The Alpha Wolf's Secret Baby (Wolves of Anchorage 3)

“What do you want?” she asked.

“We want the artifact.”

“I don't have it anymore, I sold it. I can give you the money.” She pushed her hand into her bag. That was all she had to offer. It would leave her with nothing. But at least maybe it would give her and Arabella a chance to escape.

“I don't want your money." He waved a lazy hand at her. “So don't bother digging in your bag. And don't bother begging and don't bother trying to bargain with me. I know what I want and it's that artifact.”

“I swear to you I don't have it anymore. I sold it.”

By now Arabella had caught on that something was wrong, and she pressed her face against her mother's stomach. Violet tightened her arm around her daughter.

"Then you’d better fucking get it back.”

“If I give you the money, then you could buy it.”

“No. Witches aren’t going to sell a magical artifact to a hunter. No matter how much I threaten them.” Then he pulled out the knife. That's when she saw the glint of silver.

Luckily, she had talked to Arabella about hunters. Not a lot, and not often, but they'd had that conversation, so hopefully her daughter understood why it was imperative that they not fight with these people.

“No. They won't sell an artifact to a hunter,” he said again. “So I'm going to need you to get it back.”

“Okay. I can do that. I'll call the coven and let them know I'm coming.”

Oh God, the witch hopefully still had it. She hoped it wasn't off in South America or Asia or Europe.

“Not so fast. We have to make sure you're not going to try to call your pack, so we’ll be taking your phone.” After she’d handed it over, he grinned. “Oh yes. We know all about you. So the first thing we’re going to do is we’re all going to get into my car. We’re going to drive to the location where you sold that artifact. And you're not going to make a fuss about it. You're just going to comply. Right?”

“Yes. I'll do whatever I can to get the artifact back.”

Arabella looked up at her. Her daughter's grip was tightening. “Mommy?”

She patted her daughter’s back. “It's fine. Don't worry, I'm going to take care of this.”

They walked, making their way over the rocks and through the stream, and out of the woods. The man stayed in front of them, and two women stayed behind them. All three of them carried glinting silver knives.

Those knives could kill her and Arabella.

They arrived at the SUV. The man opened the door and pointed. “Get in.”

She and Arabella slid inside. One of the women got in next to her daughter, holding the point of the silver knife right toward her daughter's arm. She tried to shift Arabella to the other side, but the woman shook her head. “Leave her there.”

She heard a click and the door locked. “Don't even try to think about opening the door or busting the glass out.”

The man got in the driver’s seat and the third woman got in the passenger’s seat.

“We’ll have someone following us, so even if you try to injure us or disable us, they'll get you and Arabella.”

“How did you know about the artifact?” Violet asked.

“We heard there was a shifter asking about it. The Alpha of the local pack. He was concerned that an item like this existed in the world.”

Roman. Roman had looked into the artifact. After she had used it on Tristan. He had been trying to protect his pack.

He'd wanted answers. This was all her fault. If she had never tried to control Tristan with the artifact, then she and Arabella would not be held hostage in this SUV right now.

Her breath picked up. Shit. She'd forgotten to breathe.

She counted in her head, taking deep steady breaths, but it wasn't working. She threaded her fingers through her daughter's, holding on tight. She pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

Arabella did not need to see her panic.