2. Thirty- four

~ Harper’s POV ~

I frowned at the map laid out in front of me. The map depicted the large area of this pack, with the boundary highlighted and various important landmarks marked with an appropriate color. This map was the most updated version of our pack grounds and was made by a skilled cartographer who had been richly awarded for his efforts.

Dad had called a meeting with the high-ranked wolves and some of his most trustworthy fighters. The room was filled with fifteen people, my parents, the old and new beta couple and the rest were fierce and loyal warriors.

This meeting was called due to the alarming presence of the group of rogues who had murdered Elijah, left a creepy note, and attacked me. One of the wolves had detected the presence of rogues near the southwest border which caused an uneasiness in the rest of the pack.

It was confirmed after investigation that there were indeed rogues sniffing around in that area. We had detected so many different smells which didn't belong to any pack member.

Dad was worrying, I could see it in his furrowed and tense expression. His body was rigid and his eyes blank as he leaned against the windows.

My mom looked tired all the time now. Granted that being in the third semester, your body undergoes a lot of changes and the weight of the baby slows you down, but she shouldn't be going through this right now. Her previous miscarriages and false alarms went through my mind, some of which happened when I could fully discern what was happening around me. The last thing she should be doing was to sit in a pack meeting and worry about rogues.

"We could increase border security and for that, we will have to pull more wolves from their homes for the job." Aiden's father spoke up. He would continue to sit in pack meetings for another six months during which he would guide Aiden and Samantha to recognize and fulfill their roles to the best of their capacity.

"I think it will be best if we revise our patrolling strategies." Samantha mused. It had only been a week since their coronation since she and Aiden had finally become the beta couple and everyone was in awe of how they worked together like a well-oiled machine. They knew each other's thoughts before the other spoke and they were good at catching on to the problems and technicalities in a situation. It looked as if they had been mates for decades instead of a few short months.

They were what mate goals looked like and a wave of jealousy and burned through me at the thought. I quickly put a lid on the boiling kettle of my thoughts as I reminded myself that we were discussing more important matters than my estranged mate. A matter that could potentially cost the lives of my pack mates.

"What do you mean?", Robb, one of the oldest warriors in the pack asked. We had been following the same plan for patrolling for many years now and it has proved to be fruitful to this date, so questioning the plan was a pretty bold move. 

I was proud of Samantha for calling out something she thought wasn't working to its full capacity. As the beta female, she should have a spine and not be scared away by the much more experienced and older warriors.

"Explain yourself!" I demanded with a hint of a smile on my face, to get rid of any reservations she would have about speaking in front of so many high-ranked wolves.

She gave me a small smile in return. She got up from the couch she was sharing with Aiden and I noticed the subtle squeeze he gave her as a vote of confidence. 

My heart clenched as I saw the simple yet meaningful exchange of affection and support between mates. My wolf whimpered as he reminded me that at some point in my life, I had that too and I had no idea if I would ever get it any time in the future.

She walked to the table in the middle of the room where the map was displayed and I was standing. She stole a glance at the map and then picked up a pencil from the Alpha's desk where my momma sat, her expression one of curiosity.

With confidence, she marked fifteen spots along the boundary of the pack, which had almost equal distance between them. If one were to connect these dots, the product would be the perimeter of our pack.

"At all of these points, we could post two of our experienced and ruthless warriors. These points would then act as sentry posts, obviously without the architect and everything."

"The patrolling guards would move between any two posts and only these posts, which would result in every sport of the perimeter being covered. There will be less chances of disputes and better chances of catching the rogues. Moreover, we won't need to employ more wolves, who as it is aren't very good at fighting. This plan would employ the use of a total of forty-five wolves but the basic plan is to make the guards oscillate between two sentry points." Samantha finished with that and her gaze nervously moved around the room, eager to hear any feedback from the older wolves.

Her words moved around in my head as I processed them. What she made sense because it would allow every part of the pack boundary to be guarded. Less wolves will be employed which will mean that everyone will be more alert and ready if an actual emergency were to happen.

This plan was perfect but I wasn't going to voice my thoughts right now. The realization that the idea was brilliant should come to everyone in the room on their own accord and not because their future alpha told them it was. That wasn't good leadership and this way the elders will finally believe that Samantha was here to say and could think like the smart girl she was.

"I think we should go for it." Evelyn, the only female warrior in the room said. All heads turned to her but she seemed unphased by all the attention. "It makes sense and solves all of our problems. It is the perfect way to blend our best warriors who know how to fight and the pack guards who aren't so good at combat."

"We can even take turns at the boundary because as the beta female said, this plan would need less than fifty males and right now we use up to a hundred wolves." Xavi nodded; his voice heavy due to the damage his vocal cords had faced in some previous rogue attack decades ago.

I was pleased that I was surrounded by such good leaders and that my pack was going to be in very good hands, once I became the alpha. 

Everyone nodded in affirmation and Samantha beamed at being accepted unanimously. Aiden looked proud of his mate and I quickly looked away at the moment they were sharing, not willing to let my emotions get the best of me. Again.

Suddenly, Mom cried out in pain and clutched her pregnant belly. Her cries of pain shook everyone in the room and without knowing I crouched in front of her. I stared horrified as blood trickled down her legs as she started to get up. Now, I may not be a doctor but I knew that this wasn't a good thing.

Her knees suddenly grew weak, she cried out in pain and would have fallen on the ground had it not been for Dad who was standing behind my mother, holding her up.

His expression was terrified, his eyes wide and mouth agape. "Harper, alert the pack doctor."

I nodded and ran down the pack house and into the clinic, which was a block away. I shouted at the pack members to clear the way and I saw Dad carrying my sobbing mom into his arms. 

I had no time to react or feel anything as I stormed inside the small clinic, which was well-equipped to handle these kinds of cases. I quickly rambled the details of my mother's pregnancy and brought the female doctor up to speed. 

She nodded as I rattled the words and I noticed she had quickly arranged a gurney and asked the nurse to keep extra units of blood on standby.

My dad entered the clinic and put her gently on the gurney in front of her. She cried out in pain and I saw in horror that the yellow sundress she was wearing was not drenched in blood.

No, this cannot happen again.

The doctor told us that she would have to operate on my mom and do an emergency C-section because the baby was in distress and needed to be out of the womb as soon as possible.

My father must have nodded and given his verbal consent because the next thing I knew, I was standing at the doors that separated the O.R. floor and the waiting room. 

I was completely numb and didn't know what was wrong with Mom. One minute she was happy and participating in the meeting and the next she was crying out in pain while holding her belly.

I turned to my right to see that my dad was slumped in the seat beside me. When did I even sit down and when did he sit down beside me?

I couldn't even begin to comprehend what must have been going through his mind. His mate and the future child were inside the operation room, fighting for Life, while he was here, helpless and terrified out of his mind.

I accepted the coffee which was handed to me by some pack member, whose face I didn't recognize. I swept my gaze over the people in the waiting room but I wasn't seeing them. My senses were on overdrive and I had no idea what was happening.

My thoughts involuntarily moved to Zara and I couldn't help but fist my hands. Zara was a human and something like this would be infinitely much worse for her. Her fragile body wouldn't be able to stand the strain a werewolf fetus would put on her. Maybe I was writing to reject her because I would have died waiting for her every time something like this happened. I would have slowly killed her and myself and the strain that it would put on her body and our relationship would be too humongous to even consider.

After two hours, the doors to the waiting room opened and the doctor came out. How these doctors perfected this mask of indifference was beyond me. I couldn't make out anything from their expression and it unnerved me.

I got up and took a deep breath of relief when I heard the doctor say, "They both did well. Would you like to meet them?"

It was like an out-of-body experience because relief flooded my body and the adrenaline high in my body faded. I closed my eyes and followed my dad as he followed the doctor and listened intently to what the doctor was saying. 

I was in shock and in no state to hear medical terms. I just knew that I had to see my mom and my baby sibling.

We walked into the hospital room where Mom was asleep and in recovery while a small bed stood beside her large one.

Dad's steps faltered as he took notice of the small bundle lying in the small bed while my legs subconsciously took me to it.

I gazed down at the small sleeping baby who looked perfectly healthy, even though she was premature and tears threatened to fall from my eyes.

"Congratulations Alpha Sebastian. You have a beautiful and healthy baby girl."

I smiled with blurry eyes and took her small hand in mine. The overwhelming urge to protect and love her swarmed in my body and I chuckled as she coughed. 

Dad had come up behind me and he squeezed my shoulder as he looked down at his baby girl. He had waited decades for this feeling and it was finally here.

He moved to sit beside Momma and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Katelyn Rose Cain, welcome to this world," I whispered gently, making sure to not disturb the tiny human that was my sister.