The next update will be on Tuesday. It's a bit sooner than regular updates, because I am going to be MIA for a week starting Wednesday!

Thank you nightlover96 for the picture!

***

I turned away from the woman and went back into the living room. It wasn't worth a fight. It wasn't worth Nikki getting in a fight. We just needed some distance between us.

After maybe ten minutes, Nikki cleared her throat. I looked over at her, taking a second to glance at Abigail over her shoulder before giving her my complete attention. "Mikko wants to talk to you upstairs." Her smile was weak, but I never expected a smile to be on her face, not when she was as mad as I knew she was.

"Upstairs where? I've never been here before." I wanted to stay here, with the fire, but I knew that wouldn't last very long.

"Finn's office is the set of double doors at the top of the stairs," she said with a frown. "I'm not allowed to go up there with you."

I looked over at the stairs. The woman was standing there, looking like she was minding her own business, but she was listening to us as she stared at her nails. She was waiting for confrontation now that all the witnesses were upstairs.

"Looks like you're not the only one forced to stay down here."

Nikki growled a bit. "I already noticed." She looked over at the blonde. "She's going to get the fight that she wants if she doesn't start minding her own fucking business."

Abigail's head slowly looked up and locked eyes with Nikki.

"Just let it go," I told Nikki. "It's not your concern."

Nikki huffed. "As soon as I'm gone this chick will be all up in your shit, gloating that she's been sleeping with Mikko just to get a rise out of you."

"Damn it Nikki." I wanted to yell at her. "The only one getting a rise out of me would be you. If I say I'm fine and it's not bothering me, then I'm fine and unbothered. He can stick his dick in whatever girl he wants because it all means nothing to him." I looked back at Abigail. "She's no more special than me or the hundreds of other women Mikko has slept with in his lifetime."

I went towards the stairs and went around her. Finding Finn's office wasn't very hard. Finn was leaning on the rail that over looked the foyer. He had been keeping an eye on the first real interaction between the women. Finn opened the door to the office for me and shut it when I was inside, boxing me in alone with Mikko.

"So why have I been summoned up here?" I snapped at him.

"I need you to stay here tonight," he said simply, but I could tell he was agitated.

"Why?" I didn't get mad or offended by his attitude.

"I need one night to get my house together."

Again, when I knew I should be getting mad, I couldn't. I was a little bitter that I didn't have anyone I could hop into bed with when the need arose. "Fine. I don't even know why you bother making up some excuse for taking that whore with you for the night. I'm not an idiot Mikko."

I looked over a bookshelf. If I was going to be here for the rest of the night, I could at least read a book in front of the fire. It would be nice to have a day where someone wasn't breathing down my neck.

"I haven't brought another woman around you since the incident with the pregnancy, have I?" he asked in obvious disbelief. "Have I done anything to suggest that I was sneaking off with other women?"

I rolled my eyes and continued looking over the books. "I saw you out there with her."

"So what? You saw a kiss. It's not like I was fucking her out there."

"You sure were gone for a long time with her." I shot back.

I sound like a jealous wife. I thought to myself. I don't want to sound like that. I don't need Mikko… right?

"I was reworking the agreement that we have." He leaned against the huge desk. "I'll tell you that Abigail and I had a physical relationship, but that's been ended now."

"Ended… completely?"

He nodded once and crossed his arms over his chest. "Yes, completely. Now can I go clean my house?"

"And I'm not supposed to go?"

He shook his head. "I'm taking Abigail to help me clean. I don't need the two of you throwing snide remarks at each other."

I couldn't say anything against that either. If Abigail and I were left alone, we probably would play verbal tennis, hurling insults at each other.

With a final nod, he was out the door and going down the steps as quickly as he could.

I even heard a squeal from her when he took her along with him. Once I heard the door slam shut I knew he was gone and that Finn was standing in the doorway to the office.

"He would have taken you with him if you fought him on it."

"Your son isn't worth my energy anymore. I just need to relax." I pulled out this pack's oldest looking history book. "Do you mind if I read this?"

"You're going to be in this pack eventually. You may read it."

"Is this the oldest history?"

He shook his head. "No. There are two more that are older, but you wouldn't be able to read them. They're not in English."

"What language are they in?" I didn't realize that they spoke many other languages.

"They're in Norwegian. I could translate them for you if you wanted me to."

I shook my head and looked at the book. "That's not necessary. I'm just looking for some alone time reading."

He nodded. "That will keep you busy then. No one will bother you while you read, I promise."
I nodded once then went downstairs to the fire and curled up in front of it again.

***

I woke up sore. The fire was still going strong, so someone had been tending to it as I slept…and also tending to me. I had a pillow and a blanket stuffed underneath my side to support the weight of my growing belly.

I groaned as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I was instantly rewarded with a couple of kicks from the babies as they were forced to wake up too. I kept my hands on the kicking until they both stopped. When I stretched and popped my stiff and sore spots they started again.

I pushed myself up into the sofa. If I tried walking now I'd probably stumble and fall. I did that once and it would never happen again.

Abigail was in the kitchen, cooking. It was already noon. How late had I stayed up reading that book? I looked back and didn't see it, so whoever had been tending the fire had probably put it back. I made a mental note to check and make sure it was there later.

"Morning sleepy head," she teased in a tone I didn't like. "I was wondering who was going to have to wake your lazy ass up."

"More like my pregnant ass..." I said spitefully knowing full well that she had probably tried to have a baby and failed, like all werewolf women did at some point. "But you wouldn't know what it's like to have growing babies inside you." Whatever had made my mood so composed yesterday was now gone. I could feel all the repressed feelings from yesterday and it made me an angry, bitter, pregnant woman.

She turned her complete attention to me this time, eyeing me down like she was going to rip my face off. I just wouldn't be myself if I let her keep disrespecting me without retaliation. She was lucky I didn't have my gun with me.

"You'd better run to someone who wants to keep you alive the rest of that pregnancy," she said as she took a step closer to me.

Instead of using my logical, working brain, I took a step closer; my belly was maybe a half a foot from her. "I don't think you have it in you. What would they do if they knew you killed Mikko's first children because you got in a spat with his baby mama?" I taunted. "I can be hormonal any time I want."

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You might be smarter than I gave you credit for."

We continued to stare at each other, not backing away. And that was how we were found by Mikko.

He froze when he saw us, probably waiting for an inevitable cat fight over him. But we weren't fighting over him. I would let her win that fight. I wouldn't risk my heart on someone who would just cheat on me with the first piece of tail he could find.

"Everything is fine, Gigolo." I stepped back from Abigail and walked past Mikko. There was no way in hell I was eating whatever she made, so I'd have to find Nikki to take me out.

I found her talking to Mike in the backyard. I waited for her inside the house to give them their privacy and to keep warm. I took a shower and got ready. When I came downstairs she was ready with Mike to leave for breakfast. It was such a great thing that Nikki and I thought so alike. It made things easier.

She smiled as soon as I set foot on the ground level. "Are we going out to eat?"

I nodded and put my hand on the door handle. "I'm not going to eat here and get food poisoning."

Mikko stepped in through the front door when Nikki was almost with me. "You're not going anywhere without protection."

"I think being away from your women will keep me plenty safe." His brows rose at me. I made sure to keep a smile on my face. "Just so you know, when these kids are born I expect you to be more discrete with the women you sleep with."

"You're going to start telling me what to do?"

"Where my children are involved, bet your ass I will." I was serious and I wanted him to know it. "They don't need to know their daddy's sleeping around."

He rolled his eyes. "I haven't been lately."

I patted him on the arm. "Yes, well, we'll see how long that lasts." I didn't have any faith in Mikko.

Then Nikki, Mike, and me left to find some food. There was a diner that specialized in breakfast right when we reached some sort of civilization, so we didn't have to search for food.

We had just gotten comfortable at a table (because I couldn't fit into a booth) when Nikki jerked her chin towards the window. "We have a guest."

I looked over to see Philip making his way into the restaurant. He sat next to me. "Did you guys order yet?"

I shook my head. "We haven't. You're just in time," I patted his shoulder, "bodyguard."

He smiled guiltily at me. "Mikko figured he probably would've been shot if he followed you here."

I smiled and looked over the menu. "He's probably right."

With Philip here, Nikki and I couldn't really talk, so we kept everything casual, nothing about Abigail, or Mikko. Talking wasn't something we'd worry about with Mike around. He'd listen to what we had to say, but mostly tune us out.

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" was the first thing out of Nikki's mouth when we were on our way to the house with Philip following us.

"As it is, no. I'd survive for a week before shooting Abigail in the head with my silver bullets."

"Maybe you should keep your gun on you." She joked as she smiled.

I laughed. "That's probably not such a bad idea."

When we got back to Finn’s house, I didn't want to get out of the car. "Stay a week, that way if I can't do this, I can still go home."

Nikki shook her head. "I can't be away from work and neither can Mike. You knew that we couldn't stay long when we agreed to follow you up here."

"Alright. I'll just steal a car if I have to." I couldn't guilt her into staying with me. I knew she would stay, but I couldn't do that to her now. I needed to keep the guilt for weekend trips when I needed my friend.

"And drive without protection?" she asked sarcastically. I hit her arm then got out of the car.

Mikko opened the door to the house when we got close. "We have to meet Jared in the infirmary."

"Why?" I asked unhappily. It was amazing what Mikko could do to my attitude.

"He wants to go over your birth plan before any excitement can happen."

"Alright," I conceded. This was about the babies. We had to get everything straight before the babies decided to make their debut.

And I had to pee like I had never had to before. So as fast as I could, I made my way to a bathroom. When I opened the door to leave the bathroom, Mikko was there.

“Jared's anxious to talk to you about this."

"I had to go pee," I said exasperatedly. "You can't get impatient with the pregnant woman for having to pee."

"He just received your doctor’s file on you.”

"And he can take his time studying Albert's notes then."

I nodded. "Where’s Nikki?"

"Right here." Nikki was out of my sight because of Mikko.

"Jared doesn't want a lot of people in for the meeting."

I shook my head. “Whatever. I don’t feel like arguing right now.”

Mikko led the way outside to another building. Nikki was resistant to staying in the house, but there was nothing she could do about it. This was what the doctor wanted. "This is our infirmary. Most likely, this is where the babies will be born."

I just nodded and trailed him into the building. I followed him to the man who was looking at a computer screen.

"You’re here earlier then I thought you would."

I threw Mikko a glare. Mikko had been the one who was in a hurry to get here.

Mikko just shrugged and looked back at me. "Take a seat."

The doctor looked at me and smiled. "You must be Emily. I’m Jared."

I smiled. "Hi."

"I agree with your previous doctor about the c-section if one of the twins is still breached."

I nodded. "The girl is breached right now."

“That’s what your file says. I’d like to do an ultrasound to get a look at the two.”

I leaned back and laid down. It was not comfortable to lie on my back. The girl stretched every time I did and it was not comfortable.

I stretched to my right so I could breathe. Jared smiled. "Have a stretcher in there?"

"That’s an understatement. If he’s not kicking, she’s stretching."

Jared laughed slightly. "Active babies make healthy babies." He lifted my shirt up enough to uncover my belly. "At least they have lots of room. I’ve seen a woman with twins no larger than a normal singleton pregnancy." The gel was cold. Whichever baby felt the cold didn’t like it. It must be the boy since there was a kicking fit hard enough to make my stomach look like they’re trying to break out from the inside. "This is good. The boy is in the head down position, ready to come into the world." He maneuvered his way to see the girl. "She's still breached."

I glanced at Mikko. His eyes were going back and forth between my stomach and the monitor. He looked nervous. Then when he noticed I was looking at him, his face went blank. So I turned back to look at the monitor.

"You need to come back here once a week from here on out. Call me if you feel weird or have any pain," he said as he wiped away the gel. "You should consider bed rest, just until we get those babies out."

I knew bed rest was a precaution against preterm labor, but I couldn't imagine that I could sit in bed all day and not do anything. There was too much to be done before these babies actually got here. "Thanks."

He smiled and turned back to his computer. Mikko helped me up, then we walked back to the house.

"So what was with that nervous face? I thought nothing could scare you." I teased.

"I’m not nervous." He defended.

"You looked nervous in there." He ignored me. "You know, it’s okay to be nervous. There are going to be two of them."

He shook his head. "We need to talk."

That was a bit of an understatement. "No kidding."

He stopped walking. We were probably halfway between Finn's house and the infirmary. "I'm going to carry you to my father’s office. It’s private, and you’re breathing hard."

"Alright." I gave in with a sigh.

I’d better get used to the idea of being carried around all the time. We were up there a lot quicker than if I had walked myself. I sat on one of the comfortable armchairs.

"You know, when these kids come, you’re going to have to change, right?"

I nodded. "When I figured out who you were, it crossed my mind."

"I was thinking of waiting 6 months to change you."

"Why just 6?"

"You'll be finished breastfeeding the twins by then." He explained. "I don't know how long I can keep the three of you safe by myself."

"What if I don’t make the change? My mother didn’t."

He shrugged. "You wouldn't be able to protect them from a wolf as a human anyway."

I knew his mother didn't make the change. I thought he'd be a bit more sympathetic to my plight. "So you'd just be getting rid of me."

He shook his head. "No. I want my children to be raised with their mother and father. But in order to protect them, you need to be a werewolf."

"Six months is not enough time. My babies won't even remember me."

He squatted in front of me. "Well then live. Live so you can raise them. So we can raise them together."

"I don't understand how you can be so nice right now, but not all the time. I can't live with all your mood swings Mikko." I gave him my honesty. "I really can't."

"Wolves are infamous for mood swings." He was nonchalant.

"For their anger, yes," I agreed, "but you're different. One second I'm the bane of your existence, the next you're nice, then the next you're trying to have sex with anything you can stick it in."

He nodded once. "And from now on I will do my best to keep from being so unpredictable. I will make a conscious effort to be nicer to you. And as for the women, you won't know about any of it anymore. You won't even know if there's anything going on."

"I don't need you to be discrete." I was being completely honest with him. I had to. "I need you to change. You can't be this guy that goes around and sleeps with multiple women for some show of dominance."

"It's not for dominance and it's not to just show you that I can."

"Then why are you shoving it in my face? I know you can have whoever you want and that I'm not a part of that option. I just don't want to have to be constantly reminded of it."

I could tell he was getting frustrated. He wasn't ever really backed into a corner like this. When he didn't want to talk about something, he'd just say so and others would go along with what he wanted. I couldn't do that…not anymore.

"I'm going to change." He held one hand over his heart and other in the air. "I'll do my best to change into what you need. It's going to take a while, but I'll try."

I nodded once. "That's good enough for now."

He led me down the stairs to where Nikki waited anxiously.