“You’re crazy, do you know that? Let’s say for argument’s sake that I believe you, which I don’t, why are they looking for me? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? I’m nobody special.”
Zachary looked her in the eyes and creased his brow. “You’re special to me, Marley. You hold my heir, the next leader of our pack.”
Marley felt like she had been slapped. Her face even reared back, shocked. “I beg your pardon, but I think you just lost your fucking Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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mind. There is no way I’m pregnant, and even if I happened to be, I don’t think we’d know after just fifteen minutes.”
Zachary sighed. “Marley…how can I explain this? Last month, something different happened. You opened up your mind enough to take me in more than just on a mental level. Do you recall when you first started feeling me? And I mean really feeling me, not in your mind. Marley, I was in your bedroom. I don’t know how, but physically it was me, the real me. It wasn’t the one in your mind.”
She didn’t have to think back. She knew exactly what he referred to. But nothing could have made her answer that question. She couldn’t, fear paralyzed her. Quickly, her mind started adding up the dates, counting over and over again. Shit! She
was
more than two weeks late. How had she missed that? How could it even be possible?
Her sickness…oh God, how had she forgotten about the sickness? She thought it had just been her nerves over the situation.
“I just told you how it was possible. You just have to trust me.”
Zachary’s words froze her thoughts causing her eyes to grow even bigger than their previous state.
“Did you read my mind? You did, didn’t you?” Marley tried to get farther away from this new crazy person.
“Sort of. I can’t read it all that good. The blood tie is not complete,” Zachary said, quietly.
"Blood tie,” she repeated. Then it clicked. “You mean that biting shit you’ve been doing?”
He laughed softly, just staring at her. “Yes, plus it’s my mark for you so other werewolves know you’re taken, so to speak.”
The anger started to thrum through every inch of Marley’s body, but she wanted to know more of the story. “All right, say I’ll buy the whole werewolf story. Explain to me, then, how it’s possible for me to get pregnant from a projection or vision or whatever. How did you even find me to begin with?”
Zachary dropped his head. “One year ago, I left my pack to search for my mate. I’ve been to almost every state there is in the US, and a Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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little over three months ago you came to me. I thought it was a dream, but I never forgot the way you looked.”
“Wait,” Marley raised her hand, “you’re saying I came to you a little over three months ago? I’ve never done any such thing. You came to me and touched my face first.”
“Regardless of what you remember, Marley, I’m telling you I saw you first. I don’t know how you did it, but the following night I lay in bed, closing my eyes, praying to see you again, when suddenly I appeared in your room. I knew you had to be in Texas, and I just kept searching every town. The farther south I got, the clearer everything became.”
“So how am I pregnant? You haven’t described that part yet. You say you were really in my bed, but then what happened? You just left and conveniently forgot where I lived? You never said a fucking word the entire time.”
Zachary sat her beside him on the seat, and she scooted closer to the window, wanting to find a way to escape. This guy had to be crazy. Werewolves, pregnancy through projection, please. What did she look like, a dumbass?
“Of course not! I wouldn’t have left if I had some type of control over it. All I know is I was really there and then I remember waking up in a town named Gonzales. Cole and Jordan found me the next day, wandering around confused. Funny thing is, none of us could track my scent to where I had come from. It’s almost like I appeared out of thin air. And, well, I know you’re pregnant. I’ve known now for a while. Why do you think I desperately needed to find you?”
Marley just rolled her eyes and looked out the window. This was not the way she imagined things turning out. Her dream guy wasn’t a dream at all, he was a nightmare.
Marley started thinking about his words.
A freaking werewolf.
Give me a break. Everyone knows those creatures are just legend.
Now I just have to figure out how in the hell I’m going to get out and
where I should go. I obviously can’t go home. He knows where I live!
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“Marley, I know you’re upset. I’m sorry for having to take you this way. But it’s for your own safety. Trust me,” Zachary said, trying to convince her.
“Yeah, you keep saying that,” she snapped.
The SUV became eerily silent. The scenery looked familiar.
Marley knew they drove through Victoria, heading north. This was just fucking great. She had no money, no phone, was pregnant through projection, and had been kidnapped by a complete lunatic.
What else could possibly happen for her to have a more fucked up situation?
Suddenly, she had a thought, but then quickly cut it short, afraid that Zachary might truly be able to read her mind. “What if I say I don’t believe you about being pregnant?” Marley asked, challenging him with a look.
His eyebrows arched, but he looked amused. “You don’t believe me?”
“No, I don’t. Prove it.” She crossed her hands across her chest.
“How do you want me to do that?”
“Buy me a test, of course. I would, but it seems I was kidnapped before I had a chance to grab my purse, so I’m afraid I’m broke at the moment.”
Zachary nodded toward the driver. She wasn’t sure which one was Cole or Jordan. Right now, she didn’t care which gorgeous guy held what name. The SUV exited off the highway, pulling into a store.
“You can go in with me, but if you make any noise trying to get someone to help you, there’s going to be grave consequences. I want you to know that now before you get someone hurt or possibly killed.
Their injuries will be on you.”
Marley felt ice water go through her veins. A part of her thought what if they’re not lying, but the other part told her what he claimed to be true was not possible.
“Not a word will come from my mouth.” She lifted her fingers to show scout’s honor.
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Cautiously, everyone climbed out and headed inside the store.
Zachary quickly bought a test and walked Marley to the restroom.
With her eyes narrowed at him, she took the pink package and stalked inside. A window immediately caught her attention, but first she had to take the test for her own peace of mind.
Word for word, she read the instructions slowly, making sure she followed them precisely. The last thing she needed was a bogus result.
After the fourth time of reading the words, she decided to go for it.
With her fingers crossed, she placed the used test on an even surface, as it instructed. The results, supposedly, could take up to three minutes, but she watched, shocked, as hers came up instantly.
She couldn’t deny the two bright pink lines.
Tears came to her eyes. How could this have happened from just a dream? Dreams were supposed to be safe. Everything had happened just as she wanted it to, minus the pregnant part, so the blame truly rested on her. As the realization hit, nausea threatened.
Not caring anymore, she left the test and ran for the window, more trying to escape from the sudden reality of being pregnant than from the lunatics who decided to take her.
Marley’s fingers clawed the window open and she jumped down the good six-foot drop. The back of the store was deserted, mainly littered with old boxes and three large dumpsters. The foul smell lingering in the air made the sickness worse.
As fast as she could, she ran toward the opposite side of the store, away from the SUV. Before she could round the corner, what felt like pure steel nearly knocked her off of her feet.
“Well, hello, Marley. I’m sorry about this, but with you being Zachary’s mate, I can’t allow you to escape. You see, I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me.”
Frightened, Marley slowly lifted her gaze to look up at the large stranger. Once again, someone she didn’t know knew her name and wanted to take her. What were the odds? Using her instincts, she Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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kicked him in the shin, preparing to run, but he didn’t so much as flinch. He just growled at her. Growled!
Fear nearly choked Marley. The fact started to sink in that maybe Zachary wasn’t so full of shit after all. The look in the man’s eyes had predator written all over them.
With a swiftness that Marley hadn’t ever seen, his hand snatched her up by the hair. The scream exploded from her lungs, but quickly extinguished when a hand slapped over her mouth so hard blood covered her tongue.
Panic kicked Marley in overdrive, causing her to jerk, hit, and kick everything in her path, which only happened to be him and the brick wall. She turned, wild, sinking her nails into his arm, feeling it bite through the flesh.
The strange man picked her up where her back stuck against his chest and stomach, and his hand still covered her mouth. Blood began to seep through his fingers. A white van stood not far away with the door open, waiting. Marley looked at the van, using it to force her to fight harder. If they got her inside, she knew the possibilities of escaping or anyone ever seeing her again was slim.
This is it.
I’m going to die all because Zachary warned me and I
didn’t believe him. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I should have just
gone back to the car like a good little girl and everything would have
been fine. Yes, I would be in the same situation, but at least I trust
Zachary more than this guy. Someone help me!
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Something wasn’t right. Zachary could feel it. Alarm tugged at his brain as he pushed the restroom door open. Keeping his steps quiet, he made his way to the stalls. Marley’s scent pulled him into the last one.
A pregnancy test with two lines sat on the toilet paper dispenser.
She must have panicked when she saw the results. Frantically, he looked around the restroom, his vision setting on the window. There was no use trying to pick up her scent. He knew that’s exactly where she had escaped.
Cole burst through the restroom door, nearly colliding with Zachary as he made his way out.
“Where’s Marley?” Cole asked, panicked. “The rival pack is close. I picked up their scent when I headed back to the car.”
“Check the car and make sure. I’ll look around back. She took off through the window when she saw the results of the test,” Zachary said, already making his way out of the front door.
The smell of the rival pack had his nostrils flaring. Trying to still his racing heart, he stopped in front of the store and closed his eyes searching for Marley’s scent. He didn’t need to start off on a wild goose chase when he could use his gifts first. It would save time this way.
A soft breeze brushed against his face, and he felt his bones already starting to shift to wolf form in defense. The need to protect Marley was his main priority. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her and make her afraid of him, but he couldn’t think of any Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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other way. He had to save her, and the only way to do that involved becoming what she believed didn’t exist.
* * * *
“Marley!” Zachary’s voice broke around the building.
The distraction caused her to be spun around in the stranger’s arms while he turned to Zachary. Hope surged though her. The anger she held for him moments before vanished. She had never been happier to see him.
Marley’s eyes locked with Zachary’s and what appeared to be panic etched his features causing her heart plummet. Watching his movement she quickly noticed something besides alarm. The tightness of his muscles made it look like he was about to strike.
Silent screams in her mind tried to tell her that if he was indeed what he claimed to be, then she needed to get out of his path. It was too coincidental that everything he told her just happened to be coming true.
A blur of color flashed as Zachary started running toward them.
Marley’s eyes widened, shocked, the moment she saw him leaping through the air and morph so quickly it almost looked like his body exploded. He landed in front of them, exactly like the wolves in her dreams. Pure muscle radiated from his limbs, and yet for some reason she didn’t fear him. He looked beautiful.
His coat was a dark black with white markings in areas throughout. Frozen, afraid to move, Marley watched Zachary growl at the man who stood behind her. Even though she wasn’t scared of Zachary herself, she feared for the guy holding her. He wouldn’t stand a chance.
The stranger pulled Marley back slowly toward the van. His hand loosened over her mouth enough for her to do the only thing she could think of. Her teeth sank into his skin. At that moment, she wasn’t sure Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.
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