Page 20 of The Alpha's Forced Pregnant Mate

“It would at least put us on equal footing,” he argued. “You’d have some of my power, and it’d be easier to keep you safe. I bite you, and then you go into hiding until this is all over.”

“No,” I growled. I’d been a demon slayer for a long time, and I’d fought some of the worst demons in the world, but I’d never met someone so pig-headed and arrogant in my entire life. “I am not mating with you, Julian Payne.”

Julian ducked Laura trying to intercept him, and grabbed me by the shoulders. For the first time, I found that I was a little afraid of him. He was huge, and so mad that his eyes looked like green fire. “Do you think I’m just going to sit back and watch you get killed? No. If you don’t agree, then I’ll force you,” he gave me a small shake, “For your own good.”

“You’ve lost it,” I whispered, pushing against his chest to try and get away from him. He had to be out of his mind to even consider forcing me into a mating. Wolves might do it all the time, but not me.

“No, I haven’t,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m finally starting to see clearly.”

“Well, I can’t say I agree,” I hissed, twisting in his grip. I pulled my knee up, aiming for his groin, but he dodged it at the last second.

“Knock it off!” Laura yelled, pushing between us. She’d pulled a knife, and Julian backed up, keeping his hands where she could see them. “Go back to our cabin, Whitney. I’ll make sure he can’t follow you. You both need to chill the fuck out.”

I wanted to push back, but if the positions were reversed, I’d be desperate for Laura to listen to me. So I stomped away, bristling as I felt Julian’s gaze on my back. Just before I was out of earshot I whipped around and yelled, “Even if you managed to force a mating, I’d run back to the Silverfangs the second it was done. Bite or not, I will NEVER be yours.”

“WHITNEY!”

I ignored his yell, reaching my cabin and slamming the door behind me. As soon as I was alone, I dropped my head into my hands, sank to my knees, and let the hot tears flow.

Damn Julian. Damn my blood. Damn it all.

Chapter 8 - Julian

I’d been able to keep all my worst behaviors in check when Whitney and Laura arrived and behaved like somewhat of a gentleman, showing them the cabins and the first spot where we had spotted the demons, even with everything in me screaming to claim her right then and there. Not seeing my mate for an entire week had been hell, but I had made it through knowing that I’d be seeing her again in a week, and in my own territory no less.

Everything had been fine until the demons had ambushed us, and all of them had turned toward Whitney, all but ignoring me and Laura. My plan had already been set into motion—I would lock her in her cabin that night and set guards outside of it, keeping her isolated and forcing her to get to know me until she relented and gave into the mating bond. But then that damn demon attack, and Whitney’s confession combined to make her and I both lose our minds.

I wanted to rage and destroy everything around me, thinking that she had been out in the open with a target written on her back this whole time. What if she had been killed before we even met? What if the demons never stopped coming for her, now that they somehow knew she had witch’s blood?

When she stormed off I yelled her name and made to follow her, but a hand had grabbed my arm from behind and stopped me. I snarled, whipping around to face whoever dared to stop me, but managed to control myself when I saw that it was Laura.

“Get off of me,” I snapped.

“No,” she said, not letting go of my arm. “You need to cool off before you go after her, or else you’re just going to make things worse.”

I knew she was right, but that didn’t stop the rage boiling up inside of me. Everything had been fine, until it wasn’t.

How could she have kept that from me? For years, she’d been putting herself in danger when she was exactly what the demons were looking for. I wanted to shake her and scream at her, demanding that she never put herself in danger like that ever again.

“Let go of my arm,” I said, turning to look at Laura.

She didn’t let go. Instead, she tightened her grip, digging her nails into my skin. “Are you calm?”

I nodded, and she slowly loosened her grip, stepping back a little bit. “Good. You’re not thinking straight, Julian.”

I barked a laugh, shoving my hands through my hair. “How aren’t you freaking out about this? I assume you were in the dark, too.”

Laura didn’t look bothered, though. “I didn’t know about the witch blood thing, no, but I sort of suspected something was different about Whitney. She’s been spelling our blades for years, and she’ll give us satchels filled with crystals for protection during the more dangerous missions. But she didn’t want to talk about it, and it was none of my business.”

“She could have gotten herself killed,” I muttered, pacing back and forth across the grass. “And she’s still refusing to be my mate.”

Laura rolled her eyes. “You’ve known her for all of two days, Julian. She isn’t going to fall into your arms at the first sign of danger.”

“You’re unmated. You don’t get it.”

“Maybe not fully, but I know Whitney. She cares for her team and her friends above all else, and she’d do anything for them. You’re not even trying to earn her trust to make a foundation. You just want her to be your mate without putting in any work. Your reputation fucking sucks, and there are multiple wolves who would kill you on sight if given the chance. Why would she want you as a mate?”

An acidic reply was on my tongue, but I held it back as I processed her words. She was right, I wasn’t going to waste time convincing my mate to be my fucking friend when she was in danger. I couldn’t force her to claim me as one of the people she cared about most, but one of those people was standing in front of me right now. Just like Laura said, Whitney would do anything to protect her.

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