Page 35 of Bullied Pregnant Mate

“No,” Jenks answers. “Not seriously, anyway. It was like they didn’t want to fight me.”

Bae glances at Carson, who gives him a hard look. “That just doesn’t make sense,” Carson says. “You’ve never been on security patrol, or in the warrior class. Why would they avoid fighting you? They should have ripped you apart.”

Carson’s words invoke a brief, violent image in my mind of Jenks laid out on the snow, torn open and bleeding. I yank my mind away from it and grip his hand even more tightly.

“Carson’s right,” Bae says. “This makes no sense.”

“One of them was definitely the wolf I saw last night,” Jenks says. “Big black guy with a silver-dusted ruff. The other one was brown and gray, slightly bigger. He blended into the environment really well.”

“Hmm,” Bae considers, rubbing his chin. “Anyone got any ideas?”

Rider shakes his head. “Rogues, maybe? Passing through, or looking for refuge.”

“Possible,” Bae replies. “But why would they chase Alisa down and not hurt Jenks?”

“Maybe she startled them,” Nate says. “They might have come in with good intentions but gotten spooked.”

“I’m sorry, but this sounds like Decker or the wild wolves to me,” Amanda says. “They’re the ones that hate witches. They came to kill Alisa.”

“We don’t know that—” Bae starts.

“We do!” Amanda snaps, cutting him off. “Don’t forget, I’m the one who got fucking kidnapped, and I dealt with an Ancient One personally. I know what I’m talking about.”

“But then they would have hurt Jenks,” Lucy points out. “I hear you, Amanda, but why would they just run when Jenks showed up?”

“Maybe they thought he had reinforcements,” Carson offers. “Or thought it was a trap or something.”

“Look, I don’t think we’re going to figure this out right now,” Bae says. “All we can do is increase patrols and concentrate on the area around Jenks’s place a bit more.”

“I agree,” Nate answers. “I’ll get some reinforcements in.”

“Thank you,” Bae replies. “Is there anything else before we get going on this?”

No one says anything, but I can tell by the anxious look on Jenks’s face that this is far from over.

Chapter 12 - Jenks

The whole way home, I feel tense, even jittery. Bae said he didn’t want me on patrol for tonight, and that makes me feel even worse.

Does he trust me? To be fair, I don’t even know if I trust me.

Alisa doesn’t talk much on the way home, and it makes me feel like she’s losing faith in me, too. I can tell by her concerned glances that she does care, though, and obviously wants to comfort me somehow.

I don’t even know what I need right now.

We pick up takeout on the way home, and it’s a small relief to not have to worry about dinner. I love cooking for Alisa, but tonight, I feel like it’s just one more thing I might screw up.

As we sit at the kitchen table with our burgers and fries, the silence between us deepens. I don’t like it, but I can’t bring myself to open up.

Seeing that other wolf was so strange. I felt like I knew him, but I’m sure I’ve never seen him before.

It makes me feel even worse that I didn’t do anything about the sighting—and then those wolves were practically at my door, attacking my wife.

“Jenks?”

“Yes?” I answer, almost jumping out of my seat.

“Are you okay?”

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