Bayne's POV
I grunted I lay back on the bed in the doctor's office, the twins were being extra active today. This would probably be my last visit before I went into labor. It had been a rough nine months but somehow we made it through. When we announced our pregnancy to the pack everyone was overcome with joy, they got to work right away on a big party the following week to officially congratulate me on the twins, and also to throw a baby shower. Josh and Aiden's mother was more than helpful when I started worrying about if I was going to be a good mother or not, she helped me pick out the furniture for the nursery and made sure I had enough gender neutral cloths for when they arrived. Zackary has been trying to get a good look at the babies to see what the gender was but the little buggers would always be in the wrong position with their backs turned to him. He always made the comment, "They hate the doctor as much as their mother." The truth behind that comment is what makes it funny. Anytime Zackary gets the ultrasound machine out I can feel the babies move, and when he goes to take a look they have their backs to him and sometimes throw up a hand to, as he put it, "flip him off". Today I felt like a beached whale as I tried to move around. Having a watermelon sized bump where there used to be nothing takes some getting used to, especially when the little tykes inside like to press up against your lungs and bladder.
"So, how are you feeling today?" Zackary asked as per usual during these kinds of visits.
"They are both being particularly active today. They keep kicking me every few minutes." As if they heard me they both decided to kick, one attacked the left side and the other attacked the right. Just as they did so I grunted again and frowned down at my stomach as if to scold them. Zackary just laughed, he was enjoying the attitude my unborn babies were giving me. When he finally stopped laughing he grabbed the ultrasound jelly and started moving the wand around. Just as he was starting to get a clearer picture of the twins Josh and Aiden came through the door and to the left side of me.
"Well... can you tell the gender?" Josh asked Zackary. They both had been waiting to know what we were having since we found out I was pregnant but like I said, the babies wanted to surprise us. Zackary frowned and huffed.
"No... the little buggers won't turn around. I'm telling you, they hate me, just like their mother." And there it is, he always finds a way to sneak that comment in somewhere in the visits, but he always wears a smile when he says it. And to be completely honest, I don't hate Zackary so much now. On the first couple visits sure I tried to get out of it, but once I saw how much fun it was to watch Zackary argue with a baby still in its mothers stomach I lightened up a little.
"Aww..." Josh put his head down next to my bulging stomach, "Come on little ones we want to know if you're two little girls or two little boys..."
"Or one of each." Aiden commented also lowering his head to talk directly into my stomach.
"Actually, as you can see here," Zackary pointed out a ring around the babies on the ultrasound screen, "they share a placenta, so they are identical twins... which means they will either be two boys or two girls." Aiden frowned and turned back to the babies.
"He just likes to make me look like a fool, don't listen to him." Aiden whispered, though he wasn't too quiet to begin with.
"Hey, I'm the doctor here. You should always listen to what I say." He turned back to me and got serious, "and that goes double for you Mom-to-be. I want you on bed rest until these two bugger-heads decide they want to say hello to the world. Keep your feet up and keep yourself calm, any stress or exertion could cause you to go into labor before the babies are ready, and that could cause complications. You're not due for another two weeks but we're in crunch time right now... those two could come out anytime between now and next month."
"Bed rest... got it." I gave a sigh then looked down at the top of my belly, I couldn't even see my toes anymore. "You two better decide you want to come out of there sooner rather than later. Mama doesn't do well on bed rest." All three of the guys laughed in agreement while Josh helped me down from the examination bed and held my hand as we walked out of the room.
"So have you thought of names yet?" Aiden asked. I was quiet for a little while, I hadn't really thought about names because I didn't know the gender yet.
"No... I wanted to wait until we know what we're having before I decide that... plus I've been so busy with getting the nursery ready and your mother telling me what's good for the babies and making sure Aaron is on top of all the training now that Tori's also expecting..." Tori found out she was pregnant about half way through my second trimester. Ever since then Aaron has demanded that she stay as far away from the training fields as possible.
"Well, now that everything's ready and the only thing we're waiting on is them," Josh laid a hand on my stomach as was rewarded with a baby kick that made me wince, "how about we go upstairs and get started on that bed rest the doc prescribed." I smiled up at both of them and started to nod when Daniel came running up panting with a worried look on his face.
"Uh why don't you two head on upstairs while I see what's going on?" Aiden said and gave me a kiss before walking off to their office. Josh squeezed my hand and continued to lead me to our room where he walked me over to the bed and sat me down. I moved over to the middle of the bed, giving him room to make himself comfortable before lying down on my left side to face him. His draped his arm over me and started tracing imaginary circles on my back in a soothing manner. His slow movements started to put me to sleep, but the babies kept me from actually getting any rest. I furrowed my brow as the babies moved around and seemed to kick and punch every inch of my insides, then I felt a thumb press against my forehead between my eyebrows, trying to smooth out the frown.
"Why are you frowning?" Josh asked in a hushed whisper.
"The babies won't stop moving... their kicks are getting stronger and I can't get to sleep." I huffed and shifted so my head was on top of Josh's chest and my stomach was propped up on his hip, hoping that the change of position and the contact between my stomach and one of their fathers would settle them down. "Ugh, they won't stop until Aiden is here too." I said once I knew that they were going to continue to keep me awake until they had both their fathers with them. Josh just laughed and kissed my forehead.
"I'm sure he'll be up soon." As if those had been the magic words, Aiden opened the door and walked in right at that moment. "See, what'd I say..." he said with a smirk.
"There's trouble..." Aiden's eyes were worried and his hands clenched in fists. This was not good.
"What's wrong?" Josh asked as he subconsciously held me tighter and closer to him.
"Patrols have spotted a few rogues and hunters out by the border. None have been caught crossing yet, but the scent of rogue is at least a mile inside border lines." Aiden shook his head and rubbed his forehead "They're asking to speak with us... both of us." Aiden said to his brother. Josh growled and started to shake.
"We are not leaving Bayne alone and defenseless. You stay here and I'll go talk to them."
"They want to talk to both of us... they know that we run this pack together. Whatever they have to say is best said to both of us." Aiden said all this with a heaviness to his voice, he didn't want to admit that it was better for them both to go, but he knew it to be true. Josh just snarled and shook his head.
"Fine. But we put ten guards on her... and ten on the front and back door. I don't want there to be any chance of this being a way for them to get to Bayne." I reached up and turned Josh's head to face me, then gave him a smile.
"I'll be fine. They're not going to get past you and they're not going to get to me. Now, go be Alphas for a few minutes then come back to me so I can finally get some sleep without Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb kicking me every two seconds." They both smiled and came towards me, Josh kissed me first then Aiden. I heard them shouting orders as soon as the door shut behind them followed by ten pairs of footsteps right outside the bedroom door. I rolled my eyes and chuckled to myself as I realized they had been serious when they said ten guards on me.
I sat up with my back against the head board and busied myself with reading one of the parenting books that Josh and Aiden's mother had gotten me, this one was specifically directed towards mothers expecting twins. Though it was written by and for humans, it did have some good insights on what to expect about being a first time mother with twins.
I heard some commotion outside the door and looked at the clock, it hadn't been that long, I wasn't expecting Josh and Aiden back for another few minutes at the least. It wasn't until I heard yelling and grunting that I realized something wasn't right. When I heard something crash and glass breaking I knew Josh's concerns about this being an ambush were correct, and now that were out of the house there was nothing stopping whoever was beyond the door from getting what they wanted. I started to get up, tried to make it to the dresser so I could at least try and protect myself with the gun that was in the top drawer, but as soon as I stood up from the bed the door opened to reveal the one man I had wanted to rip apart for most of my life. His red eyes stared at me with a hatred only matched by my distain for him.
"Well well well... it's been a while." His smile was pure evil and his voice was mocking. I could see his eyes shift down to my bulging stomach then back up to my face. I growled at him and put a hand on my stomach in a protective manner. "Looks like you've been busy, I guess congratulations are in order." He smirked as he took a few steps closer.
"You stay the hell away from me." I growled out. He stopped, but only for a second, then he sucked his teeth and started to come closer again.
"Nearly 3 years you've been away and you think you can order me around? My my my, how quickly you forget little girl, I made you what you are. I trained you, I gave you a home when you had none. I am the only reason you are alive to have your belly swelling with your unborn pup... or is it pups? I did notice you have two marks adorning your neck and the scent of two Alphas on your skin. Do you think they care for you enough to leave their duties and come to find you?" he asked, before I could make sense of what he had just said he ran towards me in a blur.
He ran, carrying me, and crashed through the window and out into the woods. When he finally stopped I gasped for air and bent over to hurl right on top of his shoes. I was actually quite pleased with the fact that I got sick on his shoes and almost laughed when I heard his disgusted groan after the even.
"You bitch, you did that on purpose." He became angry and lifted a hand to slap me. The sting of the slap reminded me of all the times before he raised a hand to me and I snarled.
"I did not purposely get sick on your shoes though I can't say I'm sorry I did. Any one traveling at your vampire speed without being warned first would feel nauseous... someone traveling at your vampire speed without being warned and PREGNANT would get sick on just about anyone or anything. You didn't think it through you dip shit. I mean HELLO, pregnant women throw up at just about anything. You ever heard about morning sickness? Or what about food aversions? Yah just the smell of certain foods make me hurl... and you go and blame me for having a bodily function on your precious shoes after you take me from my home? What the hell is wrong with you?" I put my hands on my hips and waited for his response, although I knew in the back of my head I wouldn't get one, or at least not one worth my time. Hormones are brutal.
"Just shut up and get in the hut." I turned around and noticed for the first time since I stopped traveling at what might as well have been supersonic speed that we were indeed standing out in front of a little hut. The same hut that Aaron and I stayed in when we took out the rogue attack.
"Huh... ironic." I said under my breath. Sercko didn't like the comment or that I was taking so long to get in the building. He put a hand on my shoulder and pushed me to move faster, "Hey. Watch it. I can't move that fast." I spat. Once we were inside the hut he took me over to a chair and sat me down. It wasn't anything special, just an old wooden chair, no arm rests and no padded seat. He then started wrapping a chain around my wrists and then connected them down, under the chair, to my ankles. It wasn't tight, but I knew that without my feet elevated my ankles would start to swell and that is when the chains would be cutting off circulation.
"I cannot believe how much trouble you caused me. Killing all my Lead hunters and taking out just about every rogue I had under my control. I should have killed you when I found that other girl that shared your wolf's gift to steel the power from the person she killed. She wouldn't have been so defiant, she would have been easy to break, easy to control." he was just trying to get a rise out of me. He wanted me to get angry and lash out at him.
"What does it matter, if I remember correctly it was your bullet that killed her." I was banking on the fact that he didn't know she was still alive... or rather came back from death.
"Ah yes, unfortunate but she is the one that got in the way. She would still be here if it wasn't for her stupidity. I was aiming for the boy, he really was of no use to me after I had the girl, although he did do good work in the labs..." he thought for a minute then shrugged and walked around behind me. I analyzed as much of the room as I could without moving my head to see if there was anything of use to me in aiding my escape. There wasn't, the only other thing in the room was a loveseat and I'm assuming what used to be a kitchen sink.
"So what's your plan here? You're still on pack territory and once they find that I'm missing they'll send out search parties and increase patrols. You'll never make it out of here with me, much less alive." He came back around in front of me and sat down on the love seat.
"Oh I don't want you. I want your precious pups." I growled and pulled at the chains. He just laughed and relaxed in his seat. "I'm sorry, did I hit a nerve?"
"You sick son of a bitch! I'll kill you! I'll make your death slow and painful!" he tutted and shook his head, his actions made me even angrier. "You won't lay a finger on my pups! I'll make sure of that!"
"Oh Bayne, you forget one very important thing. You can't kill me, at least not until your pups are born." He smiled at me and waited.
"Why not?" he knew something and whatever it was he thought it would work in his favor.
"Your wolf takes the power from the person killed..." I gave a short nod "Well, if you were to kill someone while you were say... pregnant, you would transfer that power to your child... or in this case, children. And if you kill a vampire, well your wolf has one of two options. It either inherits an uncontrollable blood lust that can't be sated or, it dies." He spoke so casually it grinned my nerve, then he laughed. "You see, until you give birth, which could be any day now, you can't kill me without risking the death of your pups. And when you do give birth, I'll take your pups and run away with them. They'll grow up thinking their mother abandoned them and their fathers disowned them. They'll grow to hate their own species and be more than happy to do what I tell them. And once they're old enough and filled with enough hate for you wolves, I'll set them loose on the world. But I'll make sure to tell them where they can find their mother and fathers. You'll be slaughtered by your own children and you won't be willing to fight back because that would mean killing your babies." He gave a loud deep belly laugh as he finished his rant. My breathing became erratic and my vision turned red, but I had to get a hold of my wolf, I couldn't kill him... I couldn't risk either of the side effects being passed down to my pups. I just had to sit and hope that Josh and Aiden found me before the pups were born.