As they lie curled together, sleep making her eyes heavy, she listened to his heavy breathing mix with her own. Before sleep caught her she looked down at the arm wrapped protectively around her stomach and thought: I already do.

Willow sat at the kitchen table watching Lyonis make his breakfast. He got a call earlier that morning that the teenage boy Danny had been reported missing from his family. They hadn’t seen him since the festival.

Willow didn’t voice her opinion on the missing boy aloud; she still hadn’t come to terms with her incident with Stephanie in the bathroom. Maybe the boy had gone into town with his friends and is passed out in some dinky hotel from partying. Or maybe the demon after her caught him too. The thought sickened her until her stomach lurched.

The happiness from the mating last night was already gone, as if it never happened. Lyonis radiated tension as he cooked his eggs. A frown marred his mouth and his brows were drawn into a deep vee.

She wanted to say something to ease the worry but she couldn’t think of a single thing. You could tell him you love him. Willow’s eyes flew to his back as if he might have heard her thought and figured out her feelings for him. Luckily his tense back was still to her and he didn’t say a word as he banged a plate around.

He put his plate to the table and ate with gruff, big bites. Willow watched him with a frown of her own. She wanted to ease the stress for him so badly. She didn’t like feeling helpless.

He finished his plate then pushed it aside. His eyes never left the table as he said, “You’re not to leave the house today.”

“What?” Shock had her thinking she didn’t hear him right.

He stood, knocking the chair back until it teetered on its back legs before roughly dropping back on all fours. He grabbed his plate and tossed it in the sink. It crashed so loudly Willow was amazed it didn’t shatter.

“You heard me. You’re pregnant and my mate and I don’t want you leaving the cabin until everything is taken care of.”

Willow stood and wrapped her arms around his waist. He didn’t hug her back. But she wasn’t going to let his foul mood sway her.

“Taken care of what?”

“The demon,” he said and pushed away from her. “Until the demon is destroyed and the baby is born I don’t want you leaving. It’s too dangerous.”

Willow’s laughter brought his head snapping around to her. She ignored his glare and shrugged. “Really Lyonis, you expect me to stay here and do nothing for the next eight months? The pack is safe.” She didn’t say the last as strongly because she remembered Stephanie’s visit in the bathroom. Was she really safe here at all? She would be lying if she said she really thought the pack was safe.

“My word is final. You will obey me on this.”

Her back stiffened like a rod. “No.” A new fear sent her on the defensive.

He marched towards her and grabbed her by the neck. His touch was gentle, his words were not. “I’ll have guards on the cabin. They won’t let you leave. Unless I’m with you, I don’t want you going anywhere.”

A strange feeling settled inside her like a black hole. Her stomach felt hollow, empty; her heart weighed heavy. It ached and throbbed with each painful beat.

“Fine.”

He nodded once, gave her a brief kiss, then swept out the door. It closed with a bang.

Willow collapsed into her seat. The hollow feeling grew even worse after he left. She knew this feeling, she’d felt it before. Betrayal.

How did she miss it? Had she been too enthralled with his good looks and sweet words?

Willow buried her head in her hands. “Or maybe it was the baby thing or the demon thing or the Amy thing or the Stephanie thing.”

Her words broke halfway through her tirade. A sob came, then another. Soon tears cascaded wildly down her cheeks and there was nothing she could do to stop it. He won her heart and wanted to rule her, just like David. David...the thought sent a rise of anger surging through her so fast that she lashed out with a raw cry and tossed the table over with a loud crash.

She stood there, shaking; her fists clenched so hard her nails bit into her palms. The front door opened and a guard appeared in front of her. She recognized the man but couldn’t have remembered his name if her life depended on it.

He looked from her to the table with a frown. Then without a word, he righted the table, gave her a quick, awkward pat on the back, and left.

The tears slowed eventually, but the hollow feeling in her gut never stopped, never lessened. She never let herself cry. After David she vowed she wouldn’t cry unless whatever or whoever she cried over was deserving. She’d cried at Papa’s burial. Pity tears didn’t matter didn’t help anything.

She did it again. After all the years of making herself strong, of changing herself, she’d done it again. She’d given herself to a man just like David.

She sat back down. Time passed, her tears dried, but the hole in her heart didn’t heal.

She’d give him another chance. Maybe the stress of hearing about Danny going missing had just been too much for him. She’d make him explain himself to her tonight. If he didn’t change his mind, then she knew what she’d do.

Lyonis stormed into his office feeling as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His lieutenants Thane and Jackie waited for him patiently. He’d gotten the call this morning from Thane that Danny hadn’t been seen since the festival. That was two days ago.

What the hell was going on here? The last he’d seen the sixteen-year-old he’d been asking for dating advice over some girl he liked. Now he was gone.

“Tell me everything,” he ordered.

Thane recited the incident. Danny went to the festival with four of his friends. According to his friends, they cut the festival soon after the theatrics with Amy and made for the woods to hang out. Oddly, none of the friends recalled returning to the festival with Danny or even thinking twice about where he’d gone.

“So he just disappeared in the woods?” Lyonis sat at his desk and buried his face in his hands. Not one disappearing child since he reigned and now within the span of a month two had disappeared.

“That’s what it looks like. We’ve already tracked over every square inch of the place, no signs of struggle,” Jackie said.

Lyonis stood. “Where’s that vampire? Get Draven to check out the scene. He sensed something last time.”

Jackie and Thane exchanged weary glances. “He left,” Thane said.

“What do you mean he left?” He hadn’t meant to shout but his words echoed off the walls.

God, he needed to pull himself together. He was mated now, finally had the woman he wanted, had a child on the way. Then why was his gut twisted a thousand times with dread? He’d woken today with an awful feeling. It wasn’t exactly what he expected after mating with Willow last night. When he’d gotten the call about Danny, he wasn’t even surprised. But he knew that Danny wasn’t the only reason his beast was agitated. Something bad was about to happen or was coming to his pack. He couldn’t let it happen. He’d do anything in his power to keep them safe.

“Some of the pack saw him go into The Wolf’s Den asking about his frimar. Apparently she left him. Don’t blame her really. So he went after her.”

Lyonis was quiet for a long while. His guards understood and kept silent while he thought. It pained his ego sorely but he knew what he had to do.

“I’m calling Tyrian en Kulev.” Their eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Why him?” Jackie said.

“We need the Atal Warriors.”

“We do not need those undead vamps!” Thane shouted.

Lyonis stood in a rush. The air around him crackled with anger. “Do not talk back to me.” He sensed he surprised his underling, but Thane hid it well by ducking his head.