~Waylon~
"Oh my God,"
Breathless, Alexei sits at the bottom of our bed as I twirl around with my crimson skirt embroidered with intricate glittered patterns of gold. His hazel gaze watches my every move with his jaw open when I did so and I turn around to see if I got something on it.
"What?" I ask him after searching and he shakes his head, putting his hands on my bare waist as he pulled me close. I feel like I'm about to pop with these boys but I'm enjoying every moment I can with only a month left.
"You're just so beautiful," Alexei comments and kisses right above my belly button.
"Y'all are so lucky to have such an incredible mommy," he whispers to them and gently caresses his shaved sides, not wanting to mess up his gelled hair on top. He's so handsome in his westerner crimson colored suit that I sometimes I still can't believe he's all mine
"Oh um, I have something for you," He says as he slowly pulls away from me and reaches into his pocket. For a second, I thought he was going to pull out his phone but a small ring box comes out instead.
"I was going to wait until after we had the triplets but you know I'm impatient," he says as he hands it to me. I slowly open the box, gasping when I see the sparkling diamonds with the darkest crimson ruby centered in the middle.
"Alexei, I-" I'm entirely speechless and taken by surprise as I stare at the ring which would officially change my family name from Kailea to Crimson. A symbol of my dedication to both my new house and the love of my life.
"I know, I'm sorry it took so long. It had to be enchanted by Lotus and that takes months. I had them start it back when we were in school," He explains and I can't believe he knew even back then that I was his.
He takes the ring out of the box and places it on my dainty ring finger with ease as I stare at it in awe. Even the gold side is engraved with my name, 'Lunos Waylon Nozomi of Crimson', in tiny lettering.
"Do you like it?" he asks and I forgot to speak, surprised by his generosity.
"Of course, I love it hon," I choke out as I try to hold in my tears when Alexei pulls me close and I'm able to kiss him because he's sitting.
"Are you guys almost ready? At this rate, Ai No Shiro is gonna be over by the time we get there!" Cyprus whines as he stomps into our bedroom, breaking the sweet moment between us.
"Yeah buddy let's get going," Alexei leads the way as he takes me by my arm and guides me down the stairs since I can no longer see my feet and he doesn't want me to fall, my ring sparkling as it rests on his arm.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Alexei asks me for the billionth time today and I give his arm a gentle squeeze.
"The due date isn't for another month, let me enjoy this night before I'm put on bedrest hon," I remind him and he kisses my cheek.
Ai No Shiro was the festival of Love, a traditional festival hosted on the island since it's creation. The yearly ball is the one day out of the year where every pack combines in the same open stadium where we're mated and dance beneath the stars.
Walking together as one family, I held my little brother's hand with my arm still snug to Alexei's as we made our way to the stadium amongst the lit Crimson lanterns lighting the path.
"How did you two know you were mated?" Cyprus asks with a shy glance at the two of us, Alexei goes to speak but I answer first.
"I knew when we were five years old," I told him and Alexei suddenly chokes on air.
"Wait what?! You never told me that," He exclaims and I can't help but smile while thinking of the moment.
"One day, Alexei came into our wing and he was so depressed that I felt it. I felt his anger, pain, and sadness as if it was my own. After he left, I asked if anyone else felt the same but they just said I was crazy. Now I know I wasn't crazy, we were just meant to be from the start," I confess and pull Cyprus close to my side to give him a small hug.
"What if I don't want a mate?" he asks and I squeeze his shoulder a bit.
"What are you talking about? Everyone will be mated eventually," I tell him and he bites his lip.
"But what if I just don't want to be a burden to someone else. It's a lot of work to be a Lunos you know and I don't want to push that on them just because they're mated to me," He sighs.
"Cyprus, when your mate falls in love with you, everything else will fall into place. Don't worry too much about it," Alexei tries to ease his mind but I know my brother better than that.
"Did you already meet your mate?" I ask Cyprus outright and the gulp says it all.
"N-n-no, of course not," He tries to cover it up but Alexei and I just give each other a look. Reaching the field, Cyprus escapes us so he can go find our other siblings.
"He's such a bad liar, just like you," Alexei chuckles and I lightly smack his arm.
"I am an incredible liar, I just don't lie to you," I defend myself but I can tell he doesn't believe me for a second.
"Sure you are peaches, the best liar," he chuckles as the stadium is bright with music, smiles, and plenty of dancing with the ones we love. At first it was a mix of the fun high energy traditional island dances which I couldn't participate in due to my size but as it gets later the sound slows Alexei forces me onto the floor.
My mate pulls me as close as he can with our three little beans between us and rocks me back and forth. We say nothing as he just presses his forehead to mine and I close my eyes, listening to his gentle breath and quiet whispers.
"Waylon, you know you've made me the happiest man alive right?" He asks and I hum slightly as his grip tightens just a little bit.
"How? I literally just exist," I giggle and he kisses my forehead.
"Just, everything about you Wei. From the way you smile to the way you fight back with me until we laugh it off. I love everything about you, everything about us, and I can't wait to meet the beautiful beings this love created and spend the rest of my life with you by my side," He says and I open my eyes to face his beautiful hazel ones, the crimson flecks flickering in the light of the lanterns as I laid my hand beneath his chin and pulled him close, kissing his soft plump lips.
"You're so beautiful Alexei, I love you" I whisper between our lips, feeling his love transferring with every touch.
"I love you-" He pauses when a single piece of what looks like white dust touches his nose and I swipe it off with my finger. A cold chill adding to the breeze in the air as more white flecks fall.
"Alexei," I gasp as I watch the snow begin to pile up and the crowd looks confused but I can sense her from miles away.
"She's here," I gasp as I cling close to my mate who looks at me confused.
"Who's here baby?" He asks and I point to the top of the stadium where Juniper Grace Kailea was making her way down the stairs, her eyes pitch black and as cold as her soul as she locked her gaze directly on me.
"Everybody down!" Someone screams and Alexei forces me down first as a frozen icicle aimed at me shoots through the sky and the screams replaced what was once a happy celebration of love filled with joy.
My mate suddenly kisses me one final time before leaving me behind so swiftly that he's lost in the crowd of people running before I can stop him.
"ALEXEI!" I scream his name as I try to search for him but I can't find him, walking through the crowd running from Juniper, I walk towards her. The stress of it all has me hyperventilating as a strong hand suddenly whips me around and I come face to face with Papa.
"Come with me!" He pleads as he holds my hand and forces me to run with him away from Juniper to get me out of the stadium. I was in such a state of shock, I forgot about my sweet mate who just ran into a battlefield.
"NO! I HAVE TO FIND ALEXEI!" I yell as I try to turn around but the man who looks just like a younger version of my papa lifts me off my feet, picking me up and pushing everyone aside just to get me out of the exit.
"Please let me go, I have to find him!" I cry out and the man puts me down once more, pushing his blonde hair back as his piercing blue eyes stare into mine.
He forces me to stand against a wall just outside the stadium, ignoring the sharp pains in my groin. I catch sight of the two familiar rings dangling from his neck, instantly recognizing my Papa and Kua's rings. Why does he have them? Who is he?
"You must be Waylon, I'm Markus," The guy introduces himself and I point back where we came from.
"I have to go back! I just have to! I have to protect him! She's going to kill him!" I fight and try to leave but he won't let me.
"I'll go don't worry, I promise I'll protect him, brother. Just stay out of danger. I will bring him back to you," Markus promises, and when he called me his brother I believed him.
"Waylon!" Cyprus' cries distract me and I turn just as Cy guy rushes into my arms only to jump back.
"Wei, why are you wet?" he says and I slowly look down to find the puddle beside my feet slowly growing as my water breaks.
"No, no, no, no, no." I panic and another set of arms pulls me forward with the crowd.
"I've got you, buddy, he sent me to get you out of-oh fuck" Dante's voice changes when he sees what happened and pulls me into his arms instead, carrying me as we head to the Lotus pack hospital.
It's happening Alexei, I can't do this without you.
You're stronger than you know, I love you. I'll be there as soon as I can. Kiss our babies for me.
He says but there's a hint of sadness to it that I don't like at all as Dante forms a protective bubble around the three of us to push others to the side.
"Hang on Wei, we're almost there. Just a little bit farther," He coaxes me but I was a mess, tears streaming down my face as the pain was overwhelming, nearly forcing me to pass out.
I'm right here
Umiko reminds me as we face the pain together and I panic, wanting to keep the triplets inside me for as long as possible. They'll die if they come outside now since it's too early. I barely notice when Dante laid me down on a bed and refused to leave my side as they brought me straight to the OR.
"Are you ready to meet your babies?" The nurse asks and I shake my head as fast as possible.
"No! My mate needs to be here with me!" I try to fight her to keep her from numbing me for the c-section but Dante holds me back. The pain is blinding and I scream into Dante's jacket when the nurse strikes me with the needle.
"We have to get them in there now! Baby B's heart rate is dropping!" A doctor yells and I can no longer move my body as they put up a small curtain between my upper body and my babies.
"Making the first cut!" I shake my head the entire time and I can't feel anything but that doesn't make it hurt any less emotionally. I try to call out to Alexei but it's almost as if our link has gone cold and I hear nothing from him, I can't even feel him.
Dante holds my hand as baby A, our beautiful little Galen lets out his first cry and I see him when the covered nurse holds my baby out for me to see. He's so tiny that it absolutely terrifies me.
"Put him back, he's not ready," I beg and Dante wipes my tears while Galen is carried to an incubator to be checked on by nurses. Baby B comes next, my sweet Micah, who lets out a satisfying lah for his first cry and he's even smaller than his brother.
"Ah! My babies!" I sniffle and feel Dante's tears as he cries beside me, knowing it's Alexei that should be here instead.
"We've got Baby C, right here," the doctor says but I don't even get the chance to see my little Casper before the world fades to black as Alexei's sudden pain is so strong it knocks me out to the song of my three babies sweet little cries.
"Alexei,"