“Do you have any idea how much trouble you are in right now?”
His loud voice thundered in the small room. My stomach twisted into a million knots while Daniel chastised Dante for his outburst earlier.
After I stopped Dante from committing another crime against the Alpha laws, Daniel dragged him into the Alpha meeting room. The other packs had started to yell in outrage and looked like they were ready to lock him up. Walter had certainly succeeded in riling Dante up and my mate took the bait - hook, line, and sinker.
My fingers ran through his black fur from his head down his back. He still hadn’t calmed down enough to shift back. I placed a small kiss on the top of his head before turning back to Daniel, who was pacing around the room with a scowl on his face.
“What do we do now, Daniel? They can’t possibly think any of this was his fault. Walter baited him. We were all there.”
He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter, Arianna. If they think he is a threat to them then they will lock him up, forever.”
“No! They can’t take him away from me.”
“We might not have a choice.”
“Please, Daniel, can’t you talk to them? They will listen to you.”
He sighed heavily and slumped down into his chair at the Alpha table.
“I’m sorry, Arianna. I am afraid that they no longer listen to me. The moment I took Dante’s side when we came back was the moment they stopped letting me in.”
“What if we leave?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Dante told me that they were forcing us to take our packs and leave. We can just leave. We won’t bother anyone. They have to let us go.”
“I don’t think it is that simple anymore.”
“I won’t let them take him from me. If I have to I will get every pack member to fight for him.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. We need to get him out of here and come up with a plan where no one will hear us.”
I looked back down at my mate and felt a wave of calm spread through his body as he finally relaxed. Any moment now he would be able to shift.
‘I want to talk first, Ari.’
“Daniel, would you mind giving us a moment and possibly finding him a change of clothes? I think there might be some in the car.”
“Of course.”
The moment Daniel closed the door Dante shifted back. His strong, naked arms wrapped around my torso and his head rested against my stomach.
“Is it true?”
I sighed and tentatively ran a hand slowly through his hair before nudging his head to look up at me.
“I’m not really sure, Dante. It’s barely been over a week. I have no idea where Walter would come up with that.”
“We should have Jared take a look at you when we get home.”
I rolled my eyes, “Dante, we have more important things to do than ask a pack doctor to see if I am pregnant.”
He shook his head.
“Ari, there is nothing more important than you and your safety. If Walter was right then we need to take the proper precautions. We have no idea what our kids are going to be like after the experimentation.”
“Proper precautions?”
“I approached a couple of our smartest pack members the other day and asked them to look into studying the other shifters. We need to know more about them. It could explain a lot, Ari. Like why I can’t control my rage anymore and why Teague suddenly wants to lead a solitary life. We, I, need answers.”
I couldn’t really blame him. As each day passed I was feeling less like myself and more like I was living in a strangers body. Maybe I really was pregnant. It would be different than the first time since my DNA was different now.
He slowly lifted the hem of my shirt above my stomach. He gently placed a kiss on my abdomen before standing up and kissing my lips. It was a tender kiss, one that I wasn’t used to from him.
A knock interrupted our kiss and the moment ended all too soon. I waited outside with Teague and Cooper while Dante got dressed and talked with Daniel. It was evident they were both infuriated with how Walter’s trial ended. Fury and rage emanated from their bodies.
I opened my mouth to try to calm them down but Teague roughly shook his head as if he knew what I was about to say.
“Not right now, Arianna,” he softly begged me.
I pulled my lips back into my mouth and held my tongue. I didn’t really like being told what to do but for his sake I wouldn’t press the matter. As the Alpha female, the urge to comfort them was overwhelming. I didn’t like that my friends were upset.
“Everybody ready to go?” Dante asked when he stepped out of the room.
“Yes, Alpha,” Teague responded, “I called Jared and he is ready to look at Arianna when we arrive back home. Also I called our packs together for the informal meeting you wanted to have after Jared checks her. Everyone will be there.”
“Thank you, Teague,” Dante nodded his head to him gratefully.
The car ride home was spent in silence. Teague gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white. I thought the wheel was going to snap under the weight of his grip. Not even Cooper was goofing around.
Dante wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I nestled into his side. It was hard not to close my eyes when his strong hand stroked my hair and his calming heartbeat quickly put me to sleep.
“Ari,” a voice murmured in my ear as a hand gently shook me awake, “Baby, we’re home.”
I slowly opened my eyes and stretched my arms above my head to shake the sleep from my body.
All of a sudden it felt like all the air was sucked out of the car as Dante’s lust surrounded me. I looked down to see that my shirt had risen, revealing a large amount of skin to him. My cheeks burned brightly from the heat of his gaze. It seemed his temper wasn’t the only thing he lost control of now.
His hand clamped down on the headrest next to my head and the leather groaned when he dug his nails into it.
“You need to get out of the car,” he growled to Teague and Cooper, “Now.”
I nodded my head to Cooper when he glanced back to check if I was okay before they both exited the car.
Dante’s hand instantly released the headrest and pulled my body against his. His mouth captured my lips in a feverish need and all thoughts left my brain. I hastily wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed myself further into him. There wasn’t a sliver of space between us.
His mouth left mine to lightly trail kisses down my neck and sucked teasingly at his mark. I moaned in pleasure and he gripped me tighter. I was sure to have bruises tomorrow.
His hands fisted around the hem of my shirt and ripped it over my head.
“Dante,” I moaned when he licked his mark, “We are in a car.”
His hands were at the zipper on my pants when he finally looked into my eyes.
“So?”
I laughed when I saw the mischievous sparkle in his beautiful blue eyes.
“There are people waiting for us. We can’t keep them waiting.”
His lips eagerly pressed against mine again.
“They will wait as long as I want them to wait,” he murmured into my ear when he pulled away.
“Baby,” I giggled, “We have to at least pretend to be responsible.”
He groaned when I lightly pushed him away from me and picked my shirt up off the floor. By the time I slid it over my head he was opening the door and pulling me out of the car.
We walked into the house and were immediately greeted by Jared, one of the pack doctors, waiting for us. He bowed his head and greeted us with respect.
“Hello Jared,” I happily greeted him when I realized Dante wasn’t going to say anything.
I looked over at my mate and saw his eyes were still full of lust. He was having a hard time coming down from our makeout session in the car. I elbowed him in the stomach when I noticed how uncomfortable Jared was.
Dante cleared his throat, “Thank you for being available on such short notice.”
“Of course, Alpha Dante, anything for you and Arianna. Perhaps we should go somewhere a little more private?”
Dante nodded his head and lead the way up into the Alpha bedroom. He locked the door behind us while I settled onto the bed. If I was going to be poked and prodded by the good doctor then I was going to be comfortable.
My head sank into the soft pillow and I was tempted to close my eyes and drift off again. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until the car ride home. Now it seemed like I couldn’t get enough sleep.
Jared took my hand in his as he checked my heart rate.
“How have you been feeling, Arianna? Tired? Hungry? Sick?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I have been feeling pretty tired lately. Like right now all I want to do is go to sleep.”
He took his stethoscope out of his bag and began to check my heartbeat. He hummed and frowned the whole time. It was making me feel uneasy and I could see the tension growing in Dante’s expression.
“I want you to lie back and just try to relax, Arianna,” he instructed me before taking out a handheld ultrasound device.
I jumped when the cold gel hit my stomach. He placed the device on my lower abdomen and began moving it around. A weird sound rushed through the device. I looked up at him and asked him what happened.
He looked over at Dante then back at me.
“Well, what you just heard was the device finding something.”
“And?” I prodded him further.
“I would say congratulations are in order.”
My eyes quickly locked with Dante’s. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react. He stood still for a moment and panic rose in my stomach. He wasn’t happy. Oh God.
“Dante-”
He held up his hand and cut me off. His lips slowly spread into a beautiful smile and my fear quickly vanished. He rushed forward and picked me up off the bed. His arms wrapped tightly around my body, a little too tightly.
“Dante, I still need to be able to breathe,” I gasped.
He hastily loosened his arms around my body into a comfortable hug. It felt right this time. This was how he should have found out about my first pregnancy. It warmed my heart that he was here for me.
“I am so happy, Ari,” he whispered into my ear.
Jared cleared his throat.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but I have a few things I need to attend to now. If it is alright with you I would like to go take care of them before your meeting, Alpha Dante?”
“Of course, thank you. And Jared, would you mind keeping this to yourself for now? I would like to announce it at the pack meeting later.”
Jared nodded his head, “As always, Alpha, I will be most discreet.”
He bowed his head and exited the room. Dante twirled me around the room one more time before setting me down on the floor. He tenderly stroked my face and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“I can’t believe this is happening.”
He couldn’t stop grinning. I could feel the happiness coursing through him and I was pleased I made him feel that way. I couldn’t believe it either. I felt like we were being given a second chance after Theo took away my first pregnancy.
I opened my mouth to ask him a question but we were interrupted by a knock on the door. They didn’t wait for permission to enter. The door swung open without a response from either of us.
“I don’t mean to intrude Alpha,” Teague quickly apologized, “But Alpha Daniel is downstairs and he says it is very important.”
Dante looked down at me, “I’m sorry, Ari.”
I shook my head at him.
“Go talk to him. I should start packing some of our stuff up if we are meant to be moving over the next couple of days.”
“I will be back to bring you down to the pack meeting in a little while.”
He gave me one last kiss before walking out of our bedroom with Teague. I walked over to our closet and began pulling out bags to pack the clothing in. I looked around at all the clothes and sighed. This was going to take a lot of time, time that we probably didn’t have.
I was just starting to pull clothes off their hangers when I felt Dante’s anger pulse through me. My knees buckled under me and I fell to the floor. I cringed when I heard his fierce growl echo throughout the whole house. I even felt the wall shake when he punched it to release his anger.
‘Pack a bag for us. I’m sending Cooper up to get you. We need to leave immediately.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Walter has escaped. They are all coming for us.’
Fear gripped my insides. My hands shook as I pushed myself up off the floor and mindlessly started throwing random clothes into a suitcase. How could they have let Walter go like that? I couldn’t help but think that they let him go on purpose.
I zipped shut the two suitcases when Cooper entered the room. I could feel his presence before he even entered.
“Are you ready, Arianna?” he asked as he approached the closet door.
“I don’t think I will ever be ready for this,” I honestly answered.
“It’s for the best. There is nothing left for us here. We are going to have a new home and a fresh start.”
“I’m scared, Coop. What if they find us?”
“Nothing bad is going to happen while you have me, Teague, and Dante around. We will always protect you.”
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered and I finally looked up at him to see his reaction.
His jaw dropped in shock at my admission.
“Shut up.”
I gave a short laugh and shook my head.
“What a time to be pregnant, right?”
“This is great news, Arianna!”
I handed him Dante’s bag and took up my own before following him out of the closet. I grabbed my pillow off my bed. Depending on where we were going, I wanted to be comfortable in the car. For some reason I was still feeling exhausted.
I paused in front of the bedroom door when the scent of burning wood pierced my nose. I looked over at Cooper, who was giving me a confused look after I stopped.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Don’t you smell that?”
“What is that nasty smell?”
I looked around the room trying to find the cause of the burnt scent but there wasn’t anything wrong. My feet swiftly carried me to the window and I gasped when I saw what was happening.
Large clouds of smoke were billowing above the forest in the backyard. The fire was quickly burning through trees towards the house. I could already see the orange and red flames flickering and snapping at the trees.
‘Ari, get out of the house now!’
‘What is happening?’
‘The forest is on fire. We only have a few minutes until the house will be taken down with it.’
For another moment it felt like my feet were frozen to the bedroom floor. This was the house I grew up in, where all my memories of my parents were. I wasn’t only moving anymore. The house would be gone forever.
“Arianna, come on!” Cooper shouted at me before taking my hand in his.
I dug my heels into the ground. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet. I couldn’t leave. I didn’t have time to pack up my mother’s room or mine. Precious memories and keepsakes would soon be reduced to ash and cease to exist.
“Move it, now!” he screamed but I still refused to move.
He huffed in frustration before leaning down and scooping me up off my feet. He was halfway out the door when I started screaming at him to put me down.
“Please! I just need to get something,” I begged him.
I scrambled out of his arms and over to Dante’s and my bed. I knelt on the ground and pulled out the giant photo album I kept underneath it. It held pictures of my grandparents’ life, my parents’ life, and a few memories of Dante’s and my life. It was like an Alpha timeline in photos. If I had to save one thing it would be this.
“Can we please stop in my mom’s bedroom?”
“We don’t have time for this, Arianna. The house is going to be on fire any minute. We have to get out.”
“Please, Cooper.”
“I’m sorry. We have to go now.”
I gave him an apologetic look before bolting out the bedroom door. He shouted after me but I wasn’t going to let him stop me. I had to get the family jewelry out of my mother’s bedroom. I would be devastated if the fire claimed them. Most of the gems had been in my family for generations.
“What the hell are you doing, Ari?” Dante shouted at me from the doorway of my mother’s bedroom.
I was rooting around her dressers trying to find the jewelry box but it was nowhere to be found.
“I have to find them,” I sobbed as I threw another dresser drawer to the ground. Her clothes scattered on the floor but I didn’t care. I had to find it.
“There’s no more time, Ari. The fire is here. We have to get out.”
He grabbed my arm and began tugging me out of the room. I reached my hand out and scraped my nails against the floor, trying to slow him down. I couldn’t leave without the box.
“Don’t put up a fight, please. Do you want to die?”
I turned my head up to look at him when something under her bed caught my eye. The small brown wooden box I was searching for.
“I found it!”
He released me for a moment to let me crawl under the bed and pull it out. He scooped me up into his arms and rushed us down the stairs.
The bottom floor of the house was completely filled with smoke. I could barely see around the house. The back was covered by fire and smoke. Dante reached up and covered my face to protect me from the smoke as he ran us to the front of the house.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” he scolded me once we were safely out the door.
“I can’t believe you ran out on me like that,” Cooper joined in.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized to both of them, “But it was too important. Did you grab the photo album and bags?”
“Yes. They are both in the SUV waiting for you. I suggest we get going before the fire burns through the house and takes us down with it.”
“I have to call Daniel and inform him what happened. He sped back to his pack after he informed me of Walter’s escape. His pack may be in danger as well.”
“Call him from the car, Dante,” I begged him, “We have to get going. Did you get in touch with our pack? Is everyone safe? Are Hannah and Jerry okay? Where is Teague?”
“Take a deep breath. Teague saw and smelled the fire first,” Dante explained, “He was able to get to our pack members in time. Everyone is safe and on their way to the Hollows pack house. We will meet them there then leave once everyone knows what is going on.”
“Who do you think set it?” I asked while we walked over to the SUV.
“Walter, who else.”
“You don’t think Christian was trying to send us a message?”
Dante gave me a curious look and opened the door for me.
“You think he would be so bold?”
“I wouldn’t put anything past him, Walter, or even Richard,” I responded as I climbed into the back seat, “All three of them are capable of something so cruel.”
“I have to agree with her on this one, Alpha,” Cooper agreed and climbed into the driver’s seat.
I took one last look at my burning childhood home before Cooper pulled the car into drive and sped off. It would be the last time I ever saw that house. First I lost my parents, then one of my mates, and now my house. We were going to be completely rebuilding our lives from scratch. I could only hope this was for the best.