Blood of the Wolf: The Crown (Mackenzie Grey Book 11), Karina Espinosa [top 10 ebook reader txt] 📗

Blood of the Wolf

Mackenzie Grey: The Crown #2

Karina Espinosa

Copyright © 2021 by Karina Espinosa

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover design by © Christian Bentulan

Edited by Stacy Sanford

Copyright 2021 by Karina Espinosa

ISBN-13: 9798504516967

ASIN: B093YNQ2VY

To all the moms.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

About the Author

Also by Karina Espinosa

About the Author

1

The rain poured down, weighing down my wool coat and making it hard to see through the dense forest. I relied mainly on Shadow’s senses to guide me through Caledonian Forest as we ran. Branches whipped against my face and the rain soaked my skin and hair, plastering it against my skin. My heart pounded in my chest and I breathed heavily as we bounded out of the tree line and into an open pasture. The night sky illuminated the field, the moon and stars guiding the way. I grabbed the hood from the hoodie pinned underneath my wool coat and placed it over my head, then snapped the reins to make Shadow run toward the cabin.

I looked around to make sure we weren’t being followed, but the only thing I could hear was the blood pumping in my ears and the thunderous rain. Shadow ran faster with every snap of the reins, sensing my urgency and feeding off my fear.

As we approached the cabin, we skidded to a stop and I jumped off Shadow. I took the reins and latched them to the nearest wooden post, patting Shadow on the side. “I’ll be back,” I murmured, licking my lips and tasting the rain. I hiccupped on a cry and rested my head against Shadow’s until I collected myself. My tears mixed with the rain.

I sprinted to the front door of the cabin and ripped off my hood, banging on the door with a closed fist.

All the lights inside were off, and I worried Lucian wasn’t home. He wouldn’t be asleep at this hour, so either he wasn’t home and was somewhere in the village or … I don’t know.

I banged on the door even harder, making the glass in the windows rattle. I let out a little cry and bit my bottom lip, trying to swallow back the noise. I looked behind me to make sure my guards or Bash hadn’t followed me out of the castle when suddenly the front door swung open and the porch light flicked on.

I gasped and stumbled backward, turning to stare at who stood before me. My chest heaved from the adrenaline rush of running from the castle all the way here in secret.

He frowned, standing before me dressed in black, silk pajamas and a matching robe. His blond hair was tied at the nape of his neck. He held onto the door as he watched me, dripping wet on his Welcome doormat.

“I need your help!” I gasped. “I’m … I …” I looked around for the right answer, but I couldn’t find it. All I felt was desperation. I’d never felt so scared before in my life. “Lucian … I’m pregnant.”

His dark eyes widened as they sized me up and down and then he released a long breath. “Well … this is déjà vu all over again.” He opened the door wider. “Come, Pet, it’s pouring outside. Get in.”

I hurried inside and wrapped my arms around my midsection as I entered Lucian’s small living room. The door closed behind me with a click as the lock was engaged, and Lucian walked to the sofa and grabbed the afghan that was resting on the back. Unfolding it, he wrapped it around me and tucked it under my chin.

“Why would you come running here in this weather in your … condition, Pet?” he asked kindly as he walked to the kitchen.

I followed him, feeling wretched and miserable. “I had nowhere else to go,” I sniffled. Lucian started boiling water in a tea pot. “I don’t want tea,” I grimaced. “Give me coffee.”

He grunted. “Coffee? While pregnant? Sorry, Pet, I don’t have decaf.”

“Decaf?” I scoffed. “What kind of blasphemy is that?”

Lucian peered over his shoulder at me in shock. “You’re having tea. That’s final. You need to warm up. You’re shivering like a chihuahua.”

I growled in response, but it didn’t sound as tough as it should.

When Lucian was done, he set me down at the small dining table and poured me a cup of chamomile tea. I wrapped my hands around the cup to warm myself but didn’t raise it to my lips.

Lucian sat across from me and sighed. “Why are you here, Pet?”

“I – I can’t do this, Lucian. I can’t have a baby!” I wailed.

His eyes widened slightly and he cleared his throat. “You know … your mum came to me in the middle of the night too, running from someone. I never figured out who, but she came to me on a rainy night to tell me she was pregnant with you and asked me to help her. But even in the midst of her trials, not once did she want to get rid of you.” He glared at me. “All she thought about was how she could protect you.”

I gritted my teeth. “Don’t compare me to Adaline! She wasn’t Queen! She didn’t have hundreds of enemies!”

Lucian tilted his head. “No, she didn’t have hundreds of enemies—she had one, and it cost your mother her life.”

“That should be answer enough,” I growled.

“So, you’re only trying to protect yourself?” Lucian scoffed.

I rolled my eyes and slammed my palm on the table, making the cup of tea rattle in its delicate bone china saucer with hand painted pink roses. “No! I’m protecting