Page 28 of Bullied Wolf Mate

With no intention of looking back, I hurried into the woods.

Chapter 13 - Mark

I walked toward the house, cradling the large bag of groceries in one hand as I let my mind wander. Things seemed to be looking up. No word of Inara over the last few days, but the Council had people keeping an ear to the ground, and everyone seemed confident that we would hear of her long before she started stirring up trouble. On top of that, Lorelei and I seemed to have come to a better understanding over the last couple of weeks. It had been a slow, gradual shift, but she was opening up to me more. She smiled at me more often, too. At the very least, I was no longer perpetually on the receiving end of one of her scowls. I could see a path forward.

But when I took the final steps to the house and saw the door, I paused, then stiffened as I registered one crucial thing about the front door.

It was unlocked.

My mind spun as I panicked, my mind going in a dozen different directions. Lorelei had run away. She had been kidnapped. Someone had forced their way in and killed her. A bear or some other big animal from the woods had come in, unlocked the door, and killed her.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. There was a chance I was overreacting. I probably was, for all I knew. Perhaps Declan had decided to ignore me and come to see her. Until I knew more about the situation, I couldn’t jump to conclusions.

My wolf snarled, flexing his claws as his worry and frustration churned inside me, mixing with my own emotions even as I tried to keep them separate.

Forcing myself to get a grip and stay calm, I pushed open the door. “Lorelei?” I called.

No answer. Her scent, still lingering, smelled stale, and when I pricked my ears, I couldn’t hear any shuffling or breathing, nothing that would indicate she was still here.

“Lorelei?” I yelled again.

I scanned the area. It didn’t look like there had been a struggle. Inara could have whisked her away without a sign, but I couldn’t smell anyone else. Which could only mean she had run off on her own.

My wolf snarled in frustration, his emotions melding with my own. How could she be so selfish? So careless? She was putting herself in danger.

I pushed my frustration out of the way. I wanted to chew her out, but the most important thing to do was find her and make sure she was safe. I couldn’t afford to be angry.

I tore outside, shifting as I did. My wolf shook his head, claws digging into the soft earth as he relished being in control. But this wasn’t just a fun jaunt through the forest. All I could focus on was finding Lorelei and making sure she was safe.

I pounded through the woods, following the faint traces of her scent, anger and panic fighting for dominance as I continued to track her. Why the hell would she do something so reckless? It didn’t matter, though. I had to get to her before someone else found her. Assuming that hadn’t already happened.

Her scent grew stronger. As it did, some of my panic eased as I realized no other scents had melded with hers. At this point, at least, she had been alone. I still couldn’t fathom whyshe had run off, but I could leave that be for the time being until I knew she was safe.

Even as that protectiveness overrode all other emotions, I couldn’t help but feel twinges of frustration and betrayal. She had promised she wouldn’t run. She had lied to me. I didn’t know why. Part of me didn’t want to find out; that part cared more about getting her back to safety.

Act now. Questions later.

I could smell I was getting close, and my pace increased until I could tell I was almost at her. I broke through the brush to find Lorelei sitting on a rock, staring into a creek, her knees drawn into her chest. She screamed, jumping to her feet as she spun around. But then her eyes flashed with recognition. The panic in her face dimmed but didn’t vanish. Instead, it mixed with wariness, and she took a step back.

“Hi, Mark,” she muttered.

I shifted. From where I stood, I scanned her carefully, checking for injuries, not relaxing until I assured myself she wasn’t hurt and there was no one else around. Now that I knew she was all right and was positive she had left on her own accord, ignoring my wishes, my frustration got the better of me.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I growled, stalking toward her. She shuffled backward. “Why would you just up and leave like that? Do you know how worried I was about you? I—”

A strange scent wafted toward me, one that was mixed with Lorelei’s. I paused, cutting myself off as I tried to identify the scent. It wasn’t a different scent; it was more like her scent had changed. Come to think of it, in retrospect, hadn’t her scent been different the last few days? It had just been so subtle that I hadn’t noticed.

There were only a handful of reasons why her scent might have changed. Out of those, only one of them might have caused her to run away.

My mouth opened as I stared at Lorelei, the implication slamming into me. My eyes darted to her stomach, as if expecting to see a noticeable bump that hadn’t been there this morning.

She saw my expression and gave a bitter, rueful smile. “I was kind of hoping I was wrong the whole time and it was all in my head. But that look from you basically just confirmed it,” she said, wrapping her arms around her stomach. “Surprise,” she said ironically.

“Are you really…” My mouth had gone dry. “You’re really…” I couldn’t get out the word. It felt too bizarre and foreign.

“Pregnant?” she supplied. She took a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair, looking at anywhere but me. “I haven’t had a test yet, but like I said, your reaction makes it seem pretty likely. So, yeah.”

“Oh.” It was the only thing I could think to say.

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