Chapter Twenty
Even though Adrianna’s life was falling apart, there was no time to wallow or be depressed. “Another one?”
Frankie nodded. “The Wilkinsons. They barely made it out of their house when the mages attacked.”
Her heart dropped. “Have we secured everyone?”
Julianna looked up from her tablet. “Almost. Only three families haven’t checked in. They live in a rural area so we don’t know if they received the alerts we sent out.”
“Dad’s driving out to check on them, but we haven’t heard anything,” her cousin Mika said. “We can only wait.”
After the truth had been exposed and Darius escaped, Mika and Julianna had tried to go after him, but Frankie’s arrival had cut their search short. Reports of attacks on members of the clan started pouring in that afternoon and so as Alpha, she rushed back to New Jersey to figure out what was going on.
The first report was of an elderly Lycan couple living in a trailer park in the south. They were at home when two figures in red robes broke in. The wife was able to escape and call for help, but her husband … he was not so lucky. Then there was a family who lived down by the shore. They were driving home after picking up their son when they were ambushed by a group of men. One of them was wearing a red robe. They were able to defend themselves, thankfully, but both parents had been seriously injured.
More distress calls had poured in. It was obvious the mages were planning something big, but what? Was it just New Jersey or would New York be under attack too? With everything going on, finding Darius and bringing in Anatoli Corvinus would have to wait.
The kitchen of the Barnsville house had become a command center of sorts. Adrianna and Julianna were coordinating the evacuation of their people while Mika had stayed to help liaison with New York. Grant Anderson was sending as much help as they could spare, of course, but Adrianna knew her father had to think about the people under his protection too. If New Jersey was under attack, then it wasn’t farfetched that New York could be their next target.
“It’s too bad Daric and Cross are still on assignment,” Mika said. “We could use some teleporting warlocks right now.”
“How about a dragon?” Frankie said as she put down her phone. “I just spoke with Creed. He’s on standby. But you know we can’t ask him to come unless we’re in real trouble.”
Having the only dragon shifter in the world on their side was good backup, but he was too destructive and attracted too much attention when he shifted. They could only ask for his help if things really went south. Still, it was nice to know he was just a call away.
“We’ll get through this.” Julianna gave Adrianna a reassuring look. “I know it.”
It seemed as if the shaky truce between her and her younger sister was holding up. She had expected her to be smug about being right about Darius all along, but to her surprise, her sister had seemed sympathetic and even remorseful.
“Mimma, are you all right?” Frankie said. “You look terrible. Why don’t you take a rest?
“No, Mama,” she snapped. “What kind of future Alpha would I be if I took a nap when we’re in a crisis?”
“I just thought you should—”
“No.” She’d had to tell Frankie the short version of what happened with Darius. There was no hiding it and though she wished things were different, she’d made her decisions and had to live with them. The only good thing about having to deal with this crisis is that she didn’t have to think about Darius and his betrayal. Because surely, if she allowed herself to relive the entire thing in her head, she would go crazy. It was bad enough that her she-wolf was crying in grief, seemingly unable to believe that he could betray them.
Mine. Mine.
“No!”
Three pairs of eyes looked at her. She took in a gulp of breath, feeling nauseous. “Sorry, I—” She stood up and ran out of the kitchen, barely making it to the bathroom as she heaved into the toilet. When her stomach was completely empty of its meager contents, she stood up and went to the sink to clean up.
Pull yourself together. Her clan was depending on her. The mages were out for blood, and she had to defend her people. Defend her family. And defend …
Her hand involuntarily went to her stomach. When she woke up that morning and threw up in the bathroom, she was even more sure about being pregnant. She had been planning to tell Darius that morning, but a bout of self-doubt paralyzed her. Was she ready to be a mom? What about being Alpha? And the company? How could she juggle all of that?
She couldn’t bring herself to look in the mirror. I’m not fit to be Alpha. Because surely, an Alpha wouldn’t have lost her head over a handsome face and a hot body. Darius’s betrayal had cut deep in her heart but also tore down what confidence she had. Worse, he had built her up, saying he believed in her and then turned out to be a lying bastard. Surely, if they were True Mates, he wouldn’t have done that? How could she know—
Wait.
She was an idiot. There was one other way to find out if she was pregnant with her True Mate’s baby. During the attack, Astrid had survived a fireball because she was carrying Zac’s child. Pregnant True Mates were indestructible.
Opening the top drawer under the counter, she grabbed the pair of scissors inside. She held it up, pointing the tip at her forearm. A cut would take a few hours to heal completely for a Lycan. But, if she cut herself and it healed instantly, then she was definitely pregnant and Darius was her True Mate. And if she didn’t then …
“Goddammit,” she said in a low whisper. Why
