Page 2 of The Alpha's Forced Pregnant Mate

"I've been calling your cell phone for two hours, why didn't you answer?"

Frowning, I checked my screen. Sure enough, Faye had tried to call me a dozen times before this, but my phone had been on silent for the hunt, and I hadn't felt the phone vibrate. "Well, we did find a demon, but it gave us basically no information. At least not anything that we didn't know before…except it said that their numbers would grow if they were able to get ahold of you or Sienna. So I was a little busy."

Faye hummed. "That's not good."

"I don't think I was in the habit of sugar-coating things with you. Sorry if that was blunt.“

"Oh, Whitney, I've never accused you of sugar-coating. It's just that we might have a new problem. How close are you to packland right now? Because it would be so much easier to talk to you face-to-face about all of this."

"I'm unfortunately still deep in the Georgia backwoods," I sighed. "What is it that you need to talk to me about?"

Faye sighed heavily and the phone was silent for a few long moments before she spoke again. "Just come home. I've been having these feelings about you, almost like premonitions, and I really think it's important that you get back to us."

Her words sent a little shiver up my spine, but I thought there was more to it than what she was saying. "Faye…what's really going on?"

"I'm not lying!" she insisted, before exhaling out of frustration. "Okay, look, don't hang up when I say this and please listen to all of it. We're doing a mate match ceremony soon, and ever since we finalized the plans for it I've been dreaming about you being there. I think it's really, really important that you're present, Whitney."

Unspoken words hung in the air, but Faye knew that saying them would be a step too far for me,'It's important you're there because I think you're going to be matched with a mate'.

It upset me at first—Faye knows good and well that it's hopeless for me when it comes to finding a mate. My job is a nightmare for most male wolves—I have to leave my home quite often to hunt, a lot of my work is secretive, I spend time with other male wolves while we're hunting, and worst of all, it's ridiculously dangerous. No man wanted a mate that could die any day, leaving him and potentially a child behind.

And that was the other problem—children. I wasn’t against the idea. Actually, the thought of being a mother filled me with a warm sort of joy, but I wouldn't want to give up my job just because I was a mother. All of this put a big red X over me in most male wolves’ minds, and I was a seriously undesirable mate candidate.

I'd accepted that long ago, and besides on nights when I have a few glasses of wine and feel sorry for myself, I'm mostly okay with being perpetually single.

What I wasn’t okay with was being dragged to a mate match ceremony just to be disappointed. Even if Faye found my match, he was bound to be disappointed, too, and it would just be a bad time for everyone. Faye knows all of this, so why in the hell would she try to drag me to a ceremony after all this time?

"Faye," I groaned. "You know how I feel about all of that stuff."

"I know, I know. I wouldn't even ask except…the premonitions have been getting more and more frantic. I wake up with my heart racing, and the only thing I can think about is how you have to be at this match ceremony, Whitney. Please come. If you aren't matched then no harm, no foul, right? And if you are—"

"Stop right there," I interrupted. "We both know I won't be, and even if I was, the guy would run for the hills. But…" I trailed off, closing my eyes and blowing out a frustrated breath. "If you say it's important, I believe you. I'll rally the troops and head home."

I could practically hear the smile in her voice as Faye spoke. "Really?"

"Yeah. But don't say anything about a mate for me, okay? I know it's the purpose of the whole thing, and that's probably what's making you think I need to be there, but it's a moot point. There's not going to be any mate."

Faye's voice softened. "We can't be certain of that. There might be, you just can't see it yet."

"No, I know for a fact. It's fine. I'll be home tomorrow evening."

"Perfect. I'll run by your apartment and make sure you've got food in the fridge. And hey, be careful on the way back. Naomi warned me that Julian and his jerk followers are MIA, so who knows where they've set up their so-called 'pack'. I know you can handle yourself just fine but the less drama we have with them, the better."

Ugh. Julian and his new pack, the Reckless Stalkers, were the last thing I wanted to deal with. "I'll stick to the main roads driving home, don't worry."

We said our goodbyes and hung up, and I groaned, looking around at the tired expressions on the rest of my team's faces. I was feeling the same way, and I hadn't slept a wink last night because I had been so excited about the hunt. Now, though, my energy had drained away and left behind bone-deep exhaustion.

"Let's head back. We've done all we can for now."

They all perked up, and within seconds, we'd all stripped out of our clothing and shifted into wolf form. Running was a lot faster than walking, and it felt good to stretch all four of my legs after such a long day.

The trip back to our small, two-bedroom cabin took a little under an hour, and as we neared the front door, I slowed down to human speed and changed forms, grabbing my spare clothes out of the back of my Subaru. The rest of the group followed suit, and I led us up onto the porch.

"Everyone get some sleep," I told them, leaning against the door frame. "Tomorrow we're heading back home, so we need to get an early start."

The group said their goodnights before disappearing inside. I took a moment to stretch out my neck, feeling a few vertebrae pop back into place before sighing.

I was exhausted. We had been gone for almost a month, tracking all sorts of demons we'd heard about, but it was all for nothing. The information we got from the demon we found dying was next to useless, and Faye's insistence that I be at the mate match ceremony only frustrated me.

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