Shifter’s Baby (Alpha Fantasy Paranormal Billionaire Shifter BBW Romance) (123 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

At the coffee shop, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up sending a prickling feeling rushing down her spine. Leila looked behind her to the tired looking woman waiting in line after her. Glancing to her right side, only students typing at their tables’ eyes unwavering from their computer screen and to her left was just a wall. There was no reason for her to be so on guard and yet the feeling that she was being watched did not go away. When it was her turn she ordered a green tea and paid in cash. The notion that she was being watched did not go dissipate when she stepped out of the shop and walked down one of the many sidewalk paths leading away. She continued down the path, looking behind every few minutes but there was no one there. Leila turned down a different concrete road and then at the next chance she moved in the opposite direction down yet another one. Stopping briefly she looked into the distance where her fellow students made their way to classes or their dorms, no one staring her down longer than what would be considered acceptable. She'd been on her way back to the house but now she was all the way on the side of the campus due to her paranoid walking. With a sigh she started back towards home.

Caitlyn came out of nowhere and linked her arm through Leila's. "Hey darling." She said.

"Hey Cait." She replied, "What are you doing? I thought you had class right now."

"Eh, I do but I got to the door and decided to skip it today!" She answered as they walked. "How is the baby doing?" Caitlyn asked loudly. Leila hushed her, air blowing through her lips.

"What if one of the sisters walked by and had heard you!" Leila hissed. "Please be more careful. I haven't told anyone else yet. I'm not ready to tell people." She sighed and Caitlyn held up her hands in defense apologizing. "It's okay. Jackson is hoping it's a girl, did I tell you?"

"Why so someone like him can treat her like shit? Or you would think that he would want a boy so he can teach him how to treat girls as if they are disposable." The words shot out like venom from her lips. Leila rolls her eyes. "What? I'm not apologizing for that one."

"You promised that as long as he behaved that you would be nice." She reminded her. "He has been behaving well but you're still not being very nice, you know." Caitlyn frowned at her their feet as they carried on.

"Okay, now I'll apologize because you're right I did make that promise to you." There was a long pause as neither girl tried to make a peep. The silence was thick in the air until finally Caitlyn caved. "How are things between you and him?" Leila looked at her friend out of the side of her eye. When all was said and done, Caitlyn was really her best friend. She couldn't name anyone else that she spoke to about Jackson so freely or about the baby even in the slightest bit.

"He told me that he loves me." She observed Caitlyn's reaction. She watched as her muscles in her cheeks forced them to keep her face straight. "I said it back." Leila pressed on. "I was in class the other day and all of a sudden my nose was gushing blood. I thought it was never going to stop so I called him and he rushed over as soon as he could." Caitlyn nodded. "He's been reading baby books and doing all this research online about pregnancy and what we should be expecting. That's when he said that he loved me."

"Wow I think I'm more shocked that he can actually read." Those were the words that followed. Leila dropped her arm out from under Caitlyn's in outrage.

"He's trying, you know. It's the least you could do to do the same." Caitlyn rolled her eyes exasperatedly as Leila stopped walking. "Are you going back to the house?"

"I was planning on it." She said in return.

"Then I'm going somewhere else, I just need some space right now." Leila turned around and left the way they had just came. She walked around until she found one of the fountains with a bridge that ran across the top. Leila sat on the edge of the bridge with her feet dangling above the reflective water. Once more she felt like someone was staring at her, she pulled out her phone and texted Jackson.

Leila: I think someone has been following me but I can't see them.

Jackson: How do you know someone is following you then?

Leila: It's just a feeling.

She stared down at her phone waiting for his reply. It was getting darker now; less people were walking through the fountain. Leila sighed as she stood up from her seat and began walking back to the Phi Nu house. She kept looking down at her phone, waiting for his reply. It was darker all of sudden than it should have been; Leila stopped and looked up at the lamp that had gone out. She heard a rustling behind her and she turned to see what it came from. She hadn't seen a soul since she left the fountain Leila was completely alone. Her phone chimed as she turned back around and pressed on. She looked down to see that Jackson finally responded. Opening her phone she heard the noise again.

There was a
clash
and then a
thud
. She heard sounds before she could realize that something hard hit the back of her head. That's around the time that the world went black all around her. She felted the ground rushing up to greet her like an old friend. Cell phone had dropped from her hands a few feet away.

Jackson: Don't worry about but please come to my house now. You'll be safe here.

CHAPTER FIVE

The smell of mothballs and molded newspapers filled her senses. Somewhere to the left of her, Leila heard a drip, drip, drip of water splashing on to the floor. Her head ached from the blow that knocked her out. She tried to open her eyes but still all she saw was black. It took a moment for her to realize that she had not in fact gone blind but was blindfolded. With her legs bound to the chair, she tested her arms that were tied behind her back. The tie was too tight; she couldn't even move her wrists.

Leila heard a door open and close from her behind her. The smell of tobacco smoke filled the room as who ever had came in, stamped out a cigarette. She heard the sizzling of embers on moist ground. She thought that maybe they were in a basement or some kind of warehouse. Footfalls approached her as the feet padded towards her. They didn't say a word to her but she could feel their hot sticky breath on the back of her neck. Hands grabbed a hold of her shoulders.

"Hello darling." Fingers closed around her neck, the hands felt rough on her skin. A small whimper escaped her from deep in her chest.

"What do you want from me?" She found her voice shakily. The hands pulled at the tie around her head and the fabric went slack but she didn't open her eyes. She kept them closed tightly not wanting to look at her captor. He chuckled at her question.

"I don't want anything from you." A chair scrapped on the hard floor sounding as shrill as nails on a chalkboard. She flinched against the noise and heard a lighter engaging. Smoke once again filled her nose. He exhaled a cloud of fumes into her face and she turned her head away. Leila tried to hold her breath as to not breathe any in, but she coughed and came back grasping for air.

"Can you please not? I'm pregnant." She confessed. Eyes still closed she relied on her other instincts to tell her everything she needed to know. The man placed a hand on her thigh and she squirmed under his touch.

"Well, well, well." He ran his hand up to her stomach. "You're having his baby. I wonder if you truly knew who your boyfriend was if you would want to keep it."
Jackson,
She thought,
so this is about his past.
Leila concentrated on controlling her emotions. He wanted to see her cry; she didn't want to give him that satisfaction
. Isn't that what they tell you in all those defense classes?
She never attended any and was suddenly wishing that she'd let Caitlyn drag her to the one she went to a few months ago. Weeks leading up to the class it was all Caitlyn could talk about.
"It's so important to be able to defend ourselves! The amount of events and parties we're going to be invited to once we're sisters!"
Only Leila was more concerned about seeing Jackson than learning how to break ties and what to do when you're taken by force.

The man stood up and seized her by the face forcefully. "OPEN YOUR EYES!" He screamed an inch away from her. Leila let a cry but only tightened her eyelids around her vision. He let go of her and she heard the click of a gun cocking a bullet into the chamber. "Open your eyes." He said more softly but just as intensely. Leila blinked, adjusting to the darkness that surrounded them. The man was tall, just as tall as Jackson, with green burning eyes. He had a scar across his cheek, lowering the gun he bent over can came face to face with her. "Mine is the last face you will ever see and Mr. Harris will just have to accept that because there is nothing he can do. No one knows we have you. No one knows where you are. I will kill you here."

CHAPTER SIX

Caitlyn
stared at her biology textbook. It had been hours since Leila walked away from her outside. She thought about calling her to talk it out, knowing that Leila was so mad at her made her feel sick to her stomach. It was worse knowing that she was right. Caitlyn had been such a bitch about Jackson and never let up. She saw that he was doing better, treating her like a queen, and she'd even heard the talk from the brothers of Phi Kappa Nu that Jackson wasn't flirting any girls now. He'd been true to his word. Yet Caitlyn couldn't let the past go. She knew it wasn't her grudge to hold but when she saw Leila so freely forgiving him it just made her more and more angry.

She looked up from her book and picked up her phone. When she called Leila it went straight to voicemail, "Leila I don't know if you'll listen to this before you come home but I'm sorry. You're right about everything and I totally suck. I promise, swear on my Phi Nu sisterhood pin, not to say one unwarranted bad thing about Jackson for the rest of my life. I can't hold my tongue if he really does fuck up but I promise not to behave like I did tonight." Caitlyn hung up the phone and sit it on the desk next to her. Instead of trying to read her textbook, she just gawked at her painfully silent cell. She tried not to worry about Leila, she knew that she would likely be there sulking in his room. She tried not to think about the things they could be saying. She groaned and got up from her desk.

She marched downstairs where some sisters sat around the kitchen table. It was Heather the president of their sorority and Jasmine the one that gave them their Greek Life Orientation. They stopped talking when Caitlyn walked into the room.

"What's up guys?" She said as she looked into the refrigerator pulling out a cherry coke. Heather sat up straight in her chair and stared at her hands. "Is something the matter?" Jasmine looked up at her with a half smile sort of grimace.

"Just tell her." Jasmine said looked back at Heather who exhaled loudly.

"We've been concerned lately." Heather turned in her chair to look Caitlyn squarely. "We know that you and Leila are very close so we wanted to ask you how she's really doing? She hasn't been very active the last two months and that's very worrisome. She comes to our meeting but nothing else. Most of the time she's locked up in your room."

"Is it really a problem that she hasn't been coming to parties? I think she's just really trying to focus on her studies and she's been very conscious of her health." Caitlyn tried to defend her.

"No, that's fine. It's just all of us have been worried that she's depressed. We just really want her to be happy and okay. When your two were pledging she was really present." Heather went on. "When she passed out on the stairs we were scared she was spreading herself too thin and now she's not spreading herself at all."

"Please, don't think we're attacking your friend." Jasmine added. "We just wanted to talk to you first to see if we should be worried at all before confronting her with our concerns."

"Let me talk to her first." Caitlyn offered. "I really don't think anything serious is going on with her." Her smile that she flashed felt fake even to herself. She left the kitchen and rushed up the stairs to their bedroom. Caitlyn jumped back when she saw Jackson standing in the middle of the bedroom. "Holy shit!" She clasped her hand over her mouth.

"Leila isn't here?" He asked staring at her.

"No, I thought she was with you." Caitlyn shut the door behind her and marched over to her bed plopping down. "So you're telling me that she hasn't been with you all this time?"

"No..." Jackson closed his eyes and punched the top of Leila's desk. "Fuck."

"Hey calm down cowboy!" She shouted at him. "It's fine, she's probably just walking around with her phone turned off." But he was clutching his fist glaring at the ceiling shaking his head.

"She thought she was being followed by someone." Jackson closed his eyes. "She told me she couldn't see who it was but..." His voice cracked with fire. "I know who did it. Well I know the group of people who did it." Caitlyn jumped on to her feet.

"Are you telling me that she's been kidnapped?"

"When I was younger, I got involved with the wrong sort of people." He explained but she continued to gape at him. "I'll take care of it." Jackson said making a move towards the window.

"What the hell do you think you're going to go do?" Caitlyn stepped into his way. Placing her hands on her hips she squared her body up to his and looked up at him. "We need to call the police. They need to be the ones handling this!"

"Are you insane? They would kill her if we go to the cops!" Jackson replied exasperated but she didn't flinch. "Give me three hours. Okay? Three hours to get her back. Can you agree to that? If I don't call you in three hours then you may contact the authorities." Caitlyn considered it for a while before she stepped away from the window.

Jackson raced down to his car. He had only a vague idea of where to find them. Speeding down the highway, he didn't worry about police cars or turn signals as he weaved in and out of lanes. He took an exit on the right into the city's projects. The route now felt familiar and his instincts took over as he turned his car down the streets. All he could think about was Leila and what they might be doing to her. He thought about the baby and how he didn't want to let it down so much before it was even born. He didn't even what to think about what Leila would do if something happened to their child, she had barely started to forgive herself from early on. He jumped the curb in front of the house parking in the lawn. He jumped out of his car and banged on the front door.

"Open up Daggers!" He yelled there was no sound coming from inside the house but he knew someone was home. It was part of their rules, one member had to be at the house at all times. The logic was if the police came knocking that member could give the others a heads up. It was Lincoln's idea. Lincoln Mitchell was the leader of the Daggers and had once been Jackson's mentor. "Open up or I am coming in!" Jackson threw his body against the door and it didn't budge. He took a step back and saw a curtain flutter on the second floor. He looked around at ground near the door and found a loose a brick. He slammed it through the glass of the window right by the front door. It shattered easily and he reached in to the hole unlocking the door from the inside. As he pulled his arm back through he sliced open the top of his forearm. "God damn it!" Jackson shouted. He ripped off one his sleeves and tried it around his arm. Once inside the house he saw a young boy who had to have been the same age that he was when he hung around with the Daggers. "Where are they?" He didn't want to intimidate he boy but he wasn't sure he had much of a choice.

"Are you Jax?" The boy said staring him down. Jackson could have sworn that he saw the boy's hand trembling.

"Where do they have her? I do not want to you hurt but I will if I have too and clearly you know that." Jackson wasn't proud of it anymore but even before they asked him to officially join he was never the member that would get left behind at the house.

"They said you would come here and I'm tell them when you did." He replied.

"Tell them that if they hurt her I will kill them, every single one of them. Then I'll come back here and I will kill you too." Jackson's lips snarled like a pit bull's ready to attack. "I will ask you just one more time. Where do they have her?" The boy looked down at his feet and now Jackson really could see his hands shaking. This kid was too young for this.

"They have her at the store house. It's two blocks directly behind this house." He said not meeting his gaze.

"Let me give you some advice kid. Get out. Do not look back and just leave. When I'm done here, you won't have to worry about someone coming after you. Just leave." Jackson turned and left the door wide-open. He looked at his car and decided against driving over there. He was sure that the boy wouldn't be calling Lincoln at the other house but he didn't want to give them any kind of warning that he was coming. So he pulled himself up over the fence dropping down onto his feet and repeated it on the back of the yard. He dropped into the neighbor's side and slide along the fence. In the dark the neighbors would not likely see him but he did not want to risk it. He opened the gate and crept across the street. Though a window he could see Lincoln smoking a cigarette on a couch. A few other members stood around laughing by the TV. He didn't see her through in the living room; he walked around the house and found a loose basement window. Jackson pulled it open and slides his body down and land backwards into the dank basement.

"Whose there?" A voice asked from the center of the room. Jackson turned slowly and saw her tied to the chair, blindfolded. A purple bruise that had formed around her eye peeked out from under the black fabric. She'd been crying, he saw the streaks running down her cheeks.

"Leila." He breathed her name and she couldn't contain herself.

"Jackson!" She shouted out his name causing him to leap towards her clasping his hand around her mouth.

"Shh, I want to get you out of here before they find out." He whispered to her, pulling the blindfold away from her eyes. "Be very quiet okay?" He asked her before moving his hand away. Leila started silently cried she wanted to hug him and kiss him. He moved behind her and undid the ropes binding her to he chair. She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jackson captured her mouth with his as they embraced. He was so happy to have her back.

"How did you find me?" She whispered. Jackson shook his head.

"Not now. Let's go." He pointed to the window and lifted her up and out of it. He was about to jump up himself when the door banged open. Jackson slowly turned and faced Lincoln.

"I sent someone to check up on the house. They said someone's hotrod was parked in our yard and Melvin was nowhere to be found. I'm guessing that was you. What did you do to him?" Lincoln said his words coolly, barely even regarding Jackson.

"Does it matter? You're never going to go after him." Jackson glared back at him.

"I always get my revenge, even if it takes eight years." Lincoln replied. "I hope she's a fast runner because the boys upstairs will be chasing her and if they catch her this time they won't be so nice a second time around." Jackson balled his fist by his side. "What's wrong cat got your tongue?" Lincoln asked before he launched himself towards Jackson who swiftly sidestepped the attack. Jackson aimed his fist low in Lincoln's abdomen and shoved his palm up his nose. He went down and stayed down for enough time that Jackson moved to the other side of room. He bounced on his feet waiting for Lincoln to get back up but the sound of sirens blared outside of the house. They could hear the sound of a wooden door splintering as it crashed open.