Page 74 of Claimed By the Damned

She looked down at the picture she now held as the woman began wiping off her belly. She still couldn’t believe this was real, but the evidence was right in front of her. She was going to be a mother, and her children were going to have three different fathers.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Zeke

It had taken a few hours, but Amara was finally released from the hospital. The doctor had told her to take it easy for a couple of days since she was still going to be a bit weak from all the smoke she had inhaled, and he and the guys had every intention of making sure she did.

Leaning against the bathroom sink, Zeke had his arms folded as he kept an eye on Amara while she showered. Drake stood to his right, leaning against the cabinet, and Knox was to his left, sitting on the counter and doing something on his phone. The bathroom was humid and steamy due to the heat from the shower, and he could see her naked form through the frosted glass of the shower doors.

Maybe it was a bit overbearing, but none of them felt comfortable letting her shower alone. In fact, they didn’t want to let her out of their sight at all. They had almost lost her today. It had been way too close for comfort, and their wolves needed to be near her to reassure them that she was okay.

When he found her in the shop, unconscious and curled up with one arm wrapped around her stomach as if to protect their unborn child, Zeke had thought they were too late. The normally flawless skin on her arms had been red and blistered from the fire being less than three feet away from her. He knew without a doubt that, if they had shown up just a few seconds later, if they had hesitated for even a moment, then Amara wouldn’t be here, and neither would their child. He had never been more afraid in his life than he had been that night.

Once they got her to the hospital and the doctors had taken her back to check her out, he began wracking his brain to try to figure out who could have done this. He and the guys hadn’t exactly been saints since they left pack life, crossing paths with people they shouldn’t and screwing over deals with those more powerful than them at the time to get what they wanted. The list of possibilities was endless, and that terrified him. When the culprit figured out that Amara was still alive, there was a very good chance that they would come after her again. As far as he was concerned, she was still in danger.

They never used to care who they pissed off before, but that was because they didn’t have anything to lose. Now they did, and he feared that their past was coming back to bite them in the ass.

It also didn’t go unnoticed that Amara had been strangely quiet since they left the hospital. He was sure that discovering that they were having twins was a bit of a shock, but he was even more sure that her silence was about more than just that.

Zeke had been shocked to discover they were having twins too, but he was also excited about it. All three of them were. He had thought that, once he left the pack, becoming a father wasn’t in the cards for him anymore. That had obviously changed, and now that he was preparing to become one, he couldn’t help but dream of the future. Even if it was muddied by recent events.

Amara turned off the shower and opened the frosted door. She looked up and met all their gazes as she reached for the towel on the hook before she rolled her eyes. “Are you three always going to be overprotective like this?”

“Yes,” they all responded with no hesitation at all.

“May as well get used to it, little bunny,” Knox added.

Zeke stepped forward and took the towel from her, gently wrapping it around her small frame. “You almost died today, Princesa. You can’t blame us.”

Amara sighed softly in response. “But I’m fine. I’m still alive.”

“You almost weren’t,” Drake murmured. “We saw what you looked like when we found you. If we had gotten there just a few seconds later, there would have been nothing left of you.”

Amara pressed her lips together as she moved toward the sink. She grabbed a smaller towel and began to dry her hair as she said, “ So, we are having twins.”

Zeke, Drake, and Knox exchanged looks. It was clear to them that she was trying to change the subject. Something about the fire made her uncomfortable. But what?

“We’re going to need another crib,” he replied, playing along. For now.

“Already took care of it,” Knox told them both, waving his phone in front of him. “I got some extra toys and clothes too.”

Amara’s gaze went to Knox through the mirror, her eyebrows raised. “That was fast.”

Knox finally looked up from his phone and grinned at her. “What can I say, I’m excited.”

As she began drying her hair once more, Zeke watched her closely. He realized then that she was having a hard time maintaining eye contact, and her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

His eyes narrowed slightly. “Why are you changing the subject, Princesa?” he asked her pointedly.

She blinked and shook her head quickly. Too quickly. “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” Drake chimed in. “Is something wrong?”

Instead of meeting their eyes, Amara busied herself with searching for something on the counter. It was just another indication that she was hiding something. “No. Why would something be wrong?”

“Because your tone is a little higher pitched than it was a few seconds ago,” Knox replied, pocketing his phone with a frown.

She turned to them and lifted an eyebrow. “You pay attention to my tone now?”

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