The Broken Wolf
Chapter 125

After they moved me upstairs to our home, Seth finally agreed to at least take a shower, though he was still hesitant to leave me alone, even for that. They brought me up in a wheelchair and got me situated in the bed, hanging an IV on a holder they brought up and adding a contraption to my mid section. I’d complain about how uncomfortable and constricting it is, but it lets me hear the babies’ heartbeats and, honestly, I kind of love that. Hearing the continuous wooshing sounds have been bringing me comfort as I lay here.

Seth finally exits the bathroom, a towel around his h**s, his dark hair wet and dripping down his muscular chest. I can’t help but stare at him and smile. This man is all mine.

“Hey,” I say softly.

“Hey,” he returns, looking at me, his eyes flicking to the monitor I’m hooked to. “Everything still good?”

“It’s good, Seth,” I tell him with a smile. “They’re going to be fine. I just know it.”

He nods, removing the towel and pulling on a pair of jogger sweat pants and climbing into the bed next to me. He gently trails his fingers over the exposed skin of my stomach, careful not to disturb the monitor.

“You told the doctor that baby Cora doesn’t have a wolf,” I say softly and he looks up at me, sadness on his face.

“I don’t know, Love,” he says, trying to comfort me. “Andrew… he definitely does. Dad told me that his aura is stronger than mine was at that point. He’ll be a force. I can’t feel that with her, but I also didn’t detect her at all at first. Honestly, you should ask Benjamin. He seems to be able to detect everything.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, feeling how upset he is about it now. “I shouldn’t have told you. I was just so scared.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Love,” he says, looking up at me with a sad smile. “I just hate that I didn’t even know she was there. She’s going to be born first, and he’ll still be the first in line. I hate that I’m her father and didn’t even notice her.”

There’s a knock at the door and Seth moves to open it, knowing from the smell that Benjamin and Lily are outside. I can’t help the smile that comes to my face when I see her.

“Truly, we weren’t trying to eavesdrop,” she says, walking over and taking a seat on the bed right next to me, placing her hand on my knee. “But you should know that Benjamin never realized I was even pregnant. I had to tell him.”

Seth’s brow furrows and he looks over at Benjamin who just shrugs at him. “I had three boys, and my new-found mate was a witch, who was pregnant with a baby who was also a witch with a wolf. It wasn’t a scent I recognized because… well… I’m pretty sure she’s the only one around.”

“Well,” Seth says to him, taking his place back on the bed next to me, though he doesn’t continue to rub my skin. “What can you tell about this little girl?”

Benjamin looks at Seth, and then to me with a smile. “She smells just like sweet little Molly did. Almost exactly. It’s part of why you didn’t recognize the scent, because she smells so very much like Molly, now,” he tells us and Seth smiles. “Molly never had a wolf that felt strong or had a big aura. Even now, if you really think about it, she doesn’t. Once the spell was unlocked, the changes were so subtle you wouldn’t even recognize them if you weren’t looking for them. Molly’s wolf is calm and sensitive… and small. ”

“And her wolf also happens to appear to be your wolf’s twin,” Seth adds, looking over at me fondly.

Benjamin nods. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope this baby also has a matching wolf. Surely they’ll both have the green eyes, though.”

Seth nods and looks at me. “There was a time those eyes brought me fear, but now, they bring me so much comfort. There have been prophesies that have brought so much pain and hurt- to all of you, but especially to you, Benjamin. And now, there’s another prophecy.”

Lily nods and looks at Seth sadly. “Benjamin filled me in. We will all do anything we can to keep you and the babies safe, Molly.”

“That’s why I asked you both to come,” Seth says cautiously, looking at Lily. “Molly didn’t have magic for so long and I think we all realize she has complicated feelings about it now.”

Lily nods and squeezes my knee. “I know, and it’s alright. I’ll teach you as much as you want to learn, and not push anything on you.”

“I know,” I tell her, not really sure where Seth is going with this.

“The thing is, though,” Seth says, not willing to look at me. “This prophecy is out there. My uncle has raised an entire army with the intention of overthrowing us, spreading fear about magic. I think there’s a possibility that it could be best to have Molly visit a few packs. They’ll fall in love with her, see who she truly is, and then we’ll tell the story of how she got here. About you BOTH, about the spell to protect her, about how she has abilities… and about how the female twin she carries will also have these abilities.”

“No,” Lily says quickly, looking quite upset. “You don’t understand how some wolves are. They will come after her.”

“The prophecy makes it seem that, eventually, the throne will pass to someone with magic. It makes you think that eventually a witch with no wolf will have the throne, and that’s not what’s happening,” Seth says to her calmly, but he’s squeezing my hand, no doubt because of what he’s feeling from me. “We now know that for the first time in… well… ever, that the first born to a King will be a girl. Then the future king will arrive just after her. Twins are so rare for wolves.”

“They aren’t for witches,” Lily says to him. “They will kill Molly and the baby girl.”

“They absolutely will not,” Seth says, shaking his head. “You weren’t at the B***d Moon Pack, but they loved her there, Lily. Just like nearly everyone who meets her does. There are a few old school Alphas out there that may cause a fuss, but not enough to cause harm. Those Alphas are also less likely to cause an issue because she’s Benjamin’s. If Molly meets people in these packs and is just… who she truly is, they won’t care that she’s part witch, because they’ll already know the kind of wolf she is.”

Lily looks down at where her hand rests on my knee, clearly still uneasy with everything.

“Lily, you should have seen her,” Seth says with a smile, glancing at me. “The first night there they had a little girl bring our food out. She tried to bow while holding a tray that was too big for her to even carry and Molly jumped up, helping her with the tray. Every wolf in the room stopped and stared. The fighting after the challenge became more intense after she was bitten. The people were furious- even from the other pack we hadn’t visited yet.”

Benjamin looks at me, pride in his eyes. “He’s right, Lily. The people will love her. Everyone does.”

She shakes her head, looking terrified. “You don’t know what it’s like. Humans abused witches for years and we went into hiding. We were accepted by the wolves at first but then when they tried to use us…” she shakes her head, not finishing her thought.

“Do you know any other witches?” I ask her. “Or is it just us?”

“My family was the only that I knew of,” she says quietly. “And they killed them all. I just barely escaped. I lived alone in a tiny cabin out in the rogue lands for years. I was so terrified when I met your father and realized we were mates. He was so kind and patient with me.”

I smile at her encouragingly. I truly don’t know anything about how they met, but now that she’s mentioned it, I find that I want to know everything.

“It was part of why she pushed for the b***d adoption,” Benjamin says softly, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. “When I made her place the spell on you, it reminded her of those times again. and how her family was mistreated. I never should have forced it, but sometimes fear makes you do things you shouldn’t.”

“None of this is set to happen,” Seth tells her gently. “I haven’t spoken with my father yet. I wanted to see how you felt about it first. I just… I need to do whatever I can to protect Molly, and now Cora. I hope my daughter grows and finds her mate and has her own children some day. I don’t want this to be a problem for her. She’ll be the daughter of the king, and eventually the sister of the king. She deserves everything.”

“Cora?” Lily asks, looking at me with a small smile on her face. “That’s a lovely name.”

“Thank you. It’s Seth’s grandmother’s name,” I tell her and she smiles. I feel nervous as I look to Benjamin and tell him in a soft, unsure voice, “The boy will be named Andrew.”

Benjamin looks at me, and then Seth, his eyes brimming with a few tears. He nods, and smiles sadly at us. “He would have loved that, truly. Thank you, Seth, for giving us that honor.”

Seth doesn’t say anything, he just nods to him and takes my hand in his.

Thankfully, Lily breaks the silence. “I understand what you are saying Seth, truly. It’s just hard for me to trust the wolves.”

“I’d appreciate if you could think about it some more, especially since it would affect you, as well,” Seth tells her. “I’m going to discuss it with my parents, as well as Randall and Celeste. We all want the same thing for Molly and the babies, we just need to agree on the best way to get to that.”