The Imperial Wolf Series Books 1-3
Chapter 60

Kate Pov

The floor creaks in the darkness of my infant's room, and then I look up to see him. "Father," I say softly.

"YESSSS," Alexander hisses at me. I am frightened but relieved to see my father. "Where have you been?" I ask him. I have needed him and he has been missing.

"Hiding from your brother. You have to take her and hide from Isabella. You have to keep her safe, Kate. Go, do not tell Erick, just take her and hide her. He will understand. I will explain everything to him. Isabella and the Omega are planning to kill her. Take your child and GO!" Alexander says to me.

"Erick will not understand. He will be furious with me if I leave with her," I say softly.

"You have to go, Kate! GO! Baby Belle is the most important thing in all of this. Her life has to be protected," Alexander screams at me.

I grab a few things for baby Belle. I put her things into a bag. I reach into baby Belle's crib and pick her up gently. I run for the window. I hold my baby close to me. I look back at my father, and then I jump out the window with my baby in my arms. I use my vampire speed to get away as fast as possible. I am sorry, Erick. I cannot risk her life. I cannot put your pack before our child. I hope you will understand I am going this for her.

I take my precious baby, Isabella, and I run for our lives. I run for the woods and keep running. I am tired, but I cannot stop. I cannot let anything get in the way of her safety. My vampire speed is not enough. I finally take my wolf form, holding her as I try to get away from the house. I trust no one with my child's life, not even my Alpha.

I love Erick, but our child is the most important thing right now. I have to worry for her and her well-being. I cannot put the pack first. Isabella and Erick's mother want precious baby Belle. They will not have her. I will keep her safe if it kills me. I will protect her from all of them.

I run for hours until I run into a clearing. I quickly return to my human form. I see a small abandoned farmhouse not far from where I stop. I wonder if I can replace a car there or something to get us further away from her. I did not plan this very well. I ran without thinking, but I know it was the right thing to do. I am the only one that can protect her from the omega and Isabella. Alexander is right, I am the only one that can keep her safe.

I approach the abandoned farmhouse slowly, just in case it is occupied. I am exhausted from running and transforming. It seems since having baby Belle taking my wolf form is more exhausting than before. My body is still not accustomed to the vampire form. I drain so much energy when using vampire speed or my wolf form. I desperately need to rest.

I slowly open the door to the farmhouse. I have baby Belle clutched closely to me. I push the door open and peer inside. It is empty. I walk over to the kitchen table. There is a candle. I knock the cobwebs off of it. I look around for a match or something to light the candle. I replace a small box of matches and light the candle. After I light a candle, I sit down for a moment to feed baby Belle in a wooden chair. She latches on to my breast as I ponder what in the hell I should do next. Erick will be furious, I know, but he has to understand that I cannot risk her life. She has to live. Baby Belle is the future of our pack.

Baby Belle falls asleep feeding. I am not sure exactly how far away I am or what territory I am in right now. I have to be careful. I do not want to run into my brother, his crazy wife, Isabella or another wolf pack. I do not wish to be returned to Erick, and I damn sure do not want my brother and his wife to get their hands on my baby. There has to be somewhere I can go to hide with her. I cannot trust anyone. Baby Belle and I will have to hide. I just do not know for how long or where we will go.

I hold my baby tight as she sleeps. Maybe I was wrong about running. Should I have talked to Erick? No, he would disagree with hiding her. He would worry about the pack, not us. I carry baby Belle into a back room of the old farmhouse. I need a place to rest. There is a small bed. It is dirty, but I need to sleep. I lay down with her to rest just for a little while. Then I will run once again. I will run until I replace a place for us. I do not care if I have to run for the rest of my life; she will be safe.

As I drift into sleep holding baby Belle, I think of Erick and how much I love him. I know this is hurting him. I do not want to hurt Erick. I know he is worried. I only hope that Alexander explained to him how much danger Belle is in right now. Let us be honest; she will probably be a threat to the vampires and the wolves for the rest of her life. How will I protect her? I do not even know who all I have to protect her from now.

I hear a noise. Have they already found me? I get out of the bed with baby Belle in my arms. I have to hide her from the danger coming. I open an old wardrobe and get inside with baby Belle. I sit quietly. I hear footsteps and talking as whoever moves through the house. Maybe if Belle is quiet, they will leave us. I will have to run the rest of the night. As soon as they leave, we are out of here. I am too weak to fight them off.

"I can smell her and the child. They are here," I hear a deep voice say. The steps grow louder as they come into the bedroom.

"She would not be stupid enough to stop," I hear another voice say.

"We need to replace her and help her. She cannot protect the child. She is too weak," the deep voice says.

I peer out of the wardrobe and see a young woman. Vampires, it is vampires. The dark blue eyes of the woman lock onto mine. She walks over to the wardrobe and opens it, looking at me. "There are a lot of people looking for you, Luna. I have come to help you," the woman says. She reaches down to help me out of the wardrobe.

"You cannot have my baby! Get Back!" I scream at her. I kick at her and leap to my feet with baby Belle in my arms.

"I am here to help, not take your child, Luna. You need to trust me," she says. She inches closer to me extending her hand and smiling at me. I see a white wolf in the corner, but then it disappears.

"I trust no one with my child, do not come any closer. Get back, I will not tell you again," I say. I back up toward the door. I have to get out of here.

I make my way out of the door. The woman walks toward me. "We only want to help; Alexander sent us to replace you," the woman says.

"I do not believe you. My father would never send you to get me. He told me to run, why would he send someone for me. You must think I am stupid," I say to her.

I walk out of the backroom slowly backward. I have to get away from these vampires. "You are one of us; we will not hurt you," the young vampire says.

I look at her companion. "He looks like he might hurt me," I say.

"No, he will not hurt you either. Let us take you to your father, Luna," she says.

"NO!" I scream. I turn to run out of the farmhouse. More vampires are waiting for me in the front of the house. I am holding baby Belle tightly as the vampires move closer to me. They are not here to help; they want her. "You are not taking my baby!" I scream.

I hear running and growling in the distance as the vampires come closer to me. They reach for baby Belle. They try to pull her from my arms. I take my wolf form to fight. Baby Belle begins to transform. She takes the form of a wolf and latches to my fur. She growls as she sits on my back.

"Back the fuck off, bloodsuckers!" I scream at them.

The woman comes from the back, and she is laughing. "You can hand her over and come with us, or we can take her, Luna," she says calmly.

"No, get away from me and my child," I growl, and when I growl, baby Belle growls at the vampires too.

As the woman and her henchmen close in on me, wolves come through the front door. I take baby Belle into my arms and run past the wolves holding her tightly, trying to escape from the fighting.

I turn back to look when we are clear. I check baby Belle to make sure she is okay. "Where are you going with my daughter?" Erick growls, pouncing in front of me.

"Erick, I was trying to protect her," I say to him.

"I do not think so, Kate," Erick says. He is angry with me.

Erick takes baby Belle from my arms. Trip comes up behind me and grabs me. "Lock her up," Erick says to Trip.

"Erick, wait!" I scream at him.

He does not answer me. He walks away with baby Belle. Trip drags me to a waiting truck. He puts me inside the truck. I begin to sob and scream. "Give me back, my baby!" I scream. I kick the door and dashboard, trying to get out of the truck. Trip has the door locked, I cannot open it. I sink down in the seat and begin to cry out for my baby.

Trip gets into the truck. "You should not have taken off with the baby," Trip says.

He drives us back to the pack without saying another word to me. When we get to the pack territory, he goes past our home. "Where are you taking me?" I ask him. Trip does not answer. He drives to the pack jail and parks in front of the pack jail. "Why am I here, Trip?" I ask him.

Trip gets out of the truck, and he comes around, takes me out, and drags me into the jail. "You stole the Alpha's child, Kate," Trip says calmly.

Trip drags me through the jail until we reach the back cells. He pushes me inside the last cell. "She is my child, and she was in danger!" I scream as Trip locks me in a cell.

"I am sorry, Kate, but you should not have done this. You cannot kidnap the Alpha's child and think there will be no consequences for your actions," Trip says.

Trip leaves me alone in a cell. Erick hates me, and I have lost my baby. I fall to the floor and cry. I have to talk to Erick. I have to tell him why I left. Where is Alexander? I need his help!