Stephanie groaned, not the mutated voice, but the voice of a young girl as she rubbed her head. She looked around at her surroundings confused before her gaze landed on Willow.

“How did I get here? What happened?”

Eyes no longer dead and vacant were vibrant with life. With a strength that her Papa had taught her, Willow forced the chill away, forced herself to move, to take one step at a time until she stood before her and helped Stephanie stand.

“You came in here and slipped. You just hit your head on the wall. Are you okay?” The lie came so easily, it surprised her.

She could barely form words let alone touch her, but she did it. Willow had a horrible feeling that she just figured out what happened to Stephanie that night in the woods. And Stephanie was only a pawn in the whole thing.

Stephanie laughed nervously. “Thanks. I think I got it from here.”

Willow gave her a tight-lipped smile and fled from the bathroom. Did she tell Lyonis? He might believe her but what if he did...and didn’t? Everyone would think she was crazy or worse, making things up. Whatever happened that night in the forest, Stephanie was innocent in all this. The demon was using her somehow, but to do what and to what purpose?

Maybe to spy on her? But then why would it send her a message? It just gave its surprise away.

Willow pressed a hand over her softly distended stomach. The truth of the matter was so much harder to accept than a lie. She was pregnant and the demon wanted her baby.

Willow returned to Lyonis at the booth where she left him. He smiled at her as she approached and she tried to reciprocate but she was too tense to make it believable.

“What’s wrong?”

Willow looked away from him. It was becoming harder to lie to his face. “Nothing, I just don’t feel so good. Must be all the excitement,” she said with mock cheeriness.

Cupping her cheek, he studied her face as a doctor might a sick patient. Then kissing her cheek, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and whisked her away from the festival and back towards the truck.

Willow thought about the mating ritual they had planned tonight and her stomach turned almost violently.

As soon as she had the thought, Amy stepped in front of them blocking their path. Lyonis growled at her in warning, his fingers inadvertently clenching around Willow’s shoulder.

“Amy?”

She cocked a brow and said loud enough that heads turned. “I’m ready to proceed with the challenge.”

Willow eyed her and realized she was dressed for a fight. She wore a long sleeve shirt a runner might wear while jogging in winter and a pair of athletic pants and sneakers.

Lyonis opened his mouth to speak, but Willow couldn’t let him take the credit for this. Stepping in front of him, she shook off his hold and said, “I’ve agreed to be his mate. In fact, I can’t wait.”

Maybe this confrontation was just what she needed because the earlier ugly business in the bathroom fell to the side. A crowd formed around them. Cheery conversations halted, games stopped, sales froze as everyone watched what might amount to a spectacle depending on how Willow handled this. Willow hadn’t felt this sassy in days. Her blood flowed in a rush and her fists dangled loosely, ready to curl and fly.

Feeling protective over Lyonis—he was hers now—Willow cocked a satisfied grin and placed her hand over her belly. The move was so simple, even as it was calculated, but it was so worth it.

Amy’s expression went from ready-to-fight anger to wide-eyed shock as she saw Willow’s hand.  Amy let out a roar that put so much pressure on Willow’s eardrums they might burst had she not quickly turned away at the sound. She didn’t see her move. But she heard the motion, the stirring of air. It was so fast it was as if it didn’t happen at all but was a figment of her imagination.

But when she turned back around, Amy was lying on the ground and Lyonis was standing over her a hard, cruel look on his face. The crowd too glared at Amy as if she’d just committed some great offense.

“You dare to attack my mate?” Lyonis’ chest moved in great heaves as he struggled to control his anger. He stepped over the prone shapeshifter, one foot on either side of her. He looked every bit the animal just then and every ounce the Alpha he was.

“You dare to attack my mate while she carries my child?” His words were so hard they cut the air like shrapnel. Amy cowered beneath him, her hands flying to her face as tears swam down her face.

Even though she knew she was imposing where she shouldn’t be, Willow stepped forward and touched Lyonis’ arm. He didn’t turn towards her but she felt his arm stiffen and knew he was listening.

“It’s okay, Lyonis. No harm was done. Let’s just go.”

Willow was sure she had never pleaded for anything in her life other than for a toy she wanted from her Papa when she was young. That was silly and frivolous, but this was not. Her gut was tight with fear and her instincts told her that if she didn’t calm him down and back him away something bad would happed—she just didn’t know what.

The crowd waited to see his reaction. Willow took a step forward and another until she wrapped her arm around his waist and tugged on him.

He looked down at her with wide, wild eyes; they glowed with an amber light like she’d seen while passing a deer on the highway at night.

She spoke his name, softly, repeatedly. She didn’t know if it would work, but her gut told her to try anyway. He was on the offense. Someone had tried to attack his mate and child. She understood it and surprisingly it didn’t really scare her as much as she thought it might have. It was almost nice, comforting, albeit scary as hell to see him so enraged.

She continued to say his name in that calm, mellow voice. Chloe used the same soft voice on her when they were young and she’d gotten hurt. Slowly, the amber light dimmed back to a bright blue. He blinked and the hazy glow was extinguished. The muscles under her arm relaxed centimeter by centimeter, and then he stepped away from Amy.

There was a sigh of relief around the crowd as if everyone had been holding their breath. Amy was left on the ground, shaking.

Willow started to breathe easier as they walked away from her and through a part in the crowd, but then Lyonis stopped. She tried to keep walking, to pull him along but it was like trying to move a freight train.

“Wait,” he said and turned back to Amy. She flinched at his gaze and looked away. “You are now banished from this pack.”

She gasped then climbed to her knees as horrible wrenching sobs left her. She held her hands out to him as if in prayer and pleaded, “Please, Alpha. Don’t do this to me. I’m sorry. You know I’ve always been a jealous woman. I can’t help it. Please don’t do this!” The sobs were so hard her body shook with them.

Willow’s own face flushed with embarrassment at what she was seeing. No longer able to watch the display, she looked away and left it up to Lyonis. She didn’t think Amy should be banished from the pack, but some part of her made her think of the baby growing inside her. That part showed Amy as a threat and wanted her as far away as possible. Then why did her hair stand up on the back of her neck at the thought?

Lyonis looked around at the pack. “Does anyone disagree with my decision?”

There were mutual nays around the sullen festival. With a final nod, he looked at Amy. “Amy Thierry you are hereby banished from this pack indefinitely. Be out by sunrise and never show your face here again.”

Lyonis grabbed Willow’s hand and led her to his truck. Neither of them spoke as he drove them back to the cabin. She glanced at him once as he unlocked the cabin door but he didn’t meet her eyes.

There was no question that there would be no mating tonight. Willow was actually grateful for Amy’s interruption because now she didn’t have to lie or try to explain why she didn’t want to attempt the most life-changing event of her life tonight.