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I glared at him for a long moment. His betrayal cut through me. Why had he lied? The truth would have hurt, but I wouldn’t have blamed him given the circumstances here. Alpha Dane had made it clear he would follow through on his threats. Sometimes you had to do things to keep yourself safe. I understood that now more than ever.
Sawyer pushed the door open, and I went in and shut it behind me. His scent hit me, knocking the air out of my lungs.
I drew it in and then let it out again, bathing in the scent as I made my way to the bed.
Willa was curled in the fetal position under the covers. I could only see the top of her head peeking out from under the comforter.
I sat on the edge of the bed and put my hand on her thigh. She tensed and then released a sob.
“Hey, Willa, it’s okay. It’s me, Sloane.” I rubbed her leg.
She flinched and let out a yelp of pain. Had that monster hurt her anyway? I pushed the covers off her leg. A large bandage was wrapped around her thigh, and fresh blood was seeping through. No, this was the wound from earlier. It didn’t look like they’d done much for her.
She sniffled and pushed the covers back. “Sloane?”
I gave her a sad smile. “Hey. You okay?”
Her face crumpled, and she let out a gut-wrenching cry.
I lay down next to her and curled myself around her like my mother used to do for me when I was upset. She curled into me but didn’t stop crying.
She hiccupped and used the blanket to wipe away her tears. “I’m so scared, Sloane.”
She turned to look at me. Her eyes were puffy and rimmed red. Tears cascaded down her face in big droplets.
“I know. But we’re going to figure this out. I promise.”
“Is it true? Am I really pregnant?” She looked at me with wide, teary eyes.
I drew in another deep breath. There was no mistaking the scent now. “Yeah.”
She put her hand on her belly and squeezed her eyes shut. “It was just one time. I didn’t think this would happen or that you’d know so soon. I don’t even know what happened to him.” She opened her eyes and blinked up at me. “What if he’s dead?”
I frowned as I met her gaze. There was no way we were talking about Sawyer. He was right outside the door.
Oh.
Jacob Delido. But that had been, what, a day ago? My mom did always used to tell me that sometimes you could smell the change to a woman within a few days.
I had to be certain, though. I dropped my voice to a whisper. “You’re saying this is Jacob’s baby, not Sawyer’s.”
I let out a relieved breath. He hadn’t lied to me. Thank goodness.
She swallowed and nodded. “Sawyer has never touched me. I don’t know why he hasn’t said anything. It was just one time with Jacob. You know, just in case we got caught. I wanted my first time to be with my mate. My love. Oh, Sloane, I love him so much. It was everything I could ever imagine and more.” She sniffled. “I didn’t think the just-in-case would happen though. It explains why I couldn’t shift. My wolf wouldn’t come out, so he told me to run. Then we were separated.”
She pulled the covers up to her chin and looked vacantly at the ceiling. “Do you think he’s okay?”
I looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. “I don’t know.” I wasn’t going to lie to her. “He wasn’t brought here with the others. I’d like to hope that’s a good thing.”
She hiccupped and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I hope you’re right. Sawyer didn’t say anything to Alpha Dane. He has to know it’s not his. I don’t understand. Why hasn’t he said anything? Does he have some sort of ulterior motive? Is he going to hurt me too next time we’re alone?”
I patted her arm but kept my gaze on her thigh. Red welts were streaking out from under the bandage where infection was setting in. “Sawyer’s one of the good ones, Willa. Your secret is safe with him. I promise you. There is no ulterior motive for him. He wants to protect you, too.”
“Really?” She looked up at me with wide, worried eyes. “I mean, he has been really nice to me, but Alpha Dane is so…”
I smiled at her and hugged her close. “I promise. Sawyer would never hurt you.”
She released a long breath. “I’m so scared, Sloane.”
