Max and Tyler lifted Angela to her feet, but another contraction took her, and she screamed in pain, leaning over as she grasped at both of them. They held her fast, asking what was wrong. Miriam explained rapidly, urging them all to keep moving. Max swept her into his arms and carried her. A tight knot of wolves surrounded them, ushering them out and away. Angela was too consumed in the battle between the mounting panic for her babies as the contractions kept coming and the relief that her alphas were here to notice where they were going, or that their protectors kept peeling off to fight gangs of enemies coming at them.
By the time they got outside to a van, it was just the women, Max, Tyler and Kristoff. Max buckled her into the back and turned to Tyler.
“Stay with her,” he said and then he was gone.
“Max!” Angela reached out for him, fear crushing her as he raced away. A good dozen wolves were charging at them.
Max didn’t shift. Why didn’t he shift? He skidded to a stop and whipped out two guns, firing rapidly. But then Kristoff slammed the door shut and Tyler was yelling at Sandra to drive. They tore out of there with a lurch that jostled her whole body. Angela clung to Tyler’s sleeve, sobbing as contractions kept coming, faster and faster now. Then there was a shift inside her and a sudden pressure on her pelvis.
“They’re coming,” she gasped.
“No,” Tyler said as he smoothed her hair. “No, it’s okay. Max and the others will hold them off.”
“No!” Angela grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer. “They’re coming!”
Tyler’s eyes widened. His jaw dropped and for a long moment he just stared into her eyes, as though there was nothing else. Then the panic started rising in his eyes, and Angela only clung to him tighter.
Ready or not, these babies were about to be born.
Chapter Seventeen
Angela’s hand clamped down around Tyler’s. Pain surged through his bones, but he bit down on the urge to pull away. He let her squeeze so hard he thought she might break his fingers, trying to tell her everything was okay. Sweat beaded her forehead, her red curls sticking to her skin, and her grey eyes pleaded with Tyler’s.
“It’s happening,” she gasped. “They’re coming.”
“What?” Tyler yelped.
Miriam pushed him aside and pulled down Angela’s pants. Tyler opened his mouth to snap at her, but she was already talking. “She’s right. She’s dilated already.”
The worry creasing Miriam’s brow stopped all protests right then and there. Tyler wrapped an arm around Angela’s shoulders. The foggy sensation of his wolf pushed somewhere in his chest, but the blockers were still too thick in his system for it to be more than a vague impression. If Brian hadn’t told them that his father used to take him fishing at that lake, they wouldn’t have been able to arrive in time.
“Keep breathing,” Miriam said soothingly. “Sandra, get us to a hospital.”
Tyler ground his together. Going to a hospital wasn’t a good idea if they wanted to get away from Seth—he knew what state Angela was in and the first place he’d look was at a hospital.
“Can we—” he started but Miriam cut him off.
“These babies are premature. They need to go to a NICU once they’re born.”
Angela gave a small cry. “But you said it was normal!”
“Based on the information we have, there is a lot of reason to be optimistic,” Miriam replied, sounding oddly cool. “But we have to be prepared for the worst.”
But when Miriam met Tyler’s eyes, he saw only pure, unadulterated panic. His heart thudded against his ribs. If she was that frightened… We need to keep Angela calm, he realized. He kissed her sweaty brow and gave her a smile.
“Everything is going to be fine, my angel,” he promised her. “These kids just can’t wait to be born and kick their dad’s ass.”
Tyler glanced out the window as Angela gave a strangled laugh. Sandra kept glancing in the rearview mirror, and Chloe had both her hands pressed to her mouth. Of course—the blood. He could smell it, just a faint whiff of copper. Chloe must be fighting an overwhelming thirst. He and Max hadn’t gotten her any fresh blood in almost a week.
He shifted slightly, putting himself between Chloe and Angela. She noticed the movement and nodded, as though thanking him.
“We’ve got the head,” Miriam cried, the cool, calmness of her voice slipping a little.
Sandra sped up and stopped looking in the mirror. Tyler held Angela a little tighter. She cried out, curling up her body as Miriam told her to push. Helplessness washed over him. He wanted to take away her pain, to ease her fear and make everything okay. But there was nothing he could do except hold her. To tell her how good she was doing and to kiss her and assure her that everything would be fine.
But would it?
His breath caught in his throat when Miriam held up an impossibly tiny child. It wasn’t even as long as Tyler’s forearm.
“A boy!” she cried, holding him out to Tyler. “Take off your shirt and dry him. Chloe I need you to—”
“She can’t,” Tyler interrupted as he yanked off his shirt and wrapped it around his son. Tiny fists waved in the air and the baby’s eyes were squeezed shut tight. But he wasn’t crying. “Isn’t he supposed to cry? Why isn’t he crying? And what’s this white stuff he’s covered in?”
“It’s called vernix and it protects the baby from amniotic fluid. Start drying him off.” Miriam was still doing something with Angela as she fell back on the van seat, staring with wide eyes at the baby.
Tyler wanted to take a moment to show him to her but instead started to dry him off like Miriam said.
“Faster,” Miriam grunted. “I know they feel delicate, but they’re stronger than you realize. No, even faster.”
Tyler thought be might end up breaking something but did as Miriam said. Suddenly, a cry rent the air. A burst of warmth spread through his chest as he cuddled his son close to his chest. Chloe pulled off her skirt and handed it to him as a blanket. Knowing that another baby was coming soon, Tyler tore the skirt in half before wrapping up the baby.
“And here comes the other little one,” Miriam said, her voice stressed now. He didn’t know what it meant but wasn’t about to ask, hoping that Angela wouldn’t pick up on it.
Miriam gasped as Angela gave a final cry, her loudest yet. She fell back and Tyler stroked the hair from her face, trying to comfort her and hold their son and see the other baby at the same time. This one, Miriam dried off herself. Whimpers filled the air, but they didn’t sound… human. When Tyler finally got a good look, he saw the tiniest wolf pup in Miriam’s hands.
“Take her,” Miriam handed the baby to him. “I have to—”
But she didn’t finish, and Tyler didn’t ask what else needed to be done. As he cuddled both babies to his chest, his little boy shifted from human to wolf form. Then, in unison, both shifted to human form.
Angela reached out a trembling hand and stroked their heads.
“They’ve got nice, healthy lungs,” Miriam laughed as both babies started wailing.
It was a thinner sound than Tyler anticipated, still loud but not the deep sounds that they had on TV. Was it because they were so small? He was afraid they might simply slip through his arms. He instantly knew that Miriam had made the right choice telling Sandra to get to a hospital right away. Now, he wished she would drive faster.
Angela’s skin was almost translucent she was so pale, and her hands dropped to her side. Her grey eyes blinked slowly as Miriam continued to focus on what she was doing. Tyler kept close to his mate, murmuring words to her as she lay there, looking limp and exhausted.
The afterbirth had just been expelled when they got to the hospital. Sandra ran in to tell them what was happening, and doctors and nurses came rushing out. By this time Tyler’s wolf was back. It snarled and growled as the medical personnel took Angela and the babies away.
When one of the nurses stopped him in the waiting room and said he’d have to stay there,
he was tempted to just barrel past her. He would have, too, if Sandra and Miriam both hadn’t grabbed his arms and pulled him back to a chair.
“Let them do their jobs,” Miriam told him, sounding exhausted. “You’ll only get in the way back there.”
Tyler ground his teeth, even though he knew it was true. One thing was certain, though; he wasn’t going to relax until he was with his mate again.
***
Max came striding into the waiting room sometime later. Tyler sprang to his feet, rushing to his partner.
“Where is she?” Max demanded.
Tyler grabbed his arm as though it hadn’t been him just a little while earlier wanting to burst in on the doctors at work. “They had to take her to surgery. She was bleeding pretty bad. The babies—” Tyler cut himself off, uncertain how Max was going to react.
Max grabbed him by the shoulders, a wild look in his eyes. “What about them? Are they okay? Please tell me they’re okay!”
Tyler pulled him into a hug. “They’re okay. They’re in the NICU, but they’re strong. It’s more precaution than anything else.”
“Thank God.” Max sagged against him, then turned to where Sandra and Miriam waited. “The doctors won’t let the others come up. Sandy, you’d better go down before Ian and Theron start ripping things apart to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’ll go with you. Check on Chloe,” Miriam said.
Max nodded. After they were out of earshot, he turned back to Tyler. “Were they hurt?”
Tyler shook his head. He knew what Max meant. “They were kept together. One of the wolves tried to feel up Miriam, but Seth stopped them. Whether he planned to just make them wait in fear or—”
“Don’t think about it.” Max squeezed his hand tightly. “Okay? Just don’t think about it.”
Shakily, Tyler nodded. His wolf whimpered, pulling him toward the doors leading to the rooms again, but he held himself fast where he was. He couldn’t let go of Max. Normally he wouldn’t need this sort of contact, this sort of reassurance, but he found himself utterly unable to keep himself in check unless his hand was touching Max in some way.
It felt like hours later that a doctor came out to tell them that the surgery was successful, that they had repaired the damage to her uterus—when Max asked how she’d gotten damaged in the first place, Tyler explained how their daughter had been born a pup. Clearly, the babies had been shifting in the womb. Almost unheard of.
It was another half hour before they were allowed to go back and see Angela. She was still pale, but the smile that widened her face made Tyler’s chest ache with happiness. He hurried to her side, taking her hand in his and kissing her brow. Max echoed his movement on her other side.
“My wolves,” Angela sighed. “You’re done fighting, right?”
“Yeah,” Max agreed. His voice was thick. “We’re done fighting, Angel. You don’t have to worry about that again.”
Tyler nodded.
Angela smiled, but her smile faded quickly. “What about them? Those wolves…”
“Seth is gone,” Tyler told her. Max had filled him in while they were waiting. “He’s gone for good, my love. He won’t be hurting you or the babies again.”
She nodded, her eyes starting to drift shut again. Tyler’s hand, the one not holding hers, clenched. Brian would be sticking around with the pack for a little while longer. Apparently, Ian had finally gotten ahold of his mother. They’d just been trying for weeks. She told the sheriff just to chuck Brian in jail and leave him there and that she was done trying to take care of him.
It was no wonder Brian was so messed up, with his father being a traitor and terrorist and his mother not caring what happened to him.
“What did he want?” Angela asked, opening her eyes once more. “Why did he take us?”
“We can only guess,” Max murmured softly. “But we think he was trying to build himself a pack. And he was trying to unite the criminals he picked up by besting us and getting a ton of money to boot. It wasn’t personal, he just knew we were tough and figured that they’d be tougher. And he did all that stuff beforehand to scare us, so that we’d be on our guard and he could prove to his new ‘pack’ just how tough he was by putting us on high alert before taking us down.”
“Epic fail,” Tyler added.
“Good.” Angela squeezed his hand tighter. “Love you…”
“I love you, too, Angel,” Tyler whispered, kissing her brow once more.
Max brought her hand to his lips. “As do I.”
Angela sighed and slept again. Neither he nor Max moved from her side, except once. When the nurses came to tell them they could go see the babies. Tyler watched Max nervously as they suited up in protective clothing and were taken in to see the two babies. They were so small and helpless. Tyler felt a well of protectiveness wash over him seeing them again. It was so strong that when Max put his hand on the outside of the incubator, Tyler’s wolf snarled, and he had to stop himself from smacking away his hand.
The wonder and awe on Max’s face were enough to calm whatever fears Tyler had. Max shook his head, unable to take his eyes off them.
“I was so wrong,” he murmured, then looked up with shining eyes. “Angela was right. She was right from the start. I was an idiot. I never should have said any of what I did.”
Tyler gripped his shoulder and laughed. “Angela was right. And I doubt this is going to be the last time, either.”
Chapter Eighteen
The wolf shifters of Devil Mountain did not drop their diligence just because Seth was dead. They still didn’t know what vampires had been involved with him or why, although Sly suspected that he was just trying to lead them off the trail with the vampire involvement. The local clan that had been sticking around moved off finally. There was scant evidence that any other vampires stuck around.
Still, they kept up their guard just in case for the next three months. It was only then that they decided that the vampires had moved on like the rest of the wolves Seth had gathered.
Ian wasn’t too terrible happy with Angela deciding to move in with Tyler and Max for good, but after a strict talking-to in the manner only a big brother could give, he agreed that they did love her and would make her happy. The Paranormal Surrogate Agency had a few things to say about them ending up together, including allegations of fraud, but when they pointed out that the agency still made money on the transaction, they backed off.
The twins were strong and healthy and there had been no more shifting to complicate taking care of them. Max was always amazed by the overwhelming love he felt toward them whenever he saw them. It was more than he’d every anticipated. And when he helped Angela take care of them and saw how happy she was to be a mother, it nearly made him weep.
He had never been so wrong about anything in his life. And he finally agreed that no, they did not need to take a paternity test. These children belonged to all three of them and that was all there was to it.
One day after helping Tyler put the twins down for a nap while Angela rested, he went to the bedroom to find her sitting up in bed, looking at her computer. Max crawled up the bed, kissing her lightly before he checked out what she was looking at.
“Property?” he asked, frowning.
Angela nodded, her face set in determination. “I still want a farm and my own business. I need property for that.”
He stroked a red curl between his fingers. “But you have all of our property now. You can invest directly into your business rather than buying new land.”
She shook her head with a sigh. “Except your property is really small.”
Tyler, standing in the doorway, laughed. He bounded over to jump onto the bed as well. “Is it? We have fifty acres. How else were we supposed to make sure that we didn’t get any unwanted neighbors? Most of it is just trees.”
Angela made an incredulous noise in her throat, staring up at them both in disbelief.
Max kissed her shoulder, smirking at her expression. “We can pull out
the deed if you don’t believe us.”
“That’s not what I don’t believe,” Angela replied, shaking her head. She closed the laptop and lightly smacked Tyler’s arm. “You knew all the plans I had for a farm. Why didn’t you tell me before this that you guys had enough land for me to do whatever I wanted with!”
“I wouldn’t say whatever you wanted,” Max said with a frown. “We want our privacy. And it’s not like we’d be happy if you clear cut the whole property.”
“But enough for me to build the farm I want.” Angela clapped her hands, her eyes lighting up. “We’re gonna have to take a look at the property lines and where everything can go. I want some sheep, that’s the big thing. Just a small herd. And a barn where I can do my spinning and stuff.”
Tyler took the laptop and set it aside before he crawled over her and kissed her deeply. Max hardened at the moan that Angela let out. She tangled her fingers into Tyler’s hair and Max moved closer. He took one of her hands and put it on his crotch while he reached for her. Angela moaned again, lifting her hips slightly.
Three months had passed since the twins had been born. The three of them hadn’t done more than kiss in that time. Partly because it took time for Angela to heal and they wanted to make sure she was fully recovered, partly because they were all exhausted from waking up at all hours of the night to take care of two fussy babies. The twins never seemed to have their schedules synched up. It seemed like there was always one of them crying.
But not right now. Right now, there was silence from the nursery and for once the three of them were here, together. Neither he nor Tyler smelled like a funeral parlor. Max nibbled at Angela’s earlobe, grinning as her massage through his jeans made him harden further. She lifted her hips and he pulled down the elastic band of her pants to slide his hand in.
“You can have more than the land,” Tyler said, holding himself above Angela while one of his hands kneaded her breasts. “We can help you fine-tune your business and marketing plan.”
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