Page 77 of Fated Alpha Baby

She nods, and Conan walks off in the direction the woman disappeared. I watch him disappear between the trees, my heart pounding, unease filling my gut. And suddenly, the park feels too large.

Too crowded.

Too exposed.

For a while, I try to distract myself by asking my daughter what she thinks about the park. But my attention keeps drifting toward the direction Conan disappeared.

About five minutes have passed, and it’s too long. The knot in my stomach tightens, and I can’t take it any longer. Conan should have been back by now. He should have checked and come back already.

“Mommy?”

I blink, only to find that Clarissa is staring up at me.

“You look worried.”

I force a smile onto my face. “I’m fine, Bug.” But even as I say the words, the mate bond pulls sharply out of nowhere.

Pain.

My breath catches when a pulse of agony crashes through the bond so suddenly that I nearly stumble.

Fear follows right before there’s nothing.

Silence.

Complete silence.

My blood turns to ice.

“Clarissa….” The tremor in my voice immediately gets her attention as I stand up from the bench. “Stay close to me, okay?”

Her eyes widen. “Mommy?”

I grab her hand, the bond still silent as we make our way toward the two oak trees.

Something is wrong.

Something is terribly wrong.

I follow the direction Conan went in, keeping Clarissa close and moving quickly through the park. My pulse pounds harder with every step. The pathways ahead grow emptier, and the sounds of the park begin to fade.

Soon, we’re standing at the mouth of a narrow alleyway tucked between two buildings, following the breadcrumb trail of his faint scent, masked by the potion. It’s the mate bond that somehow leads me to him. And that’s when I see him.

My world stops; my entire body goes numb.

Conan is on his knees, blood staining the front of his shirt. His head hangs forward, his breathing shallow. Weak.

For one horrifying second, I think he’s dead.

A strangled sound tears from my throat. “N-no!”

Clarissa gasps beside me. “Daddy!”

The woman from five minutes ago turns, her smile as cold and sinister as it was when we caught sight of her. Sharp blue eyes stare at me cruelly.

And the moment I meet those eyes, I know exactly what she is.

A witch.