Page 73 of My Bad Boy Alpha

Ifa nodded.“At some point.”

After sitting beside his sobbing body, after feeling all his pain, I grabbed his hand and prayed that he’d return to me.He couldn’t be like this forever, could he?If he stayed like this, he wouldn’t get to see me go through this pregnancy or have our pup.He wouldn’t get to be a father the way that I knew he wanted.

When he didn’t awaken from just my touch, I placed his hand on my belly to see if he could feel the second faint heartbeat inside my stomach.To see if he could feel our pup growing inside me.It was a last-ditch effort.

“Please awaken, Stone,” I whispered.“I can’t lose you.”

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

STONE

The faintest ofheartbeats fluttered against my palm.

I sprawled my hand across someone’s stomach, blinked a few times, and then shifted my gaze upward to Zuri, who stood over me.My eyes widened slightly, and I sat straight up in the bed, heart pounding.Stars danced in my vision, and suddenly, pain split through my head.

“Thank Goddess,” Zuri murmured, sitting beside me and gently motioning for me to lie back down.“You’re going to hurt yourself, Stone.You’ve been out of it for almost an hour now.”

“Y-y-you’re alive,” I murmured, resting my head against the pillow and staring at her.

How was she alive?I had seen Derrit kill her, rip out her womb, and murder our baby.

My gaze dropped to her belly, which didn’t even look like it had been wounded at all.I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head.None of this made any sense.She was dead.And I didn’t … we didn’t …

“Derrit is dead,” Zuri whispered.“You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

“Did you—” I began, but then visions began playing through my head, as if I hadn’t seen them before right now.Visions of Zuri floating in the sky, her chest burning as bright as the moon, tearing Derrit to pieces.“You … killed him.”

“I did.”

While I was so fucking proud of Zuri, I had been completely useless.My contract with the devil had been useless.My strength had been useless.My blood—that of an alpha—had been useless.I hadn’t been enough to protect my mate and my pack.

She pulled me into a tight hug, one of her tears falling onto my cheek.“I’m so happy you’re safe and back to normal.I thought I had lost you for good.I don’t know … I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Maybe you should go get him some water and a doctor,” a woman said to our left.

Zuri glanced over at the tall, slender woman and nodded.“You’re right.I’ll be back.”

Before I could get out another word, Zuri scurried out of the room and down the hallway.I winced from the pain shooting through my head as another vision of Zuri clutching her belly during the fight drifted through my mind.

Did Zuri … was she pregnant?Really pregnant?

“Do you think she knows yet?”one of the women whispered to the other.

I pushed myself to a seated position and leaned against the headboard.“Knows what?”

Both the women stared over at me through wide eyes.

“You can … hear us?”one said.

“Yes …” I murmured, blinking my eyes through the pain.“Can see you too.”

The women, who seemed like sisters, shared a look with each other and then walked to my bedside and stared down at me quizzically.With their brow furrowed, they stalked around me and hummed.

“Why do you think he can see us now?”one asked.

“The dark magic perhaps?”

“We’re only visible to those that are worthy, and he hasn’t been worthy before.”

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