Chapter 60 - The Alpha King and His Second Chance

Sierra

"You're doing great, just keep breathing." Abby coached, a hint of worry in her voice.

I was sitting in the corner of our cell, my dress hiked up, feeling ready to push. My brain couldn't process anything else at the moment except to try to get this pup out of me.

"Someone, please! We need help!" Abby yelled for what felt like the tenth time.

"What is all this noise?!" A guard finally approached, an attitude in his voice.

"She is giving birth! We need towels and warm water and something to cut the cord with!" Abby blurted out while I started pushing.

The guard looked a bit traumatized, quickly leaving and returning a few minutes later with some supplies he managed to rustle up. "Here, but don't expect anything else." He sneered, his cold shoulder returning.

Abby grabbed the bag of supplies he had brought, sifting through everything. "Okay okay okay. Towles, a pair of scissors, bottles of water...ughh" Her voice shook.

"Abby..." I began, my words cut off by a feral growl that came from somewhere deep inside me. I pushed again, the familiar burning sensation coming back to me.

"Oh goddess, I can see a head! Push, push, push!" She half panicked, half encouraged, getting a towel ready to catch my pup.

"Ahhh!" I fought back a slew of curses, pushing with everything I had left. My vision was spotty from holding my breath, but I wasn't stopping. Abby reached down and scooped up my pup, placing her on my stomach. I held her close, crying tears of joy while Abby cut the cord and helped clean off my little girl.

"She looks just like you." Abby noted, while also silently crying.

My little girl wasted no time in latching onto me, cooing every now and then. Her eyes were a vibrant green color, her hair a dark brown, matching her daddy's, but everything else resembled me.

"What are you going to name her?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure, Edward and I had a few names picked out but never settled on one." I sighed, looking over my tiny bundle. Goddess, I couldn't let them have her. We needed to find a way out.

"Hey Sierra, I have an idea." Abby said quietly, scissors in hand.

- - - - - - - -

Seth

"Uncle Seth, where are we?" One pup asked.

"This isn't the safe room," The other noted. I never did bother to try and tell them apart.

"We are going to go see your mother and aunt." I deadpanned, leading them towards the holding center where my sister and mate were being held. My informant, Oliver, told me that the twins were just beginning to learn how to use their powers. I lived with them for almost three months and never saw them use a lick of magic, so I assumed they would be harmless. No need to collar them like their over-powerful mother. Plus, anything they could possibly throw my way would be a drop in the bucket compared to the power I possessed. The less danger they thought they were in, the better. I didn't know what Arthur or Dr. Hemsworth planned on doing with the twins, nor did I care, but I assumed he would want them in mint condition, so to speak. The sooner I could get them into a cell, the better.

"Are we going to save mom?" One asked, guilt written all over his face. This must have been the one Arthur grabbed initially. We needed to get Sierra out of the way before we could go for the twins. She was much too powerful, probably even more than me, which was saying something. Damn moon goddess had to let her be born first.

"Something like that." I mumbled, turning a corner with the boys close behind me. I linked the guards to leave their posts a few minutes ago so I could get the twins in without them questioning anything. The guards, thankfully, were nowhere to be seen. I punched in my code and let the door swing open, my nephews going through first.

"Mom?" One called out.

"Xander?!" My sister's voice echoed down the long hallway.

The two took off, running towards her voice. I quickly opened a portal before they could even make it halfway down the hall, leading them into an empty cell next to their mom. They couldn't see each other but they could still talk and hear one another. I walked past the boys, the looks on their faces priceless. A mix of confusion, anger, and worry. They frantically called for Sierra, who in turn told them to stay put and not worry. I could hear a pup crying, gaining my interest. I had to see this.

"Well, well, I believe congratulations are in order." I said to my sister, who was holding her newborn pup. She was propped up in the corner of the room with many bloody blankets surrounding her. She looked exhausted.

"Please just let my pups go." Sierra cried.

"You know I cant do that." I shook my head.

"Why not? Oh, that's right, your second in command. Being someone's good little bitch." Abby spat.

I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me. Dr. Hemsworth spent years experimenting on me, trying to take away every ounce of empathy or really just feelings in general that I had. He was mostly successful. I felt indifferent most of the time. Except when it came to Abby. I had a full spectrum of emotions with her. She made me want to be a better man, to be a better mate. It made me wonder if I should stop working with the Purebreds and run away with her. But I was in far too deep to do that.

I stared blankly at Abby, who refused to look back at me. Finally, the newborn pup broke my focus, its crying becoming difficult to maintain focus. That's when I noticed the disturbed-looking screw on Sierras' collar. "What is this?" I asked, opening a portal and stepping into Sierra and Abbys' cell. I saw a pair of scissors on the ground. She must have used those to unscrew the screw in her collar. I don't know who was stupid enough to have given her scissors and leave them behind, but they were about to be fired. "Cant have you trying to cause any trouble now." I said, tightening the screw with my own magic. I was given full magic privileges by Dr Hemsworth and Arthur for this mission. Normally, I was limited on how much or when I could use my magic. It was a nice treat. "And, I'll do you a favor, I'll take the pup too." I smiled, reaching for the pup. Dr Hemesworth would love this.

"No!" Sierra yelled, her grasp on her pup tightening.

Abby began punching and kicking my back, her strength that of a pup. When that didn't work, she dove for the scissors and pointed them at me, as if it would cause me any harm. Ha! "How exactly do you think this will stop me?" I asked my mate, using my magic to grab the scissors from her hands and throw them across the cell.

"Youre a monster!" Abby cried. "I wish I had never met you!"

Her words sent another jagged dig into me, the mate bond making it hard for her words to not affect me. I hesitated, not knowing what to say or do. I had orders to kill her. Deep down though, I knew I could never do that. I would rather have her locked up for good than to get rid of her.

"Stop hurting our family!" Two voices said from behind me, a small blast knocking me off my feet.

I turned around and saw both boys standing in Sierra and Abbys' cell, a portal closing behind them. I guess I underestimated them. I wont let that happen again. With a flick of my wrist, I grabbed both boys and pinned them against the wall at my eye level. They looked shocked and scared. Sierra was crying in the background, begging me to let them go.

"I think these pups need a lesson in manners and pecking order." I said, flinging them across the cell. They landed hard, whimpering in pain. They tried to hit me with another pitiful blast, which I successfully dodged.

"You think you can stop me?" I laughed " There is nothing anyone can do to stop me, I'm-" My blood ran cold, an unfamiliar feeling rushing through me. Fear? Pain?

"Abby!! What did you do?!" Sierra screamed.

"Aunt Abby?" The boys looked past me, their faces filled with confusion and worry.

I turned to my mate, she had a bloody pair of scissors in her hand, her wrists cut. She slumped to the floor, the color draining from her face. "Abby!" I yelled, going to her side. I propped her up in my arms and grabbed one of her wrists to try to stop the bleeding. "We can fix this..." My voice sounded broken. Water droplets fell onto my mate. Wait, no, it was tears. My tears. What the hell?! I began to feel lightheaded and hollow inside. Almost as if the life was being sucked out of me. I could feel my magic spiraling out of control within me. Even if I knew a healing spell, I don't think I could successfully perform the spell right now.

"Help!" I begged, looking to my sister for help.

"I cant..." She cried, touching her collar. I tried my best to focus on breaking her collar off. It took two tries but I finally got it off.

Sierra carefully stood, handing her newborn pup to her boys, whispering something to them. What I don't know, all I knew was that my mate needed help. Sierra gingerly crouched down and began trying to heal my mate.

"We could have had a beautiful life together," Abby said.

"Dont leave me." I cried, "Why would you do this?"

"Someone had to stop you." She said, taking the scissors and using what was left of her strength to plunge the metal tip into my heart.

- - - - - - -

Edward

My men, the vampires, and King Jesse's men fought to the death, successfully taking down the rest of King Bruno's army with the help of the new alpha, King Derek and his handful of followers. When King Bruno died, his army began to falter, becoming weak and easier to kill. Or maybe it was because of the miracle of having an army join our cause at the final hour that our men found their second wind. Whatever the reason, I didn't care. We just won a war. There was just one to go now.

"We still have the purebreds to deal with. If you are all able, we need to get to the palace immediately." I said to King Jesse's Beta, Felix.

"We will honor our fallen king's wishes. We will fight with you." Felix nodded.

"Great. I don't know where that smoke is coming from or if it is being handled or not. Could you and your men go check it out?" I asked Cyrus.

"Yes Alpha." Cyrus nodded and took off in a flash with his group of vampires.

"Thank you!" I yelled at the wind.

Our army took off towards the palace, dread filling my gut at the sight before me. The front doors were wide open. There were many men from the Purebred Guardians who were outside, just waiting for us. I could see dozens of our fallen warriors lying dead on the ground. Some eclectic looking witches as well. Looks like they were having just as much of a hard time as us, except we got lucky and had an army join us during our final hour.

King Jesse's men ran head first into battle, what was left of my army intermixed. I bolted for the front entrance, needing some reassurance that my pups were still safe. I could only hope that they hadn't been found. We mowed through the Purebreds, our battle just as bloody and savage as the war with King Bruno's army. I eventually managed to get inside my own palace, twice as many Purebred warriors were on the inside than there were on the outside. This was bad.

My staff had specific instructions to hide themselves in some of the hidden passages we had secretly made in the weeks leading up to the war. I didn't see any of their bodies, so I took that as a good sign. Unfortunately, I couldn't safely check. Not without blowing their cover or linking in the middle of a battle. It felt as though the Purebreds just kept coming. I guess Oliver was telling the truth about one thing. There were thousands of Purebreds. If half went to attack King Carson, probably solely to prevent them from helping us, then the other half were here with us.

It was a long fight, but we managed to overthrow the Purebreds within the palace, and even captured a few for questioning.

"Where is my mate?!" I spat at the three Purebreds who were tied up in front of me.

"Like we would ever tell you." One laughed.

"She is probably already dead!" Another one taunted.

This was getting nowhere. I knew Sierra was still alive, I could still feel our bond, though it did feel weak, which was alarming.

"Make them talk." I said to William. He gave me a devious smile while I headed towards our hidden safe room where Ella and the kids were supposed to be. I needed to see them with my own eyes.

I swept the palace as I went, making sure there were no hidden warriors ready to jump out at me. When I reached the top floor, I grabbed a pair of shorts and slipped them on, not exactly wanting my mom and pups to see my goods if I could help it. I walked into Sierras study and found that everything looked perfectly in place. Thank goddess. I felt along the newly installed decorative rock wall, looking for the pressure point that would open the hidden door. I found it without a problem, and announced my presence from the outside before pushing the slab of rock that triggered the door.

"Edward!" My mom's voice rang through first.

"Did you find Sierra?" Andrew asked.

Two of my pups ran and crawled over to greet me, but there were two missing. "Where are Levi and Xander?" I asked, checking over the little faces again just to make sure I didn't miss them the first time I looked.

"We dont-" My mom began.

A shimmering light appeared, my pups running through a small portal, panic in their eyes. It closed just as fast as it had opened, my twins talking a mile a minute at the same time.

"Woah, woah, woah!" I said, kneeling down to their level. "Slow down, one at a time. What happened? Where were you?" I asked, looking between my boys. They exchanged a weary glance and then they both looked at Levis' jacket that was wrapped up in his arms. Levi held the bundle out for me to take, which I did, my eyes going wide when I saw the tiny pup who looked just like my mate squirming around in the makeshift swaddle.

"Mom said to call her Abby."