The Haven (Book 2 of The Claiming)

Chapter Nine

"Don't hurt her!" Alec screams. He starts to charge towards us around the counter, but freezes in place when the man holding me presses the knife further into my neck, drawing blood.

"And why not?" the dark-haired man asks, striding over to Alec and gripping him by the back of his T-shirt. He yanks him over to stand before me, Alec only a couple of inches from me. "You were trespassing on our land, after all."

In a quiet whisper, Alec says, "Because she's pregnant."

I glance up and see the man snicker, his lip curling in disgust. "That changes absolutely nothing. In fact—" He pulls out his own knife with his free hand and points it directly at my belly. "—it'll make things a lot more interesting."

"Garret!" a woman's voice spits from outside. "Don't you dare hurt a pregnant woman! The baby did nothing!"

The man, who I assume is Garret, grunts and lowers his knife. "Fine, but as soon as the kid is born, we kill her."

"If you let us go, I swear we will never come back," Alec pleads, attempting to struggle from Garret's grasp on his shirt. "We were just trying to find a place to rest for the night—just passing through!"

Garret shoves Alec to someone outside. "Take them downstairs. We'll figure out what to do with them tonight. Someone will be executed in the morning."

Some cheers sound from behind me, and my skin crawls at how excited these people are to see innocents die.

Suddenly, I hear a bark erupt from outside, and realize that Gus had wandered off earlier to hunt.

"Get that mutt out of here!" Garret snaps, pushing his way past my captor and me.

I hear the chilling sound of children laughing. "Come here, puppy!" one of them calls.

"Get him!" another child shrieks with a giggle.

Gus's barks fade away into the woods surrounding the hotel. I sigh with a small bit of relief at the thought of at least someone from our little family getting away safely. No one can catch Gus.

***

Alec and I are forced into a tiny closet in the basement of the hotel. We're locked, no way out, and I'm trying my best not to panic. Alec, on the other hand, is pacing back and forth, stopping every now and then to check on me and make sure I'm okay.

He kneels in front of me this time and puts a protective hand on my belly. I'm still barely showing, but it's enough to see something. "You know I'm not going to let him touch you, right?"

I cover his hand with mine. "That's easier said than done, Alec," I say seriously. "These people seemed a little too excited at the thought of our deaths."

Alec finally sits beside me and wraps one arm around my shoulders. "We've gotten out of worse situations. We can get out of this one, right?"

I let out a long sigh. "Alec, I'm tired of running."

His eyes round. "You want to just give up and die?"

"Oh, gosh! No! I just wish all this craziness will end soon. As soon as we find our family, I feel like everything will calm down." I look at him hopefully. "We can raise this baby together."

He kisses my cheek. "Let's try getting out of here first."

I nod. Alec helps me to my feet. I stumble a bit, my head feeling dizzy from lack of food. They took our backpacks upon capturing us, and it's been a little over six hours since we've been locked away.