BLAKE

        “—will make a full recovery,” I wasn’t listening to a single word the doctor was saying to me. I knew I should have been because she was telling me about Ellie but I just wanted to spend time with Maxwell and Nicole.

        Maxwell with his blue eyes and Nicole with her green ones. They were both beautiful and I was still having a hard time believing that they were actually mine and that they were here. I was a father and I was in love with the both of them already – until they started keeping me up at night and I was dealing with them while El caught up on her sleep.

        For now though I loved them and I couldn’t stop looking at them as they slept in the cot besides Ellie’s bed.

        Maxwell was wrapped in a white blanket with a white hat covering up what little hair he had in his head and he was in a yellow babygrow – something Charlotte gave to us a couple of weeks ago since she had no use for it now – while Nicole was in a pink blanket with the hat to match and she was practically bald but she looked so damn sweet in her white babygrow – a present from Elliot because she felt left out that Charlotte was giving us loads of things but she had nothing to give because she hadn’t been there.

        “Mr Jackson?” I looked up at the doctor who was standing there with her hands on her hips.

        “Huh?” I replied.

        “You didn’t listen to a single word I just told you. Did you?” Lira chuckled.

        “No. Sorry. I was distracted by the twins,” I chuckled awkwardly as I moved away from the twins and actually looked at Lira for the first time since she walked in the room and started telling me whatever it was that she was telling me. “What did you say?”

        “Despite their early arrival, the twins are both in great health. Your son was seven pound eight ounces and your daughter was seven pound two ounces which is what we would expect from babies who were carried to term. There shouldn’t be any lasting problems but we will keep them in for a couple of days to monitor them,” Lira explained as I heard the door open. I looked up to see both Luca and Jayson walking into the room, the both of them immediately going over to the twins and gushing over cute they both were.

        “And El?” I smiled.

        “For now she is in a medically induced coma, but that’s for her own good. We are hoping to bring her round tomorrow afternoon and she will make a full recovery. Though she will need time to recover so she’s going to need to take at least two months before she fully returns to her duties as Alpha,” Lira replied.

        “Thank you Doctor Parker. For everything,” I tell her and with a polite nod she walks out of the room, closing the door behind her as I walk over to Jayson and Luca – Jayson is holding Nicole and Luca is holding Maxwell, the both of them admiring my children with smiles on their faces.

        “Damn Blake. I am impressed,” Jayson laughed as a slight snore came from the pink blanket in his arms.

        “And what’s this I hear about Jackson being godfather while I am merely Uncle Luca?” Luca asked incredulously as he moved his arms, rocking Maxwell a little so that he stayed asleep in his arms.

        “That was nothing to do with me. El decided that a couple of months’ ago now,” I chuckled.

        “Urgh. Does my adopted nephew have a name then?” Luca muttered as his eyes looked up at from my son.

        “Maxwell David Lex Jackson,” I smiled.

        “That’s one hell of a name,” Luca replied. I couldn’t tell whether the look on his face meant that he liked the name or whether he just thought I was taking the piss, but either way I didn’t really care, the three people he was named after were important to Ellie and I.

        I wasn’t going to name my children something meaningless. I wanted their names to be something special and that’s what they were – their names were representative of just how special they were to me. I don’t think I was ever going to be able to let them out of my sight and I could already tell that I was going to be the overprotective father.

        I was already feeling the urge to tell both Jayson and Luca to put the twins back down but I knew they were just excited to meet the both of them. So I decided that I wasn’t going to be rude and insist that they put my children back in their cot – not when I was going to need their help at times to be able to deal with this change.

        “Maxwell was the name of Ellie’s real father. David, as you know, as the name of the man she considered her father. And Lex was my older brother,” I explained. It was still painful to talk about my brother, even with the time which had passed since it had happened, but I would always thank him whenever I went to see him.

        Without him Ellie would probably be dead and I don’t know where I would be. I would be somewhere not functioning properly as I tried to get on with my life without my mate around me – that was something which didn’t sit all that well with me and I didn’t really want to think about it.

        “And this one?” Jayson asked with a huge grin.

        “Nicole Janette Jayne Jackson,” I smiled back at him.

        “What’s the story with that name?” Luca spoke up again.

        “Nicole is the name of my mother. She’s saved Ellie’s life twice and kept her alive despite Ellie’s stubbornness and overwhelming need to do whatever the hell she want to without much thought for the consequences,” Jayson said. His eyes suddenly clouded with tears as he spoke about his mother and I realised that he hadn’t actually told her that he was back which meant that she was still going out of her mind with worry.

        “You should phone your mother Jay. She’s been going mental looking for you and so has your father,” I told him.

        “I will. I just don’t really know what to tell her,” Jayson sighed and I felt sorry for him. I knew that he must have had his reasons for disappearing like he did and, when he was ready to tell me the truth, I would like to think that he would do that without even thinking about it.

        We had known each other since we were four. He had been there for me after my mother’s death and he was there for me after my father’s too; he’s the reason I am still alive now and the reason I am finally a father.

        He’s the reason I have Ellie and I finally remembered what it was to have a family. I remembered what it was to love and be loved in return, I knew what it was to care for someone and have them care for you just as much, I knew what it meant to be yourself and to have someone so wonderful as your other half that nothing else in the world really mattered.

        “Yeah. Perhaps your opening sentence shouldn’t be hey mum, I killed some rogues, but I’m alive,” I managed to laugh.

        “Some is definitely an understatement,” I heard Luca mutter under his breath as he reached into the cot for Maxwell’s dummy, putting in his mouth to shush the small moaning noises he was now making.

        “What about Janette and Jayne?” Jayson asked as he cleverly ignored the comment from Luca.

        “Janette was the name of her real mother and Jayne was—“

        “—the name of Link’s mother,” Luca finished for me as he walked over to me and handed me my son. His blue eyes looking at me with his arms waving around from the inside of his blanket.

        I smiled to myself as I lowered my hand and he wrapped his hand around my finger without any real prompting. I had a feeling Ellie was going to be right about these two.

        Nicole was going to be my little girl and I was going to spoil her rotten while Maxwell was going to be my little Alpha and I would spend my weekends with him – I wouldn’t train him to be an Alpha, I would just be a normal father who spent time with his son because he wanted to and not because he wanted to put him through a gruelling fifteen hour day.

        I wasn’t ever going to be like my father. Training Maxwell to be the Alpha once Ellie stepped down was the last thing on my mind right now – I knew it was going to have to happen at some point but it could happen when he was in his late teenage years, not when he was eight and didn’t even know what the term ‘Alpha’ even meant.

        “Now as happy as I am that you have met the twins, tell me the real reason you’re here because I know it’s not to see either of them,” I said as I turned on the spot, rocking Maxwell slightly, a smile on my face as he spat his dummy out and took to moving his eyes from side to side as he made the weird noises new born babies make.

        “We got Erick, the doctor, to speak,” Luca spoke firmly.

        “And?”

        “Well he was blackmailed into letting Ellie die. Whatever the cost,” Jayson replied.

        “That supposed to make me feel sorry for him?” I said as calmly as I could. I wasn’t going to risk losing my temper around the twins and I knew that, should I actually lose my temper, I wouldn’t even bother trying to stop my wolf from coming out to play. I would let him out and I would let him cause the damage he wanted to Erick.

        “He is one of the few people in the pack who still haven’t accepted Ellie as the Alpha,” Jayson told me softly.

        “Still not feeling sorry for the guy,” I muttered.

        “His entire family were kidnapped. It was his job to ensure that El died in childbirth, no matter what the cost of her death was,” Luca sighed.

        “Right, I am sorry that his family were kidnapped, but he was going to let my daughter die. My daughter who has done no wrong to him or brought any harm his way. If he has a family then he will be able to understand the reasons why I simply don’t give shit,” I growled. I was probably being unnecessarily harsh but he was going to let Ellie and Nicole die – even if I was in his shoes, I never would have let a child die for the sake of some half-assed attempt at taking another person’s life.

        “It doesn’t get much better either Blake,” Jayson sighed.

        “I was happy not five minutes ago. Ellie is going to be woken up tomorrow and the twins are both healthy. Now, you come here, telling me that Erick was blackmailed into murdering El and to top it off, there’s even more to the story than that. Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?” I shouted.

        I had forgotten that Maxwell was in my arms so when his cries filled the room, I immediately felt bad for shouting. I didn’t want to scare my son and I hated that I was being driven to the point where I didn’t know how much longer I would be able to contain my anger for.

        I walked around the room, rocking Maxwell lightly while whispering a lullaby as I attempted to shush him, which didn’t take all that long as he closed his eyes once more and quickly fell back asleep. I walked over to his cot and placed him back in there, gently removing my hand from the back of his head and moving the cuddly lion which Jamie had given me when I went to see her – she told me that she found in her things when she was packing to move packs.

        “Fatherhood really does suit you,” Luca commented from the corner of the room.

        “It would suit me a lot more if there was some little shit out there trying to ruin it for me,” I seethed, my hands balling into tight fists at my sides, causing Jayson to take a step backwards with Nicole still making quiet noises in his arms.

        “Perhaps we should come back tomorrow. When El is awake so w—“

        “No. Luca. You will tell me what else you know and you will fucking tell me now,” I took steps closer to him and I could see that he was terrified of both me and what I would do to him. Luca Hind, the best fighter in Darkness and bad ass Third in Command, was terrified of me, Blake Jackson, the Alpha’s mate.

        “I think it’s for the best if we wait for El. This concerns her too,” Luca replied confidently.

        “If you don’t want me to beat the crap out of you right now, then you will tell me what you know and you will tell me now,” I told him harshly.

        “Blake. It’s not—“

        “Turns out James had a son he never told anyone about,” Jayson interrupted him.

        “Jayson,” Luca hissed angrily.

        “No. He has a right to know. Especially when there are two bitches in this place who are out to murder Ellie and the twins,” Jayson snapped at him.

        “M—Murder?” I choked out the word. The twins hadn’t even been in this world a day and there was already another two people out there who wanted to kill them.

        I will never understand what it was with people who murdered children. I would especially never understand why someone wants to murder to new born babies who haven’t even been given the chance to wrong someone.

        I could understand the attempts on El’s life. Most of the pack had accepted her as their Alpha and they had even complimented how everything was so much better since she became Alpha, but there were always going to be those people who hated her for what she did to James and Angelica – but the twins didn’t even exist when that happened so I don’t see why they were being punished for it.

        No one was ever going to get close enough to be able to murder my family. If anyone dared to touch them then they wouldn’t be alive to tell the tale of what happened because I would kill them myself. I would make them pay and I would be sure to put them through as much suffering as possible.

        “Don’t worry Blake. No one will be getting past me,” Luca assured me and I knew that to be true but I also knew that, with Jayson by his side, whoever tried to get past them was going to have one hell of a job – even before Jayson became the Alpha he was one hell of a fighter and he certainly knew how to defend himself to the point that it was terrifying.

        “Where is this son then?” I asked.

        “Erick didn’t say. He didn’t even give a name. All he told us was that he was looking for a way to murder Ellie without getting his hands dirty himself,” Jayson replied.

        “But he is still lacking with an army. No one wants to stand with him because they have all come to accept Ellie as their Alpha so now he’s getting desperate. He’s using innocent people to get what he wants,” Luca added.

        “Innocent my ass,” I muttered as I walked over to the chair which was beside Ellie’s bed and I sat down in it, closing my eyes while I found myself pinching the bridge of my nose in some lame attempt to relieve the stress which was now taking over every bone and muscle in my body.

        This wasn’t how I had imagined my day going. I just wanted to celebrate that the twins were healthy, that I was finally a father and Ellie was a mother, that we had produced two of the most gorgeous child in the pack.

        “Is there anything you want us to do Blake?” Jayson asked as he appeared in front of me with Luca and when I looked, I noticed that he had finally managed to detach himself from my daughter to be able to talk to me.

        “You know, I think Uncle Jayson kind of suits you. Definitely sounds better than Uncle Link and Uncle Luca,” I actually managed to laugh as I looked at the two men in front of me.

        “Still can’t believe that you picked Jackson and Elliot to be their godparents over me and Charlotte,” Luca complained again, his arms folded across his chest as he sulked over the titles.

        “You can take it up with El tomorrow when she’s awake. I am sure she will only be too pleased to hear what you have to say on the matter,” I chuckled as I took hold of Ellie’s hand in my own. Before Lira told me that she was going to be just fine and that there was nothing for me to worry about, I had spent the two hours she was in surgery for, panicking that she wasn’t going to make it.

        I imagined how my life would be if she wasn’t around. I wondered how I would cope with the twins knowing that their mother was dead and there was nothing I could have done to help her. I even pondered how I would cope without my mate – especially since I have seen how people can breakdown when their mate either dies or rejects them.

        “I have been best friends with El since we were seven. She’s known Jackson for five minutes. I definitely deserve the title of godfather more than he does,” Luca continued to sulk and it amazed me that he was thirty with two kids of his own at home, but he was acting even less mature than the two of them did.

        “Pretty sure you said something similar when you found out Jackson was her Beta and you were merely her Third in Command,” I reminded him.

        “But then she told me that she needed Jackson to be her Beta so I could be her bad ass personal guard. So I quickly got over that one knowing I was the more superior fighter of the two of us,” Luca shrugged.

        “Jackson might be twenty-two but I am pretty sure he has a more mature head on his shoulders than you do at times Luca,” I raised an eyebrow at him with a slight smirk which only started Jayson off laughing and caused Luca to walk over to where the twins were. He looked down at the both of them with a smile.

        “You know, when you’re old enough, I’m going to train the both of you to kick daddy’s ass for me,” I heard him tell the both of them like they were going to reply to his comment. “I will be the cool Uncle. The one who lets you get away with the things mummy and daddy won’t let you do. While Jayson, I can tell he’s going to be the Uncle who spoils you both rotten and he will always be told off by mummy for buying you things you don’t need. And Link, well, he’s going to be the Uncle who loves you and will protect you from everything as your grow up.”

        “And daddy will kick Uncle Luca’s ass in return if Uncle Luca uses daddy’s children to fight Uncle Luca’s battles,” I grinned.

        “These two definitely got lucky with parents like you and El,” Jayson smiled as he landed his hand on my shoulder, giving me a friendly grip and he looked like a proud father. I was happy that he was back and that he was alive – I had already lost Lex so I don’t think I would be able to handle losing Jayson.

- Don't you just love Luca when he's acting like a child? I do. I also love Blake as a father. It's seriously cute. How about you?