She paled and nodded.

He let her go, and she staggered back. "You're lucky you're pregnant."

"I didn't call him here."

"Why don't I believe you? Did you know who was following you? Or were you lying about that too? Were you here to be his mole? Are you working for Daddy?"

"No! I'm here because I needed to get away from him."

"So you knew it was him."

"Yes. I'm sorry I lied about that, but I didn't know how to tell you. I'm a werewolf-demon hybrid. I don't know anyone else like me. I'm not evil. I promise. I just needed to feel safe." She let out a breath and rested her fingers on her stomach.

Her stomach.

The baby.

He turned to the side and vomited. It would be a hybrid, a mutant. Just like her.

"Adam, there's nothing evil about me. I'm just a bit more powerful than Josh."

"You mean you're more demonic than the man who almost died by your father's hands?"

She closed her eyes then took a breath. "I'm a half-demon, meaning, when I'm not pregnant. I'm stronger than a normal werewolf and have those powers I already told you about. But that's it. I can't control fire, flash, or call other demons."

He glared at her, betrayal settling it.

"And I can feel Caym. I know him because he is of my blood. At least I think that's why I can."

He roared and turned, unable to look at her.

"Adam, I know we're mates-"

"No, you're a whore who I took to bed. We're not mates."

She looked as if he'd struck her, and he cursed.

"Bay, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." He would never call a woman that.

"No, you did. But you don't understand. I'm alone, Adam. I know this. I know I'm a half-demon and people want me dead because of my blood, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let anyone walk all over me."

"You're a demon."

"Half."

"Semantics. You lied, and now we have to deal with it. I don't know what you are, but any trust you thought you had is gone."

"Trust? You never trusted me. You just used me as a good lay and then tossed me aside. Twice. We're mates, and as much as you want to, you can't run from it. I can help, Adam."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Go back to the house and stay there. I can't look at you right now. I need to be with my family."

"Adam-"

"Go."

He watched her waddle off, and he cursed. Fuck, he'd have to have North go and look at her once he was done with Finn...or maybe Hannah. Bay was hurt, and the wolf inside him clawed at him to get her healed. He was fucked up.

The mate he didn't want was a half-demon and the daughter of their enemy. Fate really wanted to screw him over. And this time, he didn't know how he'd move on.

Chapter 13.

Adam sat on Jasper and Willow's porch, letting the sun hit his face. He hadn't wanted to be at home yet, not with so many emotions running through him. Bay was his mate, there was no turning back, but he didn't know what he wanted with it. With her.

"Adam?" Willow came out to the porch and sat next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Bay's a half demon."

She nodded then gripped his hand and squeezed. "I know. How do you feel about that?"

He shrugged and his wolf snorted.

"Why don't you just tell her, Adam? Like the fact that you actually like and care for her? Or the fact that would want to be her mate?"

Adam scowled and ignored his wolf. "I don't know," he finally said.

Willow turned to him so she was sitting sideways on the bench. She frowned and tucked a piece of her light brown hair behind her ear. "I don't know what you want me to say, Adam. It wasn't her fault that she was born from a demon. She didn't choose her father. And if the way he acts now is any symbol of how he did then, her own mother might not have even had a choice."

He nodded. "I have a feeling you're right about that. We don't know much about her mother, other than the fact that the Talons banished her."

"And that they didn't care about Bay."

"So, now the Redwoods aren't going to do the same?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"We can't turn her away, Adam. She's your mate."

He winced as his chest ached.

"Adam, you need to face it. Wallowing and ignoring her isn't helping things. You're making it worse by treating her so badly. We all see it. Don't you."

He turned from Willow, not wanting to see the censure in her eyes.

"Adam."

"What do you want me to say? She's not Anna."

"No, she's not. She's alive."

Adam growled and faced Willow. "What the hell?"

"Don't you growl at me, Adam Jamenson. Anna died twenty years ago and yet you're hurting your mate because you don't want to let go. I can't tell you to do that. I can't tell you anything but Bay is here now. You mated her. You need to deal with it."

"I know that."

"Then what are you going to do?"

He sighed then leaned into her open arms, letting the Pack envelop him, something he rarely, if ever did.

"I like her, Willow."

Willow ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I know, Adam. You need to try to make it work. You'll only hurt each other if you walk away now without trying."

"I don't know if I can."

"Just try."

"How?"

"Be the man you want to be, not the man you've become. Be the man I watch movies with. Be the man that makes Jasper laugh. Be the man that beat my mate down in the forest when he was acting like an ass."

He smiled, remembering his fight with Jasper.

"I can try."

"Do it, you like her, Adam."

He let out a breath. "I do."

"Then fight for her."

Could he do that? Could he let go of his Anna and be with Bay? He had to try, he wasn't doing anyone any good not to. But how could he?

Bay looked at herself in the mirror and hardly recognized the reflection. The bruises around her neck had begun to fade since yesterday. She'd been put under house arrest for the others to decide her fate. Though she didn't blame them for that. They'd almost lost two of their own because the man who claimed to be her father wanted her to join him.

It was like a bad case of Star Wars. No, she didn't want to join the dark side. Frankly, she just wanted to find a home. But that wasn't going to happen here. She sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her hands along her aching back. She was due any week now. She just wanted it to be over with. Maybe once she had the baby, she would be able to leave and be strong enough to protect herself.

She groaned and closed her eyes. It was a stupid plan. It always had been. No matter what, she'd set her fate in stone when she'd come to the Redwood den. She didn't think there was any way that they could defeat the demon, meaning she'd have to hide here forever. There was no leaving Adam, or his family. The same family who she was pretty sure hated her at this moment.

Due to the blood that ran in her veins, she was outcast. She'd known from the moment Caym, the man who claimed to be her father, stepped onto this plane that she was being followed. Though she had never met him, a demon knew a demon. She just didn't want to claim him in return. She could feel the slight pulse from his existence, but she'd known, due to the fact that she wasn't a pure demon, he couldn't feel her quite as well. Most demons would be able to feel another of their kind and locate them in a heartbeat. Because of her diluted heritage, neither of them could find each other with any ease, she knew he was near, not where. They could only sense that the other was alive. Whenever she thought of Caym and their connection, she could feel like a cloying pressure on her heart that threatened to break her ribs and suffocate her. What would she feel if she was a real demon? She shuddered to think.

She'd come to the Redwoods as a last-ditch effort, and now she was stuck. It was because of her that Josh had been severely injured. Josh was currently in recovery at North's clinic but would eventually be okay. Caym had sliced Josh's neck open deeply. The cut had gone through tendons, muscle, and his trachea, leaving Josh permanently scarred. Only the demon blood running through his veins due to the bites from Caym had allowed him to survive at all. If he had been a werewolf, witch, or human, he'd have died. Not to mention the fact that his mate Hannah had used her power to Heal him, and North been right there to administer everything he could. As it was, he'd have a scar running along the length of his neck, and his voice would be more gravelly. But he was lucky to be alive.

Finn, on the other hand, was in worse shape. Because he was so small, the impact had broken every bone in his body. It was only because he was the son of the future Alpha that he hadn't died instantly. He was also too young to shift and heal. Werewolves did not shift for the first time until they were two or three. Finn still had at least a year to go. Hannah had used every ounce of her strength to Heal him. His bones were fixed, but he still hadn't woken up. That was a lot of pain for a little boy to go through. Kade and Mel were beside themselves, and she knew they blamed her. She blamed herself.

After Adam had exploded after finding out the truth behind why she was there and what she was, they came back to the house. He hadn't said a word to her other than to tell her what had happened to Josh and Finn. She figured the only reason he had even said that was to make sure she knew the consequences of her lies. If she had just gone to Caym in the beginning and sacrificed herself, none of this would've happened.

She still had time to have her baby, leave it with the Jamensons, and make sure she would never be used again. But she couldn't quite do that because whatever blood ran through her veins would also run through her child's.

Bay didn't know what she had to do, but whatever it was, she did need to talk to Adam. They couldn't go on living like this. The mate bond was so strong between the two of them it seemed to almost override the fact that they were supposed to hate each other. Though he never looked at her with longing, other than for a quick lay, just the fact that she was still alive and living with him told her that the main bond meant more to him than he would admit.

She walked into the living room and watched as Adam sat on the couch and looked at his computer. She knew he was looking at the different satellite images of their den, making sure it was safe. Though they were werewolves, they liked their technology like the rest of the world.

"Adam?" She was surprised at how steady her voice was.

He looked up at her and gave a small smile. Her heart raced at that small gesture, but she didn't let it show that she liked it.

"What is it?"

"I just wanted to know if there is anything I can do." She walked over and sat on the couch next to him, her ankles too swollen to stand long.

Adam closed his computer and sat so he was facing her on the couch. "Not really. Our defenses are strong against werewolves and witches. But there's no way we can control it against the demon. Unless you have any ideas."

She searched his face for any disdain or horror but didn't see any. "I don't know. All I know is I can sense that he exists. I don't know where he is really. Or how to stop him."

"I figured. You would've told us if you could."

She looked at him sharply, her heartbeat racing. "Does that mean you trust me?"

He took a deep breath before answering. "I think so. At least with that. There's so much you could have done if you had been working for him. Plus, my wolf is telling me that you care more about your child than your own life, like any wolf mother. You can't help who your father was, but that doesn't mean I like the fact that you lied to me."

She let out a breath, and the tension eased out of her shoulders. Never had such words made her feel so...wanted...happy. He trusted her, at least partially. "If there's any way I can help, I will."

"I know; it's your Pack."

"What? You mean I can stay?"

He looked torn, like he was trying to relive the past and still stay in the future. "I've been an ass, I know this. You didn't ask for any of this, yet here you are. You're Pack, no matter what happens between the two of us. I'm trying to get through this, Bay. I'm just not handling it well."

She'd watched the way he handled everything in his life, from his family, to his Pack, and had fallen just a little bit in love with him. That scared her more than the demon. What would it be like to have a man love her the same way that he had loved Anna? She was too scared to hope it would be the same with her and Adam. In fact, she didn't even have an inkling of hope that he would love her back.

"I don't think there is a way to handle this well, Adam. I'll do what I can to not mess anything up." And to not fall in love with you anymore than I am. Because that would be stupid.

"Finn and Josh will be okay. It was the demon that did that to them. Not you. I tell myself that."

She bit her lip and shook her head. "No, it's my fault. He was looking for me."

"And he would've killed whoever he could to get what he wanted. But that doesn't mean it's your fault. He's eventually going to come back. We have to find a way to fight him."

He brushed a curl behind her ear, and she froze. The action was so sudden and uncharacteristic of him that she didn't know what to think. The heat from his hand warmed her face, and she wanted to lean into it. But she didn't. He looked down and seemed to realize what he had done and pulled back sharply. He mumbled an apology, and another part of her died.

No matter how much she wanted their mate bond to work, he couldn't overcome that. She was competing with the ghost and losing. She knew because of the demon blood she wouldn't be good enough for any wolf, but she hadn't thought she'd feel lower than dirt.