Page 24 of Betrayed Kidnapped Mate

We could figure it out together. I knew we could. But then Bigby never returned, and I realized he must have seen the pregnancy test in the garbage. That was the only explanation for why he would disappear so suddenly, and so completely.

I’d gone to his apartment the next day, after calling him over and over, just to find the door ajar, the inside completely empty. The key was on the counter with a note for his landlord, explaining that he was leaving and joining an agency on the other side of the country.

Bigby Vandenberg had moved to Washington, D.C., so he would never have to see me again. And here I am, wandering around his house.

When I turn around, a little white ball saunters up to me, and I jump, putting a hand on my mouth so I don’t make any noise. I kneel down, petting her and looking at her collar.

Luna.

A ball lodges in my throat, memories flooding back to me.

“You don’t understand,” I’d laughed, laying over Bigby’s chest, playing with the strings on his sweatshirt. “My father is going to marry me off to some alpha in the south. I won’t even know the guy!”

“Marrying an alpha,” Bigby had murmured, and I knew he wasn’t taking me seriously because he was still relaxed. Usually, even the notion of me with another man was enough to make him tense up, but people didn’t usually believe me when I tried to explain what my father was like.

Marry me off to someone? This wasn’t the 1800s.

But that didn’t matter to my father.

“Mhm,” Bigby had murmured, pressing his lips to my forehead and continuing the thought. “You would make an excellent luna.”

“Oh, shut up,” I’d said, slapping at his arm. “I don’t have a maternal bone in my body. I’ll be miserable, the entire pack will be miserable, and Gods forbid the day I have a kid. I’ll be too busy at work to even take care of her!”

“Oh, you’re assuming you’ll have a girl, then?”

“I will only have girls, Bigby Vandenberg. And they will all grow up to be successful scientists. Women in STEM. Perhaps even an astronaut.”

“How are you going to accomplish controlling your womb, huh?”

“My mother has her herbs.”

“You think your mother’s herbs are going to influence the gender of your future child?”

“I think I was wearing my mother’s love potion when you walked into that classroom.”

“Oh, hush,” he’d said, wrapping one massive arm around me and rolling me onto my back. Kissing down my neck, he said, “You didn’t need a love potion. You had on that fucking dress.”

***

Soft purring surrounds me, and I sigh, nuzzling closer to the warm, soft object under my arm. I can feel the sunlight warm on my face, and I’m lost in a haze of contentedness until the memory of last night comes rushing back, and I realize Kaila is not in the bed with me.

All I can think about is the fact that there was an intruder in the compound last night. I throw the covers back, startling Luna, who jumps off the bed and stretches languidly, clearly not understanding my panic.

Surely, Bigby would be able to fend off an intruder if they came straight to his house? Aris and Linnea had sounded like the infiltration wasn’t related to the fact that Kaila and I were staying in the compound, but I can’t stop thinking about my father, and what he would do to get his hands on us.

If my father had come here last night after not finding us in the compound, I would have heard the struggle, right? Bigby wouldn’t be taken out so easily.

I run into the hallway, hearing sounds from the kitchen and following them until I appear in the doorway, staring at the scene before me.

Kaila is sitting on the counter with a bowl of pancake batter. She’s giggling as Bigby stands at the oven, a spatula in his hand. He’s wearing a floral apron. I blink.

“Hey, Mom,” Kaila says, grinning from ear to ear. “Want a pancake?”

When Bigby turns and looks at me, it’s like getting hit by a truck. His face is open and joyous, his eyes bright, his posture relaxed. My daughter is safe and happy. I just want to fall into Bigby’s arms.

“Looks like someone got a visit from the hair fairy,” Bigby mutters, making Kaila laugh, and I roll my eyes, turning away from them and into the hallway, my pounding heart starting to calm.

When I walk into the bathroom, I see several brand-new bottles of shampoo, conditioner—every single product I used back in college. I put a hand over my heart. When did he even have the time to go and get this stuff?

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