Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 72

When I opened my eyes, I remembered nothing. For a terrifying moment, I couldn't even remember who I was.

But there was a warmth on my belly and chest, the weight of something reassuringly heavy and solid. Someone was resting their head on me and holding my hand. Someone I knew. Someone I wanted desperately to never leave me. And then it all flowed back like a river crashing through a broken dam, washing over me in a mighty wave.

"Claudia!"

I must have awoken Evan somehow even though I hadn't even moved. Eyes wide, I stared up at him, too stunned to answer.

But I didn't have to. He wrapped me up in an embrace, hauling me up from the hospital bed as if I weighed no more than a feather. The way he held me was desperate, terrified, frenzied yet gentle, and before I knew it I was clutching at him too. "Evan," I whispered, lost for words. I could only say his name over and over again - "Evan!"

Because now I knew.

Now I felt it.

After all this time, after all I had wondered and wept and wished for it-

Now I knew, Evan was my fated mate.

***

I had been in a coma for almost a year. Ten months had gone by, and it was already almost Christmas again in the blink of an eye. I lost so many weeks, so many days, but I didn't have a chance to mourn the vanished time. Raf, Leon, Ken, and Evan made sure I was never idle enough to brood, and after rigorous weeks of physical therapy to rebuild my body's muscles and get me back to a normal life, we were already planning the wedding.

Raf and Leon would have their official wedding the month after Evan and mine. She had made Leon wait until I recovered, and somehow she had had faith all along I would come back. Of course she had, she scolded me once time with a swat to my bottom. How dare I think she would doubt me!

I discovered all the changes along the way. For one, Ken took over the Joseph family. For a time, his relationship with Evan was somewhat strained after his father's execution, but it was something that had to be done for the sake of not only the pack, but the whole region. After intensive interrogation of Matthen's former Beta and closest Deltas, the schemes tumbled out into public view. The Joseph family was permanently disgraced - though if anyone could rebuild its reputation, it was Ken. And he would be just fine. Raf was my maid of honor, of course. It wasn't even a discussion, it was a given. And when Evan waited for me at the altar, it was Leon who escorted me down the aisle to give me over to my mate.

In another life, it would have been Peelle. But we were okay about it today. The sun was shining, the sky was bright, and Peelle's presence was all around us in the chirping of birds and the gentle coolness of every passing breeze.

"Evan, do you take this woman to be your wife, your mate and your Luna, your strength and your bond, to love, honor, and cherish her above all others, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Claudia, do you take this man to be your husband, your mate and your Alpha, your strength and your bond, to love, honor, and cherish him above all others, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" "I do." "You may kiss-"

Evan didn't even wait for the minister to finish. He grabbed me, lifted me up, and kissed me so hard I couldn't breathe. Later, when I tossed the bouquet to the crowd, Raf let out a screech and bum-rushed the entire line of bridesmaids as if she were attacking a robber in her house. Seconds later, she held up the bouquet in triumphant victory and waved it at me, before letting loose with a fiery whoop.

"Good days ahead!" she screamed, not caring how crazy she looked. "I feel it in my bones!"

Leon carried her away, supposedly to calm her down, but the smug look on his face as she waved the bouquet at everyone from his cradling arms betrayed his true feelings.

Evan and I smiled, and I placed my hand over my belly.

It was true.

The three of us certainly had good days ahead, far too many to ever count.

***

I was wrong.

It wasn't the three of us.

It was four.

Raf was sobbing when she almost broke into the hospital room, barely held back by Leon. I was fine now, and Evan had gotten me through the terrible, terrifying, agonizing labor that had lasted forty-eight hours.

"We drove back as fast as we could!" she sobbed as she threw herself over me, though she was careful to avoid squishing the infant in my arms. "I can't believe this! How did the ultrasound miss it! Twins! Freaking twins!" She flapped her hand at Evan, who carefully approached with the other infant in his arms. She broke into a new wave of fresh sobs as Leon thumped her back with comforting noises. "If we had known you were going to have twins, we would have guessed you would go into labor super early and we wouldn't have gone off on our honeymoon like this!"

I made sure not to hold back on my scolding. "You delayed your honeymoon for three months just to help me get sorted! You are going right back on your honeymoon this instant! Both of you!"

I was the one who had nearly had to go into surgery to save my babies and myself two days ago, and Raf was the one crying up a storm. It was futile. She wasn't going to peel herself from my side, and she and Leon were both staying until the babies and I could be released from the hospital.

The amount of attention she poured on me must have made Evan jealous. He was almost pouting that night when I finally convinced the other couple to take a nap at least.

"We could do with a little more peace and quiet," he grumbled as he swayed one of our babies in his arms. I was doing the same with our other, smiling. Honestly, Evan was as adorable as they were sometimes. "They don't have to stay here, you know..." "But Evan, we haven't even told them we want them to be the twins' godparents."

When Raf and Leon did find out, the hospital was in serious danger of being flooded with a truly perilous deluge of new tears. In hindsight, we probably should have waited until Raf was calmer. And over the phone. Probably.

Ken arrived too, suit and tie rumpled. "Flight was late!" he exclaimed as he hustled into the room. "So many delays! Sorry! Oh, Moon Goddess, I saw the pictures but I can't believe - twins! Twin girls? Twin boys? One each?"

Evan and Ken nodded at each other across my bed. They had smoothed over all their disagreements from before. All that remained was camaraderie, a relationship built on trust and laboring through each other's wars. The city was more prosperous than it had ever been thanks to their hard work and growing collaborations, and it showed in their respect for each other, too.

But this wasn't about that. This was about the twins. I grinned back at Ken, and Evan kissed my cheek as I answered:

"Twin boys. We named this one Osborn. And we named this one Peelle."

Ken nodded as Raf and Leon threw their arms over his shoulders. There was a heavy look in his eyes, the shadow of recollection of the evil things his father had done, but it vanished when I offered to let Ken hold Peelle.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

***

On the veranda of the rebuilt Scarlet manor, Ken, Raf, and Leon had fallen asleep somewhere around 2AM while we were sharing raucous stories over good food. We had wheeled the crib over so we could keep an eye on the twins while they slept, but it was almost disappointing that they didn't wake even once. The boys never fussed when they were together, almost tempting me to pinch their cheeks a little just to get some attention from them.

Evan read my mind. We sneaked over to the twins, and we picked them up from the crib. They slumbered on our shoulders while we rocked them gently.

"I can't wait to see them grow up," I whispered. "But I'm afraid of them growing up too fast."

Evan kissed my forehead, the touch of his lips so sweet and tender. He kissed me again on the lips.

"It's all right, Claudia. You'll be happy either way. You'll be the happiest woman in the world, forever."

"Are you sure about that?" I teased, and he smiled back.

"I know it. All the days of your life."