Page 54 of My Bad Boy Alpha

After sniffing the air, Sapphire glanced over her shoulder at Alpha Stone walking toward us with James.Then, she moved closer to me and grasped my hand.“If that’s what she said, then you have to do it.”

“But … if I get pregnant …”

Derrit would do everything in his power to hurt the baby and me.

“Please, Zuri,” Sapphire pleaded.“Derrit almost got my mate killed yesterday.If he keeps this up, then he will eventually wipe this entire pack out.He will hurt our alpha if he forces Alpha Stone or you to kill another one of his packmates.Once you break down the mind …”

“Dark magic is easier to perform on someone.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

STONE

“What happened?”I asked Zuri, grabbing her hand and pulling her back toward the group of warriors that I had been speaking to prior to Zuri’s voice booming through the forest at Sapphire.

Zuri’s coiled curls blew backward in the slight woodsy breeze as the sunlight made her dark skin glow.She pressed her brown lips together and shuffled beside me, her nerves so intense that I could feel them through the mate bond.

Both Sapphire and Zuri didn’t look hurt or angry with each other.Which meant that something else must’ve happened, but neither of them spoke a word, no matter how many times I asked them about it.

“Nothing,” Zuri finally whispered when we approached the warriors.

The midday sun blazed down upon the forest around us.The warriors sat in a circle around a raging fire that we had started hours ago.Maybe it had been burned into our genetics, but we always brainstormed best around an open fire.

Flames flickered, creating grotesque shadows across some warriors’ faces.Some were still recovering from the battle yesterday, the light illuminating their bruises and scars.Others had healed completely but were still pissed that Derrit had hurt us this badly.

James tossed a log into the crackling fire.“What’s going on?”

Zuri paused in front of us and gazed up at me, a small layer of sweat forming on her forehead from the intense heat.The werewolf warriors all quieted down and gazed at their luna—and the woman who had saved them yesterday—which filled me with pride.

“Something happened, Z,” I said.“I’m here to protect you, so tell me.”

Zuri ran a hand across her face and blew out a sigh.

Sapphire stepped forward and took Zuri’s hand, squeezing it with a smile plastered across her face.“Zuri thought I was the Moon Goddess for a second.She saw her out in the woods.”

My eyes widened.“You saw her again?What’d she say?”

“Nothing,” Zuri whispered, her voice harsher than usual.After another low breath, she glanced up at me through those pretty brown eyes.“Sorry, but we can’t talk about it right here in front of everyone.It’s private.”

“What is it?”I asked through the mind link.

“A pup.”

“A what?”I repeated out loud.“Are you?—”

“No,” she exclaimed.“Not yet.”

“But soon,” Sapphire said with a smirk, as if she knew what we were talking about.

“I need to—” Zuri stopped short and glanced over my shoulder and into the woods.

“What’s going on?”James asked, peering into the woods.“Derrit?”

“No,” Zuri said, releasing Sapphire’s hand and walking toward the woods.“It’s the Moon Goddess.I need to talk to her.”She paused right next to me and placed a hand on my chest, as if she knew I would put up a fight about her walking through the woods by herself.“Alone.”

“Zuri—”

“Stone,” she said sternly, “I need to talk to her alone.”

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