LOGINETHANI fought my way through the hallway like my whole life was on fire because it was. My mate was in there. My pups were in there. And a pack of rogues who wanted them dead was trying to reach them.Blood splattered across the white walls. I heard the sound of fangs and claws as bones broke and flesh tore. I didn't think about it. I just moved, fighting and doing what needed to be done.The fear coming through the bond was electric. I could feel Freya's terror and the babies' distress, all of it flooding through me like I was drowning.I burst into her room just as a rogue lunged at her bed.Everything in me went cold with rage. I snatched the wolf off her, tearing it apart with my bare hands, my claws, and my teeth. The other rogue scrambled backward, but I was already moving toward it to finish what needed to be finished.When I turned back to her, Freya was clutching both babies to her chest, her blue eyes wide and terrified, fixed on me like she couldn't believe I was standing
FREYAThe first one came fast, like he couldn't wait to meet us. One moment I was pushing with everything I had, and the next, there he was, looking tiny and perfect, covered in blood and vernix."It's a boy," the doctor said, and they placed him on my chest.I fell apart instantly.It wasn't graceful or beautiful or anything like the way they showed it in movies. It was ugly and desperate and full of a love so fierce that it terrified me. His tiny face was scrunched and red. His dark curls were exactly the same as Ethan's dark curls. His little fists were already clenched like he was ready to fight the world.My son. Our son."Hi, baby," I sobbed, pressing my face against his head, breathing him in like I could keep him inside me if I just held on tight enough. "Oh my God, hi."But I didn't get to hold onto that moment for long. The second twin was still fighting, and the monitor started beeping faster, a sound that made every nerve in my body go rigid."The second one's in distress,
ETHANFreya's screams came through the bond like fire. I felt every contraction like it was happening to me. I felt her pain, her fear, and her doubt equally, and it nearly brought me to my knees in the waiting room.Brian was still here. Of course, he was. And he was watching me with this small, satisfied smile that made my wolf want to rip his throat out.I'd paced for what felt like hours, my whole body vibrating with the need to get back to Freya and make her understand, to somehow force her to believe me through the bond that she was everything to me. That I'd never, never hurt her or hers.Finally, a doctor came out. "She's asking for you," he said. I practically sprinted.Freya looked small in the hospital bed, her black hair plastered to her face with sweat, her blue eyes exhausted and wary. When she saw me, something spread through her face; relief, then doubt, then something that looked dangerously close to despair."Don't ask any questions," I said, climbing into the bed b
FREYAThe hospital room smelled like antiseptic and fear. Machines beeped around me in a steady rhythm that made my skin crawl, and the smell of bleach mixed with something else that reminded me of death waiting in the corner.Twins. Two heartbeats instead of one.The doctor had said the word like it was supposed to be good news. Maybe it was. But right now, with everything falling apart, with those photos of Ethan burned into my brain, I couldn't feel anything but terror.My mind kept playing the images on a loop. Ethan standing near the trees where my brother died. Ethan with his hands—No. He said he was trying to stop it. He'd said that with his eyes locked on mine, and part of me wanted to believe him. The part that was mated to him, the part that felt everything he felt through our bond. But the other part, the smart part, the part that had learned not to trust so easily, kept asking the same question over and over: if he was trying to stop it, why was he standing right there?"
FREYACourt drained us in a way I hadn't expected, the tiredness not coming from fighting but from sitting still while strangers in suits picked apart my family's whole life.I testified on the third day, hands shaking slightly even though I'd promised myself I wouldn't let them see that. I talked about my father, the company he built from nothing, and the years Norwood Pack profited off land that was never legally theirs to take. I told them about my son, asleep at home with Gemma, and how this fight wasn't just about money or pride anymore. It was about protecting what little he had left to inherit."This land is my family's legacy," I told the judge, my voice sounding steady even as my heart pounded. "It belonged to my father, then to me. No corporation gets to take that just because they found a clever angle to do it from."Ethan sat behind me every single day, his presence comforting, even when the questions got ugly, even when the corporation's lawyer tried twisting my words in
FREYAPanic hit me the second the pain rolled through me again, sharper this time, so deep and wrong in a way that didn't feel like anything I'd read about in those pregnancy books Annie kept sending me."It's too early," I kept saying, like repeating it would somehow make it less true. "It's too early, Ethan.""I know, I know. Just breathe." He was carrying me before I even realized my feet had left the ground, moving quickly through the chaos of the mine entrance, shouting orders at anyone close enough to hear him. "Get the medical team ready now!"The car ride back felt like it lasted both ten seconds and ten years. I gripped his hand so hard I probably hurt him, but he never once complained. He just kept talking to me in a warm voice that usually worked to calm me down even when nothing else could."You're doing great," he said. "Our son is strong. He's going to be fine.""You don't know that.""Yes, I don’t," he admitted. "But I need you to believe it with me right now."That was
ETHANI didn't sleep.I drifted in and out for maybe an hour or two before I gave up entirely and went to the war room. The maps were already spread all over the table. Fen had been up all night marking positions."The east side's been holding," he said when I walked in. "The west side is messier.
FREYAEverything stopped.It literally felt like time just slowed down and the whole world held its breath.Annie's eyes found mine the second Lena pressed the gun harder against her head. And Annie, my best friend, the girl who always had the right thing to say, wasn't saying anything. She was jus
ETHANI woke up alone. And I wasn’t just alone, but everything felt wrong.The space beside me was cold and from the bond felt, I could tell Freya was far away and moving fast. I was on my feet before I was fully awake, pulling on clothes as I moved to the window.Her scent was still in the room, b
FREYAMy lips tingled because of the mark. I felt so warm. I'd heard people talk about the mating bond being completed, but nothing had prepared me for how it actually felt. Like every wall I'd ever built had a door in it now, and Ethan held the only key.But there was no time to feel any of it.Th







