by Aspen Grey
“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?”
“The—the Golds live right down the street!” I gasped.
“The Golds are one of the families he cleans for,” Elijah explained.
“Well, those days are over,” Sawyer chuckled. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Elijah
“What do you think, babe?” I said gently as I stepped up behind Max who was still staring out the enormous glass window that overlooked the Pacific Ocean, which was sparkling with the last spattering of orange and pink as the sun finally came to rest over the edge of the horizon.
Max turned around to face me, the soft light of sunset creating a soft glow, almost like a halo, around his head. His eyes were filled with passion and excitement and I stared into them with a loving intensity that felt so new and fresh that it was almost scary—it was almost scary how much I loved him.
How much I loved them.
“Are you kidding me?” he whispered. “It’s perfect. It’s beyond perfect.”
There was a small door in the glass that was cracked open slightly. Taking Max’s hand, I pushed it all the way open and stepped outside onto the balcony. The sound of the ocean filled our ears and the smell of the saltwater was cool and refreshing. Down in the city where we lived, we rarely got to enjoy any smells of nature, and I’d forgotten just how much peace and serenity it could bring.
“I could just stand here forever,” Max told me, leaning back against me and settling in as I curled my arms around him. His scent had changed slightly, and I knew why; he was pregnant. He’d known it first, of course, but now it was undeniable. There was just something new there, something warm and comforting, very “omega-esque” that was bringing out a new nurturing feeling in me (and Sawyer, of course too).
“Well, you’ll be able to whenever you want now,” I reminded him. We’d of course move out of our old place to be here. Why wouldn’t we? It wasn’t like Sawyer was going to live apart from us. We were all in a relationship together now. It was only right that we’d live together.
“Mmmm,” Max simply muttered in reply. He kissed me gently beneath the chin and took a seat on one of the two lounge chairs Sawyer had (of course he had assured me he’d be buying a third) and stretched deeply. “Where is Sawyer, babe? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I think he went out to check the plants,” I replied. “I’ll go see what he’s up to.”
I turned away but Max’s voice stopped me. “Babe?”
“Yes?” I replied.
“Love you.”
I grinned like a schoolboy. “Love you too.”
Sawyer’s home—our home, was still unfamiliar and exciting to walk through. The balcony led to an upstairs living room with a fireplace and a television, and a staircase where the steps seemed to hang out of the wall with no obvious supports.
I took them downstairs to the ground floor living room and called out. “Sawyer?”
No answer.
The house was an open floor plan, which made looking around pretty easy, and after a quick glance into the kitchen and a call into the back bedrooms, it was evident that Sawyer wasn’t inside. So I made my way to the front door and stepped out into the small front garden, expecting to find him watering the plants or maybe cleaning his car, but he wasn’t there either.
“Hmmm…” I muttered, sniffing the air. His scent still hung like a carpet of manliness, and seemed to lead out towards the road. I thumbed the button for the gate and let it slide aside, then stepped out onto the street. And that’s when I heard it.
A snarl, then a yelp. Unfamiliar scents, three of them, leapt into my nostrils like covert operatives or secret assassins, and then I heard Sawyer’s cry. Without hesitation, I shifted, splitting my clothes into pieces of fabric and running my tongue across my fangs as I dashed towards the sound.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Max
I shifted slightly to get comfortable in the lounge chair. Well, to get more comfortable. The chair was already the most comfortable thing I’d ever sat in, and reminded me of the leather recliners they had at the movie theater in La Jolla that sold tickets for twenty-two dollars and had butlers that brought you food if you wanted. I propped up the pillow behind my head and sighed as the last rays of the setting sun vanished over the horizon.
“What a life,” I said to myself, grabbing the corner of the blanket I’d left there earlier and pulling it across my legs. It was hard to believe that just a few months ago I’d been cleaning houses in La Jolla, the paradise by the beach, and now I was actually living there. Mrs. Gold couldn’t even believe it when I told her I was leaving and moving in just a little way down the street from her.
When we used to wake up every morning to the sounds of the city—cars, landscapers, airplanes flying over, and people getting up and going to work—now we woke up to the sounds of the surf, the ocean and the breeze whipping up the break by the shore. I was able to see the sun as it came up over the horizon and graced my bedroom with its early morning rays.
And now there’s only one thing left, I thought as I placed a hand over my stomach and felt the innocent little bump that had been steadily growing for the last four months. It was hard to believe that I was making a baby. “The Baby Factory”—that’s what Sawyer jokingly called me, even though I was still working on our first one. But I kind of liked the name, and it wasn’t as though I was opposed to having more.
As I sat there dreaming, a horrible stench invaded my nose, beating away my future dreams and sending a surge of adrenaline through my body. I shook and leapt to my feet, feeling a sense of dread like someone had just thrust a rapier into my guts.
“Ahhhh!” I yelped, clutching my stomach as I doubled over in pain. My hands grabbed the railing in front of me as that horrible, horrible smell twisted through my nostrils like a vortex of pure evil and disgust. It wasn’t hard to recognize, and I felt a cold sweat break out all over my body as I did.
The guys from our apartment! The ones that Elijah owed money!
But he paid them! Didn’t he? Sawyer came home with the ten thousand dollars and they took care of it. They told me they did! And there was no way they’d lie to me about that. But as I sniffed the air, feeling the second contraction ripple through my body like an internal flame, I knew there was no disputing it. It was them, and for some strange reason, they were back.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sawyer
I’d smelled them before they came into view, rounding the corner in a brand new black Benz, definitely stolen, and slid up beside the curb two houses down. For some reason, they’d been arrogant enough to leave one of the windows down, and that had been all I needed to catch a whiff of their horrific stenches.
I’d shifted immediately, and before they even made it up the block to me, I was on one of the betas. I caught him around the ankle and tore as much flesh from the bone as I could with one single bite. He yelped and fell to the ground, snapping erratically at the air in a desperate attempt to get a piece of me.
I leapt back as the other two shifted and sprang into action. The alpha’s eyes were filled with rage, and I knew now why they were back; revenge.
We’d paid them off, of course, as I said we would, but that hadn’t been enough. I’d suspected they were the kind of assholes that didn’t know how to put past squabbles behind them, but as the months went by, I figured they were over it. I guess I was wrong.
I snarled and yelped as the alpha sank his teeth into my shoulder. His teeth just missed sinking straight into my flesh and catching hold, and I was able to wriggle away but not without doing serious damage. Blood spilled down my arm as I snarled at him, his mangy fur mirroring the hideous nature of his soul.
The beta snapped and darted towards me, gnashing his sharp teeth at my haunch, the silvery-white daggers gleaming beneath the light of the street lamps. I managed to jump to the side and avoid them, but the alpha was readying his next jump. I only had a s
econd at most to get out of the way, but with my shoulder bleeding and pain flooding my system, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it.
But that was when help arrived like a train barreling down the tracks.
Elijah came streaking out of the darkness, a righteous snarl erupting from his lips as he sprang forward like a missile and slammed his head into the alpha’s chest like a battering ram. I heard the expulsion of all of the alpha’s breath as the blow knocked him back and slammed him into the hood of the stolen Mercedes.
I felt like laughing as he yelped in pain, but instead threw myself at the beta, finding a gap between his teeth-gnashing to rake my claws across the front of his left leg, tearing away at his fur. The attack was superficial, but enough to cause him to leap back, his top lip curled in rage.
He growled a deep, angry, guttural roar as Elijah took my side. The alpha righted himself, but his legs were wobbly and as he stared us down I thought for a moment that he might collapse. But somehow he managed to right himself, summoning that last bit of strength inside him that he needed to continue the battle.
The pain in my shoulder was like a white-hot flame threatening to overwhelm me, but what was even greater was my internal resolve as a protector, an alpha, a future father and a mate to two incredible men, and there was no way I was going to let these assholes get in the way of our future.
The alpha threw himself towards me, and at the same time, the beta dove in alongside him.
Their teeth were like gleaming knives.
The snarls raged in my ears.
Their scents invaded my nostrils, threatening to overwhelm me with disgust.
But I thought about Elijah by my side and Max upstairs carrying my child, and I leapt towards them.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Max
Another contraction hit me as I took the last step down from the upstairs, causing my muscles to spasm and almost taking me off my feet. I cried out and stumbled forward, catching myself on the corner of the wall, a protective hand over the bump that held my future child. I know what Sawyer would have said to me if he’d seen me coming down to them, and I know I was being an absolute fool by doing it, but I couldn’t just stay upstairs while they were in danger. Even if I was able to distract the attackers to give my mates an upper hand, that would be enough.
What if the fight was over and they needed my help? What then? There were just too many things that could go wrong, and if I cowered upstairs waiting for them to come back to me, and they didn’t, I’d never forgive myself.
I felt my water break. My feet slipped and I caught myself on the counter as I pressed through the kitchen. I could hear the sounds of battle outside. Someone yelped and I prayed to God it wasn’t one of my mates. I could see the door, and fought through another contraction that seized my muscles, my heart about to force its way out of my throat, fueled by a mixture of fear and adrenaline, with an underlying sense of elation in knowing that the baby was on its way.
What a time for this to happen! I thought as I reached the door.
“Sawyer!” I cried out as I tugged on the handle. It swung open and the horrible scent of the invaders hit me like a hockey stick to the nose, blunting my senses with its disgusting odor. “Elijah!”
On the ground, one of the betas lay motionless on the street, blood pouring from a wound in his neck. Sawyer and Elijah were fighting an alpha and a beta, and both of them were wounded. Blood coated Sawyer’s shoulder and Elijah was bleeding from somewhere as well, but not as badly.
“Sawyer!” I shouted, unable to contain myself. He whirled around and I saw a look of pure horror on his face and realized I’d made a mistake by coming outside. But I felt somehow propelled towards him and Elijah as the baby fought to break into the world. It was something I couldn’t control, like the feelings that had risen inside me when I’d stared into his beautiful blue eyes the first time we had sex and I knew that I wanted him to be the one to breed me and make me a father.
The attacking alpha leapt at Sawyer as his back was turned, but Elijah sprang at him and deflected him away, sending him tumbling across the street to slam into the sidewalk. The remaining beta jumped towards them, but together my mates dove on the alpha, and before he could right himself, snatched him in their jaws and ended him. Something cracked and he fell limp.
As they spun around to face the remaining attacker, I saw the fear in his eyes as he realized he was done for. He whirled around to retreat, but my mates were too fast for him. They were on him in a second and before he could cry out, he met the same fate as his friends.
“Elijah!” I blurted out as my legs gave out from under me and I fell to my knees.
I heard Sawyer shift back to human form. “Max! What are you doing?”
“It—it’s coming!” I stammered, clutching my stomach as the baby fought to make its way into the world. “What do we do? You’re hurt!”
He rushed over to me, blood still pouring from a substantial wound in his upper shoulder. I clasped one of my hands over it, doing my best to stop the bleeding.
“We have to help you…”
“We have to help you,” he said firmly as Elijah shifted and took my side.
“Get him in the house!” Sawyer told him, lifting me under one arm, Elijah taking the other. “I’ll call Violet.”
Violet was the midwife Sawyer knew, and we’d planned to have her here when the contractions first started, but this all happened to suddenly—no doubt brought on by my fright when the guys showed up at the house—that of course we hadn’t called her yet. As the boys helped me back into the kitchen, and Sawyer picked up his phone, all I could do was pray that she’d show up in time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Max
The cold towel was like pure heaven against my hot forehead as Violet pressed it there firmly, her other hand on my belly as a more violent contraction shook me.
“That’s it, babe,” she said soothingly, smelling of an incredible combination of orange and patchouli oil. I know it may sound gross to some, but it’s basically the Karma soap from Lush, and I absolutely adored it. “You’re on the home stretch now. Don’t even worry about it.”
“How is Sawyer?” I asked her. She lifted her eyes and looked behind me into the kitchen where Elijah was stitching him up. After they’d gotten me situated on the couch and let Violent in, they’d made their way there to get him sorted out and stop the bleeding. If they had waited any longer he’d have been in big trouble.
“I’m fine, baby,” he replied, his voice strong. “I’ll be right there.”
“Just one more stitch,” Elijah added. “It’s a good thing I watched a YouTube video on how to do this a long time ago.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think it’s hospital quality,” Sawyer joked.
“Are you bleeding to death anymore?” Elijah replied. “No. You’re not. So don’t sass me.”
“Yes, sir,” Sawyer chuckled.
Violet had put on some kind of soothing harp music over Sawyer’s incredible sound system that was playing gently throughout the entire house, and I closed my eyes and focused on each note, doing my best to keep myself calm throughout everything going on around me. It wasn’t exactly the most optimal conditions to lead up to giving birth—an unexpected attack, a wounded mate, death, and a midwife who we weren’t even sure would show up in time.
But somehow, like the rest of our relationship, things had come together and I was sure it would all work out. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
“Okay, okay,” I told myself. “I’m going to focus on my breathing now.”
“That’s right,” Violet said warmly, propping my leg up on the extension of the couch that had been pulled out when I lay down. I kept letting my leg slip off to one side instead of keeping it where it needed to be, and Violet had to keep lifting it back where it belonged.
Despite the fact that there was only a towel covering me, I felt safe and secure. I’d only just met Violet, but she was soothing and wa
rm, comforting with hazel eyes and jet black hair. She dressed like a bit of a hippy, and had a floral sleeve tattoo on one arm. I got the impression from the way she spoke and acted that she may have been a bit of a Hellraiser in her youth, but had grown up and become a loving, caring woman who’d found her purpose in life.
“There we go,” she told me, running her fingers down my shoulder. “This baby is coming. Are you excited?”
“I’m ready!” I told her. She tried not to laugh and resituated the damp towel on my forehead. I focused again on the music and counted my breaths, making sure I filled my lungs with air before expelling them again. Going into labor had my heart rate up and made me want to take quick, shallow breaths, but that only caused me to get even more fired up.
“Keep breathing,” she told me as I heard Elijah’s and Sawyer’s feet coming over from the kitchen. I opened my eyes and looked up at their faces, which were filled with comforting smiles, as they came over to me and took a seat, one on either side of me.
Two for me…I thought, feeling more secure than ever as they each placed a hand on my shoulder. My two mates, side by side, there to support me as I gave birth to our first child.
It was tough to believe, but so incredible, that all of this had come together from the rut Elijah and I had been stuck in—from him falling asleep inside of me, the ultimate insult! I chuckled and looked up at him as he squeezed my shoulder.
“Isn’t it crazy?” I asked him, my body momentarily free of labor pains.
“Isn’t what crazy?” he replied.
