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I sat on Doctor Spink’s exam table after all of the x-rays and ultrasounds had been completed. I knew Isaac was nervous because he couldn’t sit down at that moment if he tried. Doctor Spink asked, “Are you having any pain at all now?” I shook my head, “No, just itching from the incision.” She sighed, “Yeah, that’s a common issue. Some lotion with Aloe in it should help that.”Doctor Spink took a deep breath and let it out audibly, “Well, it looks like the surgery was a big success. I see very minimal scar tissue now. There are no obstructions anywhere, so you should be okay to start trying for a baby. I would like to see you again in a year just to make sure the scar tissue didn’t come back. Otherwise, you can see your local doctor for prenatal care.”I smiled through my tears as Isaac held me, “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much we appreciate this.” She chuckled, “Oh, I think I do.” Isaac had tears falling as he shook the doctor’s hand, “Thanks so much, Doctor. This means
One week later, I was eating breakfast with my mate and Aadi when a queasy feeling took over my body. I rushed to the bathroom and lost every bit of the breakfast I had eaten. As I rinsed my mouth and used mouthwash, Onyx advised, “You should go to the doctor today.” I smiled, “I will do that. Thanks.”I went back to the table and drank more coffee. Aadi smiled, “Are you going to the doctor today?” I chuckled, “Onyx is telling me to, so I guess I better go.” Isaac asked, “Do you want me to come with you?” I nodded, “I think you should.”He asked, “What are we going to the doctor for?” I raised my brows at him, “You didn’t know what I was doing in the bathroom?” He shook his head, “To be honest, I was mind linking Stone with something I needed him to do today.” I smiled, “I’m pretty sure we are going to have a baby.”Isaac jumped out of his chair and let out a huge celebratory howl then knelt by my chair to look me in the eyes, “Are you sure?” I nodded, “Onyx is telling me I am and tha
“Thank you, Miss Franklin. I’ll tell mom you need to talk to her,” I assured as I walked out of the general store.Miss Franklin is the little grey-haired lady who owned the store. It was more than just a small grocery store to this little town. It was also the gas station, video rental, and a deli-style sandwich shop.Besides the bait shop and canoe rental next to the river two miles away, it was the only business in our town.Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas is a tiny town in neutral territory.It’s a town that has a great sense of community and it’s very close-knit.My parents always told me they didn’t like being in their old pack because the alpha didn’t pay the omegas for their work and treated them like dirt.They always told me that if I ever wanted to join a pack, make sure to ask if the omegas are paid.That was a good way to tell if it was a good pack.My parents were loving and doted on me, as the only child, but they never spoiled me.As unaffiliated wolves, they couldn’t afford
I kept hearing a beeping sound.When I opened my eyes, the lights were way too bright so I put my hand over my eyes.I heard a sweet woman’s voice, “Hey, sweetheart, you’re awake! Let me dim the lights a little for you.”The voice sounded so familiar, but I couldn’t place it.I slowly opened my eyes and found an older couple sitting on either side of the bed.I remembered seeing both of these people at my last birthday party, “Grandma?” I asked then turned to the man, “Grandpa?”They both nodded.Grandma asked, “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”“Thirsty. The rogues killed mommy and daddy. Didn’t they?” I croaked. I knew they were dead, I just needed to hear it from someone else.As soon as I saw the worried look on each of their faces, I knew they were dead.My grandmother poured a cup of water for me and put a straw in it while my grandfather kissed my forehead.Their hands were warm and comforting.As I was drinking, I was informed by grandpa that they had made arrangements for me
Life after losing my parents was hard, but I quickly learned to move on. Having my grandparents and Isaac by my side helped me to move on more than I ever imagined possible. When I started Junior High School, five young ladies barged into my personal space and never walked out. My best friends, Wendy, Paula, Mandy, Chrystal, and Kari ran with me every morning, no matter the weather. With time, we started running five miles every school day and ten miles one day a week. I came to love that burn in my muscles after a run. It became one of my favorite ways to get rid of the images that plagued my memories and dreams of my parents. It was a constant fight to keep them beaten to the back of my mind. That caused a lot of anger issues that used to happen occasionally. Alpha Kenny and Isaac started running with us on weekends when they had time. Isaac and I were still considering each other friends, but my feelings for him had never changed. I had sensed the same with him. I could feel
Zariah’s POV~Three Years Later~“This is a really boring job.” Isaac whined. He and I have been practicing gymnastics with his cousin, Abby, for the last couple hours. Abby and I had been using him as our spotter.I laughed as I stood at the end of a very long mat, “You think it’s boring? Okay, spot me. You might want to start up here and keep up with me.”I waited for him to stand slightly ahead of me, and to the side. I started with three back handsprings and ended with a very high triple flip on the way to the mat, landing on my feet.Isaac kept yelling, “Wait up!” When I went airborne with my triple flips, he yelled, “How am I supposed to spot that?”As I landed, I laughed, “Just don’t let me fall. That’s all. Like this. Be ready. I am going to mess up on purpose and you need to catch me.” He was very serious as he nodded, “Okay.” I extended my arms over my head and started to go into a back flip, but I didn’t complete it.I jumped high and basically laid flat. He caught me with
I woke with a start and looked around in the dark.I could hear glass breaking from the first floor and voices on the second floor. My first thought was, “Again?”I called Alpha Kenny and whispered, “I need you to come over… quickly. It sounds like there are more than three people this time. They are on both floors.”Alpha Kenny answered, “We’ll be there in a minute. Don’t do anything until we get there.” I quietly got out of bed and crawled to the master bathroom, whispering “I’m in the master bathroom. I’ll be listening for you.”As I sat there on my bathroom floor, I kept hearing footsteps upstairs.Then, there was one thing that stood out to me: I didn’t smell the usual smell of weeks-old garbage that rogues normally carried on them.I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it did sound like there was a clear leader among them.As minutes passed, I heard one ask if they opened every door… including closets.I could tell there was at least one in my bedroom because I heard him
Selene continued, “You and your mate will be able to combine your powers to help your warriors defeat the witches.“There are also a couple other packs who want to take Onyx and you for their own benefit.“Depending on the alpha’s choices and your pack’s success in preventing his warriors from going back, you will only have up to one year to prepare for that war.“It’s hard to tell with one of them. He’s not the brightest of my children and he is very unpredictable. I would give him a second chance mate, but he is a very cruel man too. He has been slowly turning feral since his mate was killed ten years ago. I’m afraid I’m going to have to take his wolf from him soon. His wolf does not deserve this.“The other alpha is just a very greedy man and always has been. He rejected his mate in order to take a chosen mate for more power.“He is also very cruel to the omegas in the pack. You may have less time to prepare for him. Alpha Kenny is doing the right thing by keeping warriors around y
One week later, I was eating breakfast with my mate and Aadi when a queasy feeling took over my body. I rushed to the bathroom and lost every bit of the breakfast I had eaten. As I rinsed my mouth and used mouthwash, Onyx advised, “You should go to the doctor today.” I smiled, “I will do that. Thanks.”I went back to the table and drank more coffee. Aadi smiled, “Are you going to the doctor today?” I chuckled, “Onyx is telling me to, so I guess I better go.” Isaac asked, “Do you want me to come with you?” I nodded, “I think you should.”He asked, “What are we going to the doctor for?” I raised my brows at him, “You didn’t know what I was doing in the bathroom?” He shook his head, “To be honest, I was mind linking Stone with something I needed him to do today.” I smiled, “I’m pretty sure we are going to have a baby.”Isaac jumped out of his chair and let out a huge celebratory howl then knelt by my chair to look me in the eyes, “Are you sure?” I nodded, “Onyx is telling me I am and tha
I sat on Doctor Spink’s exam table after all of the x-rays and ultrasounds had been completed. I knew Isaac was nervous because he couldn’t sit down at that moment if he tried. Doctor Spink asked, “Are you having any pain at all now?” I shook my head, “No, just itching from the incision.” She sighed, “Yeah, that’s a common issue. Some lotion with Aloe in it should help that.”Doctor Spink took a deep breath and let it out audibly, “Well, it looks like the surgery was a big success. I see very minimal scar tissue now. There are no obstructions anywhere, so you should be okay to start trying for a baby. I would like to see you again in a year just to make sure the scar tissue didn’t come back. Otherwise, you can see your local doctor for prenatal care.”I smiled through my tears as Isaac held me, “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much we appreciate this.” She chuckled, “Oh, I think I do.” Isaac had tears falling as he shook the doctor’s hand, “Thanks so much, Doctor. This means
The drive home would have been excruciating if they hadn’t pumped me full of painkillers before we left. Doctor Spink knew that we had a three-hour drive ahead of us, so she tried to make sure it would be as comfortable as possible and I was so thankful.When we got home, I was gently lifted and placed in my wheelchair, then I was pushed into our house. We were immediately met by Aadi. She asked, “Does she have meds?” Isaac answered, “I need to pick them up from the pharmacy. They loaded her up on pain meds before we left.”Aadi nodded, “She should probably be in bed then. I will take care of her while you go get the meds.” Isaac kissed my forehead, “I’ll be back as soon as possible, love.” He walked out the door and I sighed, “That man is my life. You know that Aadi?” She chuckled, “I know that Zariah. You are his too.”She started pushing my wheelchair into the bedroom when Blaine rolled up to us, “Aadi, will you need help transferring mom?” Aadi chuckled, “I don’t know. She won’t b
I shook my head, “There is absolutely no way that could happen, son. You guys are just as much my real children as the unborn ones are. I have never had a favorite child and I will never start. The pack knows this too. That means, Blaine, no matter what sex our future children are, you will still be the Alpha heir. You are the one the Goddess wants leading this pack.”Blaine shrugged, “Then I guess I’m all in.” I smiled, “Thank you, son.” Isaac smiled, “I’m really proud of you both. Your mom was super worried about hurting your feelings. We even agreed that if you were not okay with us having a baby, we wouldn’t even try.”Heather furrowed her brow, “Mom, why would you do that?” I shrugged, “Because I want you two to feel like you are part of our family, even if it means not doing something I want. But that’s what parents do all the time.”Blaine gave me one of the most serious looks that I have ever seen and I even felt a little alpha aura come out, “Mom, don’t ever sacrifice your hap
I gasped, “Are you serious?” Doctor Spink answered, “I’m very serious. There is a lot of scar tissue, but it hasn’t started affecting your uterus or ovaries. We may need to have you take some hormones to be able wake up your ovaries. Are you still having your periods regularly?” I nodded, “Yes.”She smiled, “This may not be so hard on you. The recovery from your surgery can be painful, but I can give you medicine for that.” I suddenly heard Onyx in my head, “If she can get rid of all that scar tissue, I can prepare our uterus and ovaries. No hormones necessary. They will just make both of us moody.”I asked, “How soon can we do the surgery?” She asked, “Have you eaten or drank anything other than water this morning?” I answered, “No. I figured you would need fasting blood work.” She smiled, “Good. I would like to have your pre-operative blood work today and schedule your surgery for ten days from now. Does that sound good to you?” I nodded, “That will give me time to prepare for it.”S
Three months LaterAfter three months of going to Iced Moon Pack to see our grandbabies and to help Lena and Lucas settle into their new roles as parents, we finally had a little more free time. It’s hard enough to adjust to the new life with one child. I couldn’t imagine how it would be with three. They have already started sleeping through the night, so I felt better about less frequent visits.Once we were able to stop going up there so often, Isaac took me to see a special OB/GYN surgeon in Saint Louis. He led me to the office and he checked me in. The receptionist gave me a clipboard with a questionnaire to complete and we went to the waiting room. I finished completing the form just in time for the nurse to walk out and call my name.Isaac pushed my wheelchair as we followed the nurse to an exam room. She shut the door and turned to us, “I’m Julie. I am Doctor Spink’s nurse. I just need to go over some information with you and I need to take your vital signs.” I nodded, “Okay.”A
We got a big surprise. Well, Heather wasn’t surprised, but she kept it a secret. We have three new grandbabies! Triplets! Lena had two boys and one girl. Blaine was so excited to have two nephews and a niece to spoil. Isaac and I were over the moon.The first baby born was a boy, Joshua Douglas, weighed just five pounds, six ounces. For a triplet, that’s a big boy. The next baby was a girl, Isabel Zariah, weighed just three pounds, ten ounces, and was in an incubator for a few days. They wanted her to gain at least one pound before she left the hospital. Finally, Kenneth Isaac weighed four pounds, twelve ounces and also spent a little time in an incubator to get him to gain a little weight.Isabel and Kenneth got to go home four days after Joshua. We were so excited to spend time cuddling with each of them before we had to go home. As I held each of them, I started wishing I had been able to have a child of our own. I started to get depressed but talked myself into putting that energy
Seven Months LaterI pushed my wheelchair as fast as I could from our bedroom to the living room and yelled throughout the house on the way, “Is everyone ready to go? We need to get to Lena!” Isaac, jogging behind me, started chuckling, “Slow down, love. The babies will come whether we are there on time or not.” I sighed, “But I want to be there as soon as they are born. We need to go.”Blaine’s tires squealed as he came to a stop in the living room, “I’m ready to go. We’re just waiting for Heather and Aadi.” Aadi joined us, “Franco will join us outside. He already got someone to cover his patrols for the next couple days.”I smiled, “He has been a real advantage for our warriors. We need more bird shifters.” Aadi laughed, “I got really lucky. He’s a very good mate. He loves all of you because you are my family.” I gushed, “Aw. He’s already part of our family too.”Heather rushed to the living room and yelled, “Okay! I’m ready! I even remembered my presents for the babies!” I asked, “W
Six weeks laterThe past six weeks have been an adjustment period for all of us. Blaine and Elizabeth have been looking for reasons to see each other, driving us all crazy. We have finally resorted to letting them take turns, every other weekend, taking our packs’ private jets to the other pack. We told each of our pilots they were not allowed to go anywhere else.We felt Lena’s absence each time we sat at the table to eat dinner and each time we loaded up in the truck. Blaine and Heather loved having the extra room in the back seat. Heather was very vocal about her opinion on Lena’s absence the first couple weeks. Thankfully, she has let up on that. Now my heart can heal and let my daughter live her best life.Isaac and I have felt her absence a lot. She always had such a different way of thinking about solutions to problems that we looked forward to getting her input. Heather, however, has another way of finding solutions. Her oracle abilities allow her to see the best solutions or t