Chapter 57 - The Alpha King and His Second Chance

Sierra

After Seth left, I went back to meditating. War was any day now, my due date was less than a week away and I could feel Braxton hicks starting, preparing me for labor. We were out of time. Negociations with King Jesse didn't go as we had hoped, we didn't have a solid answer if he would help us or not.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to have a vision of what was to come. I would take anything. Unfortunately, nothing ever came. Nothing relevant anyway. I had a vision of Edward and the kids making ice cream sundaes, and another of Levi and Xander playing tag on the lawn, but nothing about the war.

Edward linked me soon after, beckoning me to come to bed. It was late after all. I passed many guards on the way back, all ready to defend our home and our lives. I was pleasantly surprised to find a pup-free bed, needing my mate to myself right now.

I quickly stripped out of my clothes, getting ready for bed. "Any day now." I sighed, rubbing my swollen belly. I slipped on a silky cream nightgown and stared out the window a moment, my mind racing.

"Come here." Edward sat up and flicked his head, his arms outstretched ready to receive me. I cuddled into his embrace, taking a few deep breaths of my mate's intoxicating scent. "We have done all the preparing we can, we are ready when it begins." He said, rubbing my back.

"Mhm." I hummed, my mind too distracted to care.

"Try and get some sleep love." Edward said, kissing my forehead and pulling me back to lay down with him.

"If tonight was our last night together, what would you do?" I asked, just above a whisper.

Edward stilled behind me, my words hitting hard. He moved my hair off my shoulder, revealing my marking spot. He kissed it sensually, his hand finding the strap of my nightgown and pulling it down gently. "I'll show you."

- - - - - - -

I woke up early, but not as early as my mate apparently. He was already in the bathroom, showering and getting ready for the day. I yawned and stretched, my limbs stiff. I could use a shower too. I joined Edward, our steamy oasis distracting me for just a few minutes. He got out before me, heading to the kitchen to make coffee before our day began. When I heard tiny voices, I shut off the water and got out, dressing before I had four sets of hands banging on the bathroom door looking for me.

"I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast." Edward said, giving me a quick kiss before heading downstairs, Levi and Xander in tow.

"Okay..." I nodded. I finished getting myself ready and then tackled Stella and Hunter. I put Hunter in a stroller, my pregnancy making it hard to hold my very squirmy little boy.

We were the last to arrive for breakfast, Edward, Jackson, William, and my father all in deep conversation about preparations. Ella was busy with her pups, Rachael too. Abby and Seth were sitting next to each other but facing opposite directions. I didn't dare engage in their lovers' quarrel, my mind couldn't handle it today. I instead helped my pups get breakfast and cut up any food that needed it. We were nearing the end of breakfast when Edward made an announcement.

"I just wanted to thank you all for all of your hard work and diligence. I know these times are less than appealing, but we will get through this together. That being said, Sierra is due to deliver anytime now. We have been told war will begin before she delivers. We have done all the planning and preparing we can. I want you all to take the rest of this time to spend with each other, your family, your friends. No more meetings, no more worrying."

"Hear, hear!" Jackson smiled softly, a glass of juice in hand.

"Levi, Xander and I also have a surprise. We took the liberty of dragging out the bounce house and slip-n-slide and Anita is going to set us up with ice cream sundaes around lunch time. Everyone is welcome."

I looked at my eldest pups, who had the most devious looks on their faces. I cant believe they managed to keep this to themselves the entire morning.

"Bounce! Bounce! Bounce!" Little Jane smiled, trying to jump out of her height chair.

"Can we go now!?" William and Rachael's son Isaac asked, his excitement earning a few smiles around the table.

"Lead the way." William laughed.

In addition to the bounce house and slip-n-slide, there were also a variety of lawn games spread out, our palace staff and warriors enjoying the day while Edward manned the grill, much to Anitas' protest, cooking up hotdogs, burgers, and corn on the cobb. I sat in a long lounge chair, my lack of sleep catching up with me. Ella and Abby were on either side of me, we were having good conversation while watching our pups run around and have fun.

"So Abby, is there something you want to share with the class," Ella said, pointing to her neck.

"Oh, yeah. Seth and I marked each other the other night." She said sadly.

"Why does that sound like a bad thing?" Ella asked, looking at me for an unspoken answer.

"I don't know...I thought we were on the same page....we had a fight and I told him what I wanted and needed in our relationship and he seemed to be okay with it....I marked him after without asking, but he marked me back, he didn't seem to have a problem with it...he has a lot he is going through I guess....I don't know." She rambled on, her mind just as distracted as mine apparently.

"Where is he anyway?" I asked, scanning the sea of bodies.

"He went for a run, says it helps him." Abby sighed.

"Ice cream is served!" Jackson announced, scoop in hand.

All the pups went racing to the table that had half a dozen different flavors of ice cream and at least thirty toppings. I thought they were going to run poor Jackson down on the way. I laughed and watched my mate try to scoop the ice cream, only getting a tiny bit out at a time. Anita rolled up her sleeves and scooped it like a champ, hoots and hollering coming from the pups. She served most of the pups by the time Edward had one sad little bowl. He came over to me with a sheepish look on his face. I sat up and he wormed his way in behind me in the lounge chair. I leaned back onto him, enjoying his closeness. He took a bite of ice cream for himself and then offered me a spoonful, which I eagerly took.

"This is nice." I said while watching Levi and Xander play tag with each other. They were the best of friends, thinking in complete unison, only on rare occasions turning on each other. The goddess had better help their mate one day. She is going to have her hands full with those two, they are double trouble for sure.

"Much needed." Edward hummed, enjoying his ice cream. He finished the bowel and set it on the ground, his hands resting on my bump. Our pup kicked hard, taking my breath away.

"Goddess." I complained, readjusting to a better position.

"Come on little one, be nice to momma." Edward said, rubbing my belly gently.

We decided to wait to find out the gender, boy or girl, we didn't care, we just wanted to be surprised. Though I was confident it was a girl. My visions may have tipped me off, but I didn't tell Edward that. I still wanted him to be surprised. Our pup kicked again, harder this time. I sat up and swung my feet over the edge, catching my breath, Edward rubbing my back. This pup wasn't the worst pregnancy I have had. The worst was probably Hunter. He actually broke one of my ribs while in womb. His delivery was horrible. The twins were easy by comparison. Speaking of which, where were those two?

"Levi? Xander? Location check!" I yelled.

"M-m-mom..." I could hear Xander's trembling voice call out to me.

"Mom! Dad! Help!" Levi called, racing around the side of the palace.

Edward and I exchanged a weary look before taking off in the direction of our pups. Levi followed closely behind us, fear in his eyes. I could hear Ella and Jackson rounding up all the pups, getting a headcount before my pulse was throbbing in my ears, overpowering anything else. The moment we rounded the corner, I felt all the life being sucked out of me. In front of us was a man in a cloak, the same man who we had been looking for all these years. He had a portal open behind him and Xander in his grasp, a silver blade pointed at his neck.

"Xander!" I cried.

"Mom." His voice shook, he looked like he was trying to stay strong, but he was only six, he shouldn't have to be strong at this age.

"Whatever you want, just let him go." Edward said, his hands raised in a defensive stance.

"Your mate." The man in the cloak ordered.

"Deal." I said without hesitation, taking several steps forward.

"Take me instead." Edward pleaded.

"It's not you I'm after, not yet at least." The man sneered. I couldn't see his face, but his voice almost sounded familiar.

"But-"

"Edward, its fine." I said, tears streaming down my face. I was only a foot away from my pup and the man. "Let my son go."

"Put this on first." He said, tossing me a large ring.

"What-" I began to ask.

"It's a collar, put it on." He snapped. "Be a good little bitch."

With shaky hands, I managed to get the collar on. I felt humiliated, but I would do anything for my pup. There was only about three inches of wiggle room, not nearly enough for me to pull off. It clicked in place, a green light appearing, whatever it was supposed to do, I guess it was activated. It burned slightly, telling me that there was silver involved, or maybe even wolfsbane.

"Here is your pitiful offspring." He said, shoving Xander towards Edward and grabbing me instead. Edward picked him up and Jackson came and collected him.

"Sierra!" Edward yelled.

"We will see you soon." He smiled wickedly and dragged me into the portal. I could see Edward sprinting for it. He jumped at the last second, just missing it before it closed.

"Who are you?!" I snapped.

"Tsk, tsk. Is that any way for a lady to talk?" The cloaked man pulled out a handheld device and pressed a button, an electric shock surging through me.

I fell to the ground, trying to catch my breath. I tried to use my magic but was unable to. "What is this?" I asked, panic obvious in my voice.

"Dr. Hemsworth's special gift made just for you." The hooded man said. "Unfortunately for you, that means no magic."

"Who are you?" I squinted my eyes, trying to see past the shadows cast by his hood.

"No need for this while we are here I suppose." He shrugged, pulling the hood down. "Its not like you'll be leaving."

"Councilamn Aurthur?!" I gasped.

"So surprised? I guess I overestimated you." He sighed. "Pity. Nevertheless, we must be going. Follow me."

"And if I don't?" I practically spat, feeling so betrayed. Not a second later, the same electric shock rushed through my body, this time it was much more intense. I fell to the ground again, my body protesting to the shock. I held my bump protectively, hoping that the shock didn't cause any damage to my pup.

"I think you get the picture."

I stood on shaky legs, following after Councilman Aurthur who was all but running through the massive building. I looked around, trying to take in as much of my surroundings as possible. It looked like a factory, actually more like a lab. There were large barrels marked with biohazard labels in what looked to be the garage. We walked down a hallway and up a set of stairs, ending up on the second floor. We passed a few large sterile-looking rooms with beakers and tubes and tables with straps where someone's head, hands, and feet would go.

"Hurry up!" Councilman Aurthur yelled, already waiting for me at the end of the hall.

"Why am I here?! What do you want with me?!" I asked, hurrying to catch up, not wanting to be electrocuted again.

"You are a gift for Dr Hemsworth to use as he pleases. He is excited to see you. But truthfully, I needed to get you out of the picture before I collect your pups. My apprentice tells me you are far more powerful than we expected. Wouldnt want to drag things out or make a bigger scene than necessary." Aurthur said.

He led me through another door. This one was reinforced with a guard posted on either side of it. He scanned his finger and eye, then punched in a code, allowing the door to click open. My stomach clenched when I saw what we were walking into. It was a long hallway filled with nothing but prison cells. As I walked down the hall, I noticed that every cell was filled but one. Mine. The other cells were filled with a variety of species. I'm guessing most were hybrids like me.

"Get in." Aurthur said, holding the door open for me.

I reluctantly stepped inside, feeling as though my fate was sealed. Aurthur was about to close the door when a voice called out.

"One more," he said.

"Seth?!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto the cell bars to get a closer look.

He ignored me completely, carrying in an unconscious Abby and gently setting her on the bench inside our cell.

"You haven't gotten rid of her yet?!" Aurthur exclaimed.

"She could be used as leverage if needed." Seth shrugged.

"I don't understand?!" I pleaded. Seth paused and his eyes flicked for a moment before he continued on his way. The door swung closed, one of the guards locking it, while he and Aurther left. I looked over at Abby, who had a nasty gash over her forehead, but otherwise looked okay. I shook her a few times. She stirred but didn't fully come to. I decided against waking her, figuring we might be here a while and would need to save energy.

While Abby slept it off, I paced the small room, my mind spiraling out of control. I tried to link Edward but wasn't able to reach him. I must be too far away. It felt cold here, although it was summertime and warm where we lived. Were we in the east maybe? Or was this place just strictly temperature regulated? How could I not have seen it? How could I not have known Seth was involved!? I should have listened to Abby more, goddess. I was so stupid to trust him! To just let him into our home so easily! And then there is Aurthur. I always had a gut feeling that he couldn't be trusted, but I could say that about most of the council! It's no surprise how he got away with it all these years. He was in the perfect position not to get caught. I needed to find a way out of here and fast, I pulled on the cell doors, only to be met with resistance.

"Goddess, what else could go wrong?!" I snipped. I barely got the sentence out when I felt my water break, a puddle forming on the ground. I closed my eyes and rested my head against the metal bars.

"You just had to say something."