Page 55 of Marked By the Alphas

“Don’t you fucking say it,” Kai interrupted.

“…little girl,” Rhys said, and Kai moved out of his seat, causing Rhys to take off running across the training field. Rhys laughed loudly while Kai chased him around the field and hurled insults at him.

“Training sessions used to be so peaceful,” Rowan commented as he watched them go and I laughed.

“Oh, don’t act like you’re not the same,” I teased, and Rowan rolled his eyes, bending down to tie my shoelace that had come loose.

Finally, Kai returned to sit down, and I looked to see Rhys laying flat on the ground, laughing loudly. It caused me to shake my head. Eventually, he picked himself up and moved toward us once more.

“I don’t know why grandpa is extra grumpy today,” Rhys called when he got to us, and I pinched his arm, causing him to yelp.

“Don’t be mean,” I said and he raised his arms in surrender.

The training began, and it started out innocently enough. Rowan focused on basic drills and testing my reflexes and agility. Rhys and Kai interjected when necessary, correcting my stance, offering other strategies, and just encouraging me as I went. At first, I moved with surprising ease, the physical exertion a welcome distraction from the anxiety that had plagued me for a while now.

However, as the session progressed, a familiar weakness crept into my limbs. My movements seemed to slow, and my focus wavered. A wave of dizziness washed over me and soon the world began to spin. Panic surged through me as I struggled to maintain my balance and shake off stars danced in front of my eyes, but it happened so fast. I could hear the concerned voices of Rhys, Kai, and Rowan asking if I was all right, but before I could respond, darkness enveloped me, and I felt myself collapse.

Everything immediately went silent and the world around me seemed to disappear.

Chapter 28

Rhys

I had noticed Elara’s movement getting slower. I inched closer to her, but when I asked if she was fine, and no response came, it had forced me to grab onto her shoulders so I could look at her face. Nothing could have prepared me for the moment where the life seemed to leave her eyes and she went lax in my arms.

It felt like my world shattered into a million pieces the moment Elara collapsed. My heart hammered against my ribs as I scooped her into my arms and rushed her toward the house, the urgency in my movements mirroring the terror in my soul.

Kai and Rowan followed along, their faces also as pale as the moon and their eyes blown wide with shock as they opened doors and shouted out instructions, clearing the way to our shared room. I laid Elara carefully on the bed, stripping her off her jeans and shirt so she could breathe better. I accepted the dress that Rowan passed to me, adjusting her so I could slip it onto her frame.

Kai was outside the door, and I could hear the urgency in his voice as he summoned Anyah. My eyes looked over Elara’s unmoving form. It was a complete contrast to the bubbly girl from less than twenty minutes before. Her face was now so pale, and her breathing felt so labored and strained that I had to move my finger underneath her nose to confirm she was still breathing fine.

“What could have happened?” Rowan asked and I turned to see a frown painting his face as he held onto Elara’s palm, rubbing it softly to try to get the warmth back into it. I simply shrugged at his words, swiping the hair that fell across her forehead.

The door to the room opened again and Kai appeared. “Anyah is on her way. She says to keep her warm and comfortable until she arrives.” I pulled the quilt higher up her body.

We continued to watch over her in silence, the weight of the situation hanging heavy as a rock over our heads. I could still feel the adrenaline and terror running through my veins and the suffocating silence that filled the room worsened my anxiety. I couldn’t help but think of all the things that could have gone wrong and the horrifying images that kept replaying in my head were pushing me toward the edge.

Things were finally starting to settle. We had been doing so well together that it was getting harder to even think about what life was before her. A warm hope for the future had ignited within me and had continued to bloom.

My night terrors had almost completely disappeared since my confession to Kai and Rowan and my life was starting to feel more normal than it had ever been.

A knock came on the door and Kai moved off the bed to usher Anyah in. The healer immediately had a look of worry on her face the moment her eyes landed on Elara’s body and my worry immediately skyrocketed.

“I came as soon as I could,” she announced as she pulled her bag open to pull out a few items, but the moment she got close enough to touch Elara, a surge of possessiveness went throughme. It was almost enough to send me into a fury, but I fought hard to keep control.

Kai seemed to be having a much more difficult time controlling himself, and he launched at Anyah, his eyes glowing amber as a growl tore out of his throat. Rowan and I had to jump into action and pull him away before he could hurt the older woman.

“What the fuck man? You almost hurt Anyah!” Rowan scolded, and as I looked at him, I could see that his eyes also had hints of amber, which meant his wolf was also fighting for control.

My mind began whirling with assumptions. In the last couple of days, I couldn’t explicitly remember any other person aside from Rowan and Kai coming close to Elara but the intensity of their reactions and mine now made me question everything. Were we just reactive to Anyah coming too close? Or would we be reactive to everybody else too?

“This confirms it, but I’m just going to make some checks for my own satisfaction,” Anyah said and we all turned to look at her, but when she remained still, just looking at us with a hopeful expression, it made me realize that she was waiting for our permission so we didn’t jump her again.

“Yes, of course,” I responded and as she returned to checking Elara, I had to fight to hold back my wolf from taking over and tearing her away from our mate. I could tell that it was the same for Kai and Rowan, because they even seemed to back off a little bit.

Anyah’s examination was meticulous, her face was a mask of concentration as she observed Elara. A tense silence enveloped the room, and it almost felt as though my heart were in my stomach as I waited for the healer to be done. And when shefinally spoke, her voice carried a weight of revelation that shook me to my core.

“Your mate is pregnant,” she announced, her words hanging in the air.

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