Thank you Love2Read16 for the picture!!

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"Now are you going to tell me?" He was still plenty mad, but I wasn't worried that he'd attack me like Eddy had.

I shook my head. "Finn said not to."

Mikko took a deep breath. "How about you just tell me if I'm wrong then?"

"I'm pretty sure that's still cheating."

"Guessing isn't you telling me what happened. Technically it's not breaking what Finn told you to do."

He was pretty convincing...but, "No" was the answer he got.

Mikko held a hand out and ushered me to him. I hesitated because I didn't know if I could trust him. He was a sneaky jerk.

I didn't give him my hand because I was much more comfortable having my hands on my stomach to reassure myself that nothing had happened to them. My babies were still healthy and growing in me.

When I didn't reach out to his hand, he stepped closer to me. "Did something happen to the babies?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. If something had happened I'd be in a hospital, not here."

He put his hands over mine. "But something happened to you that had given you the need to protect them."

I just stared at him. I wasn't going to give him the answers he was looking for.

He brought a hand away from my stomach and kissed the knuckles there, which made me feel a little better knowing he was on my side. "Gunpowder. Anger. A lot of fear. And a trace of my brother-in-law."

He wanted me close to search for clues, not to comfort me.

I tugged my hand away from him, now mad. "You left me in the middle of the night."

He shook his head. "It was morning when I left. The sun was up and shining."

"Why did you leave?"

He took a step away from me with irritation on his face. "We're not in a relationship. It was just a little fun."

"I know we're not in a relationship, but you left me with Eddy!"

His eyes narrowed. "I left you with Jason. I don't trust Eddy."

"Jason wasn't around. If he was, he would've come to help me since you were obviously too busy to stick around."

"What did Eddy do to you?"

I shook my head and went towards the door. "Eddy didn't lay a finger on me."

"It's not Eddy's fingers I'm worried about," he seethed. "Eddy has a wandering eye, much like his father."

"Eddy is mated to your sister. Why would he be sleeping around with me? I'm obviously not enough to stick around for."

And then I felt the pain in my chest. Eddy left me for a mate and Mikko didn't even want to stay until the morning. What was so wrong with me?

"You're such a pain in my ass," he muttered. "You expect me to bring you breakfast in bed?" he snapped.

The pain in my chest throbbed. I rolled my eyes at everything in my life. What was the point? "No. I'm sorry I ruined everything for you." I walked away from him.

When I got downstairs I saw Eddy come in with the group of men that Finn had kicked out of the office not long ago. Eddy's hand was bandaged up, which meant Albert had cleaned it up. The alpha slowed down to let the group pass him. When they were all down the way, he turned to me. "I don't want you to stick around after what you've done to my son."

I didn't have it in me to oppose what he wanted. So I grabbed a set of keys to a truck and went outside. Clicking the unlock button alerted me to one of the many pack trucks. I drove off alone. I needed to get all of my thoughts together, away from everyone else's influence.

I drove to the lake. No one would be out there. Well, no sane people anyway.

Snow rested on the top of where I knew the water to be. It was tempting to walk out and test the strength of the ice, but I knew better. I put the hood of my jacket up to keep the cold off my neck.

This morning had been so crazy. It was only noon. I had been rejected, I had been threatened, I shot someone, and now, I was kicked out of the alpha’s house until further notice.

I cleared off a portion of a bench and sat, staring at a view I've seen a million times. It was calm and quiet. The cold almost didn't seem to matter against the beautiful view of the lake and surrounding trees...almost. I'd pay for the chilling wind to be absent for even ten minutes.

Would my kids get to come out here? Finn's land probably had beautiful views, but I wanted to share these memories with my children. Or would Mikko place them in impenetrable bubbles to keep them from danger, and ruin their childhood?

Would my kids be witness to parenting that had nothing to do with love and affection? How would my children know what a relationship was supposed to be if I couldn't offer an example to them?

Would this be a joint custody thing where I kept them every other holiday and go months without seeing them? Would Mikko even let me have main custody over them? If Mikko didn't let them out of his territory I'd have to move there permanently to see my kids at all.

And there would be the inevitable part where I would be changed into a werewolf. Would I make it through the change? When was it going to happen? What if Mikko ordered me away from my children? I'd have to listen to him as a wolf and he was so strong that that there would be no chance of challenging him on it.

But the question that bothered me was this: what would I do when my children grew old and died? What would I do if they tried the change and both failed? What if only one survived the change? That was the most haunting idea.

I heard a rustling in the trees and remembered that I didn't have a gun with me. If it were a wolf I'd be screwed. If it were one of Mikko's enemies, I'd just have to deal. Regardless I just watched the area I had heard the rustling.

The sound of snapping and reforming bones had me cover my ears. I hummed to myself to keep the sound out as I scanned the trees. I really didn't care who it was. They had interrupted my thoughts. All I wanted to do was to be left alone. I wanted to curl up in my bed and cry myself to sleep. In that moment, all I could feel was an overwhelming depression.

Then my dad popped his smiling head out of the bushes. I stopped humming. "What are you doing out here?" I hollered.

"Word on the street is that you ran off on your own after the alpha scared you off." He walked out of the trees with his hands over his...man parts.

I closed my eyes and turned my head away. "He didn't scare me off. I was already on my way out." I defended.

"Uh huh." He didn't sound convinced.

"You know, a normal person would find this situation really weird." I couldn't look at my father right now, not while he was in his birthday suit post change. "Check the truck for clothes. Hopefully there's some in there." I tossed the keys in his direction. I knew he'd catch.

A few minutes later, he sat down next to me after dressing and smiled. "I knew you'd be here."

"You weren't supposed to take off on your own," dad said gently as he put hand sanitizer on; he knew I had a thing about germs. Plus he had his hands somewhere unmentionable.

"Whoever did this to Eddy could've been waiting for you."

"Well, it's a good thing you found me first then," I said monotonously.

Dad nodded. "Talk to me. I know you're unhappy."

"It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to figure that out," I said with sarcasm.

He smiled at me. "So talk to me. I know I'm not Nikki and it's not easy to talk to your dad about relationship problems, but I'm willing to listen."

I looked at my dad, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. He was just trying to be a good father. But I couldn’t lay my problems on him.

He gave me a sympathetic smile. "How about you tell me what happened with Eddy so I'm not caught off guard."

I was grateful that he gave me another option. So I launched into the story.

At the end of it, dad's eyes were angry but I also recognized his thinking. "This is going to be a Mikko problem again, isn't it?"

I couldn't offer an answer to that, so I gave a noncommittal shrug.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "We'll work this all out. No one's going to hurt you or the babies."

I rested my head against his shoulder with a sigh. "Why couldn't this be easier?"

Dad chuckled, bouncing my head a bit. "Life is never simple, especially for you. Werewolf dad, werewolf friends, early death of your mother, unplanned babies, and last but not least, a complicated baby-daddy."

I couldn't help but laugh. "That sounds so weird coming from you."

He kissed the top of my head. "I know."

We weren't alone long before another werewolf came out of the trees. This one was in human form, though his amber eyes told me he was furious.

"Are you going to tell me what happened now?" Mikko hollered as he looked over me. "Why are you in the cold?"

"It snowed recently. I have to be in the cold," I said matter-of-factly. "And no. I'm not going to tell you anything."

I felt my dad sigh as Mikko stomped closer to us.

"So the alpha decided he could banish you from his house for no reason? His son has a bullet wound through his hand!"

Mikko stopped right in front of the bench, causing me to look up at him.

"I was protecting myself!" I wanted to scream. "I was protecting my babies! Eddy's lucky I didn't shoot him in his face!"

My dad's hand squeezed, reassuringly, on my shoulder.

Mikko crouched down in front of me. "If the alpha’s banished you on assumptions, I have no problem with ripping away that command. But if you attacked Eddy, there's nothing I can do."

I shook my head in disbelief. "How can I attack Eddy when he came into my house? You didn't even know he was there. You thought Jason was there."

Mikko nodded once. "Jason was there. He's currently nursing a fracture on the back of his skull. He was knocked out, but he claims he doesn't know who did it."

"Why would Eddy attack her?" Dad got off the bench and paced a bit. "This doesn't make sense."

I thought over the moments after I had shot Eddy. I thought over how confused he had been. I thought over the genuine surprise on his face after noticing he was shot. He had deliberately made slow, cautious moves to ensure that I wouldn't be shooting him.

Mikko tipped my chin with his finger. "What are you thinking about?"

"After I shot him, Eddy seemed confused. He didn't know why he was at my house. He said he wouldn't have threatened me like that, if only for Margaret's sake."

I saw in Mikko's eyes that something clicked for him.

"What is it?" I asked hesitantly. Dad stopped pacing, looking at the back of Mikko's head.

"Do you remember the witch, the one who blackmailed me at the restaurant?" I nodded once in response. "It could have been her."

"You're saying a witch is after my daughter now?"

"No." Mikko stood up. "I think she's working for someone."

 I looked up at his face. "I thought you were going to pay her to keep her mouth shut."

"I did pay her." Mikko helped me off the bench. "That wouldn't necessarily keep her mouth shut."

Mikko helped me off the bench and led me toward the car.

"What happens now?" I asked, blindly following Mikko to the car.

"I'll figure out if it was her or not." Mikko opened the car door for me. "Don't worry about her anymore. I'll make sure no one gets this close again."

"That sounds like something that would be impossible for you to do when you're gone all the time."

Mikko started up the car. "No one said it was going to be easy."

I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, trying to relax. "Maybe I should've just run away until I had the babies."

I heard both of the men chuckle.

I kept my eyes closed the whole ride. When I opened them, I expected to be at home. I wasn't. Mikko had brought me back to the alpha's house.

I let out a long sigh. "Are you sure this is worth the drama?"

Mikko smirked at me and nodded. "Don't worry about the alpha. He still doesn't have the whole story."

"And you do?" My tone was sarcastic.

"Yes." He opened the door and got out.

I rolled my eyes and opened the door with a frustrated huff. "I should be at home."

Dad was out of the car before me. "Stay with Mikko. He's the one that's going to go against an alpha."

We caught up to Mikko at the front of the house. "Does the alpha know I'm here?"

"No," Mikko said with a shake of his head. "Don't be afraid. This alpha is the least of my worries."

I followed Mikko into the house with caution. Everything in me told me that I shouldn't have been there. I needed to go home, where I was safe.

Before I could retreat, Mikko took my forearm and pulled me along with him. At the top of the stairs, the first person we ran into was Margaret.

She gave me a small smile. "I'm glad to see that you're okay."

That didn't feel sincere.

When Mikko let out a warning growl at her, I knew it wasn't. Did she think Eddy had an affair with me last night, with her brother around?

Margaret glared at her brother. "She shot my husband! You expect me to be happy about it?"

Mikko let go of me and stepped closer to her, towering over her. "I expect you to be civil. It was neither of their faults. If she hadn't shot him, he would've killed her and my kid." I was surprised that she kept her glare. Her brother was rightfully intimidating.

Margaret faltered after a moment, but regained her composure. "That's not my problem Mikko."

His brows rose in surprise. "Maybe I should reconsider going easy on your husband for attacking Emily while she's under my protection."

Margaret instantly turned on her heel and went to her room. Mikko watched her until the door shut.

He turned back to me and led me to the study with his hand on my lower back. He stopped right before the door.

"What my sister said was nothing against you. She's just backing up her husband."

I shrugged. "That's what she's supposed to do, right?"

"Yes." He sounded a bit reluctant. "Let's go inside."

I moved to the side for him to go in first. I didn't want to be the one the alpha saw first. Mikko caught on quickly and made his way into the study with me trailing behind him.

"What is she doing here? I told her to leave." The alpha's voice was furious.

"And I brought her back," Mikko said simply. "You banish her without even knowing what happened, that's bad leadership."

I looked out from behind Mikko's big back to see the alpha's face turning red in anger. "You come into my home and insult my decisions and my leadership?!"

Finn kept a watchful eye on both of the men.

"You sent the pregnant human away from the protection of the pack based on your fury and no idea of what was happening," Mikko shot back without any of the rage the alpha had shown him. "If I reacted like you have, both you and your son would be in graves soon."

The alpha roared very wolf-like, terrifying me. The only protection I had from the alpha was Mikko, so I grabbed onto the back of his shirt and cowered behind him. Mikko reached his hand back and rested it on my hip as a reassurance to me. He knew what he was doing, whatever it was.

Mikko let out a threatening growl. "If you come at me now, you'll regret it."

"Enough…" Finn cut in, "… now is not the time. Jerry, go get your son before this becomes something else."

Mikko pivoted me as Alpha Jerry walked out of the room. Once he was out of the room, Mikko stepped away from me. I was still afraid, and I knew it showed.

Finn sighed unhappily as he looked me over. "She needs to rest."

Mikko put his hand on my lower back again and led me towards the couch. "You should rest." Mikko echoed his father.

I slowly sat down on the edge of the seat. I wouldn't be comfortable with Alpha Jerry standing over me when he came back. I couldn't relax here.

Finn smiled at me like I was a small fidgeting toddler. "You can relax. No harm will come to you."

I shook my head. "I don't feel comfortable here."

Finn nodded. "After this is finished, Mikko will take you to your home. We need to be sure of what happened."

I looked up at Mikko. "How long will this take?"

"Not long."

I grabbed onto Mikko's shirt when he took a step away from me. He looked down, confused for a moment before looking over me. I didn't want him to be far from me. He was all the protection I had against whatever was going to happen. I needed him close. Mikko sat down next to me, which made me feel much more secure.

Eddy and his father walked into the room. Eddy's hand was still heavily bandaged since it would be healing very slowly. Eddy would probably be bandaged for a while because of the hole in his hand. He gave me a small smile and a wave. He was going to be okay, which made me not feel so bad. Alpha Jerry looked over at Mikko, the anger was still etched in his features.

"So Eddy," Finn said neutrally, "what do you remember happening?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember what happened at all. I was getting ready to go out with Margaret, then it all goes black until I came to with a bullet hole through my hand."

"How did he get past Jason?" I asked in a whisper to Mikko. "You said Jason was there."

Mikko nodded. "Jason was knocked out."

Eddy looked down. "I wouldn't have hurt Jason. I wouldn't have tried to attack Emily."

Mikko looked over at him, gauging his reaction. "I think you were possessed."

Finn nodded in agreement. "That would explain the filth I feel on the bonds."

"Possessed?" Eddy asked alarmed. "By what?"

"A witch." I blurted before I could stop myself.

"A witch possessed my son? Witches can't possess werewolves." Alpha Jerry shot nastily at me.

Mikko's eyes lightened as his eyes shot to the alpha. "This is your last warning. Consider this being your courtesy warning for my sister's sake."

"We know of a witch who is powerful enough to possess a werewolf for a short time," Finn added as he ignored the warning Mikko had given the alpha of this pack.

"How long that witch had him was not a short time." The alpha snarled. "Ten minutes--"

Mikko was gone so fast I felt the wind from his departure. I looked over to see Alpha Jerry struggling against Mikko's grip on his neck.

I looked down and brought my hands up to my ear. I tried to not pay attention to the sounds of a struggle. I didn't want to see, hear, or even be involved with what was happening. I couldn't deal with it right not. I needed peace and calm voices. I felt on edge all the time, and this wasn't helping.

"Mikko enough." Finn's voice boomed, I heard it clearly though my hands. "You're not easing this situation."

A crashing sound startled me into opening my eyes. Alpha Jerry was on the floor, surrounded by a mess of books, decor, and shelving. Mikko had thrown the alpha wolf into the wall to wall bookshelf.

Mikko kept an eye on Alpha Jerry as he slowly got up.

Finn waited until Alpha Jerry was back on his feet before saying anything. The look in Alpha Jerry's eyes was frightening. I had never seen the amber from his wolf's eyes before.

"We need to make sure that no one can do this again," Finn said to his son as Mikko walked back towards the couch.

"Do you want to bring Aubrina down to set up blocks?" Mikko suggested.

Finn sighed and looked at me. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

"This Aubrina can't do it from her own land? There have been too many unknown wolves in my territory lately," Alpha Jerry growled.

I saw Mikko's jaw set as he looked towards the alpha.

"I'll call and ask her." Finn's body language was calm compared to his son's.

Finn looked between the two men. "Either you two go blow off steam and calm down, or I'm going to let you two at it if you're going to act like children."

For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other. Alpha Jerry turned on his heel and walked out of the office. Eddy followed his father out not long after. Once they were gone I could feel the tension in the air leave.

"Take her home."

Mikko nodded and helped me off the couch. Once at my house, I found my bed and slept.

Two days later, Aubrina came to the pack territory and set up blocks on people minds. She was more than confident that her blocks would hold up to a witch's assault. Tension died a bit when the blocks went up around the pack, protecting everyone from any outside influence.

When the time came to go with Mikko, the blocks would come down once the danger was gone. Once I was gone, this pack would settle down and become stable again.