My gaze shifts to the children playing on the distant playground, their laughter filling the air with youthful exuberance. As I place my hand on my burgeoning belly, I speak softly to my baby, 'I can't believe I will have a child soon. I can't wait to meet you.'
The rustling of bushes behind me startles me, and I instinctively turn my head to see what's causing it. Before I can react, a strong hand covers my mouth and drags me backward. Panic surges through me, and I attempt to scream, but the hand muffles my cries. I feel something sharp pressed against my neck, and I freeze in fear.
A blindfold is placed over my eyes, plunging me into darkness. In a desperate tone, I demand answers, 'Who are you? Why are you doing this?' My screams pierce the air.
In an attempt to remove the blindfold, I make a futile effort, but the person quickly restrains me, securing my wrists behind my back with cold metal cuffs. The cuffs dig into my skin as I wriggle in a futile attempt to free myself. Tears fill my eyes, and I plead, 'Please, don't do this!' My voice quivers with terror.
A cloth is then pressed against my face, and the sickening realization hits me—it's chloroform. As the fumes overwhelm me, I lose consciousness.
Dizzy and disoriented, I wake to the sound of a car door slamming. I try to sit up, but the weight of my pregnant belly pins me down. Footsteps draw near, and my car door is opened. I'm roughly pushed upright and dragged out of the car, tears streaming down my face.
In desperation, I reach out through a mind-link to Ryker, my voice trembling as I cry out for help. 'Ryker! You have to help me!' I plead to him.
'Astrid, where are you? What's going on?' He responds urgently through the mind-link.
'I've been kidnapped,' I tell him, fear and confusion choking my words.
'Where are you? Who has taken you? I'm going to rip their heads off!"' Ryker's anger seethes through the link.
'I don't know. The person snuck up behind me at the park, and I couldn't see them. I couldn't link you because I blacked out from the chloroform. I've only just woken up. They've dragged me out of the car, and I'm unsure where we are or where I'm being taken. Please, Ryker, I'm scared for the baby's safety!' I plead, tears streaming down my face.
'I'm going to find you, Astrid. I'm sending the pack warriors out to help search. Hopefully, we can pick up your scent somewhere to get a lead,' he reassures me.
'Please hurry, Ryker. I'm terrified, and I can't shift to fight back,' I tell him, my voice trembling.
'I know, babe. Just stay calm for your sake and the baby's. Mind link me the moment you know who it is or where you are,' he instructs me.
Crying softly, I mind-link him again, my voice filled with love and despair. 'If anything happens to me, Ryker, I just want you to know I love you so much, and I've never been so happy in my life as when I've been with you.'
'Astrid, don't talk like that. Nothing bad is going to happen to you! I love you too, Astrid. I will find you,' he assures me.
As I'm being pulled along by my captor, the sound of dirt and stones crunching under my feet reaches my ears. I continue to ask questions, but I'm met with chilling silence. Finally, we come to a stop, and I'm forced to sit against a cold pole. My captor removes one of my cuffs only to secure my hand again, this time around the pole, leaving me in a state of helpless captivity.
A chair is dragged closer, its harsh scraping noise reverberating in the confined space, and it comes to a stop right in front of me. The person occupying it sits down, and with a cruel flourish, they remove my blindfold. My face drains of colour as I mutter in stunned disbelief, 'Dad?'
He leers at me, a twisted grin contorting his features. 'Did you miss your daddy?' he asks, his voice dripping with malice.
'Dad! Please! Why are you doing this to me? You can see I'm carrying a baby. Please, let me go!' I plead desperately.
'Didn't I tell you I would make you pay for your mother's death, or did you forget already?' He hisses.
'Dad, I never killed her. I know that now. I know it wasn't my fault she died,' I insist, my voice trembling.
'Lies! If you had kept still and listened to her, she would still be alive!' He shouts angrily.
'No, please, Dad, you don't understand! Zenith killed her. Zenith killed Mum!' I yell, desperation driving me to try and make him see reason.
'No! A wolf killed your mother because of your incompetence!' He argues vehemently.
'You don't understand; Zenith was the wolf! He was in love with Mum, and she rejected him!' I tell him, my voice desperate and determined.
My stepfather bursts into derisive laughter. 'Has being pregnant mangled your brains? A wolf named Zenith was in love with your mother and killed her because she turned him down?' He mocks me, clearly finding my statement absurd.
'Yes,' I reply, fully aware of how bizarre it must sound to him.
He shakes his head in disbelief, chuckling at the surreal nature of the conversation.
I lock eyes with him. 'This is going to be hard to believe, but werewolves exist. Zenith is a man who had the ability to shift into a wolf. You never knew this, but Mum was a werewolf too,' I confess.
My stepfather's laughter deepens, as if he's convinced this is all some elaborate fabrication. 'If that's the case, wouldn't that make you a werewolf too?' He questions.
'Yes, I am a werewolf too! That's what Mum was going to tell me on my eighteenth birthday before my first shift,' I tell him with determination.
His sarcastic tone lingers as he asks, 'Okay, if you're a werewolf, prove it.'
I avert my gaze, 'I can't shift...'
'So, you are confirming what a liar you are, then?' He taunts.
'No! I can shift, just not while I'm pregnant,' I assert, my desperation mounting.
'Yes, I'm sure,' he replies sarcastically. 'You know it's funny; you took something away from me that meant the world to me, and now here you are carrying something that means the world to you!' He leers at my belly, his words sending a shiver down my spine.
My breathing becomes heavy, and I voice my deepest fear, 'You're not going to hurt my baby, are you?'
'Oh, Astrid, I'm not going to hurt your little baby,' he says, his tone dripping with malice. 'I'm going to kill it.'
'No! Dad, please! Don't hurt my baby! Please, let me have the baby first, and then you can kill me, please!' I beg, tears streaming down my face.
My dad laughs cruelly. 'You're pathetic and weak, and your baby will be too,' he sneers, his eyes filled with disgust.