Pregnant and Rejected by My Alpha Mate novel Chapter 76

#Chapter 76 Prisoner

Selene’s POV

“Mommy.” Lila whines, “it’s too tight!”

don’t relax my arms one bit. As long as my baby is still breathing, I’m going to hold her as tightly as I possibly can, for as long as I possibly can.

Martin brought us to a ramshackle hut in the woods just outside the city. We had to drive for about twenty minutes after docking the boat, and once we arrived the big bully forced us into the odd little shack. Sophie is locked in the basement with Lila and I, both prisoner and accomplice to our predicament.

When Martin appeared and announced his intentions, I hoped he would take me back to his house. Drake will recognize his scent and go straight there, but apparently the foul wolf is smarter than I credited him. We traveled over the lagoon, and unless Bastien and Drake find the boat they won’t have any idea we left the city.

My only hope is that Martin is the caller who reported Lila and I to the tip-line. If he is then he’ll be in for quite the surprise when he tries to deliver us to my mate. If, on the other hand, he wants us for some other reason or knows about Blaise Denisons real bounty… well, we’re in very big trouble.

There’s no way to know which possibility is correct, so once I’ve sufficiently snuggled my pup, my first task is to try to plan an escape. I’m strangely proud of how well I’m keeping it together. If it weren’t for Lila | would probably be having a full blown PTSD episode, but my daughter is keeping my head on my shoul ders.

Maternal instincts really are the most powerful forces I’ve ever encountered – far more magical than those of mere shifters. For all the similarities of Martin and Garrick’s prisons, l’ve managed to shut off my memory and emotions, focusing only on the here and now.

“Have you ever been here before?” I ask Sophie, adjusting Lila on my lap. She’s been very calm ever since I arrived, and I don’t know whether she’s in shock or simply too young to realize the gravity of our sit uation.

“No,” the other woman frowns apologetically, “I’ve hardly ever been out of the marsh. I didn’t know Mar tin had property anywhere else.”

“Did he tell you what he’s planning?” I press, “Do you know why he took us?”

Sophie looks like she’s about to burst into a fresh wave of tears, “No.” She says again, “He kept saying it was for me. I don’t know why I believed him.” She swipes at a rogue tear sliding down her cheek. “He’s never done anything for me, but his mind is so twisted I didn’t put it past him to think he was doing me some big favor.” Shaking her head forlornly, she drops it into her small hands. “I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, Sophie.” I answer sternly. Letting go of Lila only long enough to squeeze her shoul der, “Martin only says you are so that you won’t fight back. It’s how his kind control their victims,” I grum ble, “they say whatever they have to in order to break your spirit and make you believe you’re powerless. But you’re not.”

“I’m so sorry.” She says for the thousandth time, “I just lost it when I saw you with Drake, 1-”

“I know, Sophie.” I interject, “I can’t say I forgive you. But I understand.” | press my lips to Lila’s hair, breathing in her pure, perfect scent. “We have to move past that, we have to focus on getting out of here.”

Lila snuggles deeper into my arms, content to let me smother her with affection now that she can breathe again. “Let’s dig tunnel!” She suggests.

I don’t know how I find the will to laugh, but I do. I suppose my extraordinary relief at finding my baby safe and unharmed has made me a bit delirious. “That might take a bit too long, Lila bean.”

Sophie’s shaking her head, and I can see my little pep talk didn’t land. “There’s no use.” She says de spondent, “He’s bigger and stronger than all three of us combined.” Her next words are so quiet, I almost miss them, “We’re never getting out of here.”

Drake’s POV

It doesn’t make any sense.

I’ve known Sophie my whole life. I can’t believe she was involved in this.

We’re in the apartment she shares with her brother, Martin. He’s been her guardian ever since their par ents died ten years ago, and while I can’t imagine Sophie harming a fly, I’m not so certain about Martin. There’s always been something about the wolf I don’t like. On the surface he’s as personable as anyone, but I’ve always sensed a cold cunning underneath, a shifty demeanor I can’t bring myself to trust.