“Ell… What did you do with him?”
My voice was unsteady, just a trickle.It was still enough to make Steven shove me into a tree.
The air went out of me, and then he was behind me.
“Do those freaks really do it for you?What is it, huh?Their wolf cocks, or their tails?”He grunted as if he were dismissing me like one of his students.“The biologists in our network have a theory about them spreading some kind of rabies, maybe a prion disease.We’ll test you, get a biopsy, maybe make you normal again.We had a fucking good thing going, you and me, but you had to go and make a mess over nothing.”
I was furious, acutely so.But I was also scared.“Where’s Ellis?Let me see him, and I’ll do what you want.”
He was still pushing me against the trunk, and I felt his laughter wash over me as my ribs grated against the bark.
“It’s true, isn’t it?There is something that they do to you when they bite you.Or is it when they fuck you?Doesn’t even fucking matter.I’m not going to let you give it to me.Do you really think I’m that stupid, or do you think you’re that irresistible?We’ll have you checked and prodded, and then maybe we’ll be able to get you back to normal.Unless your brain is all mush, of course, but a biopsy will tell us that.”
Biopsy.The cold fingers of fear made my spine tingle.
He pulled me away from the trunk by my arm, and I screamed, nausea hitting me with a bout of dizziness.I didn’t throw up, but it was a narrow thing.
It was the woods, and the woods, and the woods.Steven dragged me.I could barely breathe.I was crying, but that was mostly because of the pain.I hurt, and I was so fucking scared.
After what felt like ages, we came to a narrow dirt road.The others were there.They were tying Ell to some kind of buggy—an all-terrain vehicle.Steven had mentioned those.He’d told me about how he’d once tied a doe he’d killed to it, and how her head had popped when it had hit a rock he’d accidentally driven too close to.Remembering him laughing while telling that story and seeing Ell being bound to it made me feel sick to my stomach all over again.
The wolf was here too.He was quiet, kind of in a weird way.I’d never known my wolves to be that quiet—no, that wasn’t even it.Subdued.The wolf seemed not to want to be noticed.Our eyes met.He didn’t do anything when Steven shoved me toward one of the ATVs.
One of the other camouflage-wearing guys looked over.“You move slow.That a thing with you heralds?”
Steven grunted.“It’s Marc here.They fucked him up really bad.”
One of the men spat on the ground, his cold eyes looking at me as if I were a doe about to be strapped to a car.“Gotta get him to Camelot.’S good we got him in one piece.This big motherfucker too.I bet they’ll be able to use him for their Storm Hounds.”He kicked up dirt in the direction of the wolf, who flinched and cowered without making a single noise.“Too bad they can’t get this mutt to be more useful.Goddamn freak.”
Steven made a sound of agreement, a male grunt exchanged in kind.“Well, he was useful in getting them.Fuck, Marc, can youmove?”
I didn’t want to, but I felt like the ground was turning to quicksand right where I stood.He dragged me to one of the ATVs and let go of my arm.I was pretty sure it was broken, and I hissed when he released it, the pain doubling.
I was close to passing out, but that didn’t matter to any of these people.Steven put zip ties on me, and then he zipped them to the ATV’s roof.Then we were driving.They had Ell on the back of the ATV in front of us.The wolf was running next to the leading ATV.
Tears stung my eyes, but I didn’t dare close them.I watched Ell and hoped there wasn’t a rock on the way to wherever they were taking us.I watched and watched and hoped he’d be okay.
31
“He’s going to have our baby,” Dom said while I was washing the dishes in the sink.“It’s going to look like him, right?Just as cute, and it’s going to have his eyes—” He froze.“I have to find out where I can babysit.Hey, why’re you doing that?We have a dishwasher, you know?”
I wiped my forehead without drying my hand first and frowned, then went right back to scrubbing.“You need to calm down.Don’t text anyone.”
I turned and saw his face fall.
“But why?Oh.You mean because we should wait for it to be official?Come on, you could smell it too.Isn’t it funny?This morning, I couldn’t, but now, loud and clear.”
“Dom, he might not want to be a dad.An omega dad.He might not want to keep it.”
I didn’t want to watch my words hit home, but I did anyway.He looked as if he were about to cry, then he whined and shivered, instinct making him want to shift.
“Shit.I…I didn’t even…” He bit his lip.“That didn’t occur to me.”
“That was very clear when you said you’d build a crib.”
“Well, I will—would.I would.I…” He raked both hands through his hair and made for the door.“Shit.I hate guys who just assume their girlfriend wants to be a mom.Linc, I’m the kind of guy I hate.”He clicked his tongue.“I’m going after them.You have to come too.We’ll tell him we’re not numbskulls who live out in the boonies.We’ll explain that we don’t expect that from him.Fuck me.”
“I think Ell’s got it for now.”I put a cup on the drying rack, then realized I hadn’t even rinsed it.It oozed fine white bubbles all over.I sighed.“Dom, he’s an omega.”
