Thank you RachelleCordero for this picture!

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Closing in on the seventh month of my pregnancy, I was just tired.

"So does the children being gone for the day mean I get to sleep the whole time?" I asked as I stretched.

He shook his head. "No, we're not staying in bed all day."

I groaned and turned on my side to face him.

"I'm too big to do anything, Mikko." I said looking down at the ever growing belly attached to me.

He scrunched up his face in disinterest. "Not with that attitude. Get up. We're going to do something."

"Like what?"

He shrugged his shoulders as he sat up. "I don't know what we're going to do yet."

"Maybe we should take one of Finn's expensive cars for a joy ride."

I saw Mikko's smirk appear instantly. "I think that's a fantastic idea. Get ready. I'll go get the car"

That was the right kind of motivation I needed to get up and dressed quickly... quickly for me.

When I heard the purring of one of Finn's muscle cars, I knew Mikko was back. I pulled my wet hair into a french braid and met Mikko outside.

It felt amazing to be child and care free. I loved them all, but mommy needed a break.

My braid whipped around as Mikko drove. The car was fast around the twists and turns. Had I not been used to Mikko's driving already, I would have feared for my life. He took the car to it's limits with every turn.

Before I knew it, Mikko stopped.

We were at the one waterfall on the pack lands. To say it is a waterfall would be a bit dramatic. It was only 5 feet tall and fed into a lake 20 feet across before continuing to a stream.

It was peaceful, which would have normally made this spot a haven for the wolves. They were stressed most of the time and would seek out somewhere to rest.

"Did everyone leave because they knew you were coming?" I asked as Mikko got out of the car.

The smile was on his face as he walked towards the water. "More like: they left because you were coming."

I frowned. "I didn't want to drive people away."

"I know," he replied with a small nod. "They wanted to give us alone time." He let out a weak laugh. "They want us to have the alone time for me to woo you."

I let out a laugh as I shut the door. "Woo me?"

He nodded and walked towards the water. "The pack has wanted us together since before I brought you here."

"So they're disappointed."I tried to put it in a lighter tone to break the tension I could feel growing in him.

He nodded. "Very much so. I messed it up. Everyone knows."

"Well, there are no secrets in a pack."

He looked back at me with a knowing smile. "You'll learn all about that when you make the change. It's nothing like you an imagine."

"I will have a pretty good learning curve. Nikki says there are things that you just can't describe. You have to experience it."

Mikko's eyes looked haunted before he turned to the water and regained his good mood. "She's right. You learn a lot once you become a wolf. It's like learning a new language in a place you've been thrown into with no help."

I grimaced. "That sounds rough."

He nodded. "It is. Luckily you have a lot of people who can help you. You more or less know what to expect from everything. I'd wager adjustment will be much easier for you."

"Do you really think so?"

Mikko nodded and turned to look at me. "Absolutely. Anyone who can put up with me for as long as you have can do anything. You've had the children that I never thought I would be able to have and you're giving me another one. You've put up with the games I've played and are still standing there. One day you'll be allowed to go through my head and see everything I've ever done and every lie I've ever told. I think that's plenty of motivation to make it through the change." He paused and looked back at the car. "Plus you wouldn't want to curse the children by leaving them alone with me to raise them."

I laughed. "You're right. I wouldn't want to do that to them," I teased.

Mikko laughed. He almost sounded carefree, but I knew that was very well controlled. Mikko was always on guard.

We were in the water for a very long time just enjoying each others company. It was something we should've been able to do before we had children, but we made mistakes.

Mikko's eye flicked towards the thick tree line.

Hew quickly looked back at me. "It's starting to get cold and dark."

I nodded. "You're right." I felt like I needed to be listening to what Mikko was saying.

He gave me a reassuring smile.

I could tell that something was wrong when we got to the car. Mikko sighed. "Someone's tampered with the car." He pulled out his cell phone. "And I have no service."

"We'll walk until someone can get to us to keep us warm."

He would connect with the pack telepathically, so they would be coming soon.

"Is this tampering something we should be worrying about?"

Mikko's responding smile was weak. "It's probably a pack member trying to make us spend more time together."

It was a lie. We both knew it. But I smiled anyway and nodded.

"It's going to feel like such a long walk back."

Mikko smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

Something was wrong.

"Why does this always happen?" I asked as I wrap oh an arm around his.

The smile finally reached his eyes when he looked down at me. "I really don't know, Em."

"No one's supposed to he happy, are they?"

He shrugged. "Everyone is happy at some point in their life. I've learned that you're not supposed to be happy all the time."

"Bad times make you appreciate the good?" I asked with real curiosity.

He nodded. "I think that's what it's supposed to be about."

I looked down at my feet. I wasn't wearing great footwear for walking.

"Let's go this way." He took my hand in his and pulled me to the right, away from the pack house, which was surprising.

"We're taking the scenic route?"

Mikko pulled me close, lifting me off the ground with ease and muzzled my neck.

"Maybe I just wanted to lure you out here to have my way with you."

I could hear Mikko's voice in my head telling me to go along with it.

I laughed and pulled away from him playfully. "Somehow I knew it."

He smiled and let my feet touch the ground again, but his eyes flickered to the side, to where we had just been.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening.

We were being followed by someone Mikko didn't want me to react to. But I had been around wolves too long not to know their suspicious behavior.

Mikko, however much sneaker, was still going to give away the fact that he knew what was happening.

"So, you were going to pin against a tree?"

Mikko's smirk was the best thing to witness, especially when he's caught off guard.

"I'll pin you against a tree when you become a wolf."

You know. I heard his ovoids in my head like I hear my own thoughts.

I giggled slightly on and looked down, I could feel the flush from the light flirting.

Mikko looked around once before looking down at me with a wile.

He reacted down and picked me up, wrapping my arms around him. I had no idea if he was going to run for it, or just going along with it.

Hold onto me.

I dint disobey. Mikko was fast. Nauseatingly fast. I held on with terrified, excite, inhuman strength.

When he stopped, I Keene we weren't where we were safe. We were still in the dense trees.

We were surrounded. I could hear it.

I don't know how they got onto Finn's lands, but they were here. I let got of the vice grip had Mikko and looked around. There were five of them. And they were all in wolf form.

Mikko had always been good at his job, he was a great fighter, but he didn't look irritated. He looked deadly calm. There was a certain amount of luck that came with fighting a werewolf in wolf form. There was luck on the wolf's side. Line good slice from a perfecting timed claw and Mikko could bleed out.

He was using the link s to the pack. I could feel the vibrations through the mark.

On reflex, I reached out to grab his shirt.

He moved his head to look down at me. His eyes were amber glowing. The wolf and the human were fully ascended.

"You'll be fine. I'm going to take care of you." Mikko's voice was like a heat wave. It was both comforting and uncomfortable.

This was going to be bad. I had never heard a good story for being so outnumbered. There was going to be some kind of loss, and wifi their way it didn't work in my favor. It was just Mikko and me. If he lost, I'd die. If they killed me, then that would be it. If I lost the baby, Mikko and I would never recover.

I knew he could feel my anxiety.

He turned axis head to face me completely, blocking out the invading rogues.

"You're going to be okay, Em." He cupped my jaw with one of his hands. "I need you to stay where I put you, close your eyes and be still."

"What're you going to do?" I asked, surprisingly, my voice did not waiver.

"I'm going to kill every last one of them. But I need you to close your eyes. I don't want you to see what's going to happen."

I could hear growling all around us.

Mikko felt different through the bond now, like he was channeling power. It didn't feel like Mikko, which was very discomforting.

I nodded. "Alright."

"No matter what you hear, you keep your eyes closed."

I nodded

Mikko's glow, for lack of a better word, was changing. He was dangerous. I was pretty sold on the idea that Finn was channeling the packs power into Mikko.

He brought our lips together before he jumped up and grabbed a thick branch and pushed me up onto it. It didn't even look like Mikko had issues with my weight.

He brought our lips together before he jumped up and grabbed a thick branch and pushed me up onto it. It didn't even look like Mikko has issues with my weight.

I pulled my feet up and held on when Mikko let go of me. I was easily 15 feet off the ground. Before Mikko's feet touched the ground, he was pounced on by one of the wolves. I knew I was useless to help him, even trying to would be stupid. But Mikko wouldn't need my help. Then I witnessed why Mikko wanted me to close my eyes.

He grabbed both sides of the wolf's mouth when it went to sink its teeth into him, and pulled the two parts away from each other.  The wolf whined, howled and died as it became a bloody pulp. Mikko didn't look even a little affected by the violence he was capable of. So I did what he told me to do originally. I closed my eyes and tried not to listen.

There was howling, and growling.

Then I heard the rest approach.

There wasn't enough time for Mikko to change. The descending rogues had planned this perfectly. There was so much uncertainty.

I felt like I would vomit from the intensity of the situation. I covered my ears with my hands and tried to think of the babies. We both had to get back to them. We both had to raise them.

We couldn't keep going through this.

Then they all charged.

I heard yelps and growls. I could feel the closeness of the rogues who were trying to get at me. Bu t I had complete confidence in Mikko.

There was a moment where I thought it would never end, but with a thundering crash, everything fell silent.

There was nothing moving around me. I decided to look down at the ground.

There were three wolves and tow humans below me.

I was confused and alarmed at first, but I recognized Philip. Finn being in his wolf form helped too. There had been seven wolves that attacked, I noticed.

Mikko was lying flat on his back, covered in blood, looking straight up at the sky.

His eyes were still glowing amber, but not like before.

Philip smiled up at me. "You comfortable up there, monkey?" I could feel the tension in my body ease at the humor in Phillip's voice.

"Ha." I feigned a laugh. "Get me down before I accidentally fall to my death.:

Philip crouched down, then jumped up enough to do a pull up. "Scoot a bit." I moved my feet out of the way and he pulled himself onto the branch completely.

There was a scuffling noise, and I noticed Mikko was up on his feet.

"Grab onto my back and I'll get you down nice and safe." Phillip sounded so reassuring.

It wasn't hard to wrap my arms around him. It was hard, however, to accept that he was going to get me down safely.

Philip climbed down the tree. Considering I though he was going to jump down with me on his back, I was relieved.

But there was Mikko, staring at Philip like he was going to murder him. This wasn't good.

Finn moved his head down, in essence telling Philip to let me go.

Mikko growled ferociously at his brother. This wasn't any Mikko I had ever known. This Mikko was dangerous to everyone.

"And this I my brother's wolf fully ascended," Philip muttered. "Luckily, it doesn't happen often."

"I thought..."

Philip shook his head, cutting me off. "Mikko never fully relinquishes control to his wolf. The power he was funneled through the pack bonds made it possible for the wolf to get a footing in and dislodge some of that control."

Philip took a step away from me when Mikko took a step towards us.

"He's not going to hurt you or anything. He's just very pushy." Philip helped me to feel more comfortable with what was going on, if that were possible.

The wolf in Mikko's body wasn't like the one I knew from him.

I could see something changing in Mikko's eyes as his body came closer to me.

When he finally reached me, the growing had stopped and he was smiling. His teeth weren't as sharp as they had been

I could see the struggle Mikko was having, from his eyes alone. The color kept shifting hues between amber and dark brown, it was amazing and terrifying to see. I heard Philip take another step away from his brother.

Then Finn broke it up. Finn stepped between Mikko and I, taking the tension away from Philip.

"Can we go home now?"

Mikko's amber eyes looked away from Finn's wolf and landed on mine. Mikko nodded once, then looked down at the wolf standing between us.

"The lady wasn't to go home, Finn."

The wolf huffed and moved.

Philip laughed. "Finn wants you to follow him."

I sighed. "I just want to go to sleep."

"Who has my children?" Mikko asked as he took my hand and interlaced his fingers with mine.

"The children are surrounded by enforcers," Philip sounded more like Finn than himself.

"That does little to relive my worry."

"IF you had been more alert, we wouldn't have had to come to help you." The bite was definitely Finn's tone. Philip and Mikko didn't talk to each other like that. They had their fights, but Mikko always had a tone when speaking with Finn.

They were having an argument aloud for my benefit.

"Can you guys internalize it? I'm too tired."

Mikko shot a look down at the wolf, who returned it with interest.

"Now you know why I liked to get out of here," Philip sounded like himself again.

I smiled over at him. "I don't blame you. There's always too much going on."

Mikko's hand tightened around mine. But it didn't hurt at all. I looked over at him and knew that he was fighting with Finn through the bonds.

In a reaction, I nudged the werewolf with my shin with some fore. "Stop the fighting."

The big wolf stopped in his tracks and looked at me. I didn't have to look at Mikko to know he was smirking at me.

Finn nodded his head once, and then ran the length of his long body along the side of my leg before starting running back to the house.

"Is there an emergency?"

Philip laughed. "No, he just needs to run off some energy. No one challenges Finn like that and doesn't have to pay for it somehow. He needs to run off the argument and the challenge."

"Keep in mind that you can't do that once you're a werewolf," Mikko added.

I shrugged. "I'm going to get into so much trouble if I become a werewolf anyway. Where's the harm in introducing him to some back talking now? Maybe he'll get used to it."

Both of the brothers laughed. "Yeah right."