you apologize every day, multiple times a day and every day I ignore them.I’d rather we just not even go through this.I’m not forgiving anything.I’m just biding my time until I can get the hell out of here.”
“We can’t let you leave until after the babe is born.”
“Hopefully, I think of something sooner, or my mates find me.”
“I miss Adam, too,” Willow admitted.
“If I won’t accept your apology I certainly won’t feel pity for you.At least you’re not pregnant while being forced to be away from your mate.If you wanted, you could go see Adam.”
“Your mates would—”
“They’d want to kill you but they wouldn’t.They’re honorable men, and you’re more valuable alive because you could take them to me.See, you could go see him.”
“I won’t.”
“I know, but you could.I can’t do anything.Everything in my life is determined for me by some prophecy and then those who know thewholeprophecy force it on me and kidnap me.”
El ate a bite of her cereal, and her stomach growled louder.El felt like inhaling the entire bowl but forced herself to eat at a nice slow pace.
“Your babe is growing, you’ll be hungry more often, and you’ll need to make sure you eat often to keep your strength up.”
“I can handle myself,” El snarled.
