A Fang and a Prayer

*Ainslee*

‘Regardless of any trouble between the two of you, you WILL marry my cousin,’ plays repeatedly in my head as I stumble down the hall and out of the pack house.

Goddess, now that I am pregnant with a hybrid child, Rafe’s own child, he doesn’t want me anymore?

Tears stream down my cheeks. I have to get away. I just have to.

Wolf shifters part in surprise as I pass the surrounding houses and shops. I’m a sobbing mess and no one wants to be around that.

Maybe they can smell I’m pregnant with a vampire’s baby and don’t want to be around that, either.

I see a bookshop and dart inside. It will at least be quiet there.

Blessedly, I am the only one in the shop. The little bell over the door rings as I close it behind me, and the shopkeeper pops his head up over a stack of books.

“Oh dear me,” he says, raising bushy gray eyebrows. “You must be Luna Queen Ainslee Bleiz. What on earth is the matter, Your Majesty?”