I groan in agony as Kieran carries my dying body back into the clubhouse. I'm laid next to my baby brother who is also dying; because I couldn't get to him fast enough. "I'm so fucking sorry." I manage to whisper in his mind. Xavier smiles as he places his hand on top of my head. My body always runs hot, but now I'm ice cold. Colder than a vampire. My eyes grow heavy. My body is lifted at the same time as Xavier's. My breathing is ragged and coming slower. It's getting harder and harder to breathe. Sunlight hits my face as the world goes black. I smell smoke and the rancid smell of burning flesh. My eyes won't open. My body hurts all over. My hound is quiet and dormant. The cold seeps into my veins. I pry my eyes open just a crack and the room is pitch black. It almost feels as though I'm back in Purgatory. Between the cold and pain; I'm too weak to fight. It's the same feeling that Remi described having. Pain shoots through my chest, shoulder and stomach as I try to move. I groan.
When I reach the sitting room the screaming and yelling is not what I expected to hear. How did us all coming together to protect Remi and the twins turn into this? What could have caused everyone to be at each other's throats? I stand just outside the room listening."You're pregnant, Remi! You shouldn't have placed yourself or the twins in harms way! Do you know how Aiden would've felt if you would've gotten hurt or killed?" My mother shouts. "Heaven forbid you had lost the twins! Do you know what that would've done to you and Aiden? Do you care how it would've affected the rest of us?" My mother rants some more. She's so angry you can hear the angry tears that females get in her voice. "I didn't forget that I'm fucking pregnant! And I didn't loose the twins! My mate was dying! My best friend was dying! Do you not give a shit that both of your sons were dying? Do you have any idea how I was feeling at being able to see it all unfold and being helpless to stop it? I did what the he
"You all look horrified and appalled. We're about to school Gunner in the Gunner's book of fairness. First lets start by stating facts. Mace is not your female. You've not sealed a mating bond with her. Secondly, you can't even be sure the child she carries is yours. Now for all the transgressions she has inflicted upon my mate. Mace helped create a poison that nearly killed Remi and the twins. Everyone believes she set Bael, her father and Remi's stalker free. The same Bael that organized the attack on the clubhouse three days ago. An attack meant to either kidnap or kill Remi and my unborn children. Has Mace been punished for any of her crimes against Remi and my unborn children?" I look around the room and eyes fall down to the floor. "Huh, I guess no one has anything to say about that. Well here's where we get to the fairness part. Since you want me to punish my pregnant mate for her crimes against Mace. I'm going to ask you how you'd have me punish her. I want you to think long
I climb in my Jeep and peel out of the drive way. I don't know where to go. I can't go home to the house Aiden and I share because they will look there first. My father's compound will be second. 318 is out of the question as well. I bang my hands against the steering wheel in my frustated state. I have no fucking where to go. Payne starts to argue. We shouldn't have left our mate. We almost lost him. We should be with him. We should've told those who thought themselves worthy of judging us to kiss our ass and go to hell.All I can do is repeat the same thing over and over. I'm not you! I drive until I find a hotel the next town over. I reach into my glove box and pull out my emergency credit card and driver's license. When I get to my room, I flop down on the bed. I'm exhausted. I go to reach for my phone, but realize in my haste to leave; I didn't grab it. Guess that's a good thing. They won't be able to track me. I head to the shower and wash the day away. I hate that I have to p
"Tell that to all the pissed off paras that sit around discussing how dispicable my actions were. Or how I shouldn't be allowed to rule along side Aiden." "Aiden, Weston, Blaze, Gunner and Skullz didn't spend all that time training you for you to be the type of female to back down from a fight. They trained you to be the type of female to fight back. And that's what you did. Blaze, Weston, and Skullz are so proud of the way you came in to help when there was no time to wait for backup. I'm proud of you. Your mother would be proud of you. We raised you to be the type of rule to fight along side your men. Not to hide behind them.""Gunner and Aiden, are not proud of me. Gunner hates me and thinks me a monster. He yelled it at me in front of everyone. Aiden, at least waited until we were behind closed doors before he climbed down my throat about it. You can shower me with all the pretty words you want, but that's all they are. Pretty words you have to tell me because you are my father.
Damn it! I should've shifted before I went in search of Remi when I woke up after the fight. Then maybe when she ran away; she wouldn't have gotten away so easily. I fucked up! Again! I own that shit! I'm still a limping dumbass when I get a call from Xavier. The loud thumping hypnotic beat of music blares through the phone. Xavier yells over the music. "Bro, she ain't here!""Check again!" I growl. I know it's not his fault. I shouldn't be upset with him. But he's here so he catches the brunt of my anger and frustration. "I've checked everywhere! Twice! I'm going to check Tianna's place. Then I'll go over to Nan's. Maybe she's got into contact with Tianna, and Tianna got her to go to one of the two places.""Thanks, Xavi!""FYI, I'm tired of fixing all your fuck ups with my girl." "She ain't yours! She's mine!" Thunder booms from my voice rattling the chandelier. "Remi, maybe your mate! But she was my girl, first!" Before I can say anything else he hangs the phone up in my fucki
Kallista screams bloody fucking murder."I don't want to be here with ungrateful and disloyal fucking paras. Take me home then!""We were never disloyal!" My mother yells at Kallista. "Oh yeah! Tell that to my neice Remi! If you ever fucking find her! Because from where she and I stand; disloyatly was a very fucking good reason for her to leave! She's used to people like the lot of you being ungrateful! It's the fact that her loyalty was being called into question! When it was your loyalty that should be questioned! Remi's loyalty to this fucking MC, her mate, and her twins is what made her join that fucking fight! Her loyalty and her love! And you all ruined it!" Kallista screams right back. I thank all that is holy Kallista is only a sixteen year old child. Had she been eighteen my mother could challenge her for her disrespect. Before I can protest. Kallista says. "I'm leaving!" Her and Blaze blink out of existence. "Great! Just fucking great! Now I have two fucking females, Bla
My parents sit there stunned and silent. My mother was always the thinker. The quiet one. Where my father was the loud one. The type of male to act first then ask questions later. That's why I can't get my head wrapped around the fact my mother turned against Remi. The one she claims to love like a daughter. No matter what my mother has always had all of our backs. Right or wrong. And now when Remi needed her most; she turns on her. Something doesn't add up for me. After a quick trip through my father's head; I can see it puzzle's him too. I call off the search for Remi and have everyone head back to the clubhouse. Weston "The Reaper" takes off with Skullz hot on his heels. Reaper stops at the doorway looking at me as if he has something to say"What Reaper?" I growl my mood still not having improved even knowing that she is okay. I won't consider her safe until she is back by myside. "I have an idea where she might be. Me and Skullz will stand guard for the night. Don't worry. If s
"I have a question. How do we know Skullz isn't the traitor and you're both helping Chance and Bael?" Gunner asks standing along side Aiden and Xavier who have taken up the position of blocking me from Vlad and Skullz view. "If we were the one's working for Bael and Chance; your sister and the twins would be on their way to hell with Bael. Not sitting in a room specifically designed for her to give birth comfortably. I wouldn't have invited you all here to figure out our next move or even told you we are her mates as well. If I was conspiring against you."Skullz stands there with his head hung low. When he raises his head his eyes lock on mine. I see the questions in his eyes. Do I trust him? Do I care for him as I always have? Can there ever be more between us? The answer is yes, I trust him. Skullz has been a part of my life almost as long as Aiden has. Skullz has proven time and time again he would lay down his own life for mine. I don't have to question his loyalty or devotion.
I shove away from Skullz. Remi yanks me into her side pleading with her eyes for me to calm down. "Talk." I demand staring Skullz down. "The first time I scented my mate was the night Remi was attacked. Her seventeenth birthday. Her scent was strong, but it was mixed in with yours. I was sure I was mistaken. Especially with the way you were acting. And everyone saying that Remi was your fated mate. I mean there was no way she was my mate if she was your fated. So, I thought what I was smelling and feeling wasn't right. The more time I was around Remi, I knew she was my mate. I never said anything or came forward because she never showed any signs of feeling the same. So, again I was confused. Vlad here picked up what was going on with me at 318 for casino night. He was having the same problem. Neither of us wanted to step on your toes. Neither of us wanted to force anything with Remi. Remi and I are so close because of the bond we share. Not just because we're friends. She's my mate
When I walk back into my bedroom, everyone is here. I can't believe that my kidnapper called in my calvary. Tears cloud my eyes as I rush over to Aiden and my babies. I hug them as tightly to me as I can. "I can't believe he called you. He said he would. He did." I mumble into Aiden's chest. The twins begin to stir and whine a little because I'm squishing them. One by One my family passes the twins around. Aiden and I look on with pride. "So, what's their names? Remi refused to tell us until you got here." Kallista asks Aiden bouncing on the balls of her feet. She's dying to take my son away from his father again. "Ashton Romie Ramos and AshLynn Yanessa Ramos." Aiden says finally passing Ashton back around the room."Those are perfect names." My father beams with pride as he holds his first grandchild. AshLynn squirms and we all hear a noise and my father cringes. "I think she left her father a surprise." Kieran says handing my daughter to her father. Aiden looks lost as hell. I b
It's been hours since Remi and the others went missing. My phone keeps vibrating in my pocket. When I finially pull it out to check it; it's a number I don't recognize. "This is Aiden. Speak." I growl into the phone not at all worried about how I might come across to the person on the opposite end of the line. "Aiden, it's Vlad. We need to talk. It's about our mate. Remington." "She's mine! Only mine!" I growl into the phone. "No she's not. I've gotten her somewhere safe. The twins are safe. At least for now. There's a traitor walking among you. He has Blaze. I got to the scene just in time to get our mate and the other females to safety. They're all here. I'm sending you the address. Bring just the ones you know beyond a shadow of doubt that you can trust. I'll explain everything once you get here." Vlad hangs up leaving me speachless for a moment. I snap my head up looking at everyone in the room. No one here would dare to double cross me and Remi. Flashes of a soft pale yellow
I'm in the middle of a meeting with a vendor for 318 when a flash of images fills my mind. Gunner and Weston rush into the office shooing the two males from the booze delievery company out of the room. "Blaze and Kane's vehicle was found on the side of the road smashed to pieces. No sign of either one of them. Tianna's car was found a few feet away down the small ravine. We gotta go Aiden." Gunner says helping me out of the chair. "Remi was in labor. Where's Remi, Tianna, and Kallista?" I ask forcing myself to finally move. "They were taken. We think Blaze and Kane are on their trail. We don't have all the answers. Xavier and Skullz are at the scene now. Come on! We're going to catch the fuckers scent and go after them." Weston says. I point over at my truck and throw Gunner my keys. It feels a little awkward to have him here. But since Doc and Waylon got him from under that spell Mace casted; he's been trying to do everything he can to make up for the damage he feels he caused. D
Kallista calls Aiden, but doesn't get an answer. I continue to do breathing exercises. "Where's your go bag?" I point to the bag next to the couch in the little sitting room of our suite. Kallista helps me waddle across the room. I have another stabbing pain in my vag and stop walking. I cross my legs and pray the twins don't fall out. "I know it has to hurt. But we have to move. I called Dr. Williams. She knows we're on our way." I nod my head at Tianna, but the pain is too much. Blaze flashes into the room and picks me up. He carries me down the stairs through the house to the garage and puts me into Tianna's car. He pushes the seat all the way back; then leans the back of the seat as far back as it will go. "Follow me. Kallista, keep calling Aiden and Xavier. One of them has to answer. I'll call Kieran. Remi, keep doing your breathing exercises." We all nod our heads and he closes the door. We follow behind his SUV. We're just past the clubhouse when a huge truck crosses over in
The day after my zombie moment is peaceful. Tianna, Kallista, and Aiden's sister, Trinity all come over to keep me company while Aiden works. I feel horrible about all the time and hours he puts in between the mechanic shop ran by the hellhounds and 318. I try to keep in touch with Shade as much as possible to see how things are running and to help out as much as I can. She's training someone to take over for her because she is also going to have to leave in a few weeks. Aiden tells me he has everything under control, but I still worry about my business going up in smoke. I'm about to fall asleep during movie number three when I hear Aiden's heavy foot steps stomping up the stairs. Instead of turning to come to our room he heads towards the nursery. I realize the banging and racket coming from that side of the house has stopped. When I move to sit up all three of the females laying in my bed jump up. "What's up? What's wrong?" They yawn and stretch their sleeping asses out. "Nothin
The grumpy old fae answers on the first ring. "What now Aiden? You have my ass so busy I had to hire another crew to take on some of my other clients." Amos grumbles. But if I say I'm hiring someone else for a job; he bitches my ass out and insists he's the one doing it. "I need the twins' nursery done. Like yesterday." Amos huffs and puffs. I hear him whistle as he flips through the pages of his daily planner. He grunts acting as if he will be too busy. I know what he's doing. He wants more pay for the perfection and rush job only he can do. "I'll pay you double the agreed upon price. Remi, could have the twins any day now. We need it done and fast. And we both know; only you can do what we want done as fast as we need." I listen to him tapping his fingers on his desk. "You don't have to pay me double. Just the original quote plus half that. I'm fae. We both know I can have that nursery done with the snap of my fingers. Besides you and Remi are good people. I'm only gonna cut yo
"Okay, Remi. Tell me what's going on." Dr. Williams says as she pulls out a few hand held machines, a measuring tape and her stethoscope. She lays them on the bed as I explain what's going on. "I started having pains. They're not contractions because they're sparatic. They don't last long. What hurts the most is; it feels like the twins are about to come falling out my hooha." I pant as I continue to try and breathe through the pain in my vag. Dr. Williams lifts my shirt and tucks it under my tits. She measures me, takes my blood pressure then heads back to her bag. Sitting beside me on the bed she squirts some gel on my stomach and begins using a probe wand looking thing on my stomach. When the sound of my baby's heartbeat fills the air I know what this machine is for. "Ordinarily, I'd do this down at the office. However, since we're doing a house call today. I'm going to have to do it here. Remi, I need you to remove your pants and panties. I'm going to check to see if you're dia