ARTEMISIA
Tonight I slept the worst possible way.
In my dreams, I kept being haunted by Logan, transforming into different monsters wanting to slash my throat, and my family dragging me back to their pack.
Several times, I jerked out of my dreams in the middle of the night and needed a frustratingly long amount of time before I could fall back asleep.
This naturally results in me being absolutely exhausted the moment I open my eyes and see that the sunbeams are already streaming into my windows.
As I wake up, my skin recognises the pleasant sparks and I take a deep breath, breathing their scents in.
Fynn is holding me to his front while Matthew is lying on his back, his trained chest on display as his blanket is only covering him to the hip.
“Were you able to sleep a bit better?” Fynn whispers, making me close my eyes with a sigh.
“Not really, no.” I turn around, looking up at him. “Sorry for waking you up repeatedly.”
He breathes out a laugh, looking at me with half-closed eyes. “Don’t worry. You didn’t bother me. It’s important that you don’t feel alone now.”
“Aw, you are so cute,” I say quietly as I lean my forehead against his chest. “Thank you.”
Wrapping his arms around me, he breathes in my scent as he hugs me close. “Don’t even mention it.”
I snuggle into him even more, and he sighs happily while we grow silent and for a second I’m convinced that he fell asleep.
“Are you feeling alright, princess?” he suddenly asks lowly, making me nod.
“Yeah, why?”
He presses his lips on the top of my head, taking another deep breath. “It’s because of your scent…”
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me that I stink!” I giggle, making him laugh as well.
“No, no. You smell amazing, but there is something…”
I move a bit backwards to look up at him and my heart flips in my chest as I find him smiling back at me.
“What?” I ask, my breath hitching in my throat.
“I think I smell my pup,” he whispers, making me gasp.
“You are kidding me!” I say, not managing to keep my smile from growing.
He laughs, shaking his head. “I swear!”
“Oh my Goddess,” I breathe out.
Matthew stirs, moving onto his side to hug me as well. “What are you two babbling about? You are being so loud. I wanted to sleep another bit!”
Looking over my shoulder, I grin at him. “I’m pregnant.”
“No way,” he beams at me, making me nod repeatedly. “That’s… Oh, wow! That’s amazing!”
Scooting closer, he puts his arm between Fynn and me, wrapping it around me to press himself against my back.
He buries his nose into my hair, taking a deep breath. “Goddess, I smell him too.”
“I guess that means that my body finally got rid of all the poison,” I observe happily.
Matthew leans in further, pressing a kiss on my neck, making a shiver run down my spine.
“I’m so glad. We were really worried about you.” Lifting his gaze to his brother, he shouts. “We have to tell Cayden!”
“True!” Fynn agrees, turning to get out of bed.
As soon as he stands, he offers me his hand to take and drags me out of bed.
We exit my quarters, walking along the hallway under the curious gazes of the Omegas scurrying around as I hear Matthew hum behind me. “This is amazing.”
I giggle, looking at him over my shoulder as he wraps his arms around me, hugging me.
We burst into Cayden’s quarters and reaching the living room, we find him and Hendrick sitting in the armchairs, going through some files.
“Cayden!” Fynn shouts, pulling me to stand in the middle of the room.
Cayden looks up, lifting his brow as he spreads his hands. “What is it?”
My chest heaves because of the excitement, and I knead my fingers as Hendrick and Cayden look at me questioningly.
“I’m pregnant,” I shrug, smiling happily as their eyes widen.
“No way?!” Cayden has barely uttered his surprise as he skyrockets out of his seat, charging towards me.
Wrapping his arms around my legs, he lifts me up, and I squeal as I hold myself onto the collar of his shirt. “You aren’t kidding?!”
I shake my head, his expression lighting up even more as he beams up at me.
“This is the best day ever!” he breathes out, and Hendrick chuckles.
“That’s what we would call a joker, too.”
I look back and forth between their happy expressions questioningly while my heart blooms with joy. “What do you mean?”
“They wouldn’t dare to remove the mark from a pregnant she-wolf because it’s dangerous for the baby,” Cayden explains, making me gasp.
Clasping even more fabric of his shirt, I squeal happily. “No way! This is the best day for real!”
The men laugh, and Hendrick clears his throat. “Yeah, but we can’t get too comfortable. Please keep in mind that she can still be taken away from us. You don’t want your wife to give birth on another territory, right?”
Cayden’s growl rumbles through the room lowly, vibrating through my skin and I lean down to hug his head.
“It’s all going to be alright now,” I say encouragingly, caressing his hair. “We will get through this. Now they have one more reason to let me stay with you.”
Cayden nods, letting me down onto my feet before turning to Fynn and Matthew. “Get ready. Departure will be in an hour. I don’t want to risk arriving late. And get Logan out of his cell, but don’t leave Missy alone as you do.”
With a deep sigh, he smiles down at me. “I’ll inform the high council about the good news, so they don’t feel like we wanted to trick them.”
I get on my tippy toes to press a kiss on his lips, and we leave his quarters to prepare for the trip and our stay on the royal pack territories.
***
As I’m watching the Omegas load the cars, and my mates are organising our escort, I feel the tension in the air. I guess that the rumours about what Lisa did, Logan’s attack and the pup have spread like wildfire, which only makes me more anxious.
“How are you feeling?” Cayden asks as he walks up to me.
I smile at him, climbing down a step to stand directly in front of him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I take advantage of the fact that, due to the different steps we are standing on, I’m nearly the same height as him. “Just fine. And you?”
“Okay. A bit nervous, but that will pass,” he answers quietly, making me nod.
Just as I’m about to say something encouraging, my attention gets caught by Matthew walking out of the pack house with Logan. They both look at us shortly before they walk to the cars.
My heartbeat picks up, making me bite my lip as my thoughts start spiralling.
“You will ride in the car with Hendrick and Fynn while we will split on the other three with the warriors. Is that okay for you?” he asks me and my heart does a small flip at him being so considerate.
“Yes, that is perfect for me. Thank you.”
He presses a gentle kiss on my lips before he detaches himself from me, freeing himself from my embrace.
Taking a deep breath as I watch him walk away and reach Matthew and Logan. I try to concentrate on the few positive thoughts circling around in my mind, and our mission ahead.
I will do anything to prove to the high council that I belong here.
Because no one can take this home away from me and my baby.