“Oh please,” Victor says, rolling his eyes. “You bought him a spot at UPenn and he loafed around Philadelphia for four years, getting drunk at Phillies games –“ “He majored in history!” Henry snaps, his eyes flaring. “He has studied the great military minds of the last four thousand –“ Victor laug
“Come on,” Victor growls, grabbing my hand. “What?!” I say, surprised and a little unwilling. “Where are we going?” “To your house,” he continues, pulling me along. We leave our small pack of luggage behind, the boys running after us as Victor takes long strides around his house towards mine. “Vi
He meets my eyes. “I don’t have a Luna, Evelyn. And it’s totally fair to test that capacity of an Alpha’s abilities – he’s right, that the Alpha functions best as a pair. Without a Luna,” he sighs. “He’s right. It’s incomplete.” I bite my lip, knowing what he’s going to ask, not wanting to…well, no
New Year’s Eve comes faster than I thought it could. The invitations to our last-minute party came back in a flurry, with Alphas cancelling their other plans to come to ours in a waterfall of RSVPs. They’re still curious, I think, to catch up on the drama after Victor’s almost-wedding. I’ve barely
“I know,” I say, looking mournfully back at my house. “And they’re finally old enough to stay up until midnight. They’ll never forgive us.” Victor shrugs, smiling, unwilling to have his mood brought down. “I’ll have you all to myself for once,” he murmurs, looking distractedly back at the house. “I
“Evelyn,” my father says, his face cold as he embraces me with one arm and places a stiff kiss on my cheek. “Happy holidays.” He doesn’t look at me, but instead around at my party with distaste. Bridgette’s formal party, indoors, is more his style.“Evelyn, did you do all of this?” My mother says,
“So it seems,” Walsh says, taking a glass of champagne off a passing try as he and Victor wander to a quiet spot on the far side of the pool. “That a piece of my property went missing about a month ago.”Victor says nothing, placing his hands in his pockets and stopping to stare at this man. Walsh s
When Victor pushes my back door open the next day, he’s greeted with a lazy sight. I’m curled up with the boys on my small sofa. The three of us are a little cuddle puddle of sleepy happiness. “Oh good,” I say, looking up at him and then staring deliberately at the bag of chocolate-covered pretzels
“Me me me,” he says, hardly able to contain his excitement. “My turn, mama. Please.” And he looks down, again, at his little girl. “Well,” I say, shifting her in my arms and leaning forward so Ian can better see her face. She frowns in her sleep, squirming a little and making me smile. “I was think
Several hours later, I’m changed and curled up more comfortably in my bed with Victor by my side, a baby in each of our arms, and our boys curled up like puppies at the end of the bed. Archie is on the bed too, cuddled between them. We sit quietly together, all still focused on the two little babie
“It’s all right, doctor,” I say, giving her a little smile and nodding towards the boys. “We found them.” “Oh my god,” she says, shaking her head and placing a hand over her heart. Then she frowns at them. “How did they…” “Window,” Victor says, gesturing towards it and sighing. “It’s all right. Th
“Come on, Evelyn,” the doctor says confidently as Victor squeezes my hand, his eyes darting between my face and the first baby, which the doula is now wrapping in her first swaddle. “One more push, and then you’ll be done, and you can hold your little girls.” “Okay,” I huff, sitting up and shifting
Slumped on the couch, Ian heaves a gigantic sigh. “What is taking so long,” he mutters, glaring angrily at the steps as if they’ve personally offended him. “You knew it would take a while,” Bridgette murmurs, running a hand over Ian’s soft brown hair and smiling fondly at her nephew. She sighs and
“Oh my god,” Victor gasps, instantly wide awake. “Oh my god,” he says again, grabbing my face and searching it like it has answers. “Are you – are you okay?” “Yes,” I say, nodding but then belying my answer with an immediate moan. I grit my teeth, my hand going to my stomach as I weather the contra
And between them, my three Alphas have kept me sane. Even though every other part of the end of this pregnancy has worked hard against that sanity. Very, very hard. Even though the TV is on, capturing both of our attention, Ian very suddenly turns his head towards my stomach, like a dog hearing a w
As it turns out…I cannot. I cannot spend 3 months in bed, waiting for my babies to be born. Two and a half months later, I’m basically climbing the walls, I’m going so crazy sitting here in this bedroom, waiting for my little girls to be born. I’ve done it this long, though. I’ve stayed in my bedr
“Why?” Victor asks, suddenly serious in the sea of merriment. “Evelyn, why aren’t you here? What’s wrong?” “Um…” she says, her eyes glancing away awkwardly. “Because…I went into early labor…and I’ve been put on bedrest…” The tablet cracks as it falls to the floor. Rafe gasps, reaching down for it