Rejected His Miracle Luna Fated Her Second Chance Alpha by Paprika

Chapter 64

-Dorothy-

“Twins!” I shrieked out loud and Ignatius winced and leaned away from me. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty certain, the healer who had been examining me ran the transducer contraption over my abdomen and pointed at the grainy screen to my left. “You can see them right there.”

“Twins!” I threw my head back onto the pillow with poignant force and Ignatius squeezed my hand tighter

“Hey. It’s like a bonus deal,” he said tentatively, possibly afraid that I’d do some more yelling if he said the wrong thing. “Two for the price of one am I right?”

I offered him a withering glare and Ignatius, my intimidating, headstrong Alpha mate shrank in his seat. “Nevermind then.”

The healer gave me a reassuring smile as she got to clean the gel off of my belly. My stomach had a noticeable bulge to it by then and although I was only eight months in. I was already desperate for the entire rigmarole to be over.

“I don’t get it,” I had whined to Ignatius from the floor of our kitchen two nights ago. “Pregnancy is supposed to be this beautiful thing. Why am I craving compost and crying about sn*ked?”

“It’s normal to have weird cravings, I think. I don’t know, I’ll ask Rita.” My darling mate was at a loss on how to comfort me but he was trying nonetheless. “Wait, what’s so sad about snakes?”

“They don’t have any legs!” And thus I dissolved into a puddle of tears in just my underwear on the cool tiled floor because everything else was suddenly too hot to bear.

At the clinic. Ignatius was trying his best to be supportive. His effort was appreciated even though my own burning irritation at the world wouldn’t let me voice that.

Seeing him hovering at the healer’s shoulder while she checked my stomach had made me smile, however, and the look on his face when the ultrasound began was priceless.

He poured over the screen as the nurse pointed out the two little bean-looking things that were to be our children. I could barely make out the tiny limbs she was pointing to past Ignatius who had his nose almost pressed to the glass in his

excitement.

At first, I thought I had misheard the healer when she exclaimed that there were two of them. It wasn’t until Ignatius moved aside and she repeated herself slowly that it clicked. Twins.

I was only just coming to terms with the reality of having one child. The thought of two was even more daunting to me. 1 had been grappling with my emotions since the incident in the woods with the Not Deer

It was a dangerous world to be bringing a child into, and I feared I wouldn’t be able to protect my own. I could barely protect myself. On Top of that, it had made me realize that I could no longer afford to be reckless with my own safely.

I wasn’t just living for myself anymore. Throwing myself headlong into danger was no longer an option. I now had on, well, two beings inside of me that I needed to consider.

“Are you going into shock?” Ignatius snapped me out of my glassy-eyes state.

“What? No, I’m fine. I’m just.. terrified.”

The healer excused herself and left the two of us alone in the small sterile room. Ignatius climbed onto the bed next to me and I shuttled aside to give him room, resting my head on his chest. He trailed a finger down my arm and then moved his hand to my stomach.

“What are you afraid of? His voice was soft and gentle and it made me feel slightly more in control. The unpredictable way of the world was a little bit more manageable when he was around and he stilled the roaring doubts in my mind.

III

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Chapter 64

“Everything, Johan, the Tally, losing the people that I love. How am I supposed to keep everyone safe?”

Ignatius planted a k*ss on my forehead. “That’s my job. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you or our children.”

A big tear rolled from my cheek and plopped onto his shirt. “And who’s going to protect you?”

Ignatius bundled me in his a nns and nuzzled his face in my hair. “Don’t worry yourself about that now. We’re a strong pack, and we both have people who’ve got our backs We’re all working together and we’re going to get through this. I promise it’s all going to be alright.”

I wanted to believe him. I didn’t doubt for a moment that Ignatius would fight tooth and nad to keep me safe. But there were so many threats looming over our heads, I was unsure of how we would tackle them all.

Ignatius noticed my uncase and nipped at my car. “Oh no, the signs are there already. You’re going to be a helicopter aren’t you?”

If anything. Twas afraid that even my own children might not like me. Underneath all the concern for the safety of our offspring, there was the age-old fear that everything I touch suffers because of it.

I was afraid to pass that curse onto my own kids. I couldn’t promise them a perfect life, not with the trouble that followed mr. I hoped they could forgive me for that

“You’re going to be a great mom, Dorothy.” I looked up and Ignatius was gazing down at me. “And they’re going to adore you

“Get out of my head.” 1 mumbled and pulled myself up to k*ss him. I couldn’t admit it, but his words were the reassurance that I needed. Perhaps, eventually, I would start to believe them

-Angie

“Stay down as shole.”

I delivered one final kick to the groin of the shifter at my feet and he curled up in agony as he groaned and clutched at his crown jewels.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I turned to assess the scene. Our small group of soldiers including both Fae and Gideon had managed to take down the treacherous group of assailants who had plotted to storm Bielke territory in the dead of night.

The forest around us was dark, lit up only by the orange glow of lanterns that the attackers had been huddled around as they waited for their time to strike. Luckily for us, we had caught wind of the incoming threat and had managed to rally them up with barely any violent retaliation.

Things were looking grim for our pack. Not only did the Tally loom over our heads as a constant, insidious threat, but more and more packs had plotted against us and were attempting to take us down.

The pack wars were spreading across the country as a whole as more and more packs were forced into offense and defense In the tumultuous times we were living in. The Tally attack on New Year had been a catapult that had sent the entire country

Theres no point in fighting us. The shifter I had kicked had gotten to his knees, glaring at me with a banged-up face. “The Tally is coming to wape you all out soon enough. We’re only here to pave the way”

“It’s alentar you enjoy getting beaten to a pulp I hissed and delivered a fisted punch to has gut. He gagged at the impact and buckled over, wheezing and braving as I shook the tension from my fist

“Stop Pirat

The cry came from another vormy shifter that one of my soddies had puned to the ground.

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Chapter 64

Her arm was twisted behind her back as he pressed her into the dirt and she squirmed and squealed when he bent it further. “We were only doing what we were told to do. They threatened us, our families. We had no choice,” she cried out again as the soldier threatened to snap her arm entirely.

“Enough, Lance,” I commanded as I approached them. “Let her speak

Lance released the young girl’s arm and she got to her knees, rolling her shoulder and wincing at the pain it caused. I stood over her and crossed my ans

The other enemy attackers we re be ing shackled in silver and corralled into one area until the vans could come and pick them up.

The Bielke of old would have slau ghtered every survivor, but we were not our forefathers,

“What do you mean you were threatened: By the Tally?”

The girl nodded feverishly. She couldn’t have been older than fourteen, nothing more than a child. Their pack must have been desperate, terrified if they were willing to send a child onto the battlefield

I wondered what the elders of her park must be like and what kind of person was able to cover and hide while they let a kid handle their d*rty work for them.

“We fought back at first. But they came with soldiers and other monsters. Eventually, our elders agreed to join them. We’re a small pack. We’re cannon fodder to the Tally”

I pinched the bridge of my nose in sheer exhaustion. “What can you tell me of the Tally’s plans? That guy over there said. you were sent in preparation for something else. How many packs have they got under their thumb?”

I had to admit, it was ingenious on the Tally’s part. They had started out as a small group. Somehow they had managed grow their numbers but they had also gone about targeting other small groups and using them as a shield.

The girl wiped her bleeding nose with a d*rty palm. “I don’t know much. They didn’t tell us anything beyond forcing us to attack you. We were told to target the young and the elderly specifically. I can only imagine they have more vulnerable packs doing their bidding too.

I kicked at the dirt. Why? What did the Tally have against us in the first place! Before that point, their attacks had targeted smaller, outlying packs. Never before had they been so brazen, so dead set on wiping out one of the most formidable packs in the country. What changed?

These were questions that none of us had answers to. Not even Fae and I’s spying endeavors had given any evidence of the Tally’s motive. It was infuriating. We had been making so much progress towards peace. Now all of it was dashed to pieces before our eyes and the Tally ravaged the land.

“Are you going to kill us?” the girl asked and her eyes were wet with tears. Her d*rty blonde hair was knotted and tangled and she launched over herself, hiding under her oversized khaki jacket.

“No.”

I knelt down in front of her and gently placed my hand on her shoulder. “We’re not monsters. We can’t let you go. but I can promise you that no harm will come to you while you’re with us

The girl’s face contorted into one of regret and shame.

Tm sorry, the whispered before pulling a large knife from inside the folks of her jacket.

I heard a cry from Far as the light glinted off the blade that came straight for my heart.

WIL

10:59 Fri, Jan 26