Chapter 5: Three Heartbeats

Ann's POV

For several long seconds, I could only stare at Doctor Mercer as his words echoed through the sterile quiet of the medical room. The world seemed to narrow to a single impossible sound.

Triplets.

The word didn’t feel real. It hovered between us like something too enormous to belong inside my exhausted body. My fingers drifted instinctively toward my stomach, pressing lightly against the thin fabric of the medical gown as though I might somehow feel three separate lives beneath my palm.

“You are certain?” I whispered, barely able to force the words out. “Triplets?”

Doctor Mercer’s expression tightened. He released my hand and turned quickly toward the ultrasound machine, lowering the brightness of the screen before anyone passing the narrow window in the door could glimpse what was displayed.

“I checked four times,” he said quietly. “There are three distinct heartbeats and three separate forms. Two appear stronger and positioned farther forward. The third is smaller, but alive.”

My throat closed around a breath I couldn’t take.

Three babies.

Three innocent lives created from nights I tried desperately not to remember. A sob rose from somewhere deep inside me, but I swallowed it before it escaped. I could not afford to fall apart, not while the doctor kept glancing toward the door as though Reginald might return and tear the truth from him.

“Why did you hide them?” I asked.

Doctor Mercer faced me again. The gentleness in his tired eyes frightened me more than panic would have.

“Because two of them are boys.” Reginald had spoken endlessly about sons. Strong heirs. Alpha heirs. Children who would secure his position and silence every elder who questioned his rule. If he knew I carried two boys, he would never allow me beyond his sight again.

“He will be pleased,” I said numbly. “If you would have told him…”

“He will be obsessed,” Doctor Mercer corrected, his voice dropping into a low, urgent tone. “There is a difference.”

He reached for a clean cloth and wiped the remaining gel from my stomach, but his hands were unsteady.

“Alpha Ashcroft has been desperate for a male heir for years. If he learns you are carrying two, you will no longer be merely useful to him. You will become indispensable.”

I stared down at my stomach, unable to look away.

My first instinct should have been joy. Somewhere beneath the fear, perhaps there was a fragile spark of it, but it was buried beneath layers of dread.

“What will happen to the girl?” I asked quietly.

Doctor Mercer paused.

“Reginald values heirs according to strength and usefulness,” he said carefully. “A daughter may be tolerated, especially if she can eventually be used for an alliance. But the smallest infant is already weaker than the others.”

My hand tightened protectively over my stomach. “No. No one is touching her,” I continued, my voice trembling but fierce. “No one is deciding she matters less because she is small.”

For the first time since I had awakened in the medical wing, something almost like approval flickered across the doctor’s face.

“You are already protecting them,” he murmured.

“They are mine.”

The declaration escaped before I could stop it. For weeks, Reginald had told me my body belonged to him. Logan had called me property. They had taken everything they wanted and left me with nothing except fear, shame and silence.

But these children were inside me.

They were mine. And I wasn’t going to let anyone try to claim them from me.

Doctor Mercer pulled a stool closer and sat beside the bed.

“Listen to me carefully, Ann,” he said. “You cannot allow Reginald to discover the truth until you are far beyond his territory.”

“Beyond his territory?”

“You must leave.”

A bitter, broken laugh escaped me before I could stop it. The doctor flinched at the sound.

“Leave?” I repeated. “There are guards at every entrance. Logan follows me through the estate. Reginald smells fear before I even speak. I cannot walk from one room to another without someone reporting it.”

“Then you do not walk out through the front gate.” Doctor Mercer leaned closer, lowering his voice until it was barely more than breath. “There will be a gathering in several weeks. Alpha Ashcroft is hosting leaders from three neighboring packs. The estate will be crowded, and the guards will be focused on the visiting delegations.”

“You knew about this?” I asked, studying his expression.

“I tend to overhear more than people realize.” His mouth tightened grimly. “No one notices a physician until they need one.”

“I would never make it beyond the border.” I said, shaking my head.

“You might, if you prepare.” Doctor Mercer watched the thoughts moving across my face. “You must not change your behavior,” he warned. “If Reginald senses even the smallest shift, he will become suspicious. You must continue obeying him. Continue appearing frightened. Continue making him believe he has broken you.”

“What about the pregnancy?” I asked. “What if he hears their heartbeats?”

“I will tell him you are carrying one child and that the heartbeat is unusually strong.” He glanced toward the monitor. “I will continue hiding the other two as long as I can, but eventually your body may expose the truth.”

“How long?”

“You are approximately eight weeks along. With triplets, you may begin showing much sooner than expected.”

“So I have a few weeks.”

“Perhaps less.”

The medical wing doors rattled faintly somewhere beyond the room, and Doctor Mercer rose so quickly the stool scraped against the floor. He shut off the ultrasound screen and adjusted the blanket over my legs, his calm mask slipping back into place.

“Do not speak of this to anyone,” he said. “Not another servant. Not a guard. Not even someone you believe hates Reginald… especially not the Beta.”

I looked at him.

“He is Reginald’s mate,” the doctor said. “Whatever conflict exists inside Logan Fisher, his loyalty will always return to the Alpha. Jealousy may make him reckless, but it will not make him safe.”

The doors opened before I could respond.

Reginald entered first, his white shirt stained near the shoulder with dark blood. Logan followed him with a fresh cut running along his jaw and violence still burning in his amber eyes.

Reginald looked from the doctor to me. “Well?”

Doctor Mercer straightened. “The pregnancy is stable, Alpha. The fetus has a powerful heartbeat, but Luna Ann’s body is under considerable strain. She will require rest, increased meals and limited stress.”

Reginald’s gaze slid to my stomach with naked satisfaction. “Male?”

“It is too early to confirm.”

Reginald stepped closer to the bed. His hand settled over my stomach, covering the place where mine had rested moments earlier.

“You hear that?” he murmured, looking down at me. “Strong already.”

I forced myself to keep still, and Reginald smiled. “My heir.”

I lowered my eyes before he could see the hatred burning behind them. He believed there was only one, and he believed the child belonged to him.

And for the first time since the night my life had been stolen, something unfamiliar stirred beneath my terror. It was not hope yet. Hope was too bright and too fragile.

This was quieter. A promise that I needed to make for them…

I would escape.

I give you my word.