Page 6

SERAPHINA

E veryone had to be lying.

And even if they weren't...none of these could be true.

Me? Pregnant? Married? I don't even associate with those terms. What happened after I spread Mom's ashes across the rivers yesterday?

Didn't I pack up at the house? Did I maybe have an accident on the way to the Red Moon Pack?

Or was it the landlord? He had been growing particularly violent since I kept refusing to sleep with him to complete the rent.

Last time, he left bruises on my forearm from trying to cage me in at the corridor.

And I had rewarded him with a knee to his groin?—

Movement in front of me startles me and I remember the man in front of me—the man the female doctor claimed to be my husband. "Are you trying to kidnap me? I'm not interested in playing house with you, or whatever form of sick joke this is."

The man smiles and something gnaws on my subconscious as I watch his shock of green eyes lighten with humor. But I can't place my finger on it.

He slips his hands into tailored black pants and his embroidered jacket that must have cost five arms and ten feet flutters as he takes a few steps forward. "Maybe I am. Would it be so bad?"

When I place a hand in front of me defensively, ready to punch the man if he so much as takes another step towards me, he laughs a little. "Relax, Miss Everly. If I wanted you abducted, trust me, you would have little say in the matter."

I blink. "Miss Everly? I kept my surname?" I muse out loud. That's the first thing anyone has said that sounds remotely like me.

"No. Fiona must've made an assumption based on the fact that I brought you in and looked after you.

We aren't married and neither am I the father of your child.

I found you bleeding out by the roadside and saved your life.

" He pauses and says more to himself than me, "I admit, I wasn't thinking at the time.

Had I known I'd be accused of abduction, I might've taken a different approach. "

He speaks like a lunatic. I shake my head, dismissing what could only be interpreted as he would have left me there to die. "Where did you find me? How far from the Greyhound are we?" I look around the sterile room. "Have you seen my bag?"

"The Greyhound?" he repeats with incredulity.

"Yes," I mutter absentmindedly. "Alpha Nolan's Pack.

" If I can trace my steps back... Frustration bites at me.

Yesterday...what did I do yesterday? Right.

I packed up our belongings in boxes and sold them off.

Got swindled by Jeff who claimed little could be salvaged and they were all too old to be repurchased.

Where did I go next? What did I do next?

"We found you at the Red Wolf Pack, Miss Everly. I understand that this may be hard to process?—"

"Stop talking!" I yell, a sudden, horrible headache forming in the back of my head. The Red Wolf Pack? But my trip isn't until next tomorrow. Something is so terribly wrong here.

I march forward, ripping the damn IV from my wrist. I vaguely hear the man shout my name somewhere behind, but I don't relent. The whole world is trying to drive me crazy. That man is trying to kidnap me. The nurse is most definitely in on his plan.

I'm out of the door in seconds and I find another bulky man by the door, who looks like a younger version of the man inside.

His eyes, a much lighter green, widen with surprise, but he makes no move to stop me as I storm towards the counter, demanding what day it is, where we are, the year, the time.

At the response of the blonde in a bun who looks at me like I've gone mad, I decide that maybe the entire hospital is a sham. I hurry towards the elevator that leads outside, only to be stopped by an arm around my waist, lifting me off the floor entirely.

The man's voice comes a heartbeat later, his lips hot against my right ear. "You want to go running out there because you don't trust me? Be my guest. But maybe put on some clothes first. You have nothing underneath and everyone can see through the slip of a gown."

I scream, thrashing, and doctors, nurses and patients alike stop to watch us. And they do absolutely nothing as he carries me back to the room, some even bowing their heads in deference.

A minute later, I am dumped unceremoniously on the bed, my strength and energy spent, and my head feels too heavy, my legs too light.

"I believe this is yours."

I glare at him as he hands me a familiar bag, but my heart drops as I recall it. I only purchased the blue Jean bag the day before. Why does it look so old and worn?

Taking it from him, I look through the contents, heart racing with each new unrecognizable item I find in there.

Clothes. A pair of boots that should only be a few months old, but looks like I've worn them for years.

Important receipts with my name and signature on them, dating to.

..Oh gods. My movements grow more and more frantic as the truth starts to slap me in the face.

Four years? Four whole years?!

A chair is pulled forward and placed across from me and even after settling, the stranger still manages to take up all of the space in the room. Calloused fingers thrum against the arms of the chair. "Now that the hysterics are out of the way, you may call me Soren."

I stare at him, suddenly feeling uncertain, confused and lost. "I didn't ask for your name. I want to go home. I'm tired and hungry."

He leans forward, elbows resting against his knees. "You don't have a home, Miss Everly." A small pause. "Eric will bring you breakfast."

I raise a hand, wincing as my fingers scrape against a stitching at the back of my head. "You only just met me. How can you be sure that I don't have a home? And you mentioned that you found me at the Red Wolf Pack. I was going to move there for work. I must've lived there."

The man—Soren—nods, though his lips thin. "After I found you, I wasn't sure who to call and was strongly advised against leaving you without a guardian. So, I had you looked into."

Annoyance flares inside at the ease with which he speaks on prying into my life like it is nothing of consequence, but I say nothing because even I need to know what his findings were.

"Your mother died of cancer four years ago. There are no records of your father or siblings. No known relationships and quite the history of?—"

"Get to the point," I snap, a flush rising up my cheeks. "I know what my dating life looks—looked like."

He seems to find my outburst funny, as he murmurs something I don't catch under his breath with a deep chuckle before continuing.

"You worked at the Red Wolf Pack as a maid for four years and only recently just resigned.

There were no clear plans on where you were headed next.

No one seemed to know a thing about you, the pregnancy or who the father of your child might be.

I also find it rather strange that you got attacked on the night you left, even though those woods have been said to be rogue-free for the longest time. And the beatings..."

His eyes drop to the nearly healed bruises along the length of my arms and darken. His fists clench. "Rogues don't move that way. You had to have pissed someone off to end up the way I found you. And whoever it is seemed to have been well aware of your movements."

My fingers curl into fists. "You're saying it wasn't some random attack and someone, in fact, tried to kill me."

Soren nods. "Hence, my conclusion that the Red Wolf Pack isn't an option of a home to return to, except you have a death wish. What are the odds that whoever is behind this doesn't finish what they started?"

His words settle and silence ensues. I don't realize I have forgotten he's sitting there and gotten lost in my thoughts again until someone knocks and the scent of tea fills the room.

The man who had been standing outside, Eric, walks in with toasts, eggs, avocados and my stomach churns so loud, I look away sharply in embarrassment.

"Thank you," I murmur and Eric smiles warmly, nodding before leaving again.

Soren watches me eat. No, he watches every blink, every chew, every swallow, and every breath that I take like it means something to him. I don't bother trying to understand the actions of the madman because I have enough problems of my own.

None that seem to have any groundbreaking solutions. I could understand that no one knew who the father was. I've always been a private person, but didn't that also mean that whoever knocked me up didn't care enough to find out where I was? Or how his child is?

I grit my teeth at the familiarity of the situation. I'm Mom all over again. Grief and anger slam into me so hard, the teacup shakes in my grasp and I barely notice the steaming liquid pouring down my fingers until Soren snatches the cup from my hand and dabs my fingers with a handkerchief.

The brush of his fingers against my skin causes an uncomfortable tingle to zing down my being and I hiss, snatching my hand from his.

"No offense, but why are you still here?

I'm grateful you saved my life but it still doesn't explain why you would go to these lengths for a woman you don't even know.

And I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself. "

His lips curl into a snarl that is every inch predatory and something unreadable flickers in his green eyes. "Because you are right. And I do have an ulterior motive."

My laugh is sharp and brittle. "Of course you do. This is the part where you tell me that you, an Alpha, supposedly needs a penniless maid to survive."

"Believe what you want, but you'll come to realize you don't have many options, Miss Everly?—"

I bristle, hating the way my last name rolls off his tongue with an intimate familiarity. "Don't call me that."

He only tilts his head, studying me. "Then marry me."

I choke and the sound is not at all ladylike. "Excuse me?"

He smiles fondly at that statement in particular before repeating, "Marry me."