“It’s like one was dipped in brown paint and one in bleach!” Charles laughed, much louder I wanted. I’d warned him to keep his voice down, as I’m sure Matias had also, but Charles was just a big loud guy. He was doing his best, but there was no toning down that booming operatic voice of his.

“I think they’re both beautiful,” Patrick said, cooing and fawning over the two like he’d done from the second he’d stepped into the cabin. His excitement was dwarfed only by my own. He was such a naturally loving, motherly-fatherly omega that it was hard not to smile.

“Well, yeah they’re both great,” Charles chuckled. “It’s just funny how they’re basically opposites.”

“Which one is which again?” Patrick asked.

“The blonde is Jeff. Graham is the brunette.”

“Graham cracker, eh?” Charles grinned like he was the first one to think of that.

“Oh, geez,” I said with a sigh. “And it begins.”

“You had to see it coming!” Charles replied.

“Yes, we did,” I said with a nod, stroking the heads of my children as they suckled from my chest. “But we liked the name, so he’s just going to have to deal with big doofuses cracking lame jokes!”

I stuck my tongue out at Charles to let him know I was only being half serious, but I had nothing to worry about. He seemed like the kind of guy who would be impossible to offend.

Just as Patrick was about to speak again, the door to the cabin opened and Matias stepped in, a worrying look on his face. I knew instantly something was wrong.

“What is it?” I asked him as he brushed past Charles and came up to my side. His voice low, he took my hand and whispered in my ear.

“Will is outside,” he told me. I felt myself tense up, and he must have seen it, because he quickly shook his head and pet me gently. “It’s not like that. He’s here because…”

“Because what?” I asked, suddenly tense.

“Because…Buck says he’s going to kill himself if you don’t come back to him.”

What!?

It couldn’t be possible. Buck was way too much of a dickhead to be doing something like that. I’d never seen even a hint of a sensitive side to him. He was the kind of guy who scoffed at sappy parts of movies and got up to the kitchen to get a drink, ruining the moment for everyone else involved.

“He’s just saying that,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s a power play or some kind of joke.”

“Or a trap,” Charles suggested. He’d obviously overheard what Matias had told me.

“Will was ready to cry,” he told me. “Says he’s down at a quarry behind the high school?”

Now that made sense, and Buck’s threat was suddenly real. Behind the public high school north of the city, there was a quarry where kids used to go after class to drink and smoke and make out or whatever, and a couple of kids had actually committed suicide there. If Buck had actually gone out there, then he probably wasn’t just doing this for a cry for attention.

“Shit,” I cursed, sitting up in bed, doing my best not to disturb the twins. “Shit!”

Jeff stirred on my chest and let out a tiny little moan that went right to my heart. Their warmth against my body was sublime and I wanted to lay here forever. But if Buck was actually at the quarry, this was serious.

“I – I don’t know what to do,” Matias said. “I told Will I’d ask you what you wanted to do.”

“Let him jump,” Charles scoffed. “Fuck him. He’s a prick.”

I saw Matias twist his lips in thought. He obviously didn’t agree, and I instantly was taken back to the night they showed up here, when Matias had him on the ground, vulnerable, and could have easily killed him, but didn’t. It wasn’t Matias’s way, and I could see he still cared, at least on a basic humanity level, about Buck’s life.

It just made me love him even more.

“Patrick,” I said, turning to the omega who was looking around the room with wide eyes.

“Yes!” He said quickly.

“I – I need you to watch the twins for me,” I told him reluctantly. “Not for long, but I have to go.”

“No problem, Chase!” He replied. “No problem at all.”

“Thank you,” I said as I shifted, sitting up in bed. It was the worst feeling to have to take the twins off my chest, but this had to be done.

Graham grumbled as I lifted him and passed him to Patrick, who took my place on the bed.

“I know, sweetheart,” I said, kissing him on the head gently. “Dadda will be back soon.”

Jeff let out a tiny cry as I passed him to Patrick, but went quiet as I stroked his head.

“Here’s a blanket,” I told Patrick, pointing to a small wrap on the bed Osana had given me. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

I stood back from the bed, knowing I should turn and race out the door. But I couldn’t. I had to stare at them. My twins. My babies. They had a hold of me that I couldn’t deny. It wasn’t dissimilar to the hold Matias had on me. It was an unbreakable bond, and it pained me to have to leave them so soon after bringing them into the world.

“Come on,” Matias said, slipping a loose shirt over my head and taking my hand. “Let’s get this done so we can get back to them.”

“Right,” I sighed, waving to my beautiful boys. “Bye, guys! Daddy will be back soon!”

Mustering all my willpower, I turned my back and stepped outside, clutching the hand of my mate as we headed for the truck.