Chapter Three

Marisol's POV

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

Instead, I sat on my couch with every light in the apartment blazing, my phone clutched in one hand and a kitchen knife in the other. Ridiculous, probably. What was I going to do, stab someone for texting me? But the messages had tripped every alarm bell my three years in the wilderness had installed.

That's my child you're carrying.

I must have read those words a hundred times, trying to make them mean something other than what they clearly meant. A mistake at the clinic. A donor who somehow found out. A man who thought he had rights to my body, my choice, my baby.

Except how did he get my number? How did he know I was pregnant when I'd only found out yesterday? And why did his name Kael Blackwood sound familiar in a way that made my skin prickle?

At six in the morning, I gave up pretending I might rest and called Dr. Rhodes. Straight to voicemail. I tried the clinic's main line. The receptionist wouldn't be in until nine.

So I paced. Made coffee I couldn't drink. Stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, looking for those gold flecks I'd seen last night. Just brown eyes stared back. Normal. Tired. Scared.

My phone rang at eight-thirty. Dr. Rhodes.

"Marisol, I got your messages. What's wrong?"

"Someone texted me last night." I hated how shaky my voice sounded. "A man named Kael Blackwood. He said there was a mistake with the donor sample. He said he said it's his child."

Silence on the other end. Too long. Too heavy.

"Dr. Rhodes?"

"I need you to come to the clinic. Now. Don't talk to anyone else, don't respond to any more messages. Just come straight here."

"What's going on? Who is Kael Blackwood?"

"Please, Marisol. Trust me. Come to the clinic."

She hung up before I could argue.

I threw on jeans and a sweater, grabbed my keys, and was out the door in five minutes. The morning was overcast, threatening rain, and the streets were clogged with rush hour traffic. Every red light felt like an eternity. My hands wouldn't stop shaking on the steering wheel.

The clinic was quiet when I arrived, just a few staff members setting up for the day. The receptionist Yolanda, I remembered this time looked up with something like pity in her eyes.

"Dr. Rhodes is waiting for you in her office."

I practically ran down the hallway.

Dr. Rhodes wasn't alone. A man stood by the window, his back to me, but I knew immediately this wasn't hospital security or a lawyer or anyone I could handle with logic and paperwork.

He was tall. That was my first coherent thought. Easily six-three, broad shoulders stretching a dark henley, dark jeans that looked expensive. His hair was black, slightly too long, and when he turned around

Those eyes.

Silver-grey. Exactly like in my dream.

My knees actually went weak. I grabbed the doorframe to steady myself, and something flickered across his face. Recognition? Concern? It was gone too fast to read.

"Marisol," Dr. Rhodes said quietly. "This is Kael Blackwood. Please, sit down. We have a lot to discuss."

"I'm not sitting." My voice came out stronger than I felt. "I want to know what's going on. Right now."

Kael moved slightly, and I realized he'd positioned himself between me and the door without being obvious about it. Predator instincts. The wolf researcher in me catalogued it even as the woman in me took a step back.

"Don't be afraid," he said, and his voice did something to my nervous system. Deep, rough-edged, with an accent I couldn't place. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"You sent me threatening messages in the middle of the night."

"They weren't threats. They were warnings." He looked at Dr. Rhodes. "Has she been experiencing anything unusual? Dreams? Enhanced senses?"

"That's confidential patient information," Dr. Rhodes said, but her tone was gentle. Worried.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kael's attention returned to me, and the intensity of his gaze made me want to run. Or move closer. My body couldn't decide which. "The dreams. You're running through forests. Four legs instead of two. There's someone with you a presence you can't quite see."

My mouth went dry. "How do you know that?"

"Because you're carrying my child, and my bloodline doesn't transfer through genetics alone."

"Your bloodline." I looked at Dr. Rhodes. "What is he talking about? What kind of experimental program did you put me in?"

She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, she looked older somehow. Tired. "I never intended for this to happen. The samples were supposed to be kept separate, only used for specific candidates. There was a mix-up in the lab. A terrible, catastrophic mistake."

"Mistake." Kael's voice went hard. "Someone deliberately sabotaged the system. This wasn't an accident."

"You don't know that"

"I know my donation was flagged for restricted use only. Someone had to override multiple safety protocols to place it in general circulation." He turned back to me. "Which means someone wanted this to happen. Wanted you to conceive my child."

The room tilted. I sat down after all, before I fell down.

"I don't understand any of this. Why would someone do that? And what do you mean your bloodline doesn't transfer through genetics alone?"

Kael exchanged a look with Dr. Rhodes. Some silent conversation I wasn't part of.

"Tell her," he said. "She has a right to know what she's carrying."

Dr. Rhodes moved to sit beside me, her hands folded in her lap. "Marisol, what I'm about to tell you will sound impossible. But I need you to listen with an open mind. Can you do that?"

"Just tell me."

"Kael Blackwood is not entirely human. His people his pack they're what folklore calls werewolves. Shifters. And when his genetic material was used to conceive your child, it transferred more than just DNA. It transferred essence. Legacy. A bond that connects you to him and his world in ways we're still trying to understand."

I stared at her. Looked at Kael. Looked back at her.

"You're insane. Both of you are completely insane."

"I wish we were," Kael said quietly. "It would be simpler."

"Werewolves aren't real. They're myths. Stories. I'm a scientist I study actual wolves, and they don't turn into people, and people don't turn into"

He moved faster than should have been possible. One second he was by the window, the next he was crouched in front of me, close enough that I could see the silver in his eyes wasn't contact lenses or tricks of light. It was real. Inhuman.

"Look at me," he said. "Really look. What do your instincts tell you?"

And that was the thing. My instincts the ones that had kept me alive in the wilderness, that had helped me track and study predators for three years those instincts were screaming that he was exactly what he claimed to be.

Dangerous. Powerful. Other.

"The dreams," I whispered. "The enhanced hearing. My eyes in the mirror"

"You're changing," Kael said. "Not into what I am. You're human, and you'll stay human. But the child is altering you. Preparing your body to carry wolf-blood. It's rare, but not unheard of when our kind breeds with humans."

I stood up so fast the chair fell over. "I need to leave. I need to I can't"

"Marisol, please." Dr. Rhodes was at my side. "I know this is overwhelming. But you need to understand the danger you're in. If Kael found you, others will too. His people have laws about children born outside the pack. And not everyone will be as understanding as he is."

"Understanding?" I laughed, and it sounded hysterical. "He's claiming rights to my body, to my baby"

"I'm claiming responsibility," Kael interrupted. "There's a difference. I'm not here to take anything from you. But that child is half-wolf, and my pack's enemies will see it as a threat or a weapon. You need protection."

"I need to not be pregnant with a werewolf's baby!"

The words hung in the air. Ugly. True.

Kael's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his eyes. Hurt? Anger? It was gone before I could name it.

"Unfortunately, that's not an option anymore." His voice was colder now. "The bond is formed. The child is conceived. And whether you believe in my world or not, it's coming for you."

"That sounds like a threat."

"It's a fact." He pulled a card from his pocket, held it out. "My number. When you're ready to talk about this rationally, call me. But don't wait too long. The people who orchestrated this mix-up? They're watching. And they won't be as patient as I am."

I didn't take the card. He set it on Dr. Rhodes's desk and walked toward the door.

"One more thing," he said without turning around. "The howl you heard last night? That was me. I was outside your building, making sure you were safe. You'll hear it again tonight, and tomorrow night, and every night until we figure out who's targeting you and why."

"I didn't ask for a stalker."

"You didn't ask for any of this. But you have it now. We both do." He looked back over his shoulder, and those silver eyes locked onto mine. "Whether you trust me or not, Marisol Vega, I will protect what's mine. And like it or not, that child makes you mine to protect too."

Then he was gone.

I stood there, trembling, while Dr. Rhodes picked up the fallen chair and gestured for me to sit. I did, because my legs wouldn't hold me anymore.

"This can't be real," I said. "This can't be happening."

"I'm afraid it is." She poured water from a pitcher on her desk, handed me the glass. "Drink. Breathe. We'll figure this out."

"How long have you known? That he was that his donations were"

"I've worked with supernatural clients for fifteen years. The Meridian Center specializes in cases that other clinics can't handle, including hybrid pregnancies. Your case was supposed to remain entirely human. The fact that Kael's sample ended up in your procedure..." She shook her head. "Someone with access to our systems did this deliberately. Which means they have a reason. A plan."

"What kind of plan?"

"That's what we need to find out."

My phone buzzed. Another text from an unknown number, but not Kael's: Congratulations on your pregnancy. Such a precious gift. It would be a shame if anything happened to it.

The water glass slipped from my fingers, shattering against the floor.

Dr. Rhodes grabbed my phone, read the message, and her face went pale.

"We need to call Kael back. Now."

"Why? What does it"

The lights went out.

Not just in the office. The entire clinic plunged into darkness. Emergency lights flickered on, casting everything in red.

And somewhere down the hallway, something growled.

Not human. Not wolf. Something in between, and very, very close.

Dr. Rhodes grabbed my arm. "Run."