Page 41 of Bullied Wolf Mate

She shot me a look. “Don’t tell me I’m in shock.”

“Just take a breath,” I muttered.

She glared but did as I said. I squeezed her shoulder before taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

“I’m going to take her home,” I said.

We walked home in silence, Lorelei staring at the ground in disbelief. I wanted to wrap my arm around her, to pull her in close, but I didn’t know how she would react.

When we stepped inside the house, I triple-checked the locks, wishing I’d had the sense to properly ward my house. When I turned to look at Lorelei, I could see her panic and exhaustion. She stood hunched, her arm wrapped around her stomach. I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“It’s my fault,” she murmured. “I have to turn myself in.”

I shook my head. “I’m not letting you do that. Neither are any of the others.”

Her brow furrowed as she glanced up at me. “But—”

“Take a nap,” I interrupted. “You’ll feel better and think clearer afterwards.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Then take a shower.”

She looked like she wanted to argue, but before she could, I steered her toward the master bedroom with the bath attached. She gave me an exhausted look, but nodded, walking inside and closing the door.

As the shower ran, I started pacing, trying to figure out some solution to the problem. None of the ideas that came to mind were particularly good ones. I growled, running my fingers through my hair. There had to be something. But the only option that seemed to guarantee getting the girls back was the one where Lorelei handed herself over, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I walked over to a drawer, rummaging through it. Just as my hands closed on something, the shower cut off. I straightened, turning to look at the closed door as I slipped the thing into my back pocket. A minute later, the door opened, and Lorelei, her hair damp and stringy, came out.

“Hey,” I said, walking over to her. My hand went to her shoulder. “How are you doing?”

“Still shaky,” she muttered. She took a deep breath. “But the shower helped clear my head a bit.”

“Good.” I pulled her into a hug.

She leaned into me, her head resting on my shoulder, but she didn’t wrap her arms around me. They hung loosely by her side.

“It’s all right,” I said. “We’re going to figure something out to save everyone, and we’ll stop Inara. Until then, you’ll be safe here. I know a few wards, so—”

“I’m going to do it,” she said, bringing my train of thought to a screeching halt.

“What?” I took a step away from her, my hands gripping her shoulders. I stared at her, trying to tell myself she was joking. My mind ran with panic and disbelief. There was no way I was hearing her correctly, was there? “You can’t be serious.”

Her green eyes blazed as she looked at me. “I’m not going to let those girls die because of me,” she said. “Inara isn’t bluffing. We both know it. And if this fails, she’ll carry out her threat and then try a different, even worse tactic. Rinse and repeat until I finally cave. At least this way, I’m not responsible for their deaths.”

“You have no guarantee she’ll let them go,” I argued. “And even if she does, if she gets her hand on that diadem, there’s no telling how many more people will die. You won’t be saving anyone.”

“You don’t know that,” she retorted. “And if I do this, maybe it will buy everyone else enough time to come up with a way to stop her.”

“She’ll kill you.”

“She needs me.”

I wanted to shake some sense into her. “Only for now. Eventually, she won’t anymore. And then she’ll discard you. You’ll get you and the baby killed.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Are you kidding? She’ll never kill me while I’m pregnant. You heard her. This baby is too interesting to her.”

“So she’ll kidnap you instead and steal our child?” I shook my head. “You can’t expect me to go along with any of this, Lorelei.”

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