Chapter 9
Chapter nine
Mai
“That’s it, breathe through it,” Sofia coached, rubbing my back. “You’re doing beautifully, Mai.”
“How much longer?” I gasped as the contraction finally eased.
“Hard to say with twins,” Thomas replied. “Especially breech presentation.”
Wally was bustling around the room, trying to make the place less delivery room and more elegant bed chamber, with soft blankets and fresh flowers on the dresser. He needed the distraction; I could smell the nerves on him.
“Figures this would happen after dark,” Wally muttered, pulling on what looked suspiciously like bright pink rubber gloves. “Drama in this Pack never keeps office hours.”
“Are those washing-up gloves?” Sofia asked, horrified.
“I’ve seen way too many TV shows about births,” Wally said defensively, admiring his hands. “I know how messy they get! Besides, these are sterile, they protect against everything, and most importantly, they are a gorgeous hot pink.”
Sofia stared at him. “Wally, those are for washing dishes.”
“They’re multi-purpose,” Wally sniffed. “And they match my scarf. I still think we should’ve moved you to the clinic,” he added, turning back to me.
“The clinic doesn’t have panic buttons in every room and a fortress worth of security,” Sofia pointed out. “Besides, Thomas delivers babies all the time.”
“Not usually during potential Pack invasions,” Wally shot back, wiggling his pink-gloved fingers. “I suppose the clinic doesn’t have a stock of such fabulous accessories, but I am adding it to the supplies list, Thomas.”
Another contraction started building, tight and low. I breathed through it, counting, riding the wave until it broke. Gremlin crouched on the window ledge, tail flicking, pupils wide as she stared into the dark.
“Where’s Carlito?” I asked. “He should be here by now.”
“Derek texted to say Carlito was on his way,” Sofia said, squeezing my hand.
Outside, car doors thudded.
“See, that’ll be Carlito and the security detail now.”
Gremlin hissed, her fur standing on end. Then the front door slammed open, and there was a crash from downstairs. Shouting. The unmistakable sounds of a fight—dull thuds, yells, something heavy hitting the wall.
A scream started and was abruptly cut off.
Sofia was on her feet, pulling out two wicked-looking knives. Just where the hell had she been hiding those?
Wally stepped between me and the door, pink-gloved grip closing around the heavy ceramic lamp. “Well,” he said brightly, “this is not how I imagined spending my Tuesday.”
There was silence now from downstairs, and that was somehow worse than the fighting.
“How many enforcers did Ryan leave?” My heart hammered against my ribs.
“Three,” Thomas said quietly. “Evelyn, Holden, and Ruby.”
Then we heard footsteps on the stairs. Slow. Unhurried.
“Phone?”
Thomas glanced at his screen and shook his head. “No signal. They’re jamming us.”
“Mai,” a voice from the hallway called. It sounded like Sian. “We don’t want to hurt any of you. Just send out those who are with you in there, and we can talk this through.”
Send them out so Jonas could knock them out, too? Not a fucking chance.
“Last chance, Mai.”
Wally’s eyes found mine. I gave the smallest shake of my head.
Jonas stepped in first, eyes cataloging us all in an instant. Vera slid in beside him, all cool poise and a small, pleased smile. Their Pack-scent hit me—stale and wrong, and the hairs along my arms lifted.
Sofia lunged forward, knives raised. But before she could take two steps, Vera shot her hand upward, palm out.
Magic crackled through the air—raw, metallic, violent. The force caught Sofia mid-lunge and swatted her backward. Wally and Thomas were lifted off their feet, and they were all flung backward through the window.
“SOFIA!” I screamed, trying to sit up as another contraction clawed at my stomach.
“I really wouldn’t be worried about them if I were you,” Vera said dismissively, moving her hands in complex patterns.
A shimmering red lattice flared across the window and held in place.
The red faded to a sheer transparent film that seemed to cover the house.
I blinked, not sure what I was seeing. Had she put up some sort of barrier?
I shoved the pain of the contraction deep inside and scrambled over the bed, one arm braced over my belly.
Below, Sofia picked herself up from the garden, blood running from a cut on her forehead.
She sprinted for the house, hit the shimmer, and bounced, landing hard on her ass as the barrier flashed red.
What. The. Fuck?
She was up again, pounding at the invisible wall, her mouth moving in what I was sure were very creative curse words. I couldn’t hear them, which meant that whatever Vera had put in place was soundproof as well.
“Please, Mai—don’t strain,” Glenn said as he and Sian drifted in behind Jonas and Vera. He tipped his chin toward the window, oddly proud. “Vera’s half-witch. Barriers and force fields are her thing. No one gets in. No one gets out. Not until we are done here.”
Fuck! How the hell had this gone so wrong so quickly? All of our carefully laid plans, all of our contingencies, all of our drills, none of them had accounted for this scenario.
I turned to face them. “What the fuck do you want?”
Vera smiled at me, the expression soft and warm and totally at odds with her words. “Why, your babies, of course.”
I blinked. “You’re not getting my babies.”
“Oh, but we are,” Sian said, stepping closer, voice low and steady like she was soothing a spooked horse. “We’ve waited a very long time for this opportunity.”
“Opportunity? To steal babies?” My palms pressed instinctively to my belly as the last of the contraction faded. “Walk me through the future where that doesn’t end with me tearing your throat out.”
For an instant, something like grief flickered across Sian’s face. “We’re not monsters, Mai. We would guard them with our lives. We would love them.” Her throat worked. “We are just… tired.”
Glenn came forward two paces, palms open. “We don’t want to hurt you or the pups. They’re the only door left to us.”
“And that door is… what, exactly?” I arched an eyebrow, backing up, not believing him for one second, but talking was good. Talking delayed them, gave Ryan time to get back here, and for Sofia and Wally to find a way in.
Glenn stared at me for a moment, as if thinking about how to answer. Then he sighed. “Do you know what it’s like to hunger constantly but never be satisfied?”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re cursed,” Sian said simply. “Over four hundred years ago.”
Four hundred years? That couldn’t be true.
“Back then, we thought we were clever,” Sian continued.
“Other Packs were bleeding us, tearing into us, and we were losing. Losing territory, losing Pack mates, losing family. We thought we could take power from the Goddesses—take from the Moon Mother and the Dark One simultaneously. Make ourselves stronger.”
“We misjudged.” Glenn’s voice was hollow.
“The Goddesses, in a rare moment of cooperation, cursed us for one thousand years. We can’t have pups; our mate bonds do not seal.
We cannot hold territory, cannot bond with any land.
We are frozen in time. We can die. But it’s not permanent. We always come back.”
Sian moved closer, her eyes fixed on my swollen belly. “Four centuries of being outcasts. Moving from Pack to Pack, having to take what we need, never belonging anywhere. We are hated for it. We don’t want to be this anymore.”
“And my pups are what—your cure?” Acid hit the back of my throat. “No.”
“Your pups are… whispered about,” Vera said carefully. “Your mate bargained with the Dark Goddess. If the stories are true, your children will be touched by both.” Her fingers moved to her bracelet, tapping the beads together. “They might be a bridge. A way to ask. To be seen by both at once.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. The deal was with the Dark Goddess only. The Moon Goddess had nothing to do with our pups.”
Glenn smiled sadly. “You don’t know them like we do.
The Moon Goddess would never allow the Dark One to claim your children unopposed.
Not when they would give her a way back into this world.
She might not have made herself known to you, but it is only a matter of time before the Moon Goddess makes her own deal with whoever is responsible for your pups. ”
“You’re delusional,” I said flatly. “You think the Goddesses will reward child-stealing?”
Sian's face hardened. “We think they’ll listen. The Dark Goddess, especially, will want to make your pups happy. And if those children consider us their true Pack, they’ll want to keep us safe.”
Glenn’s voice roughened. “If there were another path, we would take it. If there were a price we could pay that wasn’t this, we would pay it. I am sorry, truly. But for our people—”
Sian swallowed hard. “We will protect them. Raise them gently. You have my word.”
I had a flash of what my beautiful babies’ futures might be. Not loved for themselves, but as bargaining chips. Raised by people who saw them as tools rather than children. The image made something inside me flare white hot.
“You made one error,” I told them, straightening up as much as I could.
“What’s that?” Glenn asked, looking genuinely curious.
“You trapped yourselves in here with me,” I said. “And I will kill every one of you before I let you touch my children.”