by Teagan Wilde
Tears are falling down my face; I am so happy for him. Damon kisses my forehead as we watch the moment between these two. “Congrats, brother.”
Maverick grins at me, full of joy, and she smiles at him like she is in complete awe. The moment you first meet your mate is something you will never forget. Ever.
I am glad that I got to witness the beginning of their relationship, She pulls away, wiping the tears off her face, smiling so beautifully. My brother watches her in complete awe; then my mind is off in a split second when I am hit with another contraction. I grit my teeth, my head tilted away from Damon. I don’t want him to see how much it hurts. We don’t get any medicine, but we heal more quickly, so it’s a win-win and lose-lose situation all around!
Damon kisses my temple. “I wish I could take the pain away from you, my Moon,” he whispers to me. I can feel through the bond that he is upset.
Once the contraction is over, I turn to him. “I will be fine, this won’t last forever.” We stare into each other’s eyes; then I kiss his lips tenderly, our foreheads touching.
“You’re the beta?” the doctor asks Maverick. They are sitting in a chair across the room.
“Yes. Would you like to be transferred to my pack? We are accepting of everyone, and Damon has thought about hiring a doctor onsite, so you would be perfect.”
She pauses for a few minutes, deep in thought, before she nods. “I would like that.”
He pulls her in for another hug. My brother is huge and just a badass, and he was literally brought to his knees by this woman. I will never let him live that down, but that shows you the power of a mating. The connection is out of this world.
“Once we bring this baby into the world, we will go to my old pack and get my things. If that is alright with the alpha?” She looks at Damon nervously.
He smiles at her. “That is perfectly fine. Welcome to the pack.” I can feel the relief coming off of her. Then the moment is broken when another contraction hits me with full force.
Hours later, he is finally here. My baby son. We have named him Axel. He has thick, dark brown hair and he is just beautiful. He is a mini version of his dad.
I let my head fall back against the pillows, exhausted; labor was hard. The nurses carry Axel across the room.
“Go,” I tell Damon.
Maverick takes his place and stands beside me. “You did amazing, sis,” he whispers and I manage an exhausted smile.
“Thank you, brother. He is perfect.”
Damon is watching the nurses surrounding Axel, watching every single move they make. I will never forget the look on Damon’s face, and the way he cried, the moment our baby came into this world. I want at least three more babies so I will never forget.
A bit later, Damon comes back with our son in his arms. I can feel the love radiating off of him. I scoot over in the bed, and he sits down beside me. I am already healing; shifter women heal very fast after having a baby. He presses his lips to my forehead, and I lay my head on his chest and stare at my baby. He really is Damon’s twin.
“He is perfect.” I lay my head against his chubby cheek. Axel’s yawn is so cute; then he lets out a small cry that sounds like a baby kitten. “I think he is hungry.”
Damon places him in my arms and helps me sit up. “Eyes away!” Damon snarls at everyone in the room. I laugh and take out my breast. I move Axel into a comfortable position and he latches on. Damon puts his hand in front of my breast. I roll my eyes at his possessiveness, and a few nurses laugh. I look up just in time to see him give them the death stare.
Maverick’s new mate, Elizabeth, is full out laughing. “Congrats, you guys. He is beautiful.”
He really is. I close my eyes and sleep.
Damon
I am so proud of her; she did amazing. I could tell it was rough on her, and that fucking killed me.
Every time I saw a tear fall down her face, a piece of me shattered, but then he came into the world and everything just felt right. He looks so much like me, but I know that his eyes are going to be his mother’s.
She has fallen asleep. I take Axel from her and cover her up. I don’t like these fuckers staring at her, even if they are nurses. I don’t know why I am on edge, but I feel like something is not right.
A couple of hours later, Farren finally wakens from her nap, and she looks so much better. The color is back in her cheeks. I thank God for shifters’ speed healing. She is actually about to get discharged. Elizabeth checked her already, and we are just waiting on the nurse to bring the papers.
There is a knock at the door, and a male nurse comes inside with a clipboard. “Ready to go?” he asks, and the hair at the back of my neck stands up at the sound of his voice. I do not like this.
“Been ready!” she says and, as she takes the clipboard, her hand grazes his. The clipboard hits the floor, and she is hissing in pain.
I see red.
I am across the bed in a second, my hand around his throat. “What do you want?” I growl, my body radiating with the need to shift.
He smiles. “Ken says hi.”
The anger takes over. I pull him toward me and, as hard as I can, I push him against the window. The glass breaks and he falls down. “Baby, we need to fucking leave.” Farren is staring at the window in pure shock; then she looks down at the floor. A needle and syringe are lying on the floor, and I know that this was an attempt to take her.
I throw the diaper bag over my shoulder. She looks at me with fear in her eyes. “I got you, baby.” I bend down and scoop her up in my arms while she holds Axel. I carry her straight to my truck; there is no way I would trust anyone else after that. She gets in the back seat with Axel and I floor it toward home, the only place where I know she will be safe.
One Week Later
Farren
I wake up to the sound of Axel crying. I turn over, ready to go to him, but Damon has already beat me to it and is carrying him into the bedroom.
“Momma, I think someone is hungry.”
I yawn, sitting up in bed. I have prepared bottles, but If I am around I make sure to breastfeed him. “How is my baby?” I coo and I bend down, breathing in his baby scent.
“I think I want to see you pregnant again.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “I just gave birth to him a week ago.” I kiss the top of my sweet boy’s head, rocking him as I feed him.
Damon sits down beside me, wrapping his arm around my back. “I love him so fucking much, I just want to have more,” he confesses.
“How about if we just accept the fact that it will happen if it’s meant to happen?”
“Sounds good to me, Moon.”
Once Axel is finished, Damon takes him from me and burps him. I go to the window, looking out to the woods. Where is Ken and what is he doing? Will he finally leave me alone? I am not going to lie and say that the nurse trying to drug me at the hospital didn’t rattle me to my core. It terrified me, especially because I was at my most vulnerable time; my son had just been born. What would have happened to my son if Damon had not been there and I had been drugged? What if he had been sold? I clench my eyes closed at the thought. Stop, Farren. You can’t think of these things. You will drive yourself crazy.
“Baby, I think you need to get out of the house.”
Damon breaks me out of my thoughts, and I turn around and look at him. “What do you mean?”
He stands. “Baby, you need a break, and you need to do something fun. Elizabeth and Olive have offered to go with you to a day spa. The whole building will be guarded. I would go with you, but I think it’s me you need a break from.” He laughs.
I shake my head. “I would never get tired of you.” But I think about getting a massage and being pampered, and I think I really need it. I need to get my mind off things. I need to just relax. “I will go. Thank you for thinking of me, Pha.”
He takes my hand and pulls me down onto the bed beside him. “I love you.” He presses his lips against my forehead.
Farre
n
We arrive outside the spa with three SUVs full of shifters. Damon was not kidding when he said we were going to be protected. “How is life in your new pack?” I ask Elizabeth.
“Oh, I love it, your pack is so different. Damon is building me a small hospital and said he will allow outside shifters to be seen there. It’s going to be off the property but close enough for protection.”
“That sounds great!” I am happy for her.
“Your brother is pretty great too.” She grins slyly.
I cover my ears with my hands. “I do not want to hear details.”
She throws her head back laughing.
Olive is excited. She has never been to a spa or anything like that before, which is sad, but I am glad she is getting to experience it now. The guys are babysitting. We invited Brantley to come, but he wanted to stay home.
“Damon is so thoughtful. He is very intimidating but he has a huge soft side, especially when it comes to you.” Elizabeth sighs, holding her hands to her chest.
“He is pretty great.”
“Yeah, and deadly,” one of the packmates says from the back seat.
That is for sure.
One second we are driving down the road, and the next something slams into us. My head hits the window, and Elizabeth pulls me into the middle of the seat. I hear growls and more breaking glass, and the vehicle comes to a stop.
I peek out the window; we are completely surrounded. Elizabeth and Olive are terrified. The guys who came with us are out of the vehicle, facing the men. Taking out my phone, I text Damon.
“Aiden’s pack has attacked the SUVs. I am going to fight like hell. If I am taken, I am wearing the earrings with tracking you got me. I love you and I love my baby boy.”
Tears are falling down my face at this point; this hurts me right to my very being. To know that I am about to be taken and that I might never see my baby again.
I am sure going to try.
Elizabeth is gripping my arm. “I love you guys,” I tell them both and I step out of the SUV, leaving them inside. If I am taken, I will go down fighting. I sure as hell am not going to make it easy for them.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I walk to the front of my men.
“Get in the fucking vehicle,” one of the packmates tell me.
I shake my head. “I will not fucking sit while these fuckers try to cause trouble.” I smile at the attackers. “That is not what is happening here, right boys?”
They look me up and down, and my stomach is churning with anxiety. “We came here for you,” one of them says.
I nod. “I thought as much. Good luck trying to take me, I do not fight fair.” I reach into the back of my pants and take out the pistol. I pull the trigger, hitting the guy who told me they were here to get me. I turn off all of my emotions and allow the beast to take over. She needs to be able to take care of herself.
“Boom, Boom, Boom.” I fire three shots within seconds, taking down three of them before the others finally catch on to what is happening. Then they shift and I follow along. Luckily, my earrings will shift with me, and I am wearing super-stretchy clothes that will be able to shift with me. I will look funny, but would I rather have clothes on when I return to human form.
I am going to fight like hell.
Damon
My whole fucking world stops at the text I just got. I set Axel in his bed and kiss his forehead. “I will be back, son.” I run out of the house. “PACK!!” I yell and, one by one, they join me. “The girls have been attacked! Brantley and Jackson, stay here and take care of the kids. Including my son.”
Jackson runs into my house to get Axel, and the rest of us run to the SUVs—we are roaring, my nerves on fucking edge. She barely made it five minutes from home. During the longest few minutes of my life, my mind goes to what if she is taken? What if something horrible happens to her?
We pull to a stop where the fight is taking place. Farren is fighting in her wolf form—she is fucking vicious, tearing into everyone. I push my car door open and change in midair; then I grab the wolf trying to sneak up behind Farren. She spins around and looks at me. I butt her head with mine, and together we take out two wolves. Side by side, we go from wolf to wolf, taking them out.
When there are only a few left—lying on the ground, injured—I change back into my human form. Farren changes too, and I grab her hand. There is no fucking way I will let her out of my sight. I stare down at the dumb motherfuckers who dared to hurt her, dared to take her.
“End them,” I tell Randall, and he nods and pulls the trigger. “Boom, Boom, Boom.”
Farren
At one point I thought I was going to lose; then he showed up out of nowhere, and our packmates fought like crazy. Damon and I fought together, taking them out.
Damon turns to me, his hands grip my shoulders, and he pulls me into his chest. I close my eyes and soak in his body heat and the feeling of being safe.
My Alpha.
“You fucking scared me.” His body is shaking.
“They came for me. I thought I would never see you or Axel again. That was crippling,” I whisper, and my body is shaking right along with his.
“Elizabeth!’ Maverick yells. He tears open the door of the SUV with Randall right behind him.
“We have to take it to them,” I tell him. “This can’t go on anymore. They can’t be allowed to keep going on like this.”
“That is what we are going to fucking do,” he growls. “Let’s go home, then we plan.”
As we all load into the vehicles, Damon never takes a hand off me. He pulls me to the middle of the seat, his arm banded across my lap, keeping me in place.
We pull up in front of the house, and I run straight inside. Jackson has my baby. I take him and smother his chubby cheeks with kisses. Damon wraps his arms around both of us. “Let’s go lie down, Moon.” He leads me up the stairs, and I lie down in bed. I put Axel between us and touch his tiny hand. His little fingers curl around mine.
Damon kisses the top of my head, his hand touching my back. “Scared me so fucking bad, angel,” he confesses. “The thought of losing you, something hurting you would kill me. I would level the fucking world, you are mine and mine alone. You belong here with me. You belong here with our son.”
I close my eyes, tears filling them. I don’t want him to be sad, but the fear of never seeing him or Axel again is hard.
Writing him that text was hard. My heart hurt so bad that I couldn’t breathe; then something came over my body and I was fully prepared to do whatever it took to come home.
“Baby, we need to end that pack.”
He nods. “We will do that. Tonight I will start making plans. Right now you need to rest.”
Damon puts Axel in a bassinet next to the bed, and he stands behind me and wraps me up in a blanket.
“I love you.”
“I love you, Moon.”
Damon
We are making a plan of attack; this incident was the final straw. We tried to give second chances. I thought since I’d killed some of their members twice, they would have stopped. Obviously, they are stupid. The packmates should have revolted against the alpha for allowing them to be in danger.
The alpha is the one that must go, and the pack needs to be reformed under new leadership. The members need to go through a training process and, hopefully, they can be saved.
If not, there is only one answer.
Farren is asleep upstairs. I want her to stay here with Axel, but I have a feeling she will not remain on the sidelines. That is not who she is. I fucking respect her for that, and I won’t ask her not to join us in battle. She is my equal, plus she is one of the best fighters in the pack.
“Tomorrow night, we break into the property and attack. We do not harm women, children, or the elderly.” I wait for their response, and they nod. “Elizabeth will be on standby in one of the vehicles.” Maverick looks like he is about to argue. “She will have guards.” He settles back in his seat, “M
y goal is to make this world a peaceful one, that means it’s going to be a fight.” I let that sink in, and I see widened eyes and huge smiles. “I want our kids to grow up in a world where everyone is welcomed and happy.”
One by one, they throw back their heads, howling. I can tell Randall and Jackson are the most deeply affected.
“This goal starts tomorrow night, be ready for everything to change.” I nod at them and go back into the house. I need to stare at Farren a while longer. I need to keep on reminding myself she is here.
One of our fucking problems will be ended tomorrow, then Ken. He is the one I want more than anything.
Let the hunt begin.
Farren
I wake up to the feel of lips pressing into my neck, and I open my eyes to the most beautiful sight.
My mate.
I smile, sit up, and kiss him. Sadly, I can’t have sex yet, but that doesn’t take away the need for my mate. “Two more weeks,” I murmur against his lips, and he nods and kisses me more deeply.
Then we are interrupted by the sound of Axel’s cry. I sit on Damon’s lap and take Axel out of the bassinet. “Did my sweet boy finally wake up?”
He yawns before smacking his little lips.
“One day, he is going to rule the shifters,” Damon tells me.
“Yeah?” I raise an eyebrow.
He nods, touching the back of his head. “Tomorrow night, we attack. One by one, I will do whatever is needed to change this world, for him.”
We both look at Axel, and I think of a world where everything would be different. “I want that.”
“Together?” he says.
“Together.”
Farren
I can taste in the air what is about to come. We are sitting outside the other pack’s territory, preparing to attack. The tension is thick in the air, making it harder to breathe. When I told Damon I was coming, I fully expected him to resist, but he grabbed my hand and told me, “Together.” I loved that. I needed that. I couldn’t bear the thought of being left behind while everyone else fought for the pack. It’s my pack too.