Annie:
Max fell asleep on my lap, and I was left to listen to the noise going on outside.
You’re a coward, Knight, the wee voice in my head growled, your whole family’s out there fighting, and you’re in here cuddling a baby.
I had always insisted that I was as good as Radleigh and Jase, no matter what my gender, and here I was sitting here while they were attacked by Dante’s pack. My family were getting slaughtered by the very people I had tried so hard to get away from.
Sighing, I lay Max down on the sofa, putting a pillow across the edge so he didn’t roll off. Then, I walked from the kitchen, swallowing. I was going to have to give myself up. I was going to have to leave with Dante to ensure than no-one died because of me and my actions.
I glanced through the window, instantly surprised that it was mostly Dante’s pack who were lying on the ground bleeding. I could see dad circling an injured Dante, his tail in the air. It would’ve been so inappropriate to laugh, but he looked so cocky about the whole thing.
Rollo was nowhere to see and part of me was hoping that he had managed to crawl off somewhere to heal. I may not have been particularly fond of him, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to die.
Tentatively, I took a few steps towards the door, only for Cal’s voice to shoot through my head, causing me to double over from the sheer volume of it.
Don’t you dare come out here, Annie, he warned. Who the hell did he think he was? Ordering me about? I placed my hand on the door handle, only for someone to grab my arm. Instinct took over and I flinched, managing to hit my knee off of the door.
Grumbling and rubbing my knee at the same time, turning to see Georgie staring at me. Here came the guilt tripping… I sighed and let go of the doorknob, putting my hands up in a surrendering motion. She nodded curtly and led me into the living room.
“You can help me and Sierra set out the First Aid things,” she told me. I glanced around the room. For Gods’ sake; they were wolves! They healed after a few hours! What the hell did they need bandages for? They were like little old women, never happy unless they were clucking over some tragic death.
“Annie, you can just sit and breathe,” Sierra said, patting the sofa she was kneeling in front of her. “We can’t have you straining yourself in your condition.” Condition? They made it seem like I had some awful disease. For love for all that was bright and shiny- I was having a baby! I wasn’t the first and I definitely wasn’t going to be the last! I wasn’t going to die if I did anything. They were just being ridiculous now.
“Is Jase out there?” I asked. I looked to the windows, but someone – most likely Sierra – had drawn the curtains, so that I couldn’t see out of them. Well, that was…annoying.
“I don’t know,” Sierra sighed quietly, re-folding some blankets. I leaned back on the sofa; no doubt I was going to have to listen to the rant of Jase Knight about me being a complete slacker. Sometimes it was hard to believe that we shared DNA.
I didn’t even bother to ask if Macca was out fighting; it might set Georgie off again. Recently, she had been all over the place. Crying, shouting…mood swings. Radleigh was beginning to fear women. I sniggered as I remembered, upon being on the receiving end of Georgie after attempting to do the laundry, him exploding, “Y’know, it’s women like you that make me want to turn gay!” Cue rather a lot of jibes from Ade and Zane, topped up by jokes from Cal.
Georgie’s head snapped up, glaring at me.
“They’re outside fighting to death and you’re laughing?” she asked incredulously. Well, I certainly wasn’t laughing now. I rolled my eyes, curling up in the corner of the sofa. I was just going to stay quiet for the next half hour; talking just seemed to get me in trouble.
I wasn’t sure for how long I sat there, just waiting for some sign that everyone was safe. Everyone had purposely locked me out of their heads, so there was no chance of me finding out what was going on in their minds.
And I didn’t like it.
Sierra left the room to check on Max, which left me with Georgie, the Incredible Grump. Don’t get me wrong; she was okay, but her mood swings were seriously starting to annoy me. I was the pregnant one here, and I’m sure my mood was more stable than hers.
God, I hoped so…
“Any time now,” she murmured, staring at the window. “They’ll be in any time now.” I didn’t even want to know how she knew that. Instead, I looked at the wall opposite, trying desperately not to think about Cal bleeding to death in the driveway.
Sierra shrieked in the hallway, a cold blast of air shooting through the house. I swallowed, my eyes shut as I willed myself to think positively.
But where the hell was positivity going to get you when the person you loved was getting ripped to shreds?
Shakily, I got to my feet and made my way to the door, only to be knocked backwards by Ade and Jase carrying in a lifeless body. I swear to God that my heart stopped as I tried to work out who it was. But it was difficult; they were bleeding quite a bit, their face completely torn up.
Don’t let it be Cal, I prayed to no-one in particular, please, please don’t let it be Cal.
Radleigh staggered into the room, his chest bleeding and his eyes sliding in and out of focus. His beautiful red hair had been stained darker by blood, his cheeks pale.
“Radleigh,” I choked, stumbling over to him, pushing him onto the sofa. He stared at me like it was the first time we had meant, a blank expression in his normally bright eyes. Each breath he drew rattled, and he winced, rubbing at the slash marks on his chest with disinterest.
I picked up one of the dressings from the floor, ripping open the packaging and pressing it to the worst mangled area. Radleigh hissed through his teeth as I put pressure on it.
Sorry, Radders, I mumbled, trying to clean away some of the blood.
“Don’t…call…me…Radders,” he rasped. I laughed hollowly, continuing to clean away the tattered skin of my brother’s chest. It started to become a game; if I managed to clean Radleigh’s wounds without stopping, even pausing, Cal would be okay. And if I did stop, it meant that I was going to have to raise this child on my-
I didn’t even want to think about the rest of the sentence, or the reality that it held with it. Cal needed to be okay, he just had to.
It’s Macca, Radleigh told me, nodding at the body. I felt the breath catch in my chest as I swivelled my head to look. Georgie was cradling his head, sobbing. I didn’t know how I hadn’t heard her before; perhaps I had been too wrapped up in tending to Radleigh.
Macca was dead.
“I’m pregnant,” Georgie wept, her tears dripping onto his face. “I’m having your baby, Macca.” She stroked the hair out of his face, begging him to open his eyes.
Suddenly, it was me who was blinking back tears, my eyes stinging as I realised that Georgie was in exactly the same position that I had begged not to be. She was going to have to bring up her dead mate’s baby, have to look at it every day knowing that it would never know its father.
I thought she couldn’t have kids, Radleigh shot into the room. I sighed, rubbing my face. What was Cal going to say? His brother was dead, and it was all down to me. Oh God, Georgie. All that time we had thought she was just moody, and she had been pregnant.
I left the living room, satisfied that Radleigh would be fine, going out into the hallway. I was met by absolute carnage.
Sierra was tending to Jase, who was lying curled up on the floor, the bone in his shin sticking out through the skin. There were tears spilling down her tears as she spoke soothingly to him, dabbing at the bloodied mess with a tentative hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ade supporting Zane’s head. I turned to get a proper look, and instantly wished that I hadn’t. My normally cocky and arrogant best friend, was lying draped on the stairs, bleeding heavily from his neck, as Ade frantically tried to stem it, his face desperate.
“Zane,” he hissed, trying to hold back tears, “you die and I’m going to piss on your grave every single day!” I could’ve sworn that Zane smirked, his face pure white and his eyes closed.
I shook my head, trying hard to shake the feeling that, if it hadn’t been for me, they wouldn’t be in this mess. Instead, it was replaced by the fact that I hadn’t seen Cal or my dad. I glanced about, hoping to God that they were just going to pop out of nowhere.
They didn’t.
“Where’re Cal and dad?” I asked, my voice echoing through the house. No-one looked up. Not that I blamed them of course; they were too busy tending to their significant others. A lump rose in my throat as I walked towards the front door.
“Don’t, Annie,” Radleigh wheezed, coming out of the living room.
Too late.
The front door was flung open, and I looked out onto the driveway.
There were bodies lying on the gravel, too sliced up to identify without getting close. I sniffed, taking in the scent of blood. It was strong. It lingered in the air ominously, as though it were a warning, a sign that lives had been lost.
Was Cal lying there among the fallen?
My legs buckled underneath for me, and I sat on the porch, sobbing against the white wooden railings, a hand pressed against the bulge of my stomach. I shook, waiting to see his face coming out of the woods, bloody and wounded perhaps, but alive at least.
“Annie, y’need t’come in now,” Radleigh mumbled, crouching down beside me. I shook my head silently.
“Go and lie down, Radleigh,” I breathed. Cal was going to be fine. I could feel it. Afterall; I was his mate. Surely I would know already if he was dead. And I wasn’t going to leave this place knowing that he could come back at any point. I wanted to be right here.
“Annie.” His tone was brisker, and I turned my head to look at him, my eyes wide. He had never spoken to me like that, as if he had some sort of authority over me. I smiled half heartedly and went back to gazing at the trees, waiting for some sort of absolution.
He was going to be fine. Sure he was.
He had to be.
Radleigh:
She didn’t move from the porch all night. Even when the temperature dropped and darkness fell, she didn’t even budge. For some of it, I sat out with her, before the need to sleep became too much, and I had to go back inside. Sleep didn’t seem to be an option for Annie right now; she seemed to be completely focused on waiting for Cal to come back.
The fight had been brutal. There was no other word for it. At some points, it had been like I was watching the whole thing from a different perspective, as if it had never really happened to me.
I had only stopped when some arse floored me, his claws digging into my chest. It had been a moment distraction, a head rush, but it had rendered me completely useless as the blood pumped from my body.
Eventually, they had retreated; we had killed too many of their pack for them to even attempt to end us. But our victory had come at a price.
I wasn’t even sure where Macca had come from. One minute, it had been me, dad and Cal being circled by Dante’s pack, then suddenly him and Jase had appeared from different directions, with Zane and Ade backing into us.
A fight to the death.
Christ, that bit rang true, didn’t it?
Ade:
Zane was sleeping, his head in my lap. The skin on his neck was slowly beginning to heal, but he had been out for the count for the past couple of hours. It was difficult; sitting here, just waiting for him to wake up.
As soon as he woke up, I was going to tell him that I didn’t care about having pink boxers, that I would walk around with pink clothes for the rest of my life if he woke up.
If he woke up.
I swallowed, trying not to think about life without Zane and his stupid ideas. Zane and his stupid jokes. Zane and his stupid hair…
“It’s not stupid,” he mumbled, shifting slightly. I swear to God I felt my heart stopped. I looked down at him, running a thumb over his features. He opened his eyes, staring back up at me. He smiled softly, leaning into my hand.
“Arse,” he breathed. Grinning through watery eyes, I dipped my head to kiss him gently. His lips were cold, and they sent shockwaves through my system. Zane squirmed, starting to push himself up, wincing as broken bones crunched back into place and whimpering slightly as he reintroduced himself to all of his bruises.
Don’t make any of them worse, I muttered, watching him. He turned his head to look at me, his eyebrow raised.
“It was my neck they got,” he grumbled, “not my head.” He got shakily to his feet, holding the wall for support. His legs trembled under his weight, and I stood as well to help him. My hand was soon slapped away, Zane’s face determined as he shuffled unsteadily to the open door.
Has she been out there all this time? He demanded, nearly falling through the door. And no-one thought to comfort her?
I sighed, sitting back down on the step, ready to jump in if Zane managed to over-tire himself. He sat down next to Annie, his arm wrapping around her shoulder. I had never quite realised how small she was and, as her body trembled and crumpled against Zane’s, a lump rose up in my throat. What if Cal didn’t come back? What was going to happen to Annie and their baby?
It must’ve been the same question that everyone was asking now; what the hell was going to happen now? We had fought the bastards off for now, but no doubt they would be back. They’d be better prepared, and with stronger numbers. I mean, we were strong as a pack, but there was only so much that we could do.
Zane turned his head slowly to look at me, the mess on his neck looking worse in the light from the carriage lamps. His eyes were sad and wide.
She’s shut me out, he breathed.
“Annie,” he murmured in her ear. She didn’t even twitch; she just continued to stare out over the dark driveway.
Christ, Cal, hurry up and come back…
Annie:
Every little noise is him. Every little flash of light is him. Every single breeze of air is him.
And yet he’s not here.
Where the hell is he? Everyone made it back apart from him and dad, so where could they possibly be? I refused to believe he was dead. He wouldn’t leave me like that. He was different from the rest; he cared.
I ran a hand through my hair, shying away from Zane’s arm. I could feel his hold on me getting looser and looser, until finally he let go. I swallowed, ignoring the fact that I could no longer feel my toes. He had to come back.
We fought all the time, and we knew exactly the right ways to wind the other up, but I loved him. I loved him more than I had loved anyone in my whole life. Some days, just seeing his smile would make me smile.
The thought had tears spilling down my face, a burning contrast to the coldness of my face.
Cal was the one good thing! He was like repayment for everything that had gone wrong in the past. He couldn’t just leave me now! It wasn’t fair. What had I done so wrong that would warrant that? I needed him. Losing him, after everything we had been through, would destroy me.
And how the hell was I supposed to raise our child on my own? How was I supposed to keep it safe from Dante without him? He had been so excited about being a father, and now it hung by a thread, pending him coming home in one piece. I couldn’t cope with a baby on my own; I’d end up killing the bloody thing!
Please, I begged, straining my eyes to look at the forest, please come back to me. It hurt to breathe; knowing that he was somewhere, possibly in pain, and knowing that there was nothing I could do. Dante was still somewhere in the woods, I could sense it.
The cry of a wolf in the distance made me jump, hitting my head on the railing. Zane’s put his hand on my forearm, and I stared at it indifferently, shaking slightly. Suddenly, I was angry. Where the hell was he? Damn it, why wasn’t he here?
Caleb Greene, if you don’t get your arse here now I’m going to castrate you, I growled, holding my breath.
Nothing.
Fucking hell, Cal.
Then the tears came, more of the stupid things dripping onto my knee. I felt so helpless, not being able to do anything. I knew that I should brush myself off and go inside and help Sierra with the injuries…
But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
It was as if the fight had left me as soon as I found out Cal was missing, like I had been battling away with everything up until that point. Now it just felt as though nothing mattered apart from him. I felt pathetic admitting it; that a man could have that sort of effect on me, but right now that didn’t matter to me in the slightest.
I just wanted him home. With me. Where he belonged.
“Annie?”
I looked up into the doorway, staring at Sierra. I shuffled away from her, not willing to get into a conversation about how selfish I was being, not comforting Georgie and all that. I wasn’t about to apologise for being upset, not a hope in hell.
“What?” I sighed. I didn’t care if the words were cold and distant; I was past caring about a lot of things.
Instead of talking down to me, like she normally did, Sierra knelt down behind me, her hair far too close to my face for comfort.
“Come inside, Annie,” she whispered gently. “You wouldn’t be doing any harm if you warmed up a bit.”
“I’m waiting,” I mumbled. Even as I said it, I shivered, inadvertently burying closer to Zane as the chills crept down my spine. I didn’t want to leave. What if he came back and I wasn’t there to greet him? What if he came back, died on the porch, and no-one bothered to come and get me?
What if I never got to say goodbye?
She’s right, Annie, Zane yawned, keeping warm doesn’t half seem like a good idea. I looked at him, and I mean really looked at him. Zane had gone through shit for me today, and here I was keeping him from recovery.
I was selfish if I expected the world to stop while I broke.
“Right,” I muttered, getting to my feet, “let’s go inside.” I brushed away the stray tears on my face, staring up at Sierra and Ade. They looked back, completely confused with my sudden change of heart.
Crying was for behind closed doors, away from everyone else. It was the message that had been drilled into me for years, and it was about time that I remembered it. I put a hand down for Zane to take, only for Ade to muscle in and pick him up, despite his protests.
“You’re going to bed, Blondie,” he muttered, taking him back inside.
“My legs work, Idiot!” Zane shouted, feebly hitting his back. Ade chuckled, taking him upstairs to their room. I stared after them, a small smile tugging at my lips. Trust them to be the ones to make me want to smile. Zane would call it his claim to fame.
Leaning against the doorframe, I rubbed my eyes, tiredness threatening to overcome me. Sierra took my hand and led me back towards the living room. I stopped in the middle of the hall, staring at her. Was Macca even still in there? I swallowed, my eyes darting around out of instinct, looking for somewhere to move out of the way.
“C’mon, Annie,” she breathed, “it’s just Jase and Radleigh in there; you need your family.”
And she was right. No matter what our differences were, they would have to be put aside. Just so long as Jase remembered that, I would be fine.
Sierra led me into the living room, her smile kind and warming. How my brother ended up with someone as nice as her, was completely beyond me. Maybe the saying, “opposites attract,” applied to their relationship.
Radleigh was sitting with his back against the wall, looking remarkably better than he had done a couple of hours ago. His face seemed to light up when he saw me, his freckles dancing about on his skin. At least there was no more blood.
I turned and looked at Jase. He was lying on the sofa, his arm flung lazily over his face. Sierra had managed to strap up his leg, and it had been propped up on a couple of pillows. I was glad to see that he looked slightly miffed about it; serves him right for buggering off all those times. I couldn’t seem him leaving again for a while on that leg.
“Is dad back yet?” Radleigh asked, starting to get to his feet.
“Don’t be stupid, Radleigh, you would’ve known already,” Jase muttered grumpily, moving his arm back. His face had been kicked in, which was odd considering it had been a load of werewolves he had been fighting.
I glanced at Radleigh, just in time for his jaw to clench and his expression cloud over. Swallowing, I sat down on the armchair, looking between the pair of them hesitantly. I didn’t know what to say to either of them. It was too hard.
Should’ve just given you to them, Jase hissed, looking me straight in the eye. My eyes stung as I stared back at him, not quite believing that he had really just thought that. Was that what he wanted? I was his sister and he wanted to give me back to Dante? Had he not listened when I had described what I had been through?
Radleigh stiffened, swaying as he got to his feet. He glowered down at Jase, his hair standing on end.
“What did you just say?” he demanded, taking a step towards him. Jase bared his teeth in a cruel grin.
“I didn’t say anything.”
I rolled my eyes, sinking into the seat as the warmth of the room became too much to bare. Right now, I couldn’t care less that my big brother wanted to literally throw me to the dogs. I couldn’t care less that he was actually turning out to be a bit of a bastard. And I really, honestly, couldn’t care less that he was laid up on a buggered leg because of me. He could just suck it up.
“I’m going t’find dad,” Radleigh muttered, moving towards the door.
“Dante’s still out there!” I hadn’t meant for my voice to come out as shrill as it had done, but the panic was still rattling through me at a course of knots. I couldn’t have Radleigh, the one brother that actually seemed to give a damn, getting even more battered about. I just wanted to keep what family I had left together, even if it included Jase and his less than lovely comments.
“I’ll be fine, Annie,” he whispered, “I promise.” And with that, Radleigh walked out, his feet beating down on the tiles in the hallway before he opened the front door, slipping quietly out into the night.
I swallowed, curling up into a ball around my bump, running my fingers over it to calm myself down. Jase snorted, and my eyes were instantly drawn to him, narrowing them slightly.
“He’s an idiot,” he muttered.
Incensed, I glared at him.
“He’s a braver man that you’ll ever be,” I snapped. How dare he say that about Radleigh? Okay, he could be a bit of a knob at some points, but he was brave, there was no denying it. Radleigh Knight was as brave as they came. And he was loyal, something that Jase was yet to be introduced to.
You what? He seethed, glaring at me. I was thanking my lucky stars that he couldn’t get up and thump me because it was seriously going through his head. Showed how much respect he had for women.
“You heard,” I growled. “Where’ve you been when you’ve not been at home?” Jase’s face seemed to twist angrily, and I could tell that he was itching to have a go at me.
Too bad he couldn’t get up.
“That’s none of your business!” he snarled, looking more like a wolf than a man. I raised my eyebrows, beginning to feel like I was back with Dante. Keep your place, Annie, that way you won’t get a beating.
“You know what, Jase?” I muttered darkly, pressing myself against the back of the seat. “I don’t think I want to know; I’ll just pretend you’re not fucking about.” This was hardly the time for a fight with him, but it felt good to concentrate on something that wasn’t the lack of Cal.
“You know nothing,” Jase growled. True. What the hell did I know about wolves playing away from home? What did I know about being pinned down against a bed, with a sweaty wolf leering down at me? Whoever the poor girl he was messing about was, I wished her the best; she evidently didn’t know the cruel side that they could have.
The Big Bad Wolf.
Maybe not; that would just fuel his already swollen ego.
I stared at my brother, taking him in. Was he really the same bloke I used to look up to as a kid? What had happened to him? What had gone so wrong in his life that had turned him into this…wanker?
Time changes people. It can give you all the wrinkles in the world, all the scars and marks that it wants, but the true changes are in a person’s character. People change every day, some more than others. It just hurts more when it’s your family, and when you realise…that you repulse them in every single way possible.
What did it matter, if my intentions were truly good? What did it matter if I was trying my hardest to live a truly normal life? And what the hell did it matter if I would always be loyal to my family, no matter what happened?
It just wasn’t enough for Jase Knight.
You see, time had changed my brother, and so had the thirst for power. I could see it now in his eyes. He didn’t really care about dad because he knew that if he didn’t come back, he would be the next Alpha; free to shun any member of the pack that disagreed with him. God, he was going to have a pretty non-existent pack then, because I had a funny feeling that none of them were particularly fond of him.
Was I the only one that could read him so easily? Or was I just the only one that thought so little of him, that I truly believed it? Whatever it was, the Jase Knight in front of me was no longer the brother I had once respected. In his place was an intruder, a cruel and heartless intruder who only looked out for number one.
Hardly the qualities of an Alpha.
I glanced at him again. He seemed to have fallen asleep, so I took the chance to leave, brushing past him in my haste for the door. Jase’s hand wrapped firmly around my wrist, forcing me back to him. The breath caught in the back of my throat as his eyes glinted back up at me, his grip too tight to be comfortable.
“As soon as I’m Alpha, Annie,” he hissed, squeezing the bone so hard that it cracked, “you’re going to learn some manners.” I considered him, taking in every little feature on his face. At one point, he might’ve been considered good looking. Now, he was just an empty shell.
A greasy shell – fucking hell, when was the last time he’d had a shower?
I wrenched my arm away from him, startling him with the strength. Hell, I startled myself with the strength; maybe the old wolf gene wasn’t as dormant as I had thought. I sneered down at him, feeling more like a Knight than I had ever done in my life.
“Just try,” I snarled, my hair falling over my face. He glared up at me, his eyes the mirror of dad’s when he was in a bad mood. That just made the confrontation hurt even more, and I turned to walk out of the room, just as Radleigh had done.
“Aye,” Jase muttered, settling back down into the sofa. “Just run away, Annie, like you always do.”
I managed to suppress the shakes as I walked up the stairs. He knew nothing about running away. He didn’t know how much thought I put into running away, how desperate I had become before even considering it.
How much risk I had put myself at when I walked down the street afterwards.
Silently, trying to keep as still as possible, I climbed the stairs, my whole body heavy from crying. I could feel everything ticking over in my head. The fight with Jase had distracted me from Cal, but I could feel everything starting to bubble to the top once again.
I flung the bedroom door open, staring at the bed. The sheets were still ruffled from where Cal and I had woken up. His clothes littered the floor, including the boxers I had told him to pick up this morning. Chewing numbly on my lip, I picked up one of his t-shirts and fell onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as I breathed in the smell of him. It clung to the fibres, welcomingly rushing to my head as familiar feeling tears made their way down my face. I curled up in ball, sobbing into the t-shirt, waiting for him to come back to me and ignoring the sharp pain in my stomach.
***
I must’ve fallen asleep at one point, because the next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes, daylight streaming through the windows. It took a moment for everything to sink it, to realise exactly why there was a shirt stuck to my face.
Then everything it hit me at the same time, an overpowering feeling that rebounded around my head painfully. There was a small part of me that was hoping that last night had been a dream; a ridiculously horrible nightmare that I could just forget. Forgetting would be nice.
Instead, I literally hauled myself off of the bed, ignoring the head rush I got from too much crying as I padded over to the door. It was deathly quiet, the air still as I opened it. I glanced about, still holding that bloody t-shirt as I made my way back down the stairs. There was still no noise, even as I reached the hallway. Where was everybody?
Then I saw Ade’s hair through the frosted glass of the front door, and I opened it, nearly walking straight into his broad back. He glanced around, his face softening somewhat when he saw it was me.
“What’s going on?” I murmured. My voice had acquired this lovely scratchy tone to it, making me sound like a half dead cat. Ade stepped aside, meaning that I could now see the driveway. The bodies of the dead had been moved and nearly all the blood had been washed away, either by rain or someone with the hose.
But what had attracted my attention, were the three figures that were slowly making their way out of the forest. Two of them were supporting the third between them. I swallowed, craning my neck to see who was injured.
C-Cal, I murmured tentatively, leaning against the porch railings. I hadn’t bothered looking to see who was with me; my concentration was purely on the three men, who were getting closer and closer with each step.
The reply never came, which led me to believe the worse. I sunk against the person next to me, who turned out to be Zane. He wrapped an arm around at me, biting his lip.
Sierra pushed past us all, with her First Aid bag banging against her leg as she ran towards them, her hair trailing out behind her in the wind. I watched as she reached them, keeping a hand to my stomach, wincing slightly as a jab-like pain hit. I wanted to follow her and help, I sorely did, but I wasn’t sure if my legs were up to much movement; it was taking everything I had in me just to stay upright.
“Ade, come and get Gordon!” Sierra shouted over her shoulder. Ade moved from behind me, sprinting to the spot that the three were standing at.
And I began to walk.
Shakily, with small steps, I walked towards where Sierra was tending to…my dad.
I looked at Radleigh, who was shaking slightly, tears streaming down his face as he watched Sierra trying to get dad to wake up. Then my eyes slid to Cal, and I fell into him, burying my head into his chest.
His arms loosely held me to him and I looked up at his face. He wasn’t looking at me, instead he was staring at the porch, where Jase, Zane and Georgie had gathered, a growl building up in the back of his throat. Slightly startled, I began to move away from him, not trusting the angry look in his eye. This hadn’t been the moment I’d been expecting. Somehow, I had imagined something more joyful.
Cal’s head snapped down to look at me, and I flinched, slightly scared of him. His thumb traced my cheekbone, ignoring the dry skin from all the crying I had done. Then he hugged me tighter, burying his face into my hair.
I crumbled, holding him as close as I could. His hand rested on my abdomen, splaying out over the bump. I could feel him holding his breath as he shook, and I knew that he was trying not to cry.
Breathing deeply as my head spun, I broke away from Cal to look at dad. Sierra had managed to make the colour return to his cheeks, and Ade was starting to out him over his shoulder to take him back to the house. At least he was breathing, that was a start.
I stared at Jase, who looked as though someone had smacked him in the face. Judging by the darkening bruises that were beginning to spread out over his cheek and nose, someone had, but I couldn’t help but smirk when I realised what had got him so down.
Dad was going to be okay, which meant any Alpha-making wasn’t going to happen. For some reason, my heart wasn’t bleeding.
Radleigh followed after Sierra and Ade, rubbing at his face dejectedly, his hair standing on end from running his hands through it. I slipped my fingers through Cal’s and looked up at him, the wind on my face making it ache.
“I thought you were dead,” I breathed, swallowing down any tears that were threatening to make an appearance. Instead of saying anything, or even making a gesture, Cal pulled me back into an even tighter hug, his body crushing up against mine.
I let out a sharp intake of breath as I felt a twinge in my stomach, placing a hand over it. Maybe the hug had been a little bit too enthusiastic. He looked down at it, his forehead rested against mine.
“I’m fine, Annie,” he whispered back, “I was just looking for Gordon.” He looked back up to the porch, where everyone had gone back inside, meaning we were the only ones who were outside. Cal forced a smile and began to lead me back towards the house.
“C’mon,” he said, feigning brightness. I stared up at him, too relieved that he was okay to even attempt to argue. I followed him back up the steps, watching every little movement in his face. He wasn’t fine, not in the slightest, but I wasn’t about to start asking him about what happened.
For one thing, he needed sleep, and no-one was ever at their best when they were shattered. For another, I didn’t want him to think I was prying. Sure, I was worried about him, but I didn’t want to push him away.
Cal opened the front door and stopped suddenly, so that I managed to bang into him. I peeked around his body, trying to see whatever had him so wired. Jase was standing talking to a stand-offish looking Zane, his dark eyes blazing. Pity the injury to his leg hadn’t crippled him really; I liked him much better when he was on his back and unable to go for me.
“What is it?” I murmured, touching Cal’s forearm. He didn’t react, he just kept staring at Jase.
Eventually, Jase noticed that he was being watched, and he turned to face Cal. His whole body went rigid, as though seeing Cal was like seeing a ghost. Funny; he didn’t seem too cocky now. In fact, I could’ve sworn that was fear I could see in his eyes.
“You’re lucky I’m not ripping your throat out right now, Knight,” Cal growled, taking a step towards Jase. I took this as my chance to nip inside, glancing between my brother and my mate. What the hell had happened out there?
Jase flinched. The coward flinched. So much for being an Alpha…
Sierra came out of the living room, the skin between her eyebrows creased as she frowned at Jase.
“What’s going on?” she asked quietly. I swallowed, wringing my hands as another mild wave of pain hit me. I needed to eat or something; I was actually starting to feel a bit sick. I leaned against the wall, surveying the scene unfolding.
“Tell her,” Cal growled, and for a moment it was as if the Cal I knew had completely vanished. His face was hard and his jaw was set, the kindness having taken leave of his eyes.
“Tell me what, Jase?” Sierra mumbled. Jase looked at her, his face softening somewhat. I gasped in the back of my throat, clutching my stomach. Oh God no…It was too soon. The baby couldn’t possibly need to come out now. I gripped the material of my shirt, silently begging for someone to make it stop. It was too soon, far too soon.
Radleigh:
Well that was Jase stuffed. I could just see him sweating it all out. Served him right. We all knew where he had been when he should’ve been fighting with us. And when he had finally graced us with his presence, he had nearly gotten us all killed because the tit hadn’t listened to what was going on.
I knew exactly what Cal was getting at. I had watched as Dante and dad had gone off into the forest fighting. Jase was the Beta; he should have gone as well. Instead, Cal had been left to do it and, no disrespect to the guy, he wasn’t as good a fighter as Jase, which meant that dad had been monumentally fucked over.
I felt a bit sorry for Sierra, like; she didn’t really ask for any of this. She was a nice enough bird; bit on the ditzy side, but her heart was in the right place. And Jase was taking advantage of that.
Cal took another step forward, his eyes blazing. I had never seen the guy so worked up about something. I probably should have thought about intervening but…meh; Jase had got himself into this mess, he could get himself out of it on his own. Besides; he deserved to take what he was about to get. We all got punished when we fucked up, so now it was his turn.
Suddenly, I could hear Annie panicking in my head. I looked at her and jumped slightly. Her face was completely white, and her eyes were scrunched up in the effort not to make a noise. A hand was clamped over her baby bump, her knuckles white from the amount of grip she was holding on with.
I raised an eyebrow. Was it kicking or something? I had to admit, when it came to pregnancy, I wasn’t exactly the most experienced. Had I mentioned how much I hated kids? People dragged on and on about the miracle of childbirth, when in actual fact, I found it sort of disgusting; surely the skin should split if it’s being pulled that tight…
Annie whipped around to look at me, her eyes terrified. Okay, so maybe the wee bugger wasn’t kicking. Maybe it was just doing…backflips or something. Imagine that; a thing growing inside of you and doing gymnastics-
I stopped thinking about it when Annie started to slide down the wall, more tears streaming down her face. I glanced about; apparently I was the only one to notice that she seemed to be in rather a lot of pain.
“Um, guys?” I said, looking at Jase and Cal.
“Not now, Radleigh,” Cal growled. I looked down at Annie. Her hair was covering her face, and her whole body was trembling.
“It’s quite important actually,” I reasoned.
“Radleigh, piss off,” Jase said through gritted teeth. I frowned, crouching down beside my sister. She whimpered as I touched her stomach, the prominent bulge that stuck out in front of her.
“Lads,” I said clearly. Both of them turned to face me, absolutely furious.
“What is it?” Cal snapped. I pointed silently to Annie, who looked like she was about to pass out with pain. His eyes calmed immediately, and moments later, he was on his knees beside her, stroking the back of her hand.
“What is it, Annie?” he murmured, looking her over with concern. She stared up at him like he was stupid. Well, she might’ve had a po-
Not the place, Radleigh, Zane shot at me. I rolled my eyes.
“What the hell does it look like, Cal?” she demanded, sucking in her cheeks. She groaned, flailing her legs slightly. Sierra, who had been standing staring at Jase, her face completely free of emotion, glanced at Cal and Annie.
“She’s in labour,” she said simply, looking back to Jase. “You should probably get her comfortable.”
Cal went white, the exact same shade as Annie.
“But she’s too early,” he whispered. “She can’t be having it now.”
“Well, apparently I am!” Annie shouted at him. Cal’s eyes snapped back to her, forcing a smile. Whether it was to kid himself that everything was alright, or reassure her that everything was alright, I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t doing a very good job.
“Take her up to your bedroom, Cal,” Sierra breathed. I had never heard her sound so…icy. Then again; Jase did tend to bring the worst out in everyone. It was quite depressing to know that we actually shared genetics. And parents. And surnames. God, that was really depressing when you thought about. That was enough to set you up for counselling…
Oh aye, Radleigh, while I’m dying on the floor, you just lament about having to be related to Jase, Annie whimpered, gripping onto Cal’s hand.
You should’ve used a Johnny then! I shot back at her. Serves her right for being lax about- I yelped as Zane smacked me over the back of the head as he shook his own.
“Leave it out, Radders,” he muttered, shoving me towards the living room. No way! I wasn’t going back in there while Georgie was trying to wake up dad. I might’ve had to talk to her about…anything really, that would’ve just tipped me over the edge.
Drama Queen, Zane hissed, smiling at Annie as he went back into the lounge.
I watched as Cal tried to pick Annie up, only for her to scream in agony. Okay, I might not have been the most sympathetic guy, but it was horrible seeing my sister in pain like that. That was the reason, right there, never to have kids. She was like a walking advert for contraception.
“Radleigh!” Cal shouted, cradling Annie. She tried to curl up, her fingers tangled in his shirt as she shook. Oh come on; childbirth couldn’t be that sore, not if all these crooning women seemed to do it time and time again. There were people who had eight kids, and my sister was struggling to pop one out.
Sierra skipped over to Cal, completely ignoring Jase. Oh God, that chirpiness was a sure fire way to piss Annie off even more. She pressed down gently on Annie’s bump, which made her cry out with pain.
“I don’t think you’re going to make it upstairs,” she murmured gently. She went back towards the living room. “I’ll get some towels!”
Wait, she was going to have the baby here? Eurgh, that was nasty. Well, I wasn’t going to stick around to watch my sister give birth; we were close but not that bloody close! Cal set her back down on the floor, whispering to her. I couldn’t quite hear what, but it must’ve antagonised her a bit, because she got him by the front of the shirt and pulled his face close to hers.
“We’re never having sex again,” she growled. “Never, ever again!”
Sierra:
There are worse things than babies. I love babies. When I was younger I wanted to have loads and loads with my wonderful husband. Well, I got the husband and the baby. And I thought that I had the wonderful bit as well, but maybe I was wrong.
I checked on Gordon as I got some towels for Annie; he was a bit banged up, but he was going to be fine. Georgie was sitting with him, not that she was really in much of a state to talk. I would just leave her be; she would talk when she needed to.
Annie was squirming on the floor when I came back and I quickly ushered everyone who wasn’t Cal out of the hallway; it was traumatic enough without people watching. I helped her out of her jeans, swallowing. It was far too early for her baby to survive, but I didn’t want to be the one to tell them.
Instead, I smiled reassuringly and got Cal to mop her forehead. I was hoping that, by making this as comfortable as possible for her, it would lessen the blow when she realised that the baby wasn’t going to make it.
It made me appreciate Maxi a bit more.
“C’mon, Annie,” I whispered. Cal squeezed her hand and she pushed, weakly at first but she soon got the hang of it. There was a lot of muffled screams coming from her, as she tried to fight the pain. She needn’t be so concerned about the noise; giving birth to a wolf’s child is more painful than human children I’m told.
“I can’t do it,” she wept pathetically, burying her head into Cal’s shirt. I bit my lip.
“Annie, you need to get the baby out of you,” I said sternly.
She gritted her teeth, nodding as she gave one final push. I scooped up the unmoving baby from the ground, cutting the umbilical cord as I wrapped it in towels. Glancing down at it, I realised that the poor thing was blue. There was no way that it could survive.
“Why’s it not crying?” Annie whispered. Cal looked at me, staring at me for some sort of confirmation. I swallowed.
“She’s not breathing,” I told her, passing the bundle to Annie, “I-I’m sorry…she’s just too early.”
I’ve never had to tell someone that their child’s dead. Those words have a profound effect on people, don’t they? I watched as Annie hugged the baby girl to her chest, tears dripping onto the child’s face.
“Please,” she whimpered, “please wake up.”
Maybe I should have done more to help it, but it seemed like a lost cause. Why prod and poke a child who’s already dead? It just seemed cruel in a way.
Cal leaned against the wall, his eyes wide. I suddenly felt like I was intruding on their grief. I got my feet, sighing as I walked towards the kitchen. There had been too much death today, far too much death. A birth might have cancelled it out. But instead...I needed Max, I needed to hold my little boy.
Annie:
She couldn’t be dead. There was no way that my wee girl could be dead; she’d been kicking fine this morning. Oh God, no…she had to stay alive! What sort of a mother was I, when I couldn’t even keep her safe while she was inside of me?
“Cal,” I wept, “Cal, do something!” He looked down at me, completely helpless. I stared down at the baby, our baby.
She was beautiful. Her tiny face was pale and tinted blue. Her nose was perfectly formed and her rose bud lips were settled in the perfect pucker. A thick covering of light hair was spread over her head, and her tiny hands peeped through the towel.
She was perfect in every way.
I swallowed, closing my eyes and letting my tears drip onto her face. After everything that had happened today and yesterday, I had gotten Cal back. I had gotten Cal back but I had lost my baby.
And that killed me even more.
I sat rocking her, before I felt Cal stiffen beside me. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. He wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at the baby, his face completely stunned.
“Annie,” he murmured, crouching down. I blinked tearfully before stopping as well.
A muffled mewing noise was coming from the towel, quiet and choked but a noise nonetheless. I stared down at the baby in wonder, watching as her whole face came to life, her cheeks becoming rosy with the effort to cry. I laughed, slightly hysterical and dizzy with what had just happened. I looked at Cal, and I saw the tears running down his face as he touched the side of her face.
She stopped crying and for a moment, I thought that she had stopped breathing again. But she stared up at Cal, a puzzled expression on her face. Her eyes were the same shade as his.
Cal wrapped an arm around me, hugging me close to his chest. I kept my eyes on the baby, smiling like I had never smiled before in my life. This moment was perfect. It was the sort of happiness that you expected other people to have. But…there were no words to describe it.
“I love you, Annie,” Cal breathed, kissing the top of my head.
“I love you too, Cal,” I murmured, stroking my baby’s cheek.
Everything was going to be okay now.
It had to be.
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Okay, this was fifteen pages on word, so it had better turn out to be a decent length...I spent the whole day writing this...because this story is nearly done...and I was going to leave you with a massive cliff-hanger, before deciding to be ridiculously nice and...not?
Anyway's...moving on swiftly...any questions will be answered in the next chapter...so don't be too nasty about this chapter...I worked hard!! And I gave up a day of studying to write it!!
Dedicated to GSH SAMS BW, who's going to have to read this ridiculous chapter when she gets back to her computer...(and it had better have ended up being a decent length!! I'll be flaming annoyed if it isn't)
Right, so the wee baby's born...don't you just love babies, Spiderwoman? :P
okay...so I'll just stop pestering you all now...because apparently I'm good at that...
vote and comment please!!
thanks for reading
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