JaneI’ve always thought I was a good mother, but right now I feel like absolute garbage. Ethan’s words are ringing in my mind like some relentless bell. I can’t stop hearing the way he described my efforts to reunite the pups. He was right – about everything. He was right about how thoughtless I was regarding the pups feelings, right about my determination to carry out my plan without ever stopping to consider if it still made sense, and right that I was letting fear rule me.Of course, the problem with recognizing your fear, is that it doesn’t just disappear once you know it’s there. It’s not like in a dream, where once you realize nothing that’s happening is real you can change the course of events or wake yourself up. The fear is only too real, and as badly as I want to cure it, that’s not the way humans work. I can’t just wish it away.This is why psychiatrists always blame the parents. I think to myself. Because this is what happens. We impose all our own damage and neuroses ont
3rd PersonRiley, Ryder, Parker and Paisley figured out that they weren’t going to get to tell their Mommy the good news about their discovery any time soon, right around the time they heard Ethan and Jane raise their voices. Their parents knew better than to talk loudly enough to be overheard, so the fact that they were all but yelling clearly meant something was up.One by one, the pups slipped out of their room and tiptoed down the hall, catching the tail end of Ethan and Jane’s argument. They didn’t understand half of it, but there was no mistaking the fraught energy emanating off the pair in waves.“This doesn’ sound good.” Paisley fretted, leaning into Riley for comfort.Almost as soon as the words were out of her mouth, the door slammed shut, and the kids realized Jane had left the apartment. Racing out into the kitchen, they listened as their father explained she would return, but they weren’t so sure. She’d sounded really upset, and he didn’t look like he believed his own wor
EthanJane is staring at me so blankly, I’m afraid she didn’t actually hear what I said. After a moment she blinks, and when she opens her mouth, her voice is so small I can scarcely hear it. “Gone where?”My heart cracks open in my chest. “I don’t know what happened.” I can’t tell her what I suspect, that they went out looking for her. “They were in their room, then I went to the bathroom and when I came out, they were gone.”Jane starts looking around, as if she expects to find them somewhere amidst all the police cars and investigators. “I… then why are you all standing here? Why aren’t you looking for them?” Her voice is getting higher with every word, and I can see that she’s quickly beginning to panic. Every moment that passes that she doesn’t see her pups, is another spike of her heart rate.“Baby, I came down here almost immediately… and when I did.” I trail off, trying to figure out any way to soften this blow, but knowing it’s no use. “I smelled Eve.”“But that’s impossible.
3rd Person“Eve, what have you done?” A man’s voice penetrated the thin walls of the pups’ prison, reaching their young ears as easily as water through a sieve.“I know that voice!” Riley exclaimed, “It’s the ‘tective!”“Shh,” Parker hushed her, “I want to hear!”“I did what anyone with half a brain would,” Eve told her lover, glancing at the cellar door where Jane’s brats were locked safe and sound. “They walked right into my hands, I would have been a fool to turn such a golden opportunity down.” A golden opportunity was putting it mildly. It had been an absolute blessing. She didn’t have any particular plans when she went to Ethan’s home, only to watch and try to figure out what to do next. Then the little idiots walked out the door like lambs to the slaughter. It had been only too easy to get them to do what she wanted, once she grabbed the runt.She hadn’t figured out how she was going to get rid of them yet. Every time she tried to get her hands on one long enough to inflict so
Jane“Luna, you should really try to rest.” The police commander advises, sitting on the sofa while I pace back and forth across the living room. “You’re going to exhaust yourself.”“And you really shouldn’t call me that.” I say in return. “Ethan and I aren’t married anymore.”“Well whatever your title,” He amends, “you killing yourself with worry isn’t going to help your pups.”“Spoken like someone who doesn’t have children.” I grumble. “And by the way, I didn’t see you showing this kind of concern for the Alpha. Why is he allowed to race off and hunt down murderers, but I can’t even pace without ‘exhausting myself.” I mock, holding up air quotes.“I’m sorry.” He concedes, “you’re right, I don’t have pups, and I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. I didn’t mean to be patronizing.”“That isn’t helpful either!” I snap, “I don’t know why people think it’s comforting to say they can’t imagine another person’s pain. Just make the effort and practice some empathy, rather tha
3rd PersonIn the end it was a good thing that Jane collapsed into Ethan’s arms, because if he hadn’t been occupied with comforting her, he probably would have killed the investigator. “Where did they go? Where would she take them?” He demanded, his harsh voice as far a cry from his tender treatment of Jane as possible. He rubbed her back and kissed her hair, all the while snarling threats and demands at the pale-faced man behind them.“I don’t know!” The former detective exclaimed in a panic. “I swear they were here when I left. Eve must have known I was going to turn her in, she must have moved them.”“Call it in.” Ethan ordered the police Commander, who hovered just behind his ex-employee as if he expected him to make a run for it. “I want every tracker on the force out here, now.” Glaring at the investigator, he pressed. “You have no idea where she would go? Other hideouts? Escape plans? Even the smallest hint could help.”“If I knew I would tell you.” The detective insisted. “I d
3rd PersonBy dawn a red alert emergency order was spread through the Nightfang Pack on every TV screen, radio station and webpage. The Alpha’s pups were missing, believed to be kidnapped by Eve Mechant and in grave danger. The entire pack was ordered to be on the lookout for any of the children or Eve, with search parties quickly filling every corner of the territory.Far from Eve’s hideout on the city’s outskirts, the pups huddled together in the back of a windowless van, their young ears tuned to the conversation happening on the other side of the locked doors. It was hard to focus on what was happening: they were tired, hungry, frightened and desperately needed a restroom, but they were also curious and on the lookout for any opportunity to escape. The men who took them from the alley had been callous and rough with the children, but otherwise hadn’t harmed them. After shoving them into the van they didn’t say another word or even acknowledge their existence, instead starting the
JaneI didn’t intend to tell Ethan about my decision now, I hadn’t even decided whether to tell him outright before all this happened. When I was walking home after meeting my mother’s ghost in the park, I’d daydreamed about sharing the news with Ethan. I thought we could go out on another date, and I could figure out some romantic scheme to surprise him. Our current predicament is about as far from that fantasy as possible, but we have to focus on whatever slivers of hope we can find right now.I can’t bring myself to admit that part of me is terrified Ethan and I might only have each other from here on out. I’m terrified that we’re too late to save the pups, that they aren’t just missing… but gone. In my heart, I feel that they’re still alive. But what if that’s just a mother’s stubborn hope, an innate refusal to accept the unimaginable?Ethan is trying to be patient. I can tell he’s eager for me to explain my meaning, and trying to restrain his impulse to drag the information out
JaneFour Months LaterEthan ushers the pups into my hospital room with a finger pressed to his lips. “Quietly now, Mommy’s very tired.”I’d gone into labor in the early hours of the morning, and the experience couldn’t have been more different than it had been with the quadruplets. Instead of suffering through the first contractions alone and afraid, I’d had my mate by my side, rubbing my back and crooning sympathetically as I gritted my teeth against the pain. After a few hours of pacing and fruitlessly trying to find a comfortable position, my water broke and we left for the hospital, leaving the pups with a sitter.I made it through fifteen hours of labor before caving and asking for an epidural, taking Ethan’s encouragement to save my strength for pushing when the time came. He never left my side the entire time, only stepping out of the room a couple of times to check in on the pups at my request. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthing partner – he lavished me with praise a
JaneWhen Ethan and I arrive back at the penthouse we find Devon and Nina sitting on the sofa while the pups zoom around the living room in front of them. Devon has an arm slung over Nina’s shoulder, which surprises me, but I can’t focus on them because the moment we walk through the door four little bodies come hurtling at our legs. “Mommy! Daddy!” The pups cry excitedly.Parker is the tallest and fastest, so he reaches us first, leaping up into Ethan’s waiting arms while I intercept Riley, whose small size lets her bound weightlessly across the room. “Hello my love puddles.” I greet them happily, kneeling so I can also hug Ryder, while Ethan effortlessly scoops up Paisley, even though his arms are already full with her brother. “What have you been up to? Were you good for Devon and Nina?” I ask, marveling at Ethan’s strength despite his recent recovery.“We were sooo good.” Riley confirms. “Nina was sad so we cuddled her.”“And then Devon told us we could get ice cream if we promi
JaneWhen I open my eyes, Ethan and I are still in the thermal pool. I can feel the water lapping and bubbling around me, but he’s no longer inside me, and when I look up it’s to find his dark gaze watching me intently. Gradually I realize he’s moved to the shallow end of the spring so he can sit on the submerged ledge and hold me in his lap. He rests one hand on my round belly, and our baby flutters inside me as if the tiny bean knows its father is near.“How long was I out?” I inquire softly, stretching and reveling in the delicious ache of my muscles. I’m filled with the lazy contentment of a well-loved mate, utterly drugged with pleasure that is only deepened by the sting of my claiming mark. I can feel the evidence of Ethan’s dominance in the swollen flesh between my legs, the bite marks on my breasts and faint bruises on my back and thighs. And right now I can’t imagine anything better than this… exc
3rd PersonNina’s heart sunk as she watched Ethan and Jane race out the door as their wolves, and she stepped forward to close the door out of mere reflex. When the panel clicked shut she found herself staring blankly at the dark wood, momentarily frozen in time. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t feel, she could only stand there and exist as this latest slight reverberated through her body.Only the sound of a small voice saying her name woke her from her miserable reverie, “Nina?”Slowly, as if in a trance, she turned. Blinking, her expression detached, she saw the pups watching her. Tiny feet padded over the floor in a miniature stampede, and then the four children were gathered around her, looking up at her with wrinkled brows. “Hmm?” She finally responded, unsure if they’d asked her a question or simply stopped at her name.“Are you okay?” Paisley inquired softly, genuine concern in h
Jane“Not want you?” Ethan snarls furiously, seeming angrier about that suggestion than my words about Devon. “Not want you? That has never been the problem!”His hands are so fierce on my body, and I can see a wild sort of desperation in his handsome features. His eyes are glowing and his fangs extended – I know his wolf is right on the edge.“Then show me.” I demand. Sliding my hand down between our flush bodies. “Let me feel your desire, Ethan.”“Why are you doing this?” He groans, burying his head in my neck.“Because you’re punishing yourself for something that isn’t your fault.” I murmur in reply, my lips brushing against his ear as I speak. “And it’s gone on long enough.”“But it is my fault, Janey. Everything I do backfires, every time I try to do the right thing for you, I fuck up.” He confesses, sounding so vulnerable I ache.“Then maybe you should stop trying to figure out the answer for me, and start working with me. Ask me what I want and give it to me, don’t try to do it
JaneEthan and I run through the quiet streets of the city as our wolves, not minding one bit that we’re on pavement and not in the forest. We bound around shopkeepers and early morning commuters without a care in the world, oblivious to the curious looks we’re drawing.I’ve always preferred running at night, but I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to convince Ethan to stop being so stubborn. When I saw him in his wolf form with our pups climbing all over him this morning, pure joy washed over me. I might not have known how Ethan has been
Ethan“You’re letting them stay?” Nina demands, glaring at me as she wears a hole in the floor, pacing back and forth with the indignant energy of a she-wolf scorned. Unsurprisingly, she was less than amused to learn I decided to allow Jane and the pups to stay with us – though in truth it hadn’t been much of a choice. My mischievous mate forced me between a rock and a hard place, and I wasn’t about to drag her out of the penthouse kicking and screaming.“I can’t just throw them out.&
JaneMy plan to sneak-move into the penthouse is working better than I imagined. Granted, I keep catching my pups practicing their maniacal laughs in the mirror, but in the grand scheme of things, encouraging their talents for mastermining dastardly plots isn’t the worst idea. After all, I want to encourage their ambition in whatever they do… even if it is taking over the world.Regardless of the burgeoning tricksters under my roof, everything else has gone fairly smoothly. I was able to hire last minute movers to pack up and bring everything from our apartment in the Dark Moon territory and transport it here. The only real challenge was maki
JaneEthan winces, then kisses me again, long and deep. When he pulls away, I feel tears in my eyes. I already know he hasn’t been swayed by my pleading. “I know it hurts right now, Jane.” He acknowledges, looking truly aggrieved. “It hurts me too. But one day you’ll see that I’m right.” His thumb brushes a stray tear from my cheek. “You were so much better off without me. You built a fragrance empire and raised three amazing pups all by yourself. But a few months with me and you were on my floor, begging to be a slave again.”“That wasn’t because I was with you, it was because I wasn&rsquo