Mag-log inTysonThe sound of porcelain shattering on the hardwood felt like an explosive going off in my ears.My ceramic mug hit the rug, cold cider splashing across the floorboards, but I was already moving. My boots cleared the low coffee table in a single vault, the tea tray rattling against the cedar as my wolf surged to the surface with a deafening roar.I caught Rose under her arms before her knees even grazed the shattered ceramic."Tyson... the twins..." Her voice broke, small, shaking, and terrified. "They're coming right now."I looked down.Clear fluid was pooling across the dark pine planks, soaking straight through the hem of her plum sweater dress.Every single thought in my head went dead quiet, wiped clean by blinding adrenaline."I've got you," I rasped, scooping one arm under the bend of her knees and tucking her back securely against my chest, lifting her clear off the ground. She felt impossibly light, yet full of the lives of our two babies kicking wildly beneath her ribs.
Rosemarie"Director Wilton, if you do not get off your feet this instant, I swear to the Goddess I will superglue your behind to this velvet armchair."I reached up without turning around, stretching as far as my swollen arms could go, trying to hook a sparkling silver garland over the carved pine mantle."Martha, I am pregnant, not paralyzed. The mantle looks crooked on the left side.""The mantle has looked crooked for fifty years, child! Sit down!"Martha was trailing two inches behind me, dragging a padded dining chair across the floorboards with an annoying wooden screech. At eight months with twins, my stomach entered the room five business days before the rest of my body did. I was wearing an oversized plum-colored knit sweater dress that stretched tight over the massive, round basketball under my ribs, and my ankles had officially surrendered to gravity.Still, the fortress was buzzing for the annual Northern Winter Solstice Feast, and there was no way I was spending the whole
RexWhite primer was caked under my fingernails, and my lower back burned with every step.I dropped the empty plastic bucket into the bed of the pickup truck with a dull clatter, wiping the side of my face with a paint-speckled rag. Across the small square, the newly restored Blackwood community clinic gleamed in the afternoon sun. Fresh cedar siding, newly glazed double-pane windows, and a copper weather vane spinning slowly in the breeze.Two months ago, this block had been a graveyard of moldy drywall, shattered glass, and broken promises left behind by Tracy's embezzling cronies.Today, the double doors were open. The heat was humming through the floor vents, the shelves in the pharmacy were stocked with northern medicine, and a handful of local families were walking up the wheelchair ramp with their kids."Alpha Rex!"Mrs. Henderson, a mother of three whose youngest boy had nearly choked to death on mold spores during the autumn rains, bustled down the wooden steps. She was hold
RosemarieSeven months in with twins, and I was basically a beached whale.There was zero point in pretending otherwise. My belly stuck out so far I hadn't seen my own toes in three weeks. My ribs felt like they were being used as punching bags, my lower spine throbbed nonstop, and rolling over in bed was a full-blown cardio workout that required three pillows, two groans, and a prayer.And right now, at exactly two in the morning, my life was officially over.I sat flat on the cold kitchen floor, leaning my back against the lower cabinets, staring at the ripped, tragic plastic wrapper in my trembling hands.Empty.Not a single green one. Not even an orange one.Just a couple of sour sugar crystals clinging to the plastic seams."Are you kidding me?" I choked out, a hot, angry tear spilling over my eyelashes.I checked the pantry shelf again from where I was sitting, but I already knew the truth. Leo had taken the last handful for school yesterday, and Martha hadn't restocked yet.The
TysonYou could smell him from ten feet away.It was wild. Yesterday he was just my little buddy who couldn't stop whining about itchy bones and popsicles, but this morning? The kid was practically radiating.I walked Leo up the paved path toward the front gates of the pack academy, my hands casually tucked into the pockets of my dark jacket. Usually, Leo would be skipping, tripping over his untied sneakers, or rambling about some level on his video game.Not today. Today, the kid was marching like he owned the whole block.His little chin was poked out, his curls were combed back, and rolling off his tiny navy blazer was that fresh, unmistakable scent of awakening Alpha energy. It smelled like crushed pine needles, crisp ozone, and iron."Look at them staring, Dad," Leo muttered under his breath, not turning his head, trying to sound like a grown-up bodyguard. "Are they scared of me?""They're not scared, kiddo. They're just surprised," I chuckled, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Yo
Rosemarie"Mommy..."The tiny, cracked whisper barely made it past the monitor on my nightstand.I was out of bed before my eyes even fully opened. Carrying twins at six and a half months meant getting up was usually a ten-step operation, but panic has a way of making you forget about a bruised pelvis and swollen ankles.I grabbed my thick knit robe off the chair, tying the belt loosely over the round curve of my belly, and rushed straight down the dim master hallway."Leo?" I whispered, pushing his bedroom door open.The room smelled weird, nothing like the usual kid soap, school shoes, and laundry detergent. The air felt thick and humid. It carried a strange, static-electric tang that made the tiny hairs on my arms stand straight up, almost like a summer thunderstorm was trapped inside the four walls.Leo was curled into a tight little ball in the middle of his twin bed.He had kicked the down comforter halfway onto the floor, but he was still shivering so hard the wooden frame was







