Chapter 23

Twenty-Three

LIO

A s I paced around the driveway, my brain was in shambles. This was unfixable. She betrayed and lied to me.

This omega had no problem lying to me since the day I found out she was pregnant. How the fuck did she keep a straight face the entire time? Did she think this was a joke?

I fumed as I sat in my car and leaned my head against the steering wheel.

"Fuck!" I yelled, banging my head against the headrest.

There was no way we would make this work.

Did she even have real feelings the entire time I touched her? Or was this a ploy for me to take care of her?

I needed to know the truth. I needed to know how she ended up in this situation and if this vampire violated her. If she was violated, I was going to kill him. But if she willingly slept with him….that was punishable by law.

I took a few deep breaths before getting out of my car. Alana needed my help in a time like this. I walked into the house, not seeing anyone in the living room. They must have all gone upstairs.

I cleaned up the mess on the hardwood floor, taking out some of my frustrations. I was sweating bullets as I washed my hands and splashed my face with cold water. I could hear one of the babies upstairs crying, and my heart wrenched with pain for Alana. We needed to give the vampire baby to his father, and that was it. Or else we would all be executed if she kept the baby.

When I walked into the room shortly after, there was silence except for the sounds of the baby girl suckling on Alana's breast. The second baby was sleeping soundly between Alana and Owen in the middle of the bed. Markus stood protectively over Alana with his arms crossed as he glared at me. Her grandmother was fussing with the mess in the room, picking up various things here and there. But everyone stopped as they stared at me walking in.

The tension in the room was heavy.

My eyes met Alana's, and I could see the tired lines on her face. Her dark hair tumbled around her bare shoulders, her eyes puffy and exhausted from her tears. God, she was so beautiful even when she wasn't all dolled up. She had a natural beauty that I adored and loved. She was my omega.

"Stay right over there," said Markus, immediately blocking her from sight.

"I'm not going to do anything," I reassured him.

"It's okay, Markus," said Alana in a small voice.

Markus rubbed his beard and grunted, moving aside for me. I neared the bed and carefully sat on the edge of it as she watched me. I didn't want to startle her. But she still flinched when I came near, and that pained me.

"I'm not angry, Lana," I said, trying to reassure her. "I just want to know. What happened?"

"She's tired, Lio," said Owen sharply. Even though he was a beta, he was a tough one when it came to the comfort of omegas. The vampire baby on the bed started to cry, and Grandma Bianca swiftly picked him up, rocking him as she walked around the room.

Alana sighed, looking up from the baby she was breastfeeding.

"The man who you saw in the surveillance video," she said. "He's the father of these babies."

"An actual vampire?" I said, my voice incredulous. But I had seen the baby with my own eyes, so I knew she wasn't lying. "Tell me what happened before I hunt him down and kill him."

"Please don't," she said, her voice rising and her chest heaving with panic. Something told me she cared deeply about this person, which didn't sit well with me.

"Shh, relax. Lio won't do anything," said Markus bending down and kissing her head. "Not while I'm here."

"Tell me what happened," I said, licking my lips. Prepared for anything.

"Well, it was all my fault when I went looking for him," she said hesitantly.

"Why in the hell were you looking for him?"

"Do you remember the campfire day when we were in high school?" she asked.

"Yes, I never forgot," I said. "The first time you broke my heart and disappeared that night."

"I…," she started to say but then clammed up. She looked around at everyone in the room nervously.

"You can say whatever is on your mind," said Owen, wrapping an arm around her.

"When I walked away from the campfire, four boys followed me," she whispered, and my heart sunk in my chest.

"What did they do to you?"

"One of them, he…raped me," she said in a low voice. I shut my eyes tight in horror. She had gone through that while I sat angrily in my tent, waiting for her that night. The room was silent as we took in the shocking statement. "Then the vampire showed up and stopped them. If he hadn't, I wouldn't know where I would be."

She only disappeared because she was scared of what I would think. She was attacked.

"I'm so fucking sorry," I said, my throat catching. I cleared my throat and scooted close to her. Owen moved aside for me, and I hugged her from the side while she silently rested her head on my chest. We both watched the baby girl feeding from her. The baby's eyes were closed and her button nose looking exactly like Alana's. "So that's why you went looking for the vampire. Did he do the same thing to you then?"

"It wasn't the same," she said vehemently, shaking her head. "His people forced him to."

"So it was the same thing," I said, my voice rising. "It was force, not love."

"But I love him," she said, her voice trembling.

"What?"

I couldn't believe what she had just said. It was a complete and utter betrayal of our kind. For an omega to fall in love with a different species and not her fated alphas was unheard of.

"You wouldn't understand," she said, shaking her head. "His people wanted me dead, but he wouldn't allow it. I went into heat, and he risked his own life for me. He ran away and brought me to you to save my life."

Chills went through me. If he betrayed his own people for her …only a fated mate would do that.

"He must have had strong feelings for you," I said, slightly jealous. "Now you're in extreme danger if you keep your vampire baby."

"I know," she said, sighing. "I don't know what to do."

"Give the baby to his father," I said after a pause. I wasn't sure how she would take this, but it was best for all of us. "I will raise the baby girl as my own, but her brother is at risk staying here. You know this."

I rubbed her arm as she started to sob. Her tears drenched the baby's blanket.

"Baby Jay isn't going anywhere," said Markus, and I glared at him.

"Then we have to hide her and the babies forever," I said. "Is that the type of life Lana wants to live?"

"Why don't you let Alana decide?" said Owen.

Her grandma was silently watching us. Alana sniffled and looked at me with fire in her eyes.

"I'm not leaving my babies anywhere," she said, my worst fears coming true. "I would rather leave Howl's Edge than abandon my child. Not in a million years will that happen. We can wait a couple of months until the babies are older, and then we can leave."

I exhaled loudly, watching the baby girl detach her lips from her mother's breast, content and satisfied as she slept.

"Fine, alright," I conceded. If I wanted to keep her happy, and this was the only way, then I was willing to do this for her. Leaving my family would be tough but I would visit them often.

"Where would we go?" asked Owen.

"Vanessa's husband, Jack has a place out in the human lands," said Grandmother Bianca. "We can check with them if you want to stay there for a little while until you can get more established."

"In the human lands," I said out loud. "How do you feel about that, Lana?"

"It sounds perfect," she sighed, placing the baby girl in my arms so she could rest. My heart swelled as I looked her in the face.

"The boy's name is Jay, huh?" I said. "The girl will be little June."

"Ooh," cooed Alana, her face breaking into the first smile after giving birth. "I love it. You haven't held Jay yet."

My heart started to beat faster.

I wasn't sure if I was ready, but he was my son now. I gently placed June into Owen's arms, who immediately started kissing her face in small pecks.

"Careful, you might wake her," I said.

"Babies never wake up," he said, enamored by her cuteness.

Jay was then placed in my arms. He was sleeping, and his breathing was neutral.

"Does he drink milk?" I asked curiously.

"Yes," said Alana, closing her eyes as she laid back on the pillow.

I stared at the baby's face, and the fear of him trying to kill me when he got older dissipated. The more I held him, the more I didn't want to let go. The weight of him in my arms formed an instant attachment, and I was shocked by my feelings.

"I'll leave you all alone for a few," said Grandmother Bianca, leaving out the door.

"Baby Jay," I said out loud. I touched the side of his face, and his small lips curled into a smile.

Tears pricked my eyes.

I would protect my little family at all costs, even if it means moving out of Howl's Edge. I wasn't going to let him go. Anything could happen to him, and it wasn't going to happen on my watch. He would be staked to death if he stayed on Howl's Edge.

"Isn't he adorable?" said Markus, watching me staring into the baby's face. It was out of place to hear a big alpha emanate those words.

"He is," I said, disgruntled that I already loved this baby. "Once the shock of everything was over, I could process things more clearly."

"Don't get me wrong, I was shocked too," whispered Markus since Alana was snoring softly. "But she's still our omega, and she loves us."

"Just as much as that vampire boyfriend of hers?" I said.

Markus snarled at the mention of him.

"She loves us. If she didn't, she wouldn't have trusted us with her huge secret. She knows we're her fated pack."