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Kirsten tried to maintain this sense of serenity as she opened the door, turning the handle slowly until it clicked, then pulling it open to gaze into the hallway.
It looked like a normal, unlit hallway one would find in a cheap inn. She looked around, supposing that the nursery was the room right across from her own. She continued to rub Zara’s back as she stepped lightly, then went into the room to get her changed.
It was a completely stocked room with diapers, wipes, a changing table, and even a cute crib. It made Kirsten sad to think that Sher had decorated all on her own, hopeful for something that may never come to fruition. She thought about the dark path these feelings had led Henry’s ex-wife down as she changed Zara without waking her a wink.
When she was finished, Kirsten placed Zara on her shoulder, gazing back out the hallway. She felt a surge of boldness, a confidence that came from a motherly duty to protect one’s own kin. Even though Zara wasn’t her daughter, she felt like she was because she was willing to do anything to maintain her well-being.
Even if it meant dying, she would do it.
So with her heart pounding in her chest, Kirsten crept around the corner of the hallway, noting that the stairs weren’t being patrolled. She judged that there was a back door she could slip out of. It was then that she would have to think a hell of a lot more, but they would jump off that bridge when they came to it.
Kirsten quickly dressed Zara, who remained catatonic, threw a blanket over both of them, then scurried down the stairs. As she slipped by the front door, she heard a loud and gnarly roar coming from outside. In a flash, she saw a person who looked like one of the bear shifters Henry had told her about.
The guards were arguing with them, which gave her more of a chance to escape.
With all of her might and fortitude, Kirsten ran through the kitchen with Zara pinned to her shoulder like a mother orangutan swinging through the Indonesian trees. She felt a twinge of hope when the cool breeze of the snowy mountains brushed her cheeks, only to be grabbed by the back of the head by yet another strong-willed female.
“No, you don’t.”
Sher had caught them and was yanking Kirsten by her hair. Kirsten had to follow her backward through the kitchen or risk losing a large clump of hair being ripped directly from her skull. It would severely injure her, and as much as she didn’t care about that, it could cause her to lose her grip on Zara.
She moved with her, head tilted back severely, the power of the shifter holding her long locks not something to underestimate. It stung as she tugged, pulling her backward with enough force to send her crashing against the wall.
“You really thought you’d try me, huh?”
Kirsten could feel her eyes watering from the pain, but she hadn’t lost her hold on Zara for one second. The child continued to sleep through the chaos, ignorant of the plight of the woman holding her.
“Please, Sher,” Kirsten pleaded. “Think of the baby.”
It was a cheap ploy, but Kirsten knew it would work. Sher squeezed her fists together, then screamed at the guards to take her back to her room.
FORTY-ONE
HENRY
Henry was infuriated by the lack of progress in attaining his mate and child. One of the bear shifters had attempted to get in, to get information, but he was foiled by the guards at the front. It turned out that Sher wasn’t as foolish as he anticipated, or she was actually way more invested in keeping Zara as her own.
But what did it mean for Kirsten? The thought of anything happening to his mate made his blood boil and his heart ache. So he decided to do something drastic that could put him in danger, but to hell with it. He was the alpha, and it was his job to take care of his family.
Henry had been camping out with the bear shifters outside the estate when he decided to barge in during the night. The bear shifters around him recommended that they not take things so impulsively, but Henry was tired of talking. Talk was cheap, and actions paid the bills.
“I am going to go get my child and mate,” Henry said, removing his puffy winter coat. “You can either come with me and hang back just in case anything breaks out, or you can fuck off somewhere else. I don’t give a shit.”
The leader of the bear shifters gazed at him, eyes as honey brown as his fur when shifted. Henry knew himself. When he was amped up in the heat of the moment, he was likely to say things he didn’t mean.
He was thankful when the shifters nodded, stood up from the logs they had been resting on, and held their hands forward.
“After you, boss.”
He stormed up to the front as flecks of snow fell, bear shifters trailing behind him, despite disagreeing with his tactics. It made him respect them and, thus, trust them even more.
As soon as his massive frame came into the vision of the spotlight that blasted on him from the roof, four guards came forward, one holding an ax, two others with handguns, and one simply with a cop’s nightstick. It made Henry scoff as he stuck out his chest, ready for any violence that was likely on the horizon.
“Where the fuck is my mate?!” he roared, the sound rippling through the dead blanket of silence. “Where is my child?!”
One of the guards, the one with the ax, seemed to be the ringleader. He gazed around, feigning ignorance, then stared up at Henry with narrowed eyes.
“We have no idea what you are talking about,” the ax man said, swinging it back and forth before resting it upon his shoulder. “You and your friends better back out of the area before things here get messy.”
