Page 48 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

Ingrid stopped me from going after him, reminding me that there was something out there that had been haunting the woods, leaving behind corruption in its wake. What we found around Daniel’s bag and leading into the forest was evidence of the same threat, and it would have been dangerous to go after him alone.

The moment Connor arrived and Ingrid explained the situation to him, I couldn’t take it any longer.

That’s when I rushed to the alpha’s house, knocking on his door for the first time since joining the Nightclaw Pack, desperately needing help finding my son.

I wasn’t counting on his brother being there already, to hear what had happened and to find out about Daniel like this.

Quite frankly, I can’t care about him at all when my son is out there, snatched by whatever has been haunting Nightclaw.

Alpha Dorian steps in front of his brother like a shield, his brows furrowed just as Connor arrives.

“You know what’s going on, Beta?”

Connor nods, exchanging a worried glance with me before turning back to the alpha and explaining that their scouts have swept the area and it’s true.

Daniel has been taken by whatever has been leaving trails of destruction on the north border.

“Come,” Dorian says with a nod at me, then Ingrid, a grave expression on his face. “We need to figure out how we will get the child back.”

My heart plummets, my eyes widening with horror. “Alpha? Can’t you send out a search for him? They probably haven’t gotten far yet. It’s been less than an hour.”

Dorian grunts as he turns back to me from the top of the porch, his voice lower when he says, “Please, Poppy, you need to come inside. We can’t speak about this out here.” He turns to Connor then. “Get Flynn on the line, and tell him what happened here. He needs to bring his friends to Fort Smit immediately.”

“Got it, Alpha.” Connor nods and places his hands on Ingrid’s shoulders. “Stay with Poppy, okay? I’ll be right back.”

Ingrid nods and slips her arm through mine, leading me up the stairs into Dorian’s house as we follow him. I brush past Damian, feeling how rigid he’s become, staring off into the distance as he keeps his fists clenched at his sides.

Only a flicker of remorse passes through the distress I feel, the sheer panic of losing my son turning me numb as we enter the alpha’s house. I don’t have the energy to spare to worry about how he’s feeling about all of this.

The most important thing right now is getting my son back.

And every bone in my body wants to morph into wolf form and rush into those woods to find him. To bring him back to me. But it’s Ingrid’s grip on my arm that keeps me grounded as we enter the living room, where the very pregnant Luna Amelia is holding their daughter in her arms.

The first thing Dorian does is walk up to her, pressing a kiss to his child’s forehead before following with a kiss on Amelia’s cheek.

Dorian is a father himself, and that’s why his eyes are weary and troubled when he looks at me.

“I know how badly you want to go out there and find Daniel, but it’s dangerous, Poppy.”

The twinkle in his eyes tells me that he has many unanswered questions about everything he just found out, but he doesn’t push for answers. He knows that now is not the time.

I take a deep breath, lifting my chin for the first time this morning.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Alpha Dorian, but it seems that the real danger is right here, in Nightclaw territory. And we are wasting time—”

“We are not wasting time,” he cuts in, nostrils flaring. “We are dealing with something far worse than the rogues I was rescued from.”

My heart sinks. “Wh-what?”

Dorian purses his lips as he glances at Amelia. “Witches.”

I gasp, turning to Ingrid with wide eyes as more panic floods me. “Witches?!” I exclaim, and that’s when Damian comes back into the room, followed by Connor.

This time, he’s the one who can’t look at me.

“Flynn’s on his way here with the coven.”

I frown hard at Damian. “Coven? Wait, what’s going on?”