A month later, I’m back at the library, trying to get back into the routine of things before I’m due to give birth.
I adjust the pillows behind my back for the fourth time in about ten minutes, attempting again to find a comfortable position in my office chair. The babies have been restless all morning, moving and shifting and poking me in ways that make focusing on cataloging the library’s index more challenging.
Today is my last day before I go on maternity leave, and I have to make sure I get a few things done before I go. I don’t want to leave Paige and Annabelle with mounds of my work to catch up on after the birth.
I shift in my chair again, a delicious soreness pressing up from between my thighs. My alphas had taken turns knotting me half the night, even though I protested that I had to get up early for work.
“What’s got you smiling like that?” Annabelle asks with a knowing grin as she and Paige approach the front desk.
“Thinking about that man? Gunnar Thorne?” Paige teases, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
They knew about Gunnar since they’d met him several times as he visited the library. But they had no idea about the other two men in my life, which is good since they’ll never understand our wolf dynamics.
“Yes,” I say, smiling bashfully.
“Girl, those babies will be here before you go on maternity leave if you carry on like that!” Paige jokes, fanning her face. Annabelle and I let out whoops of laughter, the sound carrying across the library.
“Can you keep it down?” someone says, and I turn to see an elderly woman at the nearest bookshelf staring at us reproachfully.
“Sorry!” I whisper loudly, and Paige giggles.
“Well, we can’t let you leave without giving you something special.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything,” I say, touched by their kindness. My babies shift again as though they can feel the warmth radiating from my friends.
“Of course we did,” Paige says gently, handing me a large cream-colored gift bag tied neatly with a pastel pink bow. “It’s not every day that your best co-worker goes away on maternity leave.”
I place the bag on the desktop, carefully unwrapping the bow. Inside is a large hand-knitted blanket in delicate shades of ivory, pastel green, and pastel yellow, all woven beautifully together. Beneath it lie four small, plush elephants, each with a different-colored ribbon wrapped around their tails.
My throat tightens with emotion at the thoughtfulness the two women put into their gift.
“Aww! I love it,” I say, my fingers grazing the blanket’s softness. Annabelle grabs my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.
“You deserve every bit of happiness,” she says sincerely. “We’ll miss you around here.”
“I’ll miss you both, too,” I say.
“We’re excited to meet your four babies,” Paige says, easing the sad mood just enough to make me laugh softly. “They’re certainly going to keep you busy!”
“Oh, I’m sure they will,” I say, grinning. “I get scared sometimes that I might not be a good mom.”
“Wait, why would you say that, Lena?” asks Annabelle.
“My own mother wasn’t great,” I admit softly. “One of the reasons why I stayed with an abusive boyfriend for years before I met Gunnar.”
“I’m sure you’re nothing like her,” says Paige softly, hugging me. “Even though we’re co-workers, we love you and we both know you’re going to be great.”
A profound sense of wholeness deep in my core starts flowing through me. She was right. No one had liked my mother anywhere she went, and she never had friends.
The moment is fleeting, however, when I feel a gush of liquid rush down my legs. I glance down and see that my maternity pants are soaked, a puddle of water collecting at my feet.
“Oh shit,” I say, too stunned to do anything except stare at the growing puddle.
“What?” Annabelle asks anxiously. “Are you okay?”
I look up at her and Paige with wide eyes, panic starting to creep in. “I think my water just broke.”
Annabelle and Paige glance down at the floor and then back up at me, their expressions of shock mirroring my own.
“Oh my God,” says Paige.
“I can’t believe this is happening right now!” I say in a panicked squeak.
“You shouldn’t have been messing around with your man so much,” says Annabelle, panicking, making me laugh and then groan in pain, my hand flying to my stomach as the first contraction hits.
“Do you need me to call an ambulance?” says Paige frantically.
“No, it’s okay,” I gasped, shaking my head. “The contractions literally just started, so I have time. I need to call Gunnar.”
Annabelle hands me my phone, and I dial his number, grimacing as another contraction rolls through me.
“Hey, baby,” he answers smoothly. “I missed you.”
“It’s happening!” I whisper-yell into the phone, trying to be mindful that we’re still in the library. “My water broke!”
“Oh fuck!” he exclaims. “Okay, just hang tight, love. We’re coming to get you.”
“I’ve got the hospital bag!” I hear Max yell as Damon curses in the background, urgently barking out orders.
Gunnar ends the call with a quick “I love you” and then hangs up. I smile at their readiness. In the last few weeks, we’ve practiced our ‘go’ moment about a dozen times. I want my delivery day to be perfect, and my alphas have been more than accommodating, catering to my every need.
“Do you want to sit down?” Annabelle asks nervously, touching my elbow. “We can go to the break room? Or you could just wait here?”
“Here is fine,” I say, giving her a reassuring smile. Paige wheels my chair around the desk to where we’re standing, and I’ve barely taken one step toward it when the library doors burst open violently, slamming against the walls with a resounding crash. The people at the bookshelves nearest us cry out in alarm, the books in their hands dropping to the floor.
I turn in the direction of the doors, and my heart stops. It’s not my alphas.
Aleks and Raul are standing in the doorway. Their gaze is locked on me, their eyes cold and cruel, and I barely notice the silver daggers in their hands until Raul waves one at me.
“My, my, little omega… how you’ve grown,” he sneers and takes a menacing step into the library as the people dash for the exit, screaming.
“Aleks… Raul…” I croak, my voice tight with terror. “W-what are you doing here?”
“Did you think we wouldn’t know what happened to Zorin?” Aleks snarls, approaching me. “We came to finish the job that he started.”
I feel my pulse race frantically, panic flooding through my veins, and my eyes dart toward Annabelle and Paige. They’re standing frozen in fear beside me, their faces drained of all color.
“Why now?” I ask, stalling for time. Maybe keeping them talking long enough will give Damon, Max, and Gunnar enough time to get to the library.
“Why not now? This is the perfect time to destroy your impending happiness.”
“We’ve been watching you for quite some time,” Raul says. “Your pups will belong to us after you give birth. You owe us that.”
A sense of déjà vu passes over me so strongly that I feel like I might vomit. I can’t believe this is happening again. Raul and Aleks have always been cold and cruel, but seeing them again chills me to the bone. A pack isn’t supposed to be without a leader, so Zorin’s death must be affecting them negatively.
They’re coming apart at the seams, and there’s no stopping it.
Raul moves swiftly toward Annabelle and Paige, and the women shrink back in terror. He grabs them both roughly by the arms and pulls them away from me.
“Go with Aleks,” he snarls at me, his canines extended. “If you don’t, I’ll kill your friends here—and everyone else in this fucking library.”
“Let us go, you bastard!” screams Paige. Annabelle lets out a small whimper of terror and begins to tremble.
“Shut up!” he hisses, then points his dagger at me. “Do it, Lena. Now!”
My breathing hitches, dread settling in my bones at the fear on my co-workers’ faces.
“Please,” I beg desperately, hoping he’ll hear me out. “Let them go. They have nothing to do with this!”
Raul laughs bitterly, unfazed by my pleas. He draws closer to Annabelle and points the dagger at her throat. Tears roll down her cheeks as she eyes the dagger carefully, trying not to let it touch her.
“They do now,” he spits viciously, the threat clear in his eyes.
“Don’t,” I plead again, my voice cracking with fear and anguish. “I’ll go with you, just don’t hurt them.”
Aleks waves me over.
“Well, come on, then,” he mocks. “We don’t have all day.”
Despite my words of acquiescence, my feet refuse to move, rooting me to the spot with terror and dread.
“Enough!” Raul shouts. “You will come with us!”
He drops the dagger, and Annabelle lets out a small sigh of relief when it clatters to the floor, but it’s short-lived when he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a gun. The cold, gray metal gleams in the overhead lights of the library, and Annabelle sucks in a sharp breath. My eyes widen when he points the gun at her, the barrel pressing against her temple.
“Time to move,” he seethes, “or she gets her pretty head blown off.”
The remaining people in the library had frozen in fear when Aleks and Raul barged in through the doors, waving their daggers, but once Raul pulled out his gun, they began to scream.
The old lady who had shushed us earlier drops the book she’s holding and hobbles toward the back of the library, far out of reach of the crazy gunman. Two other people who had been working on the computers in the corner make a dash toward the door, but before they can escape, Raul points the gun straight in the air and fires it.
“Not so fast, motherfuckers!” he screams, and in the silence that follows, the clink of the empty round hitting the floor echoes throughout the library. “You’ll leave when I say you can leave!”
The two people closest to the door drop to the floor and shuffle back until their backs hit the wall, watching the rest of the scene unfold with terror.
Aleks walks closer, and I can see the deranged look in his eyes as he stares us down. He points his dagger at Paige and Annabelle.
“On your knees, you stupid bitches!” he growls, and the two women comply, terror etched in every line of their faces.
“Aleks, don’t hurt them!” I yell loudly, shaking with adrenaline and fear for all the innocent people here who might die because of me. It’s all my fault for getting involved with the wrong alphas in my past.
“You!” He swings toward me and grabs a fistful of my hair. I yelp in pain, my hand automatically going to his to try and pull him off of me. “Let’s fucking go!”
“Let me go!” I scream, but Aleks’s fingers only tighten in my hair, pulling at my roots. He starts to drag me by the hair toward the library door, but I dig my heels in.
I’m not going anywhere with him.
“Move it, you useless whore!” he shouts.
“Aleks, please,” I sob, beyond caring that I’m begging. “Just let me leave! If you won’t let me go, at least let the people in the library go.”
“I don’t think you get to ask for favors,” he sneers. He pulls my head up so that we’re at eye level. “Now shut the fuck up, or I will kill you.”
He carries on dragging me forward, and I kick and scream with all my strength, but it’s in vain. He’s so much stronger than I am, and even with the weight of my pregnant belly, he still manages to handle me easily.
Pain lances through me, and I cry out.
I look down, thinking for a moment that Aleks has had enough of me and decided to stab me after all, but when I don’t see a dagger sticking out of me anywhere, I’m confused. Another stab of pain rocks through me, making me curl into myself, and then it hits me—it’s my contractions; the stress is making them come faster.
I look at Annabelle and Paige, kneeling on the floor not far from me. Their wide-eyed and fearful expressions tell me they’ve realized the same thing.
I can’t have my babies now. Not here! I start to cry as another contraction rolls through me.
My babies are coming, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
