The Broken Wolf
Chapter 154

I step out of the shower to replace my mate dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt with… boots?

“Really?!” I exclaim.

“Yeah,” he says with a laugh. “You need to eat breakfast first, though.”

“I will,” I beam at him and dry off. I put on my one pair of maternity jeans that still fits and grab one of Seth’s t-shirts, knowing my own won’t fit over my belly.

After drying my hair, I sit on the bed and try to bend down, but Seth beats me to it. I’m sure he knows I can’t reach my own feet at this point. Gently, he helps me get my socks and hiking boots on and tosses one of his sweatshirts to me, knowing that my own jackets wont fit over these pups, either.

“Ready?!” I ask with a bright smile, grabbing a knit hat and waddling to the door.

Seth laughs, but he doesn’t say a word as he joins me, carrying his own jacket and hat. He opens the door and I’m surprised to replace Gus there instead of my own guard. A few weeks back, Seth had finally relaxed and decided they can stay outside the door

“Good morning!” I tell him brightly.

“Good morning, Princess,” he says with a chuckle and bow. “I see you’re excited for your hike today.”

“Will you be joining us?” I ask, but Seth doesn’t give him a chance to answer.

“I asked Michael to join us,” he says with a mischievous smile. “I thought I’d give Gus a bit of a break since he traveled with me yesterday.”

I smile, realizing exactly what his plan was. “How thoughtful of you.”

We head to the dining room and eat quickly, meeting Michael and Oliver outside who were, conveniently, already there together.

“What are you wearing?” Oliver says with a laugh.

“It’s Seth’s,” I say with a frown. “Nothing really fits anymore.”

“How did you even get your shoes on?” he asks, continuing to laugh.

Seth steps in front of me and glares at Oliver. “I put them on her. She’s growing the heir to the throne, in case you forgot.”

“Sorry, Molls,” Oliver says, looking past my protective mate, a look of slight embarrassment on his face. “It’s just so odd to see you like this.”

I smile at my friend and nod. “And I still have a few weeks to go. Imagine how I’ll look then.”

Oliver leads us down a path, but steps back to let Seth and me in front of him. I assume it’s so he can be closer to Michael and it makes me smile. He hasn’t told me anything about it, but he doesn’t know that I overheard their conversation before, either. We’re headed down a path to the west that’s close to the northern border that eventually leads to the cave. To his credit, it is fairly flat. Now that I’m walking it, I’m quite thankful that Seth didn’t let me choose.

We walk for quite some time and while I feel tired, I would never say that to Seth for fear of him picking me up and carrying me straight back to bed. I hear Oliver laugh from behind me and stop, turning around to look at him.

“What?” I ask and he just smiles at me.

“That’s the tree that you climbed and fell out of,” he says, still laughing a bit.

I look over at the old tree, remembering that day.

“Robbie was with us for some reason,” he says, looking at the tree with a smile. “He didn’t come into the woods with us very often. He was so upset when Molly decided to climb the tree,”

“To the top!” I add proudly.

“To the top,” he agrees. “She was almost there, but then slipped and fell. She caught herself, but Robbie was terrified and he started to climb the tree.”

Seth looks at us with confusion. “How is this funny? Were you hurt?”

“She was fine,” he tells him, waving off his concern.

“Where was your father?” Michael asks me, clearly concerned.

I look at Oliver and shrug. “Who knows? Probably in his office doing Alpha stuff.”

“Anyways,” Oliver says, back to his story. “Robbie climbed up as Molly was climbing down. They met somewhere in the middle and when he looked down, he was suddenly terrified.”

I laugh, remembering the look on my brother’s face as he realized how high he was. “He didn’t know he was afraid of heights until then.”

“Molly had to all but drag him down the tree,” he finishes, wiping a tear from laughing so hard. “I thought I was going to have to go get the Alpha. “

“I’m sure he would have been displeased,” Michael says, still concerned with our childhood adventures.

“Nah,” I say, waving off his concern. “He probably would have just laughed.”

Michael seems very unsure about that, but he doesn’t say a word about it as we continue walking. The pups are wiggling, but it feels different, almost like they’ve completely run out of space. I stop for a moment, rubbing a place on my stomach where one of them has been exceptionally brutal in their assault today.

“Are you alright?” Seth asks quickly when he notices, gently placing his hands on my arms.

I can’t help but roll my eyes at him and his constant worrying. “I’m fine. One of your children just keeps kicking the same spot. I don’t know how I’ll make it a few more weeks. They’re completely out of room in there now.”

“You’ll make it,” he says with a smile, leaning down to k**s my head. “Are you ready to go back? We’ve walked pretty far.”

“Not a chance,” I tell him, walking forward. “This is the last time anyone is going to let me leave the house for quite a while.”

I hear Seth chuckle behind me, taking a few large steps to catch up and grabbing my hand. “Probably.”

We continue to walk a bit further when I look at a cluster of trees and stop walking, feeling a weight on my chest as recognition hits me.

“That’s where dad found me,” I whisper, almost breathless. I’ve been down this trail so many times and, somehow, didn’t realize.

Seth wraps his arms around me, holding me close to him. “And look how it has turned out.”

I nod, knowing that he’s right, but still feeling really emotional for some reason. Perhaps it’s because I’m so close to becoming a mother, I’m truly not sure. It all feels different now, though.

Michael and Oliver both stay back a bit, giving us a moment alone. Seth doesn’t say anything else to me. Honestly, what is there to even say? He just places a gentle k**s to the top of my head and holds me.

“Do you think we ever would have found each other,” I begin to ask him, turning my head to look up at him, “if they hadn’t sent me away? If I’d stayed with Benjamin and Lily, would we have ever met?”

“Yes,” he says firmly with a small smile. “We’re fated to be together. Somehow, we would have met.”

The horn blows loudly in the distance, signaling an attack. Seth immediately stiffens and places me behind him. Before I can register what is happening, I feel Michael directly behind me, sandwiching me between the two of them.

“We need to get back,” I say quietly, holding to the edge of Seth’s coat in fear.

He shakes his head. “They’re coming from the East. We can’t get there in time.”

“Benjamin,” Oliver says and Seth looks at him, giving him a quick nod.

“It’s probably the best choice,” he agrees and begins to move, gently guiding me to continue down the path. “We’re close to the cave, right?”

“Yes. It’s not far,” I tell him, feeling the nerves really start to set in.

He’s walking faster than before, and I’m really struggling to keep up with him. The anxiety is rolling off of him in waves and I’m sure that if I wasn’t so pregnant, he would be running.

“Princess,” Michael says from next to me. “We need to move faster. The attack is moving in quickly.”

“I’m trying,” I say, struggling to breathe as the babies continue to wiggle in this new, weird way.

Seth stops and quickly lifts me into his arms, walking as quickly as he can until we come upon the cave. We cross inside and once we’re over the territory line, he sits me down and his eyes glass over.

I look up at Oliver and can tell that he’s really worried as Michael is looking all around, his eyes constantly moving to verify the safety of each inch of the cave.

Seth kneels down in front of me and cups my face. “We’re going to Benjamin and Lily’s. We have warriors in the territory and they will meet us along the way. It’s Lucas’ pack that is attacking.”

I pull my bottom l*p into my teeth, chewing on it as the fear grabs hold of me. Tears start to form in my eyes and I slowly nod, understanding the danger we’re in. He stands and lifts me back up, exiting the cave into the territory of the newly named Waxing Forest Pack.

We’re about halfway to the cabin when a few wolves show up, the only ones I recognize being Albert and Alex. They walk alongside us until we reach the cabin, replaceing Benjamin waiting on the front porch for us. He opens the door and quickly ushers us in, closing and locking the door behind us.

“So what exactly happened?” he asks gruffly as Seth places me on the couch.

“Lucas’ pack is attacking Lunar Falls,” I say quietly, not really wanting to admit the situation we’re in. “We were out in the woods and I couldn’t make it back to the packhouse quickly enough.”

“I wish it was under better circumstances,” he says, sitting next to me on the couch and patting my knee. “I’m glad you’re here, though. There’s nothing to worry about. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Your brother is sending some of the visiting warriors over the line incase they try to come this way,” Seth tells me, kneeling down beside me and taking my hand. “Are you feeling alright?”

I nod, not really wanting to tell him that I feel off, but I don’t know why. “I’m just tired.”

“Here,” Lily says, coming out of the hall. “Come lay down in your bed.”

I nod as Seth offers me his hand to stand and helps me to the bedroom. I sit on the side of the bed and he kneels down, untying my shoes for me.

“Thanks,” I whisper, feeling ridiculous but knowing I’d never be able to do it myself.

He helps me lay down and pulls the blanket over me, kissing me on the temple. “Try to get some sleep,” he says softly, pushing my hair back from my face. “This is the safest place you can be right now. No one can get you here.”