Chapter 24 - Elena

"Elena?"

The voice was as gentle as the hand that rested upon her shoulder.

For just a second, she imagined Hanson had come back to her, but when she opened her eyes, it was a gaze similar to her own that looked back at her.

"Eddie!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him with relief. Luckily for her, it seemed her ribs were mainly healed, and there was only a dull ache where before there had been agony.

"Whoa, hey, settle down!" Eddie said, pushing her back down into the bed. "Layla's just told me what happened. Why that coward Hanson didn't tell me, I'll never know!"

He growled low in his throat, and not for the first time since she arrived in town, Elena felt the urge to hit her brother.

"Probably because he knew you'd react like this!" she snapped at him, giving him a little shove for good measure. "Stop being such a prick, Eddie."

Her brother actually had the good sense to look hurt. He raised his brow and looked her up and down. "What's the matter? Layla said you were already healing faster than any wolf she's ever seen."

Elena gulped. That had to have been the pregnancy. She remembered it well from her last. Every cut or scrape seemed to heal just like that, as if her body was determined to keep her baby safe. If only it had worked.

"I…I'm fine," Elena said though her voice was shaky as hell.

Eddie dropped down onto the edge of the bed beside her and placed his hand on hers. "You don't sound fine."

A lump formed in her throat. How much should she tell him? A small voice in the back of her mind said, everything.

"Eddie, you should probably sit down," she suggested, gesturing to the chair beside the bed. Eddie scowled at her, clearly concerned.

"Elena, what's the matter? You're scaring me."

"I…um…I need to tell you the truth," she admitted, playing with a loose thread on the blanket that covered her legs.

"The truth about what?"

"Please, would you just sit? Don't make this any more difficult," Elena grumbled.

Finally, Eddie did as she asked, though he never took his eyes off her as he did.

"Eddie, I…um… before I left the home pack, I was…well…I was carrying Jason's pup," Elena said, struggling more than ever to get her words out.

Eddie glanced at her stomach, as if he expected her to look pregnant still. Luckily, this time around she hadn't started to show yet. That would only raise a heap more questions than she was ready to answer at this moment in time.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I…I went into labor halfway through the pregnancy," she explained, biting the inside of her lip to hold back the tears. "The baby didn't make it and I almost died."

The tears were too strong. When she blinked, she saw her own hands as she laid her baby to rest for the final time upon the funeral pyre. That body, that tiny little body, wrapped in its tiny shroud. It was almost too much to bear.

Eyes still closed, she laid her hand on her stomach and imagined the small lives growing inside her now. She remembered Hanson's words and took strength from them, praying he would be right and that all would be okay.

"Elena, I'm so sorry," Eddie said, reaching for her hand again. Elena moved it. She couldn't have him touch her, not right now.

When she opened her eyes again, she met his gaze and wasted no more time. "Jason couldn't handle the grief. He started going out drinking every night, getting into bar fights, looking for anyone he could to take on next."

"Like I said before, he always was a bit of a tool," Eddie scoffed, trying to make light of the situation. Elena gave him a half-smile, hoping it made him feel even slightly better. It didn't do all that much for her.

"Yeah, well, eventually he picked a fight with the wrong wolf," Elena said, grimacing. She remembered it all too well. "He challenged the alpha."

Still, to this day, Elena had never been able to say the name of the man who had killed her mate.

"Malcolm?" Eddie gasped. Elena nodded even as the name made her quiver. "And that's how he…"

Elena nodded again. Her throat constricted and she struggled to clear it before continuing, "Malcolm beat him to a pulp, but he let him live. He might have lived, too, if not for the grief. At least, that's what the healers said. His body just shut down and he didn't even start to heal."

Again, she remembered it well. She had sat at his bedside for two days before he finally gave up.

"He died two days later in the pack infirmary."

Eddie clutched her hand tightly then, leaning forward in his seat. Again, he said, "Elena, I am so sorry. I wish I had known. I wish you had let me be there for you."

Elena shook her head. "There was nothing you could have done."

"I could have been there to stop him from getting himself killed," Eddie snapped back at her. "Jason was an idiot, but he didn't deserve that."

"If you had been there, you might well have been the one to kill him!" Elena snapped back at him. Again, she snatched her hand away from her brother's. "You weren't there. You didn't see him. He wasn't Jason anymore. He…he hit me."

"He what?" Eddie's eyes blazed then. He half-stood, as if he were going to go out there and find Jason. "If that asshole wasn't already dead, I'd—"

"No. I assure you, I gave as good as I got, but he wasn't Jason anymore. The grief ate him up, and he lashed out at everyone," Elena explained. "It wasn't just me and the men. It was everyone."

Eddie growled, the sound rumbling in his chest.

"That's why I couldn't stay with the home pack, why I came here, why I've been the way I have," Elena explained, taking a deep breath as she prepared herself for what came next, "But I never imagined what I'd find here."

Eddie looked even more confused than before. "Here?"

Elena nodded. "I found a home."

"Of course you did!" Eddie said, laying his hand on her shoulder this time. "Wherever I am will always be home for you."

Elena grimaced. Shaking her head, she met her brother's gaze again, praying this wasn't about to blow up in her face. "That's true, but I didn't mean it like that. Eddie, I'm pregnant again."

Eddie's eyes widened with astonishment. She expected that to turn to anger, to demanding to know who the hell was the father. She prepared herself for telling the truth, the whole truth.

But instead, Eddie smiled wide and said, "That's excellent news! A piece of Jason will live on, then!"

Elena could tell her brother didn't really mean that. She could tell he was only trying to be positive for her sake. But the fact that he had entirely missed the point made her feel sick.

Gripping hold of his hand, she moved it from her shoulder and held it firmly. "Jason isn't the father, Ed."

If he had been in wolf form, she was sure his hackles would have risen then. Instead, his back straightened and he tried to pull his hand free of hers. Elena clutched hold of it tightly. There was no way in hell she was going to let him go.

She knew what he would do if he did. The second he learned the truth, he would go flying out of here.

"If he isn't the father…who the fuck is?"

Gritting her teeth, Elena ground out, "Hanson."

Eddie tried to snatch his hand away, but she held on tighter. Her other hand flew around his wrist, holding him in place. Lucky for her, it seemed he was still recovering from his own wounds, or there was no way she would have been able to keep him there.

"How?" he growled.

Still holding him, Elena frowned. "I'm quite sure I don't need to tell you how babies are made."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Eddie snapped at her. He looked at her with such a venomous expression that for a second, she thought he might actually hit her to get her to let go of him. "How could you let Hanson touch you? He has all the she-wolves in the pack lining up at his door. He is a womanizer, a flirt. He even had Carly wrapped around his little finger!"

Elena rolled her eyes, unsure how her brother could possibly have come up with all of that. The few times she had noticed Hanson with another she-wolf, he seemed to keep a careful distance, showing no sign whatsoever that he was interested in any of them. When he looked at her, however, she had seen the desire burning in his eyes. She had never admitted it to herself at the time, but she certainly saw it now.

Still, there was another pressing matter on her mind now. "Who is Carly?"

Sensing her brother calming at the mention of her, his anger and aggression turning to something akin to embarrassment, Elena released his hand. When he shrugged, averting his gaze, she began to put two and two together.

"Nobody," he grumbled, looking toward the floor. Hell, it was like they were teenagers again.

"A woman, then?" Elena said, reaching over to shove him hard in the shoulder. "So that's what your shitty attitude has been about all this time!"

"I have not had a shitty attitude!" Eddie protested. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What would you call it, then?" Elena demanded, leaning back against her pillows. She barely managed to refrain from crossing her own arms. Eddie was being defensive enough for the both of them.

"Like I said, it's nothing."

Elena watched her brother closely for a moment. It definitely wasn't nothing. She knew him all too well to believe any of the bullshit coming out of his mouth.

"If you like this Carly, you should know, you have nothing to fear from Hanson," she said, watching closely for his reaction, "He has absolutely no interest in any she-wolf in the pack."

Eddie's head darted up. His expression was suspicious. "How could you possibly know that?"

Here it comes, Elena thought, realizing she was not only about to tell her brother the truth, but also utter the words to herself for the first time, too.

"I'm not just carrying his babies, Eddie," she said, her heart hammering at the words.

"What…what do you mean?" Eddie demanded. He lunged forward then, "Wait, did you say babies?"

Elena chuckled at that, giddy with the realization that was exactly what she had said. Finally, the truth was beginning to sink in, and it, in all honesty, felt amazing.

"It's twins, Ed," she said, smiling from ear to ear.

Her happiness faded as Eddie threw himself back in his seat once more like a grumpy teenager. "That's no proof. Hanson wouldn't be the first werewolf daddy to shirk his duties and run off."

Elena growled low in her throat. If it weren't for the fact she was still healing, she might have thrown herself out of the bed at him. In her anger, she yelled, "He's my fated mate, Eddie!"

His mouth fell agape. Elena's heart raced. She felt the truth of it right deep down in her gut. Before her brother could offer any kind of protest, she added, "I didn't think I would ever get a second chance at a pregnancy. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever get another chance at a fated mate, but I have. I can feel it deep down in my soul, Eddie. He's mine, and I hope that as my brother, you will be happy for me."

Eddie let out one of the most exasperated sighs she had ever heard. When he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned forward again, she braced herself for whatever ridiculousness was going to fall from his lips next.

"Elena, I'd love to be happy for you, but I'm not sure I'll ever entirely like Hanson. I'm not sure I could ever fully trust him," he admitted, meeting her gaze with a look of sympathy. "The truth is, he has a dark history with the pack."

Here we go, Elena thought. It was just like Eddie to try and talk her off things, but she wasn't going to be talked away from this. She knew the truth with her whole being.

"Everybody has a past, Eddie," she pointed out. This time, it was she who crossed her arms. "Besides, you never really liked Jason either, remember?"

They laughed together at that, but before Elena knew it, she was crying. All the pent-up emotions of the last few months came to a head, and she could no longer hold them back. Knowing that her brother knew the truth now only made matters worse.

But just like only her brother could, he somehow started to make things better. Slipping onto the bed beside her, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Whispering gently that all was going to be okay, that he was there for her, he simply let her cry. And for the first time since she arrived in Nightstar, she finally felt like she had her brother back.

It was only when she had stopped her crying and heard someone hovering in the doorway of the room that she looked up.

"Mind if I come in?" a voice called, and the sound of it sent a thrill throughout Elena's entire body. Then dread took its place in an instant as her brother released her and hopped off the bed.

"Eddie, no!" Elena warned harshly before she called a little more softly to Hanson, "Come in!"

He entered the room rather sheepishly, brushing back the beaded curtain as if he didn't want to make any sudden movements.

One look at Eddie told Elena exactly why. Her brother was standing rigidly, his hands balled to fists at his sides. She couldn't see his face, but from the growl he emitted, she knew his fangs were bared.

The weary look on Hanson's face made Elena's heart ache. She leaned forward, pushing herself up onto her knees, and reached for him. He crossed the room hesitantly, his eyes never leaving Eddie's even as he took hold of Elena's hand.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I couldn't stay away a moment longer."

Elena knew the feeling. Ever since he had left, she had felt an aching in her gut that made her desperate to howl for him. It was the oddest sensation, yet one she wasn't entirely unsure of. She had felt it before, back home, whenever Jason had been away. It was yet another thing to let her know that this was real, that she wasn't imagining things, that Hanson was in fact her fated mate.

"It's okay. I've told him everything," Elena said, squeezing Hanson's hand.

"Everything?" Hanson said. She heard the tremor in his voice.

"Everything," Eddie growled low, his eyes never leaving Hanson's even to blink. "We're no longer even."

Hanson's eyes widened. Then they narrowed and his hand left hers. He balled up his fists, his shoulders squared, feet spread apart as if he were preparing himself for a fight. When he bared his own fangs at Eddie, Elena couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Would the two of you quit it?" she snapped at them, about ready to smash their heads together. They were acting like children, and she was more than a little fed up of it.

When neither of them backed down, only the bed and herself between them, Elena looked to her brother and snarled, "Eddie, stop it. This is getting ridiculous! All of this over a damn woman!"

For a second, neither of the men moved. They just continued to glower at each other. Elena expected that at any moment they would throw themselves over the bed at each other, claws flying and teeth snapping.

But then, her brother's hackles finally started to fall. His eyes left Hanson, who remained right where he was, and he looked at Elena as he said, "You would never listen to me even if I tried to put a stop to this, would you?"

Elena glowered at him. "No."

She held her breath, terrified for her brother's response. There was nothing he could say or do to stop her. There was nothing anyone could say or do to stop this. This was fate. Hanson was her fated mate. Nobody could get in the way of that. But the last thing she wanted was to lose her brother because of it. It would make staying in Nightstar next to impossible for her.

Eddie took a step back from the bed. He seemed to deflate as he let out a long and exasperated sigh.

Shock rushed through Elena as Eddie finally said, "Then I guess the two of you have my blessing."

Everything felt surreal as Eddie turned to Hanson then and poked his index finger at him. "I'm warning you. If you do anything, anything at all, to hurt my little sister, I don't care whether we're pack or not, I will put you in the ground."

"Eddie, there's no need—" Elena began, but before she could finish, Hanson squeezed her hand.

"You have my word, Eddie. I'd bury myself if I ever did anything to hurt her."