Page 71 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

The ritual meant to undo the curse bonded to a werewolf was risky and wasn’t suggested for a mateless wolf. While Poppy and I have been bonded through the mating ritual, she never spoke the words with true conviction.

I forced her into that mate bond while she despised me in the past. And I entered the mate bond without knowing all the truths there were to know, and now I can’t help but have doubts.

If she resists what this ritual brings, if she fails to tear her soul from the darkness, she’ll die.

The mother of my child will die.

My mate will die.

Sister Aoife frowns as she stares at Poppy, as if she senses something is wrong, just the way I can feel it. My heart hammers with the panic coursing through me like fire, and I hop onto my heels and spin toward Poppy just as she collapses forward and into my arms.

When Aoife comes rushing forward, Poppy’s body convulses, her eyes still burning white.

“What’s happening, Aoife?!” I ask urgently as the other witches continue chanting around the fire.

Aoife quickly presses a finger to Poppy’s neck where the mating mark pulses as if it contains her heart.

“She is resisting…” Aoife whispers.

“What can we do? What can I do to help her?”

“Nothing,” Aoife says, her eyes wide as she lifts them to me. “Only she can fight it, Alpha. If she does not, she will—”

“No!” I roar, my voice trembling. “I will not hear it! I refuse!”

I grab Poppy by the shoulders, ignoring the crowd of council members we’ve gathered around us as I shake her when her eyelids close this time.

“Fight it, Poppy! You are strong enough!”

Those words ring truer than ever as our lives come flashing before my eyes as if I’m the one dying. As if I’m absorbing all the pain and torture the dark magic brings her, praying that it helps her fight this evil.

Poppy Barnes is strong.

She was strong enough to carry the past ten years on her own, strong enough to raise our son to be the resilient, kind-hearted boy he is now.

And if that counts for something…if it counts for anything at all, then Poppy will make it through this.

She has to. She has to come back so I can tell her how I really feel about her. To hell with the past, to the ten years we lost. We can make up for it, because I…

Because I love her.

The realization hits me like a gut-punch, and I nearly stumble on my feet. I catch myself and snap out of it, wanting to keep Poppy steady through her trance.

I look up to find Aoife staring at Poppy with a confused frown as she places a hand on Poppy’s chest this time.

“What is it? Is it working?”

“I do not…” Aoife gulps as she looks up at me, shaking her head slowly while still wearing her confusion on her brow. “I do not know, Alpha. The rhythm of her heartbeat is…different. Something is not right.”

I open my mouth, about to ask what it is, what is wrong with my Poppy, when the sirens around Nightclaw territory blare across the clearing.

“The borders!” Dorian exclaims.

The shrill wail of the emergency sirens tears through the clearing again, echoing across the valley with a desperation that sends every werewolf present springing into action. Warriors who had been standing guard immediately shift into wolf form, their bones snapping as snarls erupt around us. Council members bark out orders while soldiers rush toward the front gates, the peaceful atmosphere surrounding the ritual evaporating into absolute chaos within seconds.

My entire body locks.

No.