The Wolf’s Pregnant Rejected Mate (Bluebell Valley Wolves #2)

Chapter 12 - Ryder

Ryder paused as the heavy scent of brimstone ended. He circled the area, growling. Had the demons doubled back to lay a false trail? Finn sniffed the ground. His reddish-brown fur, a more muted shade than his copper hair, glistened in the pale green light of the forest. Blayke fanned out over the other side. He was an impressive wolf, Blayke, with silver-tinged fur that was otherwise pure black. He was bigger than the rest of the special ops in wolf form except Hayden. The two snuffled around as they searched for the trail. For as close as the demons had been lingering, they were awfully good at evading them.

Finn let out a soft bark, indicating that he’d picked up the scent again. Ryder trotted over, and the three of them started out again. What made it worse was Ryder’s wolf kept wanting him to turn around. He didn’t want to be out here, chasing down demons. He wanted to take Tess back to town and explore more of her fantasies.

The memory of how she looked at him while he was inside of her made his heart race. Nobody had ever looked at him like that. The sounds of her pleasure, the way she had come for him over and over again… it was better than anything he could have imagined. His gaze unfocused as he imagined the light smattering of hair that trailed down to her sex. He wanted to trace that line with his tongue. Wanted to kiss along the stretch marks on her stomach and sides of her breasts.

Goddess, but he wanted to get to know her in ways he’d never known a woman before.

Finn bumped him with his shoulder. He jerked his head back the way they’d come and snorted. On his other side, Blayke wagged his tail and licked the air.

In answer, Ryder growled and continued on. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. As much as he wished they could have had more time together, they’d never have the chance again if he didn’t take out these demons.

After some time, the scent of rotted meat reached his nose. The three slowed, and Ryder sent Finn to the left and Blayke to the left. They slunk through the thick forest, ready for anything. Soon, the scent of brimstone mingled with the rot. It led him to a deep thicket of bramble.

A beast-demon nest. It had been some time since they had last encountered the monstrous beasts. A half-dozen eggs lay nestled in the remains of what had once been a bear. Ryder tested the area. The brimstone was strong but didn’t have the tones of the beast demons themselves. Either this was an old nest that the demons were nurturing, or it was their attempts to reintroduce beasts into the forest.

Ryder shifted to human form and picked up the first egg. He slammed it into a rock. It burst open, sparks erupting from the impact. The demon embryo inside had just developed horns. It squirmed in the bloody liquid from its egg until Blayke pounced on it and ripped it in two.

The three of them made short work of the nest. When they were done, Finn wiped the sweat off his forehead and poked around the rotted remains, checking for any hidden eggs.

Blayke shifted to human form and wiped eggy fluid off his mouth. “They must have realized we’d come after them. I say we go back to the cabin and get the women back to town.”

Ryder ran a hand through his dark hair. He didn’t like the idea of moving Tess and Elin from the safety of the cabin before the demons were dealt with. Perhaps they should go back to town for the rest of the team and then come back for them?

He dismissed that thought immediately. That would take too long, and knowing Tess, she was probably considering making a break for it already. No. Blayke was right. It was the only course of action. He nodded.

A sharp cry rang out in the forest, making his head whip around. He snarled and started to shift back to wolf form. Finn caught his arm.

“Rabbit,” he said. A frown furrowed his forehead. “You’re jumpy. That’s not like you. Have things… changed between you and Tess?”

Ryder glared at him. “What do you mean?”

“He means it’s obvious you two fucked,” Blayke said, laughing. “And we all know that she begged you to be her mate—”

“Shut up,” Ryder snapped.

Finn pursed his lips. “She asked you to be her mate?”

“Years ago.”

“It was when we were headed off to the military,” Blayke said, ignoring the threatening glance from Ryder. “We were loading up in the van when Tess came running out of the crowd. She’s sobbing, looking like the heroine out of a tragic romance. She begs Ryder to stay and be her mate as though he was going on a suicide mission. He told her no.”

Ryder glared at him. “Do you know how to shut up?”

Blayke’s grin faded. “Not really. But I forgot. Bianca told me that Monroe announced to the pack that he would take Tess as his mate the next week. She was probably hoping you’d rescue her. Guess it worked out in the end.”

A pang of guilt hit him. Ryder’s wolf snarled and pushed against his ribs, wanting him to get going.

He’d never thought of that before. He’d never made the connection between Tess asking to be his mate and the subsequent rumors that she rejected Monroe very publicly. He thought she only asked him because she wanted to escape her family.

But what sort of escape would he have been? He’d been so angry. So resentful. He loved his mother and sister but wanted nothing more than to leave this pack and never come back.

Ryder shook himself. Now wasn’t the time to ponder past mistakes. “We’ll go back to the cabin. Hayden needs to know what’s happening here. We’ll make sure the women are healed and can move quickly, then head out. Collect whatever food you find along the way.”

Finn watched him with an overly serious expression.

“We need to find the big wolf and destroy the Demon Seed. As much as I’d like to know what’s happening and why they’re targeting the women, eliminating the threat needs to be our first priority from here on out,” Ryder said. He turned back the way they’d come.

Blayke saluted and shifted to his wolf form. Finn and Ryder took theirs as well, taking off on a steady trot toward the cabin. Ryder kept a careful watch. They paused occasionally to grab a mouthful of food, eating along the way. Hopefully, the women would have foraged enough to give themselves strength.

As they headed back toward the house, Ryder couldn’t stop thinking about what Blayke said. It made perfect sense to him now why Tess had asked to be his mate all those years ago. She was trying to escape. Just not the person he thought she was trying to escape from. It was even worse. Why hadn’t she told him outright what was happening?

He would have taken her as his mate if he’d known that Monroe was a threat.

It would have been a miserable life together. But at least she’d be respected as a mated she-wolf in the pack. They’d both been too young for a proper mating. He hadn’t known himself, and he doubted Tess had, either. Would he have ended up just as bad as her parents, though? At that time, with his anger problems…

Blayke was right. It had all worked out in the end. Tess was the Luna’s best friend. She held a place of respect and power in the pack. In the end, she had rescued herself.

But now?

Had sleeping together changed things between them?

Yes, she was beautiful. He loved being with her, feeling her body, having that closeness. But that didn’t mean they had a relationship now. It was just about the sex. Wanting that experience for the first—maybe only—time. Ryder knew there couldn’t be anything between the two of them, not when they were always harping on each other.

He also reminded himself of other reasons as he paused to snack on some wild raspberries. The forest was hot and quiet, filled with the sleepiness of a mid-afternoon summer—a deceptive stillness with demons in it .

Tess was looking for a traditional relationship. She wanted a mate who would be a protector and provider. And Ryder didn’t want that. He wanted a warrior mate, a she-wolf he could charge into battle with. Tess might be willing to roleplay fighting—not that they’d discussed it—but she didn’t want that. Right? She was a fucking good fighter but only fought when backed into a corner. She wasn’t a natural. She wasn’t a warrior. She wanted to keep the peace and be the balancing force she-wolves played in the Bluebell Valley pack.

He frowned as they continued. That’s what he’d overheard Tess tell Mica, wasn’t it? That she wanted the picture-perfect traditional mating. To be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. To stay at home and raise their children while her mate went to work. She had said that he was certain of it.

The more he thought about it, though, the less certain he was. He tried to stop his doubts but couldn’t quite convince himself that was truly what Tess wanted.

Those thoughts were all driven from his mind as they drew closer to the cabin. A wind picked up, blowing the scent of smoke toward him.

Not the brimstone of hellfire.

This was a wood-burning fire.

His heart stuttered and stopped. Then he put on a burst of speed, praying he was wrong—praying the demons hadn’t set fire to the forest.