After a five-hour journey, I pulled the car round the back of the Grayson Medical Centre and parked. Uncle Fredric ran out to meet me and help take a moaning Max inside.

“We don’t have much time!” he said after taking one look at him. “I think the baby might be coming…”

“What the hell?”

He looked at me seriously.

“It’s been a while since I’ve done this on an Omega, but as I remember, if left for too long, we might lose the baby. Hurry, I have a small team waiting.”

“You’ve got to save our child,” I stressed as he ushered us to a private unused back room and flicked on the lights.

I looked around at the old and forgotten surroundings.

“Better than nothing,” he said, looking out the window to make sure no one was watching. “Now, Max, what do you feel?”

“Everything? I don’t know, I feel like I’m going to explode or pass out and… Just help us!”

I went over to his side and grabbed his hand.

“Hey, listen to me, Max, you can do this. Just stay calm, okay?”

He squeezed my fingers and pulled me down to his level.

“Whatever happens, just make sure our baby is safe. I…” His body went limp, and his hand slipped out of mine as his eyes rolled back in his head.

“What the…?”

“Shit.” Uncle Fredric said, running to his side. “He’s passed out. Guys!”

A number of people came running in, and I was pushed to back of the room, watching in horror as everything fell apart right in front of me.

I heard the words ‘sleep’ and ‘incision’, and I ran back to the bed. Max had a breathing mask over his nose and mouth.

“It’s okay,” a woman said beside me. “He’s just under. We need to deliver the baby via cesarean.”

I held onto his limp hand, but my Uncle came up beside me.

“He’s going to be okay. I promise. You’re just lucky you got him here when you did. Now just…”

The door burst open and everyone jumped around. The wolf in me stood up alert and protective as I realized who had just come into the room.

It was Faye.

“Lewis,” she said, rushing over to me.

I took a step forwards, putting a barrier between her and Max, still smarting from everything that had happened before.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, defensively. “How did you...?”

“I’m here to warn you,” she interrupted, looking over her shoulder. “If this baby is part of us and our community then we need to do everything we can to protect it…”

“But? How the hell did you know about it?”

“People are coming, Lewis. Someone must have said something. Maybe you have a leak in your team, I don’t know, but they’re coming to put a stop to this.”

“Did my father send them?” I demanded. “Faye, answer me! Max’s life is at stake here!”

“No. I don’t know. I don’t even think he’s aware you’re back. These guys are from another pack. They’re outsiders we’ve never seen before.”

I looked around at my uncle’s staff.

“Someone in here must have told them!” I spat angrily. “There’s no way they could have known. I thought we were careful on our way up!”

Faye walked over to the window and looked outside between the curtains.

“I don’t know, Lewis,” she said with impatient calmness. “But, you both need to leave. Now!”

“We can’t. They’re operating on him.”

I saw the panic in her eyes, and she looked at the table and then back at me, scared and worried.

“We’re going to have to fight them,” she said quietly. “Just the two of us unless you let me tell the guys. They could be here in a flash.”

“I don’t know…”

I thought about the others who’d attacked Max before and I suddenly felt trapped. My main priority was protecting him and our child, but realistically, I knew that even in wolf form, Faye and I wouldn’t be able to hold the rogue pack off on our own.

She came over and rested a hand on my arm.

“We need the numbers, Lewis,” she stressed.

“And why should I trust you?”

I looked into her face, trying to read her expression and motives. I was her forced mate that had left her for my gay first love. I was the one who’d let her down and who wasn’t able to be the person she wanted and needed. She didn’t owe me a damn thing. In fact, I owed her.

She pointed towards Max on the bed.

“I hate the fact that our kind are on the decline, and when I heard someone talking about Max being pregnant, I was angry. I had to come and see if it was true and then I realized it’s a good thing. I’m excited. It’s new life, Lewis. The first time we’ve ever crossed with a full human, and I just want to be a part of that. Like it or not, that baby is part of us, and they’ll grow up maybe the same way we had to.”

We heard the clattering of bins outside and her expression changed.

The sounds grew louder, and I could hear the voices of people who were angry and shouting.

“Whatever happens,” she whispered, stepping away from me, “I don’t hate you for what happened. I forgive you and I understand…”

I reached out to pull her close to me, but she turned and ran back towards the door. I saw the aftermath of her energy as she changed, and the growl that filled the room and surrounding areas shook the things on the wall slightly.

I felt the energy building up inside me, and the more I heard Faye’s wolf growling and being attacked, the more fire I had behind me until I exploded, and I felt the animal taking over every inch of my body.

“I’m doing this for you, Max,” I groaned as the last of the wolf took over and I ran out to protect the man that was carrying my child.