Chapter 11
Chapter eleven
Mai
“Bold words for someone who’s in labor and can barely stand,” Sian said as she rounded the bed, inching toward me.
Maybe, but I meant it. There was no way any of them were touching my kids.
Another contraction started building. I gripped the bedframe and breathed, tracking all four as they crept closer. The pain was sharper now, more focused, and I could feel my body preparing for what was coming, whether I was ready or not.
Damn it. I had no plan, no way to physically fight them off, not without putting the babies at risk.
The pain ebbed. One of the twins kicked hard under my ribs. I pressed my palm to the spot. “Shhh. It’s going to be okay. Me and your dad, we’ve got you.”
Vera’s eyes flicked from my face to my stomach, back and forth like she couldn’t stop herself.
“This is pointless. The pups are coming. We are going to take them. If you fight us, we’ll kill you and take them anyway, but that puts them in danger.
You don’t want that, do you? For us to have to cut them out of your dead body?
So, why don’t you be a good little wolf?
Lie down on the bed, deliver the pups like a good mom, and shut the fuck up. ”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Did they not do their research? Did they not know us at all?
“You want to know what I think? I think you’ve been running and hiding for so long, you’ve forgotten what it means to actually fight for something you care about.”
Sian’s face hardened. “You don’t have a clue what we’ve—”
I tuned her out as a sudden spike of pure fury shot through the mate bond—Ryan’s rage so intense it nearly took my breath away. At the same instant, Vera winced, her hand flying to her temple, her face contorting in pain.
I smiled. Ryan, my beautiful mate, Ryan, was making himself a nuisance in the way only he could.
“Having trouble concentrating?” I asked Vera, testing my theory.
She shot me a glare, but I caught the way her left hand trembled. “I’m fine.”
I shifted my stance as the weight of my belly dragged on my lower back. Heat prickled down my spine as one of the twins rolled, a hand nudging up under my ribs.
I needed to be more strategic. Was there a way to divide them?
I turned to Glenn. He’d been an Alpha for over four hundred years.
Four hundred years of carrying that weight, that responsibility.
“So, you’re the one who led them into this curse.
Four hundred years of suffering because of your ambition.
And here you are, still making decisions that will hurt your Pack. ”
A wryness tugged at his mouth. “It won’t work. Trying to drive a wedge between us? Trying to find our weaknesses. It just shows how desperate you are.”
“And you’re not desperate? Stealing babies as they’re born?”
“It’s survival.” Sian’s voice was calm, but I thought I saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes. Of course, that might have just been wishful thinking.
“Survival?” I felt Ryan’s power building through our bond again and timed my next words carefully. “When Ryan gets through that barrier—and he will—the entire Three Rivers Pack will hunt you to the ends of the earth. There will be nowhere to hide from us. How is that survival?”
Right as I finished speaking, another wave of Ryan’s fury crashed through me. The house shivered. Vera stumbled, catching herself on the wall as the shimmer at the window flared red.
“The barrier is holding,” Glenn said, but his voice carried less certainty than before.
A look flickered between Sian and Jonas—quick, worried. Jonas took half a step to his left, angling so he could see both door and window; his fingers flexed once, then stilled. Good. Cracks were showing.
I had to keep going. My breath roughened; a tremor started low in my thighs. I swallowed the metal tang of adrenaline and leveled my tone. “You can’t honestly believe kidnapping earns redemption.”
“They don’t need to forgive us,” Vera said as a bead of sweat slid down her cheek. “They just have to do what we want.”
“This isn’t the way to become a mother. When you’re a mother, you’ll do anything to protect your children. Anything. These pups need love, safety. Not to be carted around the country, hiding from everyone hunting you. They’d be in danger the whole time. That’s not what mothers do.”
“I can protect them just fine!”
“Really?” I felt Ryan’s power building through our bond, preparing for another assault. “You can’t even keep your shield up against my mate.”
The impact hit—hard. Vera swayed.
“You’re sweating, shaking, barely able to stand. You’re not strong enough, Vera.”
“Shut up,” she whispered, pressing her temple. “Just… shut up.”
Yup, whatever Ryan was doing, it was getting to her.
“Vera, give it up. You can’t—"
“I said shut up,” Vera snapped, her voice cracking. “Just shut—”
A furious yowl cut her off as Gremlin launched herself from under the bed.
She must have darted in there when Jonas first appeared.
The cat landed on the dresser, sending Thomas’s medical tray and supplies skidding off it with a loud clatter.
Glass vials shattered against the floor, metal instruments scattered and spun across the hardwood.
“What the—?” Vera started, but Gremlin was already airborne, claws raking a hot, perfect line across her cheek. Vera screamed, purple magic sparking wild. Gremlin twisted clear, then dropped light as a breath to land in front of me, back arched, fur spiked.
Her hiss filled the room—not the sound of a normal house cat, but something deeper, more menacing.
Vera touched her cheek, her fingers coming away bloody. “You little—”
“Hold, Vera,” snapped Jonas. “It’s just a cat. Don’t get distracted.”
“See?” I said, clocking a scalpel that spun to a stop just inches from my bare toes.
I kept my expression blank, not wanting to draw attention to it.
It wasn’t much, but having that small blade near gave me a sense of possibility I hadn’t felt since this nightmare began.
“You can’t even handle one house cat. How exactly are you going to protect two babies from everyone coming for you? ”
The pain hit like a knife shoved inward and dragged down. A scream tore free as pressure ripped through my pelvis and into my legs. My hands flew to my belly as my knees nearly buckled.
“The babies!” hissed Sian. “They’re close!”
Another wave of pain slammed into me, pressure so intense I felt like my body was being split in half from the inside, stabbing through my pelvis.
I fell to my knees as Sian rushed toward me.
Now! My wolf poured her strength into me.
Swiping the scalpel, I gritted my teeth through the pain, swung upwards.
The blade caught Sian just under her jaw, not deep enough to do serious damage but sharp enough to draw a thin line of blood.
She froze, her eyes going wide as she felt the sting.
Jonas shifted his weight, ready to attack, then stopped at Glenn’s flick of two fingers.
“Back off,” I gasped, holding the scalpel steady against her throat. “Back the fuck off right now.”
For a moment, we were locked in place—me on my knees, breathing hard through the lingering pain, her perfectly still with my blade at her neck.
“You really think that tiny piece of metal is going to save you?” Sian asked.
“I think it’s going to make you reconsider getting within arm’s reach of me or my babies,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt. “One quick slice and you bleed out before your Pack can help you. I know, I know, you can’t die, right? But I bet it hurts like a bitch.”
Sian’s nostrils flared, and I could smell her anger; hot and metallic, like a heated iron. But she took one careful step backward, then another.
“Smart choice.” I struggled to my feet while keeping the blade pointed at her. “Stay back.”
“Enough!” Glenn said. “Vera, strengthen the barrier. Sian, prepare for the birth. Jonas, watch the door. We came here for a reason, and we’re not leaving until it is done.”