The cry was primal, tortured like a creature that has lost its mate. Damon stood on shaky legs. Hearing her cries of pain renewed his strength and he stumbled to the edge of the tree-line.
***
Madie kicked the fireman holding her. “Let me go, damn it. I’ve got to get inside.” She struggled, wrenching one man’s hand from her wrist. “You don’t understand the father of my child is in there.”
The firemen turned weary eyes toward the blaze. When they looked back at her, their faces reflected their sadness. “If he’s still in the house, then I’m afraid we’ve lost him.”
Tears welled up in Madie’s eyes. Damon couldn’t die. Not now. Pain ripped through her body, so strong it felt as if it would tear her in half. Her hands automatically dropped to her abdomen to protect it as grief enveloped her.
The fireman moved her back away from the house. She was lying on the grass, when Madie caught a flash of movement in the trees. Standing on the edge of the woods was a magnificent sable wolf. His gold eyes were eerily intelligent in their perusal of her.
She stared at the animal transfixed. He took a step back, and then another. Logic told Madie to run, but she didn’t—couldn’t. She found herself drawn to the creature. Before she realized what she was doing, Madie had crossed the lawn and stopped at the edge of the woods. The wolf was farther in, but had somehow waited for her. Instinct told her that the wolf wouldn’t hurt her. Logic called her every kind of crazy.
How could Gaston kill so many of these beautiful creatures? You’ll think differently if that wolf eats you. The little voice in her head retorted.
The wolf continued to stare at her, then stepped even deeper into the woods. Madie followed him, fascinated by the creature’s bizarre behavior. When she’d lost sight of the yard, the wolf stopped.
Suddenly the sable fur started to glow. It grew brighter and brighter, until Madie had to shield her eyes.
When the light finally faded, Damon stood in front of her completely naked. Madie couldn’t seem to remember how to breathe. The earth tilted on its axis and the ground beneath her feet fell away. Emotions flowed through her. She went from relieved that he was alive to angry, confused, and scared.
Damon took a step toward her.
“Don’t move.” She held up a shaky hand to ward him off. Her other hand subconsciously moved to her abdomen to protect her child.
“Now you know what I am.” He paused mid-step.
The trees started to spin and Madie stumbled back. “No, I don’t.”
He stood solemnly, soot covering half of his handsome face. Damon coughed, then his lip curled in a sneer. “I’m your bogeyman.” His voice held bitterness and resignation.
“You’re a monster, an abomination.” Tears filled her eyes.
He laughed, then coughed again. “It’s funny, that’s what the Lycanian Elders said about you.” Damon took another step closer.
***
“Stay away,” Madie screamed. “I mean it.” She choked on the words. Her heart hurt worse than if someone had taken a knife to her chest and cut it out.
“We have to talk.”
“There’s nothing left to say,” she said. “You’re a liar. You’ve lied to me from the beginning.” Madie gulped in air, trying to steady herself. She couldn’t afford to pass out. “This explains everything.” She indicated to him. “Why you rushed me out the morning after we had sex, the attack in the alley, all of it.”
“You know I made love to you that night.” Damon’s eyes narrowed. “As for the alley, I had nothing to do with that attack.”
“Do I?” Her mouth twisted painfully. “How would I know it was my first time?”
“Madie…”
She held up her hands. “Stop lying. I’m so sick of people lying to me.” She swallowed the bile that threatened to rise. “Tell me, did you do all this to hurt my father?”
He didn’t answer fast enough.
Her hand covered her mouth. “No, it’s not him you’re after. You want the book.”
Damon’s face hardened and his honey-colored eyes lost some of their brilliance. “I did what I had to do to protect my people,” he bit out. “If I made any mistake at all, it was falling for the next Hunter.”
“Well I’ll remedy that mistake right now. As soon as I get my inheritance, I’ll leave town and you’ll never have to see me again.” She turned to leave.
“Madie, don’t!” Damon reached out to touch her, but she pulled her arm away. “I won’t beg. Not even when the baby comes.” The determination on his chiseled face held little doubt about the sincerity of his words.
Madie was stunned. He knew about the baby.
Of course he knew about the baby, she’d told the firemen. Oh my god, the baby.
She wasn’t carrying a baby she was carrying a monster. Visions of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and the ‘Alien’ movies went through Madie’s mind in quick succession. What was she going to do?
“I don’t want to ever see you again,” she said, but couldn’t meet Damon’s eyes for fear she’d glimpse the hurt lingering in his amber depths.
Madie stumbled out of the woods and ran when she reached the yard. Her body quaked as she ripped the door of her car open and crawled inside. Her fingers shook as she pressed the lock button and started the engine. The flames were gone, but the fireman continued to douse the house.
She drove away in tears, refusing to look in the review mirror for fear of what she’d find. Madie glanced down at her stomach, cupping it tenderly. “It’s just you and me now, squirt.”
Tears made it difficult to see the road. The lines blurred as she drove aimless around New Salford. She was crazy, plain and simple. Losing her mind could be the only explanation for what she’d just witnessed. Werewolves did not exist. They couldn’t exist. Because if they did, then everything her father had told her had been true. She couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t accept that.
Madie had always thought it was only a matter of time before she and Gaston suffered from the same delusions.
Today, her nightmare had come true.
***
Damon knew he shouldn’t have transformed in front of Madie, but she’d seemed so distraught over his presumed death that he couldn’t help himself. What had he been thinking? She was human and frightened out of her mind.
What had she called him after he’d transformed? An abomination.
He winced as he recalled her exact words. His people had spent centuries trying to outrun that ugly word and now after all these years it was back again.
The pain that he felt was palpable. Madie would never accept him now. She’d never accept their child. Fear gripped Damon. She thought she had a monster growing inside of her.
Would she take the obvious way out and get rid of their baby?
It was her choice, but still…
Damon dropped to his knees. The thought of losing his bondmate and his child clawed at him, leaving deep welts on his soul. He reached out, hoping to connect with Madie’s mind, but found only darkness.
The howl that escaped his throat was one of pain and for the first time in his life--fear. He’d never cared about his own safety. He’d recklessly rushed into danger over the years with complete abandon. But that all changed with the bond. Now that he had a wife in the eyes of the pack and a child on the way, loss took on a whole new meaning.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Madie locked herself inside her apartment and spent the next forty-eight hours trying to process everything that had happened. She’d picked up the phone a dozen times to call Sarah, only to remember at the last minute that her friend was on a cruise with her family in the Bahamas. She wasn’t going to ruin it just because she was going insane.
Damon hadn’t phoned. Not that she’d expected him to after their last conversation, but the loss still hurt. She had no idea what she was going to do. Gaston would freak, if he found out about the pregnancy. It didn’t matter that she was almost twenty-five. His views of the world hadn’t chan
ged since the fifties.
The phone rang. Madie stared at it, debating whether to answer. She decided to let it go to voicemail. The phone stopped ringing for a minute, then started up again. What if it was her father calling to tell her that he’d be over tomorrow to back up her things? Madie sighed and picked up the receiver.
“Hello,” she said tentatively.
“Hi,” Jack said. “What are you doing for lunch?”
Madie tried to hide the disappointment in her voice, but wasn’t successful. She knew she couldn’t stay in her apartment forever, eventually she’d have to come out. She cleared her throat. “I have no plans.”
“Great, now you do,” he said. “I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
“See you then.”
Lunch was great, just like dinner had been the night of her graduation. The problem wasn’t with Jack, it was with her. No matter how awful the circumstances were, she couldn’t shake thoughts of Damon. It was almost as if she could feel his pain and confusion, though Madie knew it was all in her imagination.
She dreamt about him at night and obsessed over him in the harsh light of day. In her dreams, Damon seemed utterly alone. It was difficult to resist the urge to go to him, comfort him, even though she knew it would be a mistake.
Jack tapped her hand and smiled.
He was such a nice man. One thing she couldn’t do any longer was lead him on. Jack deserved a woman who cared about him, and him only.
Madie had decided to let Jack know that she couldn’t see him anymore by they returned to her apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, then turned to face him. “Thank you again for lunch. It was really kind of you, but—”
“May I come in?” he asked.
“Umm, uh, sure.” Madie stepped aside.
Jack came in and shut the door behind him. “How come I get the feeling I’m not going to like what you’re about to say next?”
Madie looked down at her hands. She’d never had to do this sort of thing and for that she was grateful because it sucked.
Jack nudged her. “Cut to the chase. Tell me what it is that you wanted to say.”
Madie took a deep breath. “Jack, I think you’re a really great guy. You’re nothing like I expected.”
He gave her a tense smile. “You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”
“No.” Madie shook her head. “It’s not, but I have a lot going on right now and I don’t think we should see each other anymore. Not even casually.”
“You just said that you thought I was nice,” he said. “I thought we were getting along well.”
“We were, I mean are, but the truth is I’ve been seeing another man. I met him before I met you. And things between us are complicated right now,” Madie said. “I don’t want to make it more so, if I can avoid it.” She didn’t mention that the man she’d been seeing was a werewolf because she was conscious of who she was talking to. As angry as she was at Damon, she did not want him harmed or hunted.
Jack leaned against the doorframe. “What’s his name?”
Madie’s brow furrowed. “It’s not important.”
“Then why don’t you tell me?” Jack asked.
Madie sighed. “Damon.”
Jack’s eyes flashed with fury and his whole body tensed. The surprising emotion disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Did he know? Fear beat at her as she fought to keep her placid expression. Before Madie could probe to find out what had caused the sudden change, Jack smiled.
Would he react that way if he knew Damon’s secret? She didn’t know. Madie had never understood the mind of a Hunter.
“I understand,” he said. “When things don’t work out with this guy, you know where to find me.”
Madie blanched. That hadn’t been the response she’d been expecting, but she was grateful that Jack was taking the news so well. “Thanks for understanding,” she said.
“No problem. Well, I’d better scoot,” he said.
Madie walked over to shut the door behind him. At the last second, Jack turned and pulled her into his arms. Stunned by the sudden move, she froze. His lips came down upon hers, firm and unforgiving. Jack’s tongue forced its way past her sealed lips, attempting to coax a response from her.
When none came, he released her.
Madie gasped, trying to slow her racing heart. “Why did you do that?”
“I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you at graduation,” Jack said. “And,” he smiled, “I thought you’d like to see what you’ll be missing.”
Madie tried to laugh, but the sound came out strained and patently fake. “Goodbye Jack.”
“See you soon,” he said, then strolled off down the sidewalk.
***
Jack’s smile slipped the second he turned away from Madie. How dare the bitch dump him for a mongrel! He’d planned on seducing her after lunch, but Madie had kept him at arm’s length the whole time. At first, he’d thought she was playing coy.
It wasn’t until they’d reached her apartment that he’d smelled the changes in her body. Fury had engulfed him as the truth hit his nose and was later confirmed by her damning admission.
Madeleine Lucine Valois was pregnant. And Damon Laroche was the father.
Paternity was never in doubt, since Damon’s stench coated her skin. It shouldn’t have been possible given that she was human, but there was no denying her rise in hormones. It was one thing to sleep with the wolf, it was quite another to get knocked up by him.
The stupid bitch had screwed up everything.
Jack pulled out his phone and stared at Gaston Valois’ number. His finger hovered over the talk button. No telling how the old man would react to the news of his only daughter, only heir being impregnated by the Alpha of the Moonlight Kin pack.
Gaston might do something insane like shoot her on sight and ruin all their well-laid plans. Jack couldn’t take that chance, not when he was so close to achieving his goals. He shoved the phone back into his pocket. There was only one way to fix this mess.
He had to get rid of Madie. If that didn’t work, there was always the backup plan.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It had taken Madie an hour to get to her family home and an hour to get back. Somehow she’d managed to sneak into the house and retrieve the Book of Lycan without being caught. She only hoped that Gaston wouldn’t notice the book was missing, before she could return it. Madie had shoved the old tome onto a shelf in her kitchen, then left for work.
Her mind was so distracted by what she had done that Madie didn’t see the black Mercedes coming down the street as she crossed the road by Johnson’s Bookstore.
Mr. Johnson’s bellow interrupted her thoughts.
Madie glanced up in time to see the car coming straight for her. The windows had been blacked out, making it impossible to see inside. The engine roared as the driver gunned the vehicle.
For a split second, Madie didn’t move. She was too surprised. Then her thoughts leapt to her unborn child and she dove for the sidewalk.
The Mercedes clipped her ankle, sending shards of pain streaming up her leg. Madie turned expecting to see brake lights. Instead, the driver punched the gas and sped away. Mr. Johnson came running across the road with his phone in his hand.
“Did you catch the license plate number?” he asked.
“It didn’t have one.” Madie bent to examine her leg.
Mr. Johnson helped her up. “Are you alright? That was a close one.”
Madie could stand, but her ankle was already turning blue.
“I think you should have that looked at,” he said. “Come into the store and I’ll call an ambulance.” Mr. Johnson put one arm around Madie’s waist, supporting her weight while she limped back across the street to the bookstore. He plopped her onto a seat and moved a stack of books aside so she could put her leg up.
Madie winced as she lowered her leg onto the small table. “Did you see the driver?”
“No, but I have no doubt it’s one
of those crazy drivers from the city.” He sniffed and his moustache twitched from side to side. “They don’t pay a mind to the speed limit and they always drive like they’re in a hurry. Wish the Mayor could fine them for coming into town.”
Madie feigned a yawn to hide her smile behind her hands. Mr. Johnson believed all of New Salford’s woes were caused by the city drivers that regularly came to their little town to get away from the crowds. He blamed everything from the price of milk to the cost of printing on out-of-towners, so it was no surprise that he thought the Mercedes was an evil city-dweller, too.
The ambulance arrived and took Madie to the hospital. While she waited, she phoned Berta to let her know that she wouldn’t be in. After Madie was treated with the world’s most expensive gauge wrap, she called a taxi to come pick her up and take her home.
Madie stumbled in the door and landed on the couch. She decided to sleep there for the night, instead of wrestling with the stairs. In the morning, she’d call her father to come pick her up. She could’ve dismissed the break-in at the diner as a random act, but when it was coupled with nearly being rundown in the street.
Someone was trying to hurt her, though she didn’t understand why. She’d never consciously hurt anyone in her life. Her mind jumped to Damon. Had he been behind the hit and run? It wasn’t the model of car that he drove, but given his level of deception, Madie knew he was more than capable. Yet somehow she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
Now you’re just being stupid and naïve, the little voice in her head said. This time Madie didn’t argue with it because she knew it was right.
Damon flooded her mind as soon as her head hit the decorative pillow. He smiled. His face radiated glowing warmth that felt so real in the darkness that her skin tingled. Just as the dream was getting good, the doorbell rang. Figures.
Madie grabbed her crutch and struggled off the couch to peek through peephole. Damon stood on the other side of the door, looking none too happy.
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