Alpha's Pregnant Mate

7 - Dumb Ways to Die

Ethan knew the moment he came to her defense that he risked a war between packs. They had never been on good terms with the Southern Wolf pack. Even though Ethan's pack was significantly smaller than Jake's, Ethan's wolves were strategic. They were trained as the council trained him. One of his wolves was worth three of Jake's.

His pack was the only thing standing between the South taking over the West. And Jake was only waiting for an excuse to retaliate, and Ethan just gave him a reason. But he wasn't thinking about any of that right now. His priority in this moment was Lila, and so he attacked the man who dared to lay his hands on his mate. It was like a trigger for him. Someone hurting her would always set him off, no matter the consequences. He knew that. Jake knew that the second he figured out who the human was to him.

Movement from the corner of his eye distracted him for a fraction of a second. Long enough to give Jake an opening to sink his teeth into his shoulder. Lila froze in the middle of her attempt to run away when she heard the howl of pain from Ethan. The wolf. Ethan. The brown, giant wolf. She stopped, uncertain of what to do. What the hell could she do? Each one of these beasts could bite her head off effortlessly.

Yet she stopped and watched as Ethan took back the upper hand, wrestling the other wolf down, snapping at its throat. There are a few pretty dumb ways to die, grabbing a stick and stalking toward two giant wolves would be one of them.

Did that stop her? No. Something else was driving her, and reason had gone out the window. Her need to aid Ethan came from a different place she couldn't quite explain. Maybe it was insanity. Who knew? She certainly didn't when she whipped the stick across the darker wolf's hindquarters with all her might. It yelped in surprise and hopefully in pain. Both wolves stared at her in something between shock and surprise. "Break it off!" she scolded them.

Ethan was still staring at her while the other one snarled and cast a vicious glance at his opponent. Was this woman out of her mind? Ethan was trying to fathom whether to be proud, amused, or furious with her for interfering. He decided to go for furious when she poked Jake in the nose with her tiny twig, waved it around a few times, and then threw it away. "Go fetch!" Jake didn't fetch. He growled at her and was ready to pounce. Ethan tackled him before he could get to Lila. The wolf spun through the air into the nearest tree. Enough time for him to snarl at his mate, trying to communicate to her to leave!

She knew what he was telling her. She knew he was right, so why wouldn't her legs start moving? The wolf growled at her in warning, and she was just about to tell him that she couldn't leave him when he snapped his head in the direction of Jake, and this time he tackled her out of the way. He yelped as the beast crashed into him. She was sure she heard a bone break. How was she supposed to leave him? Not now. Not like this. Not when he's hurt.

But she underestimated his strength. Hell, she had no idea what was going on. For all she knew, she was having a bad dream. She would wake up any minute now, in the cabin. Ethan was just a man, kind enough to give her shelter.

She watched as the wolves went for each other's throats. Somewhere in the distance, she heard howls. Were there more coming?

This time, when Ethan growled at her, she didn't wait around. She needed to get out of there. She couldn't bear this, any of it. So she grabbed her backpack and started running in the other direction.

She fell over roots sticking out of the ground more than once. Her legs hurt, and she was sure that by now, her jeans were ripped, and her knees bloody.

She ran and she fell until she couldn’t breathe anymore. Her lungs burned, and fear that something would happen to Ethan gripped her throat. For God's sake! She didn’t even know that man! And he was something she only ever knew from horror movies. He wasn’t real. None of this was real. It just couldn’t be.

Yet the thought made her choke. What the heck was happening to her?

A scream — was it her own? — echoed through the woods when out of nowhere, a huge wolf appeared by her side, nudging her with his muzzle. Telling her that there was nothing to be afraid of.

“I don’t... I don’t understand this,” her voice was merely a whisper, but Ethan heard her loud and clear. Of course, she didn’t. How could she? She just stumbled into a whole new reality. It would take time to understand, time to adjust, and become part of a society that would not welcome her with open arms simply because she was human.

She finally lifted her gaze to meet his. “Are you hurt?” she asked. He shook his head no, getting frustrated that he couldn’t communicate with her through a mind-link, the way he does with his pack.

“Okay. Good,” she sighed, “is he… gone? Did you kill him?” He shook his head again. Attacking a member from another pack was bad enough. That he was their beta, even worse. But killing him would surely cause the South to lead an attack against his pack.

He nudged her again, telling her to get up. “I’m tired.”

He knew that, which is why he wanted to get her back to the cabin, but she wasn’t moving. Instead, she rested her head against his shoulder. “You’re very soft,” she murmured, and a low chuckle rumbled through his body. “How is this possible? How are you... how can you do this?”

He was born that way, half human and half magic.

“Is this a dream?” she asked, unable to hear his answer. He shook his head no again and pushed her to her feet, urging her to keep walking until they made it back to the cabin. She was slow, but he didn't mind. He was just as tired and beaten as she was. Still, his ears twitched at every tiny sound, ready to protect her from whoever dared to follow them back to the cabin. Ethan alerted his wolves guarding the territory to be extra vigilant tonight. Tomorrow, he would double the security. He would probably have to call for a meeting with the Southern Alpha to clear up the situation before Jake could blow things out of proportion.

His eyes shifted back to Lila, climbing up the stairs to the cabin. She turned to him, brushing her wet hair out of her face. “Thank you for saving me.”

He hesitated for a brief moment before he shifted back to his human form. “You’re welcome,” he stated as her eyes grew wide, before she hid them behind her hands.

“You're naked!” she mumbled, and he looked down at himself. What did she expect? A wolf in clothes? How would that even work? And then she giggled. Despite everything she had seen tonight, she giggled, and it was the most amazing sound Ethan had ever heard.

“Get inside,” he shook his head at her but couldn't help the small smile on his lips. She lowered her hand as he came up the steps, her eyes fixed on his.

“I have no idea what is going on!” she stated, “why… what… I have questions!”

“Tomorrow,” he pushed past her to open the door. But she remained outside, standing there soaking wet from the rain. Her clothes were torn and muddy. “Lila,” he groaned. He didn't have the patience to deal with her questions now. “Get inside, please!”

She would, but she was distracted by his body. Dirt and blood clung to his wet skin. The dim light painted beautiful shadows all over him. He looked like he was made out of marble, like a god. He was too perfect, even with bruises forming on his skin. He was beautiful.

“Lila?” This time he sounded less annoyed but amused. Yeah, yeah, he caught her checking him out. But what was he expecting? Standing there like he didn't give a s**t he was butt naked and super pretty to look at. She wasn't immune to it. To be honest, she wasn't immune to him at all, even though she should be running for the hills right now.

Her reaction to him wasn't normal. She knew that, but she couldn't help it. Something about him fascinated her. It pulled her in and held her captive.

With a heavy sigh, she stepped into the cabin and went straight for the bathroom, grabbing a set of towels and soaking them in warm water.

“What are you doing?” he asked, following her.

“Getting you cleaned up,” she answered and gestured for him to take a seat.

“I am fine,” he muttered.

“You’re bruising and bleeding. You are not fine. Now sit down and let me do this! Consider it my way of saying thank you!”

He sat down, curious about what her touch would feel like. He watched as she took a deep breath, getting closer to him and carefully tending to his wounds. He would heal, but she didn’t know that. She was concerned for him, and he liked it.

He knew that she had no idea why she felt that way, why she was drawn to him and not completely terrified of the events of the night. His presence comforted her, and if he was truly honest, she made him feel a sense of calm he hadn’t felt in years.

Her eyes stayed fixed on her task, wiping away blood and mud. Her fingers accidentally brushed against his skin, sending sparks like a wildfire through his body. He couldn’t help the low groan vibrating through his chest.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, worried for him.

“No!” He pushed his hand into her hair and without warning, pulled her down to kiss her. Soft lips moved against hers, guiding her, enchanting her to follow his will. She moaned when he bit her lip, and his tongue invaded her mouth. He was just kissing her, but it felt like he was doing so much more than that. He pulled on her heartstrings and made them dance to his rhythm, leaving her clueless about what was happening but oh so willing to become his.