Chapter 18 The Pack Feels Like Home
Chapter 18 The Pack Feels Like Home
Serena
I thought I knew what strength looked like.
But watching Xavier handle the tracker breach?
That changed everything.
He didn’t shout. Didn’t panic. He moved like he’d done this a thousand times, like war was a language he spoke better than most people breathe. Orders left his mouth like clockwork, every word precise. Calm. Dangerous.
He didn’t hesitate once.
Not when he saw the red alert. Not when he told Kansas to move me to the core. Not even when the screens started blinking with three confirmed targets entering Zone Red.
I should’ve been terrified.
But all I felt… was safe.
Really safe. For the first time in months.
When Kansas reached my room, I was already waiting. He looked surprised, even a little impressed.
“You’re calm,” he said.
“I trust him,” I replied without thinking.
And I did.
Because Xavier hadn’t flinched when I told him the truth about the triplets. He didn’t call me names or accuse me of lying like they did. He didn’t ask me what I did wrong.
He just listened.
And promised to protect me—even if it killed him.
No one had ever done that for me before.
Not my mother.
Not my so-called mates.
Not even myself.
So when Kansas led me through the quiet, glowing halls to the heart of Phantom Reapers—past armed warriors and locked gates and tech walls that shimmered like water—I made a decision.
I’m staying.
No more hiding. No more running. No more begging people to believe me.
This pack? These cold, silent shadows? This was going to be my home.
And I’d raise my child here—far away from Marcus, from the triplets, from the past.
\---
The next morning, Xavier took me on a tour.
I didn’t expect him to. He wasn’t the type to do soft things. But he showed up outside my room right after sunrise with a mug of tea in one hand and a datapad in the other.
“You slept?” he asked.
“Sort of,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Still getting used to the quiet.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This is quiet?”
I smiled faintly. “Compared to screaming banshees and rogue wolves? Yeah. Pretty peaceful.”
He didn’t smile back, but something in his expression softened.
“Come on,” he said. “Time you see the pack you’re living with.”
\---
The Phantom Reapers compound wasn’t like anything I’d imagined. It wasn’t just stone walls and weapons and angry soldiers. It was… advanced. Alive. Hidden under layers of tech and nature, like the forest itself had wrapped its roots around the buildings to keep them safe.
We started in the tech labs.
Screens lit every surface. Holograms floated in the air—maps, threat reports, even baby scans. I blinked when I saw mine on one of the monitors.
“Sorry,” Xavier muttered. “Security reads all vital signs from key residents.”
“I’m a key resident now?”
“You’re pregnant with a hybrid heir. So yes.”
He didn’t flinch when he said it.
And weirdly… it made me proud.
The tech team nodded politely at me, but didn’t speak. I didn’t mind. After so long being treated like dirt, silence felt like a gift.
\---
Next was the training field, lit by drones hovering high above. Warriors moved like shadows, punching, dodging, flipping, attacking with silent focus. Their movements were brutal but graceful. Efficient.
“You don’t train them to fight,” I whispered. “You train them to win.”
“Losing costs lives,” Xavier said beside me.
The words chilled me.
But not because they were cold.
Because they were true.
\---
We passed the greenhouses next—giant domes full of lush plants under glowing solar panels. I pressed my palm to the glass.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“We don’t rely on outside supply lines,” Xavier said. “Too risky.”
“And you power it all with solar?”
“Mostly. Wind, too.”
He said it like it was normal.
But I’d lived in palaces powered by fear, not light.
This was better.
\---
Then I met Mira again—my healer, and maybe the first person in a long time who looked at me like I mattered. She smiled and touched my arm.
“Your blood pressure is improving,” she said. “The baby’s stable.”
“I feel… better,” I admitted. “Not scared all the time.”
“That’s good. Stress can change how a pregnancy develops in hybrids. Especially with markings like yours.”
Her words made my hand drift to my neck. The marks were still there—three of them, fused into one glowing pattern that never faded.
“Can you remove them?” I asked quietly.
She looked at Xavier.
“No,” he said before she could answer. “They’re soul-bound. You’d have to remove your soul to erase them.”
I didn’t ask again.
\---
Later, I walked with Ashira, the white-haired warrior who barely spoke but never looked away. She was fast, quiet, and carried her blade like it was part of her arm.
“You don’t talk much,” I said as we walked toward the outer corridors.
She glanced at me. “Talking’s a waste unless it saves a life.”
“Do you think mine’s worth saving?”
She stopped walking.
“If Xavier said it is,” she said flatly, “then it is.”
Then she walked away.
I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
So I just followed.
\---
We passed a warrior on the training deck who paused when a child—a little girl no older than five—ran into his arms.
“Daddy!” she giggled.
He laughed softly and picked her up, spinning her once before setting her down.
I blinked.
“I didn’t think there were families here,” I whispered.
“There are,” Xavier said beside me. “But we train them to survive, not dream.”
His words hit something deep in me.
Not because they were cruel.
But because I understood them.
For the first time in forever… I wasn’t dreaming, either.
I was preparing.
\---
That night, I cooked for myself. Just something simple—rice, a bit of dried meat, vegetables from the greenhouse. No fancy spices. No golden trays or silver forks.
Just warmth.
A few pack members walked by the kitchen area, nodding at me as they passed. One even muttered, “Looks good.”
I smiled.
It felt like the first real smile I’d had in a while.
This place was starting to feel like home.
Not the kind where you hang pictures or bake cookies.
The kind where you breathe deep and your heart doesn’t hurt.
The kind where you sleep without waking up screaming.
The kind where your child could live and be safe.
\---
But peace doesn’t last long in my world.
I was walking back to my room, one hand over my belly and the other brushing along the cool wall for balance. The corridor lights glowed a soft blue, humming like always.
Then suddenly—
My vision blurred.
The floor tilted.
I reached for something, anything.
“Wait—”
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
My knees buckled.
I dropped to the ground, both hands clutched to my stomach.
“No,” I gasped, “not now—please—”
The light faded.
Darkness rushed in like a wave.
And I collapsed.