Page 1 of The Alpha's Forced Pregnant Mate

Chapter 1 - Whitney

The woods outside of Athens, Georgia weren't like the ones I was more familiar with up north. There was an edge of swampiness about all of it, and the air hung heavy with humidity. I was thankful for my long-sleeved shirt and pants that protected me from the mosquitos, but I was melting alive.

My team of demon hunters—Keifer, Bruce, and Laura—didn't dare complain out loud, but I could tell that they were feeling miserable with the entire situation. We all pulled at our shirts and fanned ourselves as we trudged through the undergrowth, but there was no help for it. We had a job to do, and the possibility of catching a demon that had been involved in the Red Canine's attack was too important.

I didn't hold any specific loyalty to Danny and his pack, but I am loyal to my pack, the Silverfang Creek, and these demon attacks have linked the two packs whether we liked it or not. With one of our members, Naomi, mating with Alpha Danny, and the demon activity that had followed Naomi to Red Canine territory, it seemed like the Silverfang's demon problem was going to be the Red Canine's, too.

Danny's pack had done a damn good job defeating the demons that attacked them, but a few did get away. Usually, that would be bad news—we want to kill every bit of demon scum we can—but we have no idea why the demons are even attacking as often as they are. They seem particularly interested in my Alpha's wife, Faye, and her daughter Sienna, both of whom have witch blood.

If we can catch and question one of the demons before dispatching it, we could gain vital information that might change the tide of what feels like an upcoming war.

"Whitney," Bruce hissed, shaking me out of my thoughts. “Look."

I went quiet, trying to see what the other wolf was pointing at, but I smelled it before I saw it. The scent of sulfur wafted through the trees, and when I focused on it, I could see the dark, slumped-over shape at the bottom of the tree.

Bingo.

"Laura, you're with me. Everyone else stays back."

The demon had picked a good spot to hole up, and it was a battle to get through the thick bushes and sticky mud, but after a few long minutes, we finally made it to the sad creature. Some wolf had bashed the side of its head in, and it barely resembled the middle-aged man it must have possessed a long time ago.

It tried to shriek as I crouched in front of it, but the demon was weak, dying. "Get away, dogs. Let me die in peace."

"Good try," I responded, laying my spelled blade against its neck. The blade was as long as my forearm, and I had to work to keep it spelled, but it did the job well. "Tell me what I want to know and I'll give you a quick death instead of a slow one. Why do the demons want Faye and Sienna?"

The demon laughed, black blood spilling from the corner of its mouth. "You have no idea what's coming, do you? Once we have your witch, her pup, or both, our numbers will grow beyond what you can possibly imagine. Your pathetic packs will never survive. You won't survive. They will bring about the destruction of the world."

I pressed harder with the blade, the spell activating and burning the skin of the demon. "That's not what I asked. Why do they want the witches?"

It didn't answer, instead laughing harder and harder, until it was verging on hysteria. The sight unsettled me to my core, and I could hear Laura taking an involuntary step backward behind me.

"You have no idea," it gasped, still chuckling. "It's been centuries in the making. You don't know what you've started. Your wolves will fall, the witches will fall, the entire world will fall."

I stood, ignoring the way the demon laughed as if he’d just cracked the most amusing joke in the world.

"What is he talking about? What's been centuries in the making?" Laura demanded.

"I have no idea," I replied, then quickly swiped the sword across the demon's throat. I barely even needed to apply any force, and I could almost see the exact moment its life drained away. It went from hysterical laughter to complete silence in the space of a heartbeat.

We both backed away and watched as the telltale 'pop!' came from the demon's body, and it was soon engulfed in flames. It would be totally consumed in seconds, and there was nothing else for us to gain from the monster.

The two wolves that had stayed back came running through the foliage at the sound of the 'pop', but stopped short when they saw that it was dead.

"Any idea what it was rambling about?" Bruce asked. The sandy brown-haired male was an older wolf, around fifty years old.

"None. Whatever the demons are up to, it all seems to revolve around Faye and Sienna. All the interest they showed in Naomi looks to have been a distraction and nothing more. We'll head back and talk to Faye," I answered.

My cell phone rang as soon as we turned and began trekking back the way we came, and I almost laughed when I saw the name of the screen. Tapping on the screen, I held the device to my ear, a small smile tugging at my lips. "Faye. Were your witch senses tingling?"

She paused on the other end of the phone, bewildered. "…no? What do you mean?"

"We were just talking about you."

"Oh! How nice!" Faye chirped in a cheery tone. "Did you find a demon? Did you find anything?"

I stopped at a fallen tree, kicking at it before taking a seat. My team were all doing the same thing, wiping the sweat from their faces and pulling at the fabric of their clothing to let in a cool breeze.

"No, not exactly." I didn't want to say any more about it. "What did you want?"

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