Page 62 of Fated Alpha Baby

“She’ll be safe here, Hannah.” Conan squeezes my arm with reassurance. “Let’s go. Hale will be back in the valley soon,” he reminds me of the captured human who will return with Alpha William’s and Alpha Theodore’s convoy. “You should prepare for the ritual tonight.”

I nod, mentally preparing myself for what’s about to unfold. The officials of the packs and the coven had been invited to Bitterroot Valley for another meeting, and for the ritual Amalia claims I need to participate in to uncover the secrets Marcus Hale is hiding. Why the demons are opening a portal, and who’s leading the whole operation.

Turning toward Conan, I find him staring at me as if he can sense what I’m feeling. He probably can, through the mate bond, and that’s why he leans in until his face is only a mere inch from mine.

The warmth of his breath, the potent mintiness in his scent, make me feel safe.

“I believe in you, Hannah,” he whispers. “If anyone can do this, it’s you. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

“You’re right,” I say, my lips curling to a smile of determination, my spirit ignited with a fire that hasn’t existed before. “I have to do this. For Clarissa. For Nico. For all of us.”

Conan lifts my hands to his lips and presses a chaste kiss on my knuckles, feeding that fire. “And I will be right there with you, for whatever you need. All you’ve gotta do is say the word.”

***

The meeting with the allies drags on long after sunset.

By the time everyone settles into their seats around the conference table inside Red Moon’s gathering hall, exhaustion hangs heavily over the room. Exhaustion, frustration, and determination.

No one says it aloud, but we’re all thinking the same thing.

Nico was rescued.

The portal wasn’t closed.

And Clarissa is still in danger.

The thought alone is enough to keep my attention fixed on the discussion unfolding around us.

“Nico’s shift wasn’t normal,” Amos from the Bitterroot Valley research team says, spreading several notes across the table. “I’ve reviewed every account from Milford.”

The elderly scholar adjusts his glasses, allowing a moment of pause across the room before continuing, “When the child shifted, the portal reacted.”

A silence follows because everyone saw it happening.

I remember the way the darkness twisted. The way the swirling energy above the sawmill fractured for a few brief seconds, as though something had interrupted the flow of power.

“The portal weakened,” Annika concedes quietly.

“It did,” Amalia agrees. “For a moment, it almost looked like it could have disappeared.”

Conan’s hand finds mine beneath the table, and he gently laces his fingers through mine. Though the gesture is small, it’s grounding. Comforting. And I don’t pull away, because I need that feeling right now.

Glancing at Orlando, it’s clear to see that while he’s relieved we found Nico, he remains unsettled. No child should have to go through what Nico did. And the demons are still out there, still a threat to us, to the hybrid children.

Sophie and Damian feel it, too, that uneasiness. Damian has his arm around Sophie’s shoulders, while she cradles her belly with both hands, her brows never straightening. She’s about to give birth to their child, and now the children of alphas and witches are in grave danger.

“If hybrid children are powering the portal,” Heinrich says thoughtfully, “then removing them from the equation would naturally weaken it.”

Amalia nods. “Perhaps.” She slowly rises from her seat. “But I believe there is more to it than that.”

Every eye turns toward her, and she nods at Amos as if she’s about to reveal a secret only they know about.

“The demons aren’t simply using the children. They’re after something connected to them.”

A chill crawls down my spine.

“What do the demons want with our children?” Orlando asks immediately.