Albert let me go home two days later, when Mikko's name didn't cause any more contractions. It was a couple of weeks before I even heard from any member of the Madill's... and she wasn't even a Madill, technically, anymore.

I was getting ready for work when the doorbell rang. I didn't worry about it because I had three guards outside my house and two inside. Beside my dad and Nikki, they were the only werewolves I had any contact with. It was like everyone had been ordered to give me some space.

Margaret poked her head in and smiled at my growing belly. It had grown noticeably in the past three weeks. Being thirty weeks pregnant with twins made me feel like I was smuggling a beach ball under my shirt. Nikki, the liar she was, told me it was cute.

Margaret brought her hand from behind her back and handed me a bouquet of white roses. It was a cliché, but they were my favorite flower.

"Thank you." I smiled at the gesture. "These are beautiful. Let's go put these in a vase."

She looked over my attire. "Are you headed out?"

I nodded as I put the flowers in a vase. "Yes, actually. I have the rest of this week, then I'm done."

"Done as in quitting?"

I filled the vase with water. "I can't really work now that I'm getting bigger anyway. And my cover isn't exactly subtle. I think they're getting suspicious about what's going on with the guys anyway."

She hopped onto the counter and sat. "So I know this is awkward, but how are you coping with what Mikko did?"

I froze for a moment. I wasn't okay with it. I was still mad; but mostly hurt.

"I'm...dealing." I offered, even though it was only halfway honest. I wasn't having contractions because of him anymore, so that was improvement.

She fidgeted a bit. "I'm sorry my brother is being such a douche bag. I don't know why he has to be that way with you."

I put the flowers on the middle of the dining table. "Yes, he is. I just don't have the time or energy to waste on him anymore."

"Well you are very pregnant." She smiled down at the belly. "How is everything in that department anyway?"

I happily ran my hand over my belly. "The baby is nice and healthy." It was really hard to edit myself while talking about the babies. I knew that it was important that she didn't know I was having twins. It was important that no one knew I was having twins.

Her smile widened even more. "Can I touch?"

I nodded and took a step forward as she hopped off the counter. She put her hand on the belly and right away received a kick. "This is so amazing."

I smiled down at the growing babies. "Yeah, it is pretty amazing."

"I'm sorry," she almost whispered.

I looked at her confused. "About what?"

"I know the last time I saw you, I wasn't really nice. Shooting Eddy's hand wasn't your fault. You were just protecting yourself."

I shook my head. "You don't have to apologize for that."

"But I do." She leaned against the counter. "I didn't behave like I know I should have. Eddy didn't even blame you, so I shouldn't have either."

"I understand. You were worried about your husband." I looked at the clock. "I really need to get going now."

"The flowers were from Jerry," she said as she headed towards the door. "He won't admit it to anyone, but I know he feels a bit guilty too."

I hadn't stepped onto the alpha’s property since the confrontation Mikko had with him. With Mikko's behavior, I hadn't been willing to see any of the pack for a while. I needed a break from the werewolf life. I talked to my dad, Nikki and my guards. That was all the werewolf interaction I could handle.

When the end of the week came, Nikki had our night planned out. When I got home, she was waiting for me. She urged me to hurry up. Once changed and ready, Nikki practically dragged me out of the house.

"Normally," she said as she pulled into a parking lot, "I'd say we'd go get some drinks to celebrate, but we can't do that. So we're going to go eat, then watch a movie if you're feeling up to it."

I nodded. "That sounds great. Thanks Nikki."

The diner was my favorite. We used to come here a lot, but life just got so crazy. She smiled when we sat down.

"So are you excited? You don't have to work anymore!"

I nodded and leaned back against the booth. "Of course I am. I'm getting to be huge now."

She glanced down at the belly for a moment. "I'm so happy you've made it to one safe zone."

I had made it past the time of worry for werewolf babies. If I were to lose the pregnancy now, it would be completely unrelated to werewolf genetics. Finn mentioned that the safe zone for werewolf children was around twenty-five to twenty-seven weeks. We would have celebrated then too, but Mikko threw that wrench into the plans.

"Just two more until the babies make it into the bonus round too."

In a multiple pregnancy, any time past thirty seven-ish weeks is considered a bonus. I was almost there, I was almost guaranteed my babies would be healthy when they were born. I just needed to keep them cooking as long as I could. The longer they were in there, the closer they got to being full term.

She smiled and looked at the menu. "I can't wait until they're here."

"Me too." I adjusted, trying to get comfortable. I would trade my comfort of a seven more weeks for healthy babies, but I still wanted some relief. "I feel so huge."

"Well you are huge." Nikki teased. "It will be all worth it mama. Just wait until you have those babies to tug around."

I smiled at her. "I'll have you there to help me."

She smiled, but I could tell something was bothering her. I couldn't ask her because our waitress came. She stuck around to ask me questions about the belly. I lied about having multiples and joked about my water breaking any second.

When she was gone, I looked at my best friend, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged to avoid the question, but I wouldn't let her. Not now.

"Nikki, I know you."

"I know you do," she admitted with a sigh. "I just know you're going to have to leave soon. You need to have the babies on Mikko's land and I know you're probably going to end up staying there, for a long time."

It was the inevitable. Nikki and I were going to be separated. It would be the first time in our lives that we wouldn't be seeing each other almost every day.

"We'll adjust to it Nikki."

She sighed dramatically. "What if you stay there, permanently?"

"I don't know Nikki. I wish I could give you answers."

She smiled a little. "Maybe I could convince Mike to do a pack change."

I laughed at her. "You shouldn't leave your pack because of me Nikki. You'll still see me or talk to me all the time. You'll be able to visit whenever you want. A pack change is a big deal."

She nodded. "And eventually you will be in a different one. When you change, we won't be together."

I nervously tore pieces off my napkin. "You mean if I make the change."

She smirked. "There's no if Emily. If I made it, you can too. You've gotten through dealing with the crankiest baby daddy I have ever seen. You can make the change."

"I hope you're right."

Our food arrived, so we quit talking about anything so serious. Everything would work out in the end. It had to.

At the end of our meal, we were arguing over what we wanted for desert, all the while knowing that we were going to get both anyway.

Nikki's happy smile was suddenly gone as she froze, looking towards the door. I expected it to be Mikko, but it wasn't.

I'd guess he was around thirty-five, fortyish. He had on a blue plaid flannel shirt with jeans that clung to him snuggly. His hair was due for a cut, making it shaggy and messy. Even his stubble enhanced his features. Aside from the Madill's I would say that he was one of the best looking man I had seen in a long time.

His side grin told me he had found what he was looking for at our table, which was instantly a red flag. 

As he walked over to the table, I knew he wasn't someone good. He walked like a predator and had the muscles to back it up.

He tossed a smile or two at the women who were staring, making them look away from the embarrassment of being caught gawking.

He stood at the end of our table and looked between Nikki and me. "You two are a challenging bunch of gals to get close to." Nikki was noticeably nervous about this man. He looked at Nikki. "Why don't you join your buddy on the other side?" His voice held a small trace of the country twang he had probably grown up talking. It was subdued now.

She quickly sat next to me, blocking me into the booth between her and the wall.

"What's going on?" I asked nervously.

"My name is Marshall Alexander," he smiled charmingly at me. "Mikko and I are past acquaintances."

His eyes flashed amber for a moment before returning back to brown, as he sat down at the table across from us.

Uh oh. I thought. He was a wolf!

I looked back over the back of the booth. Where were my guards?

Marshall's smile turned not so charming. "Those two are currently in dreamland. If this goes well, you'll be able to pick them up on your way home."

This guy terrified my best friend. My throat felt dry. This was a horrible turn of events. This guy had gotten past the men Mikko had chosen to protect me.

Marshall slowly scooted my water closer to me. "Take a drink. I don't want you choking."

I did take a drink. "So what happens now?"

"Well," he looked over at me, clasping his hands together on the table, "this is going to go one of two ways. One, you'll cooperate and we'll all go home fine. Or two, you won't cooperate and those guards outside," his clasped hand pointed both index fingers towards Nikki, "and your bestie won't make it home." His smile turned predatory. "And you, sweet little girl, you will be coming with me."

I glanced at Nikki before looking back at him. Nikki was shaking, whether from fear or anger, I didn't know. "What do you want me to do?"

"Ah!" He shouted in joy with his smile was pleasant again. He reached into his front pocket and pulled out a vial. "You're going to fill this with your blood and you're going to give it to me."

"My blood?" I asked confused.

"Yes, your blood." He rolled the vial across the table. "Fill it up."

I shook my head. "I can't. I don't have a needle." His eyes looked down to the table. There was a steak knife. "That's not sterile."

He grabbed his knife and reached over to set it in front of me. "Either you do it, or I'll do it for you."

When I didn't reach for it after a few seconds, he lunged forward and grabbed my wrist, pinning it to the table, holding the blade to my wrist. Nikki flinched, but we both knew she couldn't stop him. We didn't want to make him angry either. We needed to play along or we were going to die today.

I immediately conceded, "Alright. I'll do it. Just let me go."

He leaned back in his booth content. "Good girl."

I took the knife and looked at Nikki. We were both helpless here. I sliced across my thumb and squeezed blood into the vial. Once it was halfway full, I handed it over to him. "There." I grabbed a pile of napkins and squeezed them around my thumb to help stop the bleeding.

He covered the end of the vial with a plastic stopper. "I'll see that the boys are loaded into your car."

He got up from the booth. "Thank you, ma'am, for cooperating." He started to leave, but he stopped and tapped the table three times. "Make sure you also tell Mikko that I have his little witch."

He reached into his shirt pocket one last time. "She's a feisty one." He dropped a small zip-locked plastic bag on the table.

I couldn't take our eyes off of the bag. Inside was a portion of a finger, cut a centimeter below the first knuckle.

I grabbed the bag before anyone else could identify its contents and put it in my jacket pocket, "We need to go Nikki." I dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table.

She nodded and grabbed her head. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"You can be sick at home," I said. "We need to get to safety."

She nodded and tried to stand up. When she did, she immediately fell to her knees and puked onto the carpeted floor. The diner patrons all looked over disgusted. Through our encounter with Marshall, the rest of the people hadn't blinked an eye. It must be nice to be oblivious to the supernatural creatures of the world. I would give anything to be oblivious for even a day.

I put my hand under Nikki's arm and coaxed her up.

"I'm so sorry," I told the waiter that was going to have to take care of it.

Nikki was still feeling sick when I loaded her into the car. The guards were already waiting in the back seat, just like Marshall had said. I ran red lights to get to the safety of the alpha's house.

When I sped down the driveway I honked. I stopped at the very end, blocking in three cars, but it didn't matter. This was an emergency.

I looked at Nikki. She was sweating and unconscious. I felt tears spring to my eyes. The door to the car opened.

"What's happening to her?" I wanted to scream, but instead my voice crackled.

I was pulled out of the car and carried to the infirmary with Nikki and my two guards. I glanced over Jason's shoulder to look back at Nikki. She still wasn't conscious.

I was placed in my own room while Nikki and the others were carried down to another bigger room. I was okay; they were the ones who needed the medical attention.

I laid on that bed for an hour before anyone came into the room. It was Albert.

He smiled weakly at me. "Everyone's doing fine. The guys woke up and are talking to Alpha Jerry. Nikki is...well she's still asleep, but she's doing better."

I nodded and leaned my head back down onto the pillow. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

He sat down on the stool with wheels on the bottom of it and scooted closer to me. "Yes. Whoever that man was, he messed with the bonds Nikki has. The alpha wants her to sleep until the bonds can be restored and Nikki can control herself."

I sighed. "How long will that take?"

He shrugged. "Until Finn gets here and has a look at her, I don't know."

He took my hand and examined my thumb. "Did he do this to you?"

"He made me do it to myself. It was this or he would kill them all and take me prisoner."

Albert nodded and picked up the bottled of saline. "It's a clean cut. I'll irrigate it and put some ointment on it. Other than this, is there any other pain or discomfort you haven't had before?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm fine."

He nodded. "You guys got very lucky today. If he had taken you, no one would've known until your guards reported you missing."

"Since Finn is coming, does that mean Mikko is too?"

Albert just shrugged. "Mikko is already here. His father has forbid him from speaking to you. Even under these circumstances Mikko cannot approach you. If he does, Finn's psychic has blocks in place to throw his body three miles away from you."

I smiled at the visualization of Mikko flying through the air. "What about the bite?"

"Finn shut that access down from his son. Finn has created a bubble of security around you. That probably saved you from being messed with like Nikki. If Marshall had tried to mess with you, Finn would've known and Mikko would've been given permission to approach."

"So you already know?"

Albert nodded and swabbed the ointment over my cut. "Yes. Everyone in this infirmary knows."

"So what if I need to speak to Mikko? Will he get booted away if I approach him?"

Albert shook his head with a small smile. "As far as I know, no."

I held my thumb out like a hitchhiker while he covered the wound with a bandage. "I need to talk to him."

Albert nodded. "He's with Nikki, watching her."

"Why's he there?"

"If something happens to Nikki, it will affect you the most. Just because you're in the werewolf's idea of a pregnancy safe zone, the stress of something happening to Nikki could trigger premature labor. If this happened in a few weeks, the twins probably would survive, but with complications and very low birth weights…" Albert secured the bandage. "If it starts hurting or if you feel off, come to me immediately. Don't wait for anything you don't think is normal."

I nodded and stood up. "Do the babies sound fine?"

He smiled. "As far as I can tell they sound just as they always do."

With a smile and a nod, I was out of the room and in search of Nikki's room. It was easy to find. The two guards were sitting on the floor outside of it. The bump on both of their heads was gone, but the gashes remained, showing through their short hair.

When they saw me getting close, they stood up and both wobbled. "You two should stay sitting down. It will help you not to get dizzy."

They both leaned against the wall; both of them had solemn expression. I patted their shoulders as I walked into Nikki's room. "It’s okay guys."

After weeks of not being able to face Mikko, it was finally time to see the father of my children.