Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  And we’d just found out we were about to bring two babies into the world, with nowhere for them to stay. We didn’t have a room for them, or much room for any of the things a baby would need, let alone two babies. Ray and Quinten had set up two cribs in Ray’s study, but that didn’t feel right to me. Our babies deserved to have their own room, and they deserved to be born into a nice, stable life, which nobody here could provide at the moment.

  The remaining two Council members could show up at any time with an army of werewolf guards to arrest me for murder. Then I’d be unfairly tried and executed, probably in front of a crowd of cheering werewolves that still supported Roger Mason. What would happen when they found out I was pregnant? It wasn’t like I could hide it anymore, seeing as I was the size of a small planet.

  “Twins,” Ray said quietly. He shook his head. “You know, I always wanted more kids than just you and Ilene. I would have liked to have a son, preferably one like Jax,” he said fondly. “But I guess recently he’s been more like a son than a nephew, considering everything he’s helped us with. I’m glad we can depend on him.”

  “Darren’s here to help too,” I reminded him. “He’s been pretty dependable.”

  Ray nodded. “I never thought I would be dependant on so many vampires. Quinten, Darren, Violet, and her maker if Violet can find her. With her, we might have a fighting chance.”

  “How long until the Council comes after us again? I’m surprised we’ve managed to get four whole weeks of peace from Roger, Eli, and the remaining Council members. I keep waiting for something horrible to happen.”

  Ray nodded. “I know what you mean. I feel like something big is about to happen to us; I just hope we’re powerful enough to stop it.” He looked at me. “But don’t you worry. Everyone in this house will do whatever is necessary to keep you safe.”

  I sighed. “I wish you guys wouldn’t. One person shouldn’t be worth fighting and possibly dying over. If any of you got hurt protecting me, I would never be able to forgive myself. I already blame myself for Jax’s broken leg, not to mention Quinten being a vampire. If Roger and I had never crossed paths, none of this would have ever happened.

  “Quinten wouldn’t be a vampire, Ilene wouldn’t be hell bent on punishing us, I could be at college right now, and Quinten and I could have a semi-normal life together, complete with human babies and a stable life. Our lives would be so much better right now if Roger Mason had never come back home.”

  Ray shook his head. “Alanna, you are worth fighting for. Everyone in this family, and even those not a part of this family, agree with me. I love you, Quinten loves you, Jax loves you, and Jenna and Darren definitely care about you. Plus, you’re about to give me two new reasons to keep fighting.”

  My hand automatically went down to my bulging stomach. “I can’t wait to find out the sexes. Quinten thinks they’re both girls, but I think he wants a boy.”

  “Oh? Has he finally decided to stop acting like a sullen child and start acting like an expectant father should?” Ray asked, only slightly disappointed.

  “Dad, it’s not his fault he was so upset. He thought I was going to die because of how stupid we both were. But yes, he is acting more like an expectant father. When he felt the baby, well, babies kick for the first time last week, the look of wonder on his face was so incredible. He’s still scared of losing me, but I think he’s starting to get a little bit excited, too.”

  Ray nodded. “Good, I’m glad. I think he’ll make a great father, with some practice.”

  “How much practice did you need?”

  Ray snorted. “Sometimes it feels like I’m still practicing. As a parent you’ll always second guess pretty much everything you do. You wonder if you’re doing a good enough job for your kids. You wonder if they hate you because of the choices you make for them. And, just a word of advice, it’s almost always impossible to please two teenage daughters. Someone is always going to be left unhappy with whatever you decide.”

  “Thanks for the early advice, but I think it’ll be a few years before they’re teenagers. Hopefully I’ll have a handle on being a parent before then.”

  He shrugged, almost like he didn’t think that would happen. “There’s always room for improvement. Trust me,” he said with a smile. “I know. I’ve been a dad for nearly twenty years, and I still find myself improving every day.”

  “You’re the best dad in the entire world,” I said. “And everyone here knows it, so don’t try to deny it. You’re strong, caring, brave, gentle, and way too many other adjectives to list. Everyone should want to have a dad like you.”

  He smiled and stroked my hair. “You should try and get some more sleep. I know it’s hot, but you need the rest, and so do the babies.”

  I nodded. “I know. I’ll try.”

  He kissed my forehead, and I headed back into the bedroom. The bed creaked when I climbed in next to Quinten, and his eyes opened a fraction of an inch. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t do anything other than wrap his arm around my waist and pull me closer. Then his eyes closed, and he drifted back asleep.

  It took me a while longer, but I did finally manage to fall asleep without sweating to death.

  *****

  In the morning, Jenna and Quinten escorted me into town. She’d set up an appointment for me at her office, and I hadn’t had an ultrasound in over a week. We were about to hopefully find out the genders of our babies, and I couldn’t wait. Even Quinten looked a little excited, and I smiled at him before hopping up on the examination table.

  Jenna smeared coldish jelly across my stomach, and I tried not to flinch or cry at the sight of the ugly, dark stretch marks that crawled across my entire stomach. They looked horrible, but Quinten gave my hand a tight, reassuring squeeze. “You’re still beautiful,” he said as Jenna got to work.

  “Well, just as I thought, their heartbeats are still beating in sync with one another; that’s why Quinten and Violet were unable to tell that it was twins.” She looked at me. “Do you wanna know what you’re having?”

  “You can tell?” I asked hopefully.

  She nodded. “I can tell you right now, if you wanna know. If you wanna wait, that’s alright, too. Some parents like to be surprised. But I think most expectant parents are anxious to find out.”

  I looked at Quinten, and he nodded. His grip on my hand tightened just a bit, and we both smiled at Jenna. “We wanna know.”

  Jenna moved the instrument in her hands a bit, and pointed at the screen nearby. “That right there is a little boy,” she said, looking at us. She pointed at the screen again. “And this is a little girl. Looks like you’re having one of each. Congratulations.”

  My heart squeezed, and I felt a light fluttering in my stomach. I can’t believe it. A boy and a girl! Could this moment be any more perfect?

  “We’re naming the boy after Ray, right?” Quinten asked, looking down at me. “Considering everything that’s happened, it would seem kind of wrong to name him after anyone else. We at least have to make his middle name Ray, or the first name, I don’t care which.”

  “You wouldn’t mind naming our son after Ray?” I asked, surprised. “I thought you’d wanna name him after you, if we named him after anyone. I mean, he is your son, not Ray’s.”

  “Alanna, Ray is important to me, too. He’s treated me like a son, no matter what I might have been going through at the time, and he always believed in me, even when I did some horrible things, like when I hurt you,” he said sadly. “If you wanna name the baby after him, I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Oh, I don’t know if the world is ready for another Raymond Moore.”

  “Taylor,” Quinten said quickly. “These babies are going to have my last name, right? I mean, I know we’re not married yet, but…”

  “Of course! I wasn’t thinking. Yeah, these babies will have your last name. They have to.”

  He nodded. “I’m actually thinking Ray for a middle name. Something Ray Taylor. I have no idea what to name our daughte
r, though.” He sounded so happy at the mention of his unborn daughter that I almost jumped up and threw my arms around his neck and kissed him right there.

  “I’ve actually been thinking of some names,” I admitted quietly. “I did pick Ray as our son’s middle name. I was thinking Benjamin Ray Taylor. And for a girl, I was thinking Brianna May Taylor. What do you think? I mean, I know our babies aren’t exactly going to be normal, but I don’t think they need to have some kind of stupid, made up name.”

  He leaned in closer and pressed his lips to mine. “I think those names are perfect, just like these babies will be when they’re born.”

  Jenna looked slightly uncomfortable alone in the room with us, and she cleared her throat. “I hate to interrupt this precious, beautiful moment, but the sooner we get Alanna home, the safer she and the babies will be,” she reminded us.

  Quinten nodded again while helping me down from the examination table. “She’s right. Let’s get you home. Ray’s waiting to find out what we’re having before he and I paint the study. I’m not sure what we’re doing now, since we’d been planning on just solid purple.”

  “Well, we’ll have to pick a gender neutral color, one that works for both a boy and a girl. How about yellow?” I asked, taking Quinten’s hand into mine. Quinten steadied me as I wobbled, and then he chuckled. “What?” I asked.

  “Alanna, in no way shape or form is yellow a boy’s color. It’s just not masculine.”

  “Why not? Blue is a boy color, pink is a girl color, and green and yellow are gender neutral. If we use one of those colors, we can please both of them.”

  Quinten shook his head. “Alanna, yellow is not a boy’s color, and green is not a girl’s color. We’ll have to do something like half and half. One side of the room can be blue, and the other can be pink. Until we get our own place, that’ll have to do.”

  “Why are we even doing this?” I asked, walking out to the car with Quinten and Jenna. “Hopefully we’ll only be living with Ray for a while longer. Why put in all this effort to make up the babies’ room when we’ll just be leaving soon anyway? I mean, I definitely don’t plan on living with my dad for the rest of eternity.”

  “It’s important to start “nesting”,” Quinten said, making air quotations with his fingers. “We have to prepare for the babies before they get here. It’ll help us bond with them. Plus, even if Ray doesn’t wanna admit it, he’s having a blast getting ready to be a grandfather. He’s enjoying this almost as much as I am.”

  I slid into the back seat beside him, and he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. “I’m glad you’ve finally started to come around. I didn’t like it when you were so upset and pessimistic about our future.”

  “I’m sorry about that. I should have realized sooner that you were right. This isn’t their fault, and I shouldn’t blame them. I won’t blame them ever again, no matter what happens,” he said, looking at me. “If the worst happens, I promise you I won’t hold it against them.”

  I nuzzled the side of his neck. “Thank you, Quinten. That makes me feel so much better about the next two or three weeks. I think I’ll be able to sleep easier tonight knowing you feel that way. I don’t have to worry about you or them anymore.”

  He sighed. “I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize it wasn’t their fault.”

  “It’s alright, Quinten. I think any man would have felt the same way you did.” When Jenna pulled up in our driveway, Quinten helped me from the car, careful to make sure I was steady on my feet before letting go. “In fact, I probably would have been a little worried if you hadn’t acted like that.”

  Once inside, I sat down on the couch, and put my feet up on a small stool so I could massage my large ankles. They throbbed, and I sighed with relief as the pain slowly began to fade away. When Jenna took a seat beside me with her laptop, I looked up from my feet.

  She opened the laptop, and a webpage appeared. “This is a popular baby website. I thought maybe you and I could do some shopping together for the baby?” she asked shyly. “I would understand if you didn’t want to,” she said quickly. “But I thought since we can’t get you to the store, I could bring the store to you.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Jenna. To be honest, I’m glad there’s another woman in the house besides me. I’m kind of lost when it comes to all this baby stuff. Ray and Quinten have been busy with transforming the study into the nursery, and Jax has been trying to recruit more people to our cause. It seems like I don’t have anyone to really talk to other than Darren.”

  Jenna smiled warmly. “I’m happy to help, honey. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.” I frowned at the use of the word honey, and Jenna picked up on it. “What’s wrong? Did I say something to upset you?” she asked, sounding hurt and confused.

  “No,” I assured her. “It’s just…I can’t remember my own mom ever once calling me honey and meaning it. I like it.”

  She smiled and repositioned the laptop. “Well, I’m glad. Now, let’s get to shopping. These babies are gonna be here in as little as two weeks, and we’ll have to be prepared for them by then.”

  Chapter Three

  Ray was making breakfast in the morning, and Jenna was cleaning the dishes when he was done with them. I offered to help both of them, but they shooed me away like usual. Apparently being pregnant meant you got to do as little as possible, so I settled for putting the silverware and plates on the table.

  “Alanna, can you set out eight plates instead of six? We have company coming,” he said, startling me.

  “What company?” Quinten asked, sitting down at the table. “Ray, do you think that’s wise right now? The list of people we can trust is incredibly small, and trusting the wrong person could be disastrous at this point.”

  “Did Violet find Maria?” I asked, setting out two extra plates and the silverware that went with them.

  “No, I’ve contacted some old “friends” of yours, and they’ve agreed to help us. I also have a couple of mattresses coming today so they’ll have someplace to sleep, because this place is just getting too crowded. Perhaps we’ll start pitching tents in the backyard until this is over.”

  “Dad!” I said. “Stay on track. Who the hell is coming to help?”

  There was a knock at the front door, and Quinten immediately tensed. “It’s a werewolf. Two of them. A man and a woman. I don’t recognize the scent. Ray?”

  “You wouldn’t,” he said, heading to the front door. “You were still human when you met him. I’m surprised Alanna hasn’t recognized it by now.”

  I had recognized the scent. It was very distinctive, and it reminded me of my nightmares, and of death, probably because we were already at the Arena when the two of us met. “Dennis,” I said, surprised. “I thought for sure he wouldn’t want to help us.”

  The door opened, and Ray invited Dennis and his girlfriend inside. He was as tall and muscular as ever, and his red hair was actually clean, and hung across his forehead, obscuring his slate gray eyes from view. It was a miracle he could see, let alone fight with such shaggy hair. But I knew from experience that he was a skilled fighter, and his hair obviously didn’t hamper him in any way.

  His girlfriend was a few years older than him, and a couple of inches shorter. Her hair was long and black, hanging almost to her waist, and she kept it tied back in a thick braid. Her eyes were a light brown color, and her skin was nearly the same color as her eyes. She smiled warmly at me. “So you’re the werewolf that’s going to end this war.” She had a slight southern accent that flowed beautifully.

  “Uh, what?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I forgot not every werewolf fights. Over the past six months or so, the vampires have been gathering with the intent to attack our people. We’ve squashed the war so far, but it’s only a matter of time before it starts again. It’ll be just like it was during our civil war. Thousands will die on both sides, unless we can find a way to make peace,” she said, looking at my massive
stomach. “And I think a baby is just the way to do it.”

  Quinten tensed next to me, and he and Dennis stared at each other, neither of them moving or speaking. It was then that I realized the last time they’d seen each other, they’d been fighting to the death, and Quinten was losing. If Eli hadn’t called for the fight to stop, Dennis would have eventually won, and Quinten would be dead right now.

  I put my hand on his shoulder, and faced Dennis and his mate. “Thank you for coming. We’ll take all the help we can get.” When Quinten stayed silent, I elbowed him, and he reluctantly shook Dennis’ hand.

  “Thanks.”

  Dennis nodded, and turned to Ray. “This is my mate, Haley. She’s fought vampires and werewolves before. She’s much tougher than she looks,” he said. She giggled, and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest. He smiled, and kissed the top of her head, acting much friendlier and nicer than the last time I’d seen him.

  Mates bring a different side of a person out. I’m not the same with Jax or Darren as I am when I’m alone with Quinten…

  “Well, your mattress isn’t here yet, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to hang out until then. They were supposed to be here last night,” Ray said, slightly disappointed. He hated it when people weren’t punctual or considerate. It was one of the things that made Ray who he was.

  “How many people are you planning to fit in this small house?” Haley asked, looking around. “It looks like it’s already overflowing, and that’s without the addition of a baby.”

  “Alanna’s actually having twins,” Ray said. “But I’ve actually considered tents in the backyard. It’s the only way I think we’ll fit everyone. We still have others coming that should be here in the next few days or so.”

  I looked at him. “Who else have you invited?”

  “Well, some old friends of mine have agreed to help. They’ve tired of the constant fighting between vampires and werewolves, and I told them that we have a solution. They won’t find out what that solution is until they arrive and agree to side against Roger, though. Plus we’re still waiting on Violet and Maria, and I think Darren was set on finding the other dhampirs from Roger’s dungeon.”