25. Lucy

"Good news," Dr. Gardner said. "You get to go home today, as long as you promise to take it easy."

"That means as soon as you feel tired, a twitch, or even if you just have gas, you lay down," Dr. Ratliff said.

She was given instructions, vitamins, and strict orders to take things slow.

"I promise," Lucy said.

As soon as they walked out of her room, Lucy called Michelle. "I can leave. Can you come pick me up?"

"On my way," Michelle promised.

A masked orderly helped Lucy into a wheelchair and steered her into the elevator. Once the doors closed, the orderly pulled off his mask.

"Gavin. What are you doing?"

Lucy looked into his eyes. There was some kind of madness swirling around in them, almost as if he had been possessed by a demon. He bared his teeth and for a second, Lucy was afraid that he was going to rip her throat out.

"I have to give it to you. You're a hard one to kill. But even cats only have nine lives."

Lucy swallowed hard. "You sent those men to kill me."

"Yes. If the imbeciles had killed you immediately as I told them to, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Micah won't let you get away with this," Lucy hissed.

"Micah will thank me for it later once he's no longer under your spell," Gavin spat. "He's too stupid to realize what he's doing and that you're going to ruin his reputation and everything that he's worked so hard for.

"You are going to leave the human world, right now. I'm going to drive you to Sean's. You are going to slip into the back door and go straight to the portal. You will not tell anyone and you will not come back. If you do, I will kill you and those brats myself."

"Micah will protect me," Lucy said.

"He's not even in the area. Micah is still on the hunting trip. You'll be dead before he gets back."

Lucy started shaking. Her stomach rolled and she was sure she was going to throw up. Her heart felt as though it was being squeezed by an iron fist.

He pulled the mask back up and wheeled her out to his car. Gavin opened the car door for her and she got in. Then, he went around to the other side and zoomed out of the parking lot, nearly t-boning another car.

There was only one car in Howlers' parking lot.

Gavin held up a key and grinned. "It's good to have locksmith friends."

He unlocked the back door and said, "Remember. If you tell anyone what happened, I will kill you and the babies. If you come back, you're all dead. I failed once. I won't fail again."

Lucy quietly walked down the dimly lit hallway. She half hoped that she would run into Jade and Sean and that they might be able to help her. Lucy was also terrified to run into them because she didn't want Gavin to hurt anyone.

As quiet as a church mouse, Lucy crept down the basement stairs, holding onto the railing as tightly as she possibly could, terrified of falling. She was already off balance because of the babies and she was still weak from the attack.

The static electricity from the portal mocked her. She stood in front of it for a minute, wondering if she should run back up the stairs and beg for help. Then, she remembered the crazed look in Gavin's eyes and decided that she couldn't risk it. Taking a huge breath, Lucy walked through the portal.

She managed to get to a spot where she could call for a ride. By the time she got to her parents' house, she was exhausted, her entire body was screaming with pain, and her heart was heavy.

"Lucy, what are you doing here?" her mother exclaimed, pulling her into the house with a tight hug.

"It's a long story. I just need to sleep and then we can talk," Lucy said.

"Sure. Your room is the same as it was when you left. We haven't changed anything."

Lucy trudged upstairs to her room, stripped, and fell into her bed, slightly comforted by her familiar surroundings. She was asleep almost immediately.

She slept for twelve hours. The sun had set by the time her eyes fluttered open. Her belly rumbling, she went downstairs to find her parents, sister, and brothers at the table, quietly talking, waiting for her.

"Are you hungry?" her mom asked, jumping up.

Lucy nodded.

Sophia and Odessa immediately got to work frying some bacon and cutting up the vegies for an omelet. Lucy gobbled the food with satisfaction.

As soon as she finished eating, her brother, William, said, "Now tell us what is going on. No offense, Sister, but you look like shit."

Lucy automatically touched the scars on the side of her face that had not completely disappeared.

"To be honest, I feel that way," she said.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy told them about Caroline and Gavin, the poisoned cake, the kidnapping, and then Gavin's threat. Sophia's and Odessa's eyes opened wide with shock. Her father, Matthew, William, and Allen had a murderous look on their faces.

"I'll rip that man into pieces," Matthew said.

"No. We don't know how far-reaching his contacts are," Lucy said.

"Should we get ahold of Micah and let him know that you and the babies are safe?" Odessa asked.

"No. If Gavin finds out, he'll send someone to kill us. For all I know, he's got people in the shifter world," Lucy said. "I'll just lay low, at least for now. The babies have gone through enough stress as it is."

"No one is going to touch you here," William said. "They'll have to get through our dead bodies first."

"Exactly," Allan chimed in.

Even though she knew her family would protect her, she couldn't help the cloud of terror that hovered around her. Lucy was terrified that at any minute Gavin's goons would appear out of nowhere. She wandered from window to window, constantly looking out. Her muscles were so tight that she sometimes found it hard to move or even breathe.

"Lucy, you have to relax. This isn't good for the babies," her mom said.

Finally, after a week, she decided that Gavin was going to keep his promise. As long as she stayed out of sight and didn't try to contact anyone in the human world, she and the babies would be safe. However, she seldom left the house and when she did, she didn't go anywhere alone.

At night, she cuddled with a pillow, pretending that she was holding Micah.

This is for the best. I told him that I loved him and he didn't say it back. He just said we would talk about it. This saves him the trouble of telling me that he doesn't want to be with me. I'm just sad that he's not around to be with the babies that he had wanted so much.

A week later, Lucy's water broke. Matthew called the clan doctor, who rushed over.

After twenty hours, the babies were finally born.

"They are early, but they are healthy," the doctor said. "They are breathing normally."

Odessa and Sophia cleaned the babies, wrapped them in blankets, and then handed them to an exhausted, but elated, Lucy.

"They're perfect," Lucy cooed looking at them.

"You have been very fortunate," the clan doctor said. "After the attack from the wolves, the fear of Gavin, and the early birth, I expected more complications and that the babies would have to be put on ventilators. They are very strong."

Turning to Sophia, he said, "Wild lettuce tea for pain. Call me if anything looks wrong, even if it's the tiniest thing that you think is unimportant."

"I will," Sophia promised.

Odessa and Sophia helped Lucy get cleaned up, while Matthew changed the sheets and threw away the plastic mattress protector.

Lucy settled back in bed and fed her babies. They fell asleep quickly. Odessa and Sophia put them in their bassinets and Lucy fell into a deep sleep, knowing that her babies were going to be okay.

The shaman, or holy man of their clan, stopped by the house the next day for the blessing and naming ceremony.

"The boy is Alex," Lucy said.

"Alex is a bear shifter. He will be a great leader," the shaman proclaimed.

"This is Gracie," Lucy announced, holding up her baby girl.

"Gracie is a wolf shifter. She will be a healer of hearts, souls, and minds."

Lucy wished that Micah could be there to see his beautiful babies. He would adore them. Her heart hurt because she missed him so much.

You knew better than to fall in love with him. You knew that he hired you to carry his babies and that he thought of you as a friend with benefits.

It didn't matter what she told herself, though. It didn't make the pain go away.

At least I have the babies and memories.

Between feeding the babies, changing their diapers, and playing with them, she found time to finish her book. Her English teacher had edited it and called it terrifying, which pleased Lucy. She was working on formatting it and designing the cover, and then she would start the marketing process. Everything was looking up for her. Her body had healed. She just wished that her heart would heal.