Unique, Different, Found

by Violet Samuels

  I make my way up to my room, stark naked, to see Callum, Comrade, and Celina all asleep. Celina on the bed, Callum on the couch, and Comrade on a chair by the bed, I sigh as I look at them. They all look so peaceful, yet their lives are so full of drama that they can never take a break to just breathe.

  I make my way to the bathroom and have a quick shower, washing off the dirt and grime that I picked up while on my run.

  I walk out with a towel wrapped around my waist and make my way to the wardrobe. I pull on some jeans then stare out the window that is practically a wall. I let my thoughts consume me at this point.

  I can't believe I was stupid enough to not even think of using protection! I was just so caught up in the feeling and mood that it just sort of slipped my mind. The only thing on my mind was Celina and that I was going to make her mine. I was being stupid though and look where that's got me, with a mate who's 16 and pregnant with triplets.

  Don't get me wrong, aside from all the negatives and the put downs of this pregnancy, I can't be happier. Celina, my mate, the love of my life, is carrying my pups in her womb right now. Having that one happy thought erases all the bad ones and shows me the light. Even though a war is brewing and we have no idea when it's going to hit, I'm still happy. Even though my mate is only 16 and pregnant, I'm still happy. Even though Celina may have a chance of dying, I'm still happy. Not so much for the last one, but I'm still happy.

  "Axel?" a soft voice asks, tearing me from my thoughts. I spin on my heels to see Celina rubbing her eyes like a baby and looking at me tiredly, her hair disheveled and her clothes from yesterday crinkled.

  I instantly rush to her side and plant my lips softly on hers.

  "Good morning, sweetheart," I whisper. We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before Celina's eyes widen.

  "I'm pregnant," she whispers. I chuckle at the recognition in her voice. Oh Celina...

  "Oh my gosh! I'm pregnant with triplets!" she cries. I get ready to see the tears fall and to take her in my arms, but they don't. All that comes is a small smile.

  "Celina, you feeling ok?" I ask wearily. She laughs lightly at me. She takes a hold of my wrist and places my hand on her slight baby bump I haven't noticed before.

  She smiles at me.

  "I'm fine, happy even. I'm carrying your babies," she whispers and places a soft kiss on my lips. As happy as I am to hear that, this is a major difference from yesterday and how she was feeling about it. What changed her mind?

  "What about yesterday? I thought you-"

  She silences me with a finger to my lips. She looks at me seriously and says in an equally serious voice, "I know how I reacted yesterday, but what's done is done. We can't change that fact. I've decided to embrace the fact that I'm pregnant and not neglect it, so please, just bear with me."

  I take her in my arms as I skillfully maneuver us so that I'm now sitting comfortably on the bed with Celina on my lap. We sit there in silence for a few moments before Celina breaks it.

  "You did want me to get pregnant with your babies, right?" she suddenly asks and I chuckle at her worried tone.

  I place my hand back on her stomach and rest my head on her shoulder.

  "Of course I did!" I tell her, then I decide to ask a question that's been nagging at me for a while. "Did you want pups?"

  She stays silent for a moment. I start to think she didn't when she speaks.

  "Why do you call them pups?" she asks, making me sigh at her obvious effort to try to avoid the question.

  "That's what we're supposed to call them. Pups are a smaller version of wolves, so that's how we refer to them," I explain and she nods her head.

  "Back to the former question..." I trail off, hinting at her to answer my earlier question.

  Celina stays quiet for a long time. She looks deep in thought, thinking really hard about what her answer must be. She seems a bit unsure and I tense as I watch her slowly open her mouth to answer.

  "I guess I did," she whispers and I feel myself relax at her words. "I think I would've liked them in the future though, after I've turned 18 and after the war."

  I sigh again and bury my head in her neck. I would've liked that too, but we're going through it now so we'll just have to deal with it.

  "Unfortunately, fate didn't want to work that way," I mutter.

  26

  AXEL

  We sit there for another hour or two before Comrade stirs in the chair. He opens his eyes and stretches out his arms, cracking his neck in the process. I feel Celina shudder in my arms after she hears the sound. I must admit, I've never liked the sound of cracking bones ever since my first shift...

  "Ugh... Remind me never to sleep in a chair again," he mumbles and Celina looks at him sheepishly.

  "Sorry, you didn't have to stay, you know," she whispers. Comrade just smiles gently at her.

  "Nah, all good. I would sleep in a chair for you any day," he tells her honestly as I roll my eyes at his clichè remark. To my surprise though, a slight blush graces Celina's cheeks.

  Callum decides to wake up at this point as well with a loud yawn. Geez, he’s annoying when he's awake and half asleep.

  "Morning," he mumbles as he slowly gets up and rubs the sleep from his eyes.

  "Oh, don't tell me you slept on the couch all night, too!" Celina exclaims, appalled. Callum just shrugs and makes his way over to us.

  He suddenly looks uncomfortable as he stands behind Comrade's chair. He clears his throat before asking, "So, uh... Did you figure out what was wrong with you?"

  Comrade perks up at this question and stares at Celina intently.

  Celina stiffens in my arms and swallows audibly. I pull her closer to my chest. She sniffles a little and I notice tears once again pooling in her eyes. Wait, what? She was fine with this only a few hours ago and now she's upset again? Maybe it's the hormones...

  "Um, I..." she begins, but can't finish. This leads me to believe that she isn't ready to tell anyone about her pregnancy yet, so I quickly butt in before this situation can get out of hand.

  "It was just stomach flu. Doctor Aileen gave her some pain killers, so she's all good now," I reassure them both, but they still look pretty uneasy about the whole thing.

  "It seemed like a lot worse than the stomach flu from Doctor Aileen's eyes. It hurt a lot more than the stomach flu too," Callum mutters the last part. Comrade doesn't seem to pay mind to him as he stares at Celina curiously.

  I growl warningly at him, but he ignores me as his eyebrows furrow and his eyes light with curiosity.

  "Celina, is that true?" Comrade asks in a soft voice. Celina looks at him startled and immediately starts to stutter over her words.

  "I… uh… Well, you know... We-" she stutters as she blinks furiously. Before she can embarrass herself any further, Comrade cuts in again.

  "Are you sure you're not hiding something?" His voice is filled with curiosity and a little bit of hurt at the same time. He's always the one to persuade and convince people into saying or doing things. He even helped with some rogues a few years back because they weren't telling us the information we needed. He's always had a way with words and he used it to convince Celina to join the pack.

  Celina immediately places a hand over her stomach and gulps again. Comrade follows the action and it all suddenly clicks in his brain. I must say, he's a very smart pup when he wants to be.

  His eyes widen as he says the next few words that has Celina in tears, "You're pregnant."

  Callum looks to him in shock while I growl and glare furiously at him. Again, for a pup, he's pretty smart.

  He takes Celina's hand in his and Callum does the same with her other hand. She stays firmly in my lap as they both try to calm her cries. She eventually stops crying and collapses onto my chest, resting her head on my shoulder.

  "Please, please, don't tell anyone," Celina begs in a whisper. Callum and Comrade seem torn for a second before they both nod in sync.

  "We wouldn't dream of it," Callum states. I nod
curtly at him, my best friend. For all the years I've known him, and that's a really long time, I've never known him to break a promise. What he just said is a silent promise that I know he will keep safe until he dies.

  I look at Comrade to see him smiling gently at Celina.

  "Don't worry. It's Axel's and your job to announce you're having a pup," Comrade says with a light smile.

  Celina takes a breath before correcting him. "Pups," she whispers. "We're having pups."

  I would’ve chuckled at their reaction if it wasn't the given situation. I can't believe she actually admitted that to them, although, they are her guardians and they will never dream of hurting her.

  "P-pups?" Comrade asks in surprise as he stutters over the one word. Callum just looks like he's about to jump over the moon. I can't blame him. After all, his Luna and his best friend, also his Alpha, are going to be having pups that will ensure this pack's survival. We'll probably make him a godparent knowing him and his antics.

  'I am so going to be a godparent,' Callum tells me through the mind link and this time I do chuckle. My thoughts confirmed.

  "So you guys are having twins?" Comrade asks again, but with a bit more excitement this time. Celina buries her head in my chest.

  'Can you tell them?' she whispers to me through the bond. I nod silently at her and prepare to tell them what is going to probably make them go into shock, again.

  "We're having triplets," I say firmly and, just like I thought, they go into complete and utter shock. That is, until Callum breaks out into a full blown grin and jumps up to fist pump the air.

  "Hell yeah!" he screams, making Celina jump in my arms. "I'm going to be a godparent of three little kiddos!"

  You know, sometimes I forget that Callum's 20 years old like me. He pretty much always acts like a teenager. He can shift into the role of a beta straight away though, only if the need arises, of course.

  Comrade stays silent before realization crosses over his face and a look of horror replaces it.

  "Are we going to feel the pain of you giving birth?" he yells and Celina bursts out laughing. I smile broadly at her. That's the first time she laughed since the whole pregnancy thing.

  "We'll have to wait and see," Celina says through her laughter. Both Callum and Comrade shudder. I actually kinda feel sorry for them. No bloke should have to feel the pain of birth, only a woman has that curse. The thought causes me to shudder.

  "Holy crap! I'm supposed to be training the new fighters!" Callum exclaims and without even a goodbye, he races out the door. I chuckle at his awful memory and look to Comrade expectantly. He's got somewhere to be, doesn't he?

  "Oh, um, I need to go do that... thing. Yeah, that thing. Uh, see ya later, Snow," he says in a rush as he makes a beeline for the door. He stops abruptly and turns to look at both of us with a small smile on his face.

  "Congrats by the way," he says sincerely then he leaves, letting us be, finally...

  Celina heaves a heavy sigh. I look at her questioningly.

  "What's wrong, sweetheart, something on your mind?" I push. She silently nods her head and brings her mind wall down completely so I can see her thoughts.

  She feels nervous about having the pups, not knowing if she'll live or not. She's also nervous about telling the pack. She doesn't want them to view her differently because she's 16 and pregnant with triplets. These thoughts continuously travel through her mind, torturing her and making her believe them.

  "Hey..." I mumble as I put a finger under her chin and lift her head up, her beautiful golden eyes locking onto my silver ones in that moment. "You'll be fine. The pack won't view you differently and you most certainly won't die on me because I'll be right there with you the whole way."

  I wrap my arms around her thin waist and rest my hands on her stomach, rubbing it with my thumbs. Believe it or not, there's actually the slightest baby bump already forming.

  "Promise?" she whispers as she places her hands on top of mine.

  "Promise," I whisper back and that's how we spend the next hour, sitting on the bed wrapped in each other's arms.

  I think Celina will feel a lot more comfortable if she has a doctor’s perspective on this whole situation. Maybe she'll find some closure and fully accept this situation because I can feel she doesn't truly want to believe it. She forgets to put her mind wall back up.

  "Sweetheart, do you want to go see Doctor Aileen?" I ask. I don't specify why we must see her, but Celina nods furiously and jumps out of my arms to get changed. I chuckle at her while I pull on a shirt, since I already got dressed earlier.

  She comes back out in a simple pair of black leggings and one of my shirts on. She looks good in my clothes... she should wear them more often.

  "Let's go!" she urges as she grabs my hand and starts to pull me to the medic station.

  "Hold on there, sweetheart," I say as I pull her to a stop when we're about to pass the kitchen. I point a finger at her.

  "Eat first, then the doctor," I order, leaving no room for argument. She reluctantly enters the kitchen, grumbling under her breath the whole time.

  I chuckle as I go to the cupboards and get out some cereal, knowing that her stomach can handle cereal for the time being.

  I place a bowl of Crunchy Nut down in front of her and she immediately gets stuck into it. I pour myself a bowl of it too, and take a seat next to my mate.

  I gave her three times as much as she would usually eat because she's eating for four now. I wonder if she really intended to get pregnant while she was in heat. She probably didn't, considering the reaction she had when she found out. A man can wish though, right?

  I wonder what would've happened if I waited to claim her until after the war, or even when she's at the actual legal age. Maybe then, she would've had a different reaction and welcomed the idea of pups with open arms. Could I really have waited two years though? Could I really go through that many heats and had Celina go through so much pain because I just wouldn't claim her? I don't think so. If I did manage to though, I would be a very happy wolf when I finally get to mate her.

  "Axel, hurry up!" I hear Celina whine as she nudges my shoulder with her tiny hand. "I want to go see Doctor Aileen!"

  I look down at her cereal bowl and notice she's finished eating. Damn, that girl can eat! I look down at my own bowl and notice I haven't even touched it.

  I quickly eat the now soggy cereal as Celina watches on in anticipation, it's like she's watching a movie that's about to hit its climax. As soon as I take the last bite, Celina launches off her seat, taking me with her, and drags me to the medic station.

  She doesn't even knock as she barges in there. Doctor Aileen looks up with a start, but instantly relaxes once she sees it's us.

  "Alpha, Luna," she says respectfully, bowing her head.

  I nod back at her as Celina does so too, in her haste. She takes a hold of Doctor Aileen's wrist and drags her to the couch on the other side of the room. I follow them with an amused look on my face.

  Once I reach them, I take a seat on a single chair and haul Celina's bouncing butt onto my lap. She comes down with a huff and looks at me with a pout. I softly kiss her lips and she's smiling, all happy again. Wow, hormones have definitely kicked in, I think with a silent chuckle.

  "What can I do for you both?" Doctor Aileen asks and before I can open my mouth, Celina beats me to it.

  "We have some questions," she tells her as she places a hand on her stomach. I follow her action, putting mine on top of hers.

  I speak up first. "As you probably know, I have absolutely no clue how this pregnancy thing works, so I'm gonna ask a simple question." I pause for a second and both Doctor Aileen and Celina's eyes are on me curiously.

  "How many months until she actually goes into labor?" I ask. Now, to some, this may seem like a stupid question, but werewolf pups can grow faster in the mother's womb. This means that instead of a normal nine months like humans, we have a shorter period of time for the pups to grow and for the mother to give
birth.

  "Well, the normal time frame for a single pup is about three months. For twins, it's about four, so triplets will be about five or six months, maximum," Doctor Aileen explains.

  "Ok, five to six months. I can deal with that," I mutter to myself, making sure to say it low enough so Celina won't hear.

  "However, since they have alpha and royal blood in them, it may only take four months minimum and five months maximum," she adds and I nod.

  I glance at Celina's face to see it turn into one like that of a deer caught in headlights. She's scared, I can tell that much.

  'Sweetheart?' I try to get her attention through the mind link, but I don't get an answer back.

  'Sweetheart?' I try again and this time I get a little mumble from her. 'You're going to be fine. I'll be here with you, just like I promised.'

  She relaxes in my arms after that. I hate seeing her so stressed out. It can't be good for her and the pups. She needs to rest and leave all the worrying to me and her guardians. After all, that's our job.

  "Do you have any suggestions to keep the pups healthy and not have any issues?" I continue on with the inquiry in a business toned voice. I feel Celina shudder in my arms and smirk at the effect I have on her. I should use that voice more often...

  "All I would suggest is that you always give in to your cravings when they arise. You should eat more too, since you're feeding for four now, and maybe let up on the training," she advises, and pause when she sees Celina stiffen in my arms.

  "You want me to stop training?" she asks in a hushed whisper, sounding broken. I kiss the back of her head to let her know I'm still with her. This may be a big blow to her... She's really enjoyed the training so far, even if it has only been two days. She's really getting into it and now all of it has to halt.

  "Only for a few months, Luna. You may continue with the light training but nothing too strenuous, like controlling the weather. It would be too much for you and the pups to handle," Doctor Aileen explains. Celina finally nods, coming to terms with what's been said.