C6

ELOWEN WHITLOCK POV

"You switch your face very fast, Isolde," I say. I grab my traveling bag and look right at her mean face. "Caelan is not here, so you stop acting like a small, sweet pup."

"When are you going to sign the paper to leave the Thorncroft Alpha Dominion?" Isolde yells loud. She jumps right in front of the door so I cannot pass. "Tell me!"

"Are you happy being a bad wolf who steals another girl's mate?" I ask. I force a loud laugh from my throat.

"You are the bad one!" she screams, and her pretty white face turns completely red with anger. "If you did not use human tricks on old Alaric, I would be the Alpha's true mate in this lodge! Now the old wolf is dead. Nobody can save you anymore. If I were you, I would take the pack resources Caelan gives you and run far away from our territory!"

"You are not me, Isolde," I say. My voice stays cold. I walk right past her shoulder and head toward the stairs. Caelan is the only wolf who can make my heart hurt. Her words are just empty wind.

"You are so shameless, Elowen!" Isolde yells. She runs behind me and grabs my big arm with her sharp claws. "He hates you! Why do you stay?"

"If you know he hates me, why are you so scared?" I ask. I turn my head and look down at her small hand on my arm.

"You..." she says. She cannot find any more words.

"You want to know why I stay with the Alpha?" I whisper right into her ear. I make my voice very low. "He is very strong in bed. That is why."

"You dirty human!" Isolde screams. Her eyes go wild and yellow. She lifts both of her hands to push my big body down.

The stone steps are right behind my heels. My human eyes see her hands coming, and I twist my body to the side fast to save my baby. I do not touch her at all.

Isolde misses my body and loses her footing on the smooth stone. She trips over her own long dress and goes flying down the steep steps.

"Ahhhh!" her loud scream echoes through the whole stone hall.

I freeze on the spot. My hands go to my mouth.

Suddenly, a giant burst of cold wind hits my back. A heavy shoulder slams me hard against the wall. Caelan flies past me down the stairs like a black flash, running straight to where Isolde is lying on the floor.

Isolde is curled up into a tight ball on the cold stone. Her face is white like snow, and her hands are holding her belly.

"My pup," she groans in a tiny, broken voice. "My wolf pup."

I look down, and my eyes go wide. Bright red blood is leaking out from under her dress, making a big red circle on the gray floor. My whole body turns to ice.

She is pregnant. With Caelan's wolf baby.

"Caelan, save our baby," Isolde cries, pulling on his black shirt.

Big drops of sweat come out on Caelan's forehead. His alpha eyes look terrified and full of dark magic.

"I have you," Caelan says. His voice shakes. He lifts her small body up into his big arms and runs fast toward the heavy front doors.

He stops right before he goes out into the rain. He turns his head back, and his eyes look like two black holes full of hate.

"I know you did this on purpose, Elowen," he growls. His voice is full of deadly pack anger. "You must be very happy now."

I cannot say a single thing. My tongue feels like stone. He runs out into the storm with her.

"Why are you standing there like a statue?" a deep voice asks from the dark hallway behind me.

I jump and see Lucan Blackmoor standing by the wall.

"What should I say?" I ask. My chest feels like it is burning.

"Aren't you going to run after him?" Lucan asks, lifting his eyebrows. "He thinks you pushed his pregnant mate down the stairs."

"It does not matter what the truth is," I say. My voice sounds very tired. "Isolde is bleeding, and he needs a human to blame for it."

"You are right about that," Lucan says. He grips his medicine bag tight and runs out the door after Caelan, leaving me all alone in the quiet house.