In the arms of my father

8. Complicated

Brody’s POV

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I didn’t know what to expect after we found my little flower, but whatever this is - was not it.  It’s torture watching the events unfold after finding Valen in that cave, feeling like I have no right to the feelings that I have for the girl I’ve loved my whole life.  Our relationship is being pushed into the background, despite the new lives that grow inside her, and my part in creating those lives.

She’s pregnant, with my babies.

Not that it matters to any one, they’re all too caught up on the fact that her second chance mate is the Guardian of all Vampires and their own prejudices surround the whole f****d up thing.

I’m reduced to watching the door to Valen’s hospital room, listening for the sound of both their changed breathing patterns to signal that they’re finally awake.  I plan on demanding some time with Valen alone as soon as she is up.

I deserve it, considering I did that blood sucker a f*****g solid.  Yeah fine, I did it for my own selfish means, but he’s the one that asked me to continue my relationship with her to ‘keep her safe’.

I didn’t run myself almost ragged searching for her in the butt f**k of England, just so that I could be pushed aside, like we don’t have history.

I know that one day I’ll find my true mate, but until then - that girl inside that room sleeping wrapped up in the clutches of a creature that should be our natural enemy, is still my girlfriend and one of my best friends.

My eyes stay glued onto the hospital door, when I suddenly feel the presence of my other best friend slide into a sitting position next to me.  “How you holding up, brother?” I enquire quietly.

“Yeah.” he replies gruffly, letting out a tired sigh.

“That bad huh?” I ask finally moving my gaze towards my childhood friend, taking note of the dark circles, pale complexion and rumpled state of his clothing.

Shrugging his shoulders, Mikaera turns his head to eye the door, sighing once again, “I just thought things would be the same once we found her, you know?  With us being her only protectors and no one coming in between us three.” he says quietly.

Shaking his head with a scoff he continues, “Instead, we have a distraught true mate vying for her attention, and a sleazy old dinosaur as a second chance mate who isn’t even of the same species, teen pregnancy drama lama and then there’s the rest of us.”  

“Thank f**k I’m not the only one feeling this way.” I state, relieved to hear that this feeling of being pushed aside isn’t just in my head,

The sound of approaching footsteps causes both of our heads to turn in sync to take in the interlopers - raising my eyebrows in surprise I quickly glance over my shoulder at Mikaera to see that his facial expression is just as astonished as my own.

I wearily eye the two future alpha’s as they move to sit down in front of us uninvited, “Sup.”  I greet them suspiciously.

By way of greeting, River lifts one side of his lips into an incredulous smirk and demands, “Do you believe this s**t?” waving a hand to indicate the closed door and the two slumbering supernaturals inside.

“Yeah, I do.” I answer him ponderously.

Slapping me on the arm closest to him, MIkaera challenges, “Eh?  How?”  Under normal circumstances I would have laughed my ass off at the scrunched up confused expression on his face.

But these are not normal circumstances, and there really isn’t any point in keeping what I know to myself any more since the f*****g hissy cat is out of the bag. 

Huffing out a breath for some much needed courage and reaching up to scratch the back of my head with agitation, I finally answer Mikaera while the other two quietly listen.

“Our last night in America after the ceremony when everyone was arguing and s**t, Guardian Sebastian mind linked me - don’t ask me how he could do that considering the whole species thing.” I utter quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear what we're talking about.

Three sets of eyes widen in shocked silence, “T-th-that’s not possible!” Tiernan whispers harshly.

Scoffing loudly back at the idiotic future Alpha I say, “Because you’re the expert on all things supernatural.”  I taunt him mockingly and finish with, “ In our world anything’s possible, you know that.” 

I watch as Mikaera waves his hand dismissively, “It’s possible, my father told me that all Guardian’s have the ability to mindlink all species as a way to find out someone’s intentions or to convey information when needed, but that s**t is monitored by some demi-god.  Something about ensuring that the link between minds isn’t used to manipulate or punish.”  

“The f**k?” River whispers uneasily.

“Mmm, freaky how much power they have, dad’s always going on at Valen about not abusing her god-like powers.”  Mikaera remarks indifferently.

He turns his penetrating gaze towards me and waves his hand in a tight circular motion, indicating that he wants me to carry on with my story and for a second, I consider not submitting to his quiet demand.  

Shaking my head, I realise that I can’t leave Mikaera in the dark and even though Tiernan’s an asshole, I guess he deserves to know as well.  River is just lucky to be in the right place at the right time to witness my possible death at the hands of one of my best friends.

“He said, that now that Valen is no longer tied to Tiernan, she has a very special connection to him and that I have to take care of her for him with my life.  I pretty much gathered that they were mated and that the connection had gotten stronger after she accepted your mistake.”  facing Tiernan I accuse him angrily.

“How could you do that to her?”  I demand angrily.  “You know she was so excited that morning when she came home from your little fuckfest in the forest.  So f*****g happy and although it was killing me, I would have let her go to you.  I would have let her go just so she could have that look on her face for the rest of her life.”

Eyeing him with so much bitter anger, I growled out my next words, “But then I watched as her body was gripped with so much pain and the realisation that her love wasn’t enough to keep you.  That you f*****g lied to her, that s**t nearly broke her.  Thank f**k I was there to watch and turn that s**t around while it all unfolded, so thanks for f*****g up her life and turning mine into heaven on earth at the same time.  You little f**k up.”

I hear an ominous growl emanating from Tiernan that I know I should feel intimidated by, but since he isn’t my Alpha and every member of Pack Snow Wolf is pretty much superior to every other Were out there, his little puppy tantrum only amuses me, much to his disgust.

I watch as his angry eyes flicker with an emotion that I understand all too well.  Shame and guilt. 

His head is the next to fall and his shoulders slump in self-defamation, “I know it sounds stupid, but I thought I was doing what was right for my pack, I thought I would have had to leave my people, my family defenceless.  I was told that, that would happen if I accepted my bond with Valen.”

My face scrunches up with a disgusted expression as I state, “Yeah we all heard you tell Valen that Bitchanca told you that bullshit.”

“And I will regret ever letting her get into my head for the rest of my life.  I’m an idiot.” he lifts his head and responds dejected.

I’m surprised to see that there are unshed tears in the young Alpha’s eyes, making me feel slightly uncomfortable at the emotions he so freely displays in front of us, despite almost all of us giving in to bouts of tears over the last few days while we waited for my little flower to wake up.

“Yeah you are.” I agree candidly.

Silence engulfs the four of us as we sit lost in our thoughts for what feels like hours, but actually is only half an hour.

River glances between Mikaera and I, then asks, “So if she’s second chance mated to a Vampire and it looks like they’re both accepting it, where does that leave you and the twins?”

My heart jumps into a faster beat and my chest aches at the uncertainty of my future with my twins and the love of my life.

“I don’t know.” is all that I can utter, because I really don’t know what to think, feel or expect at this point.  Not until I get some time to speak with Valen privately, and I don’t see that happening any time soon.  Which is f*****g frustrating and really unfair given the fact that it seems like everyone else is allowed ‘alone’ time with her and oh let’s not forget the most important fact that she’s carrying my babies.

“So...what do we do now?” River asks

Mikaera sighs tiredly and answers, “I guess now we wait for my sister to wake up so we can…”

The faint sounds of electricity crackling followed by screams coming from outside causes everyone in the ward to stop talking and freeze.  More sounds of electricity sizzling and a rumbling boom shakes the Dragon Thunder’s hospital in amongst the sounds of more shouting and screams from outside.

“Attack!  We’re under attack!”  shouts a doctor as he runs into the nurses station, ordering them to rush the patients into the underground concrete safe room in a panicked voice.

Pandemonium ensues as we all finally react, my heart races in both fear and anger that they would dare step onto Were land to attack us after everything that they’ve put us through these past months.  Why can’t they just f*****g give it a rest for a week or two?

Our fight or fight harder reaction has everyone who is able to rage in a battle sprinting towards the family room to receive our orders from Guardian Mak, I can hear him shouting orders confidently but can’t exactly make out the words properly over all the shouting and sounds of battle.

As I’m just about to pass by an open door, I watch a nurse as she starts to push a hospital bed with a patient into the corridor.  I am suddenly hit with the most amazing scent that I have ever inhaled.  I do a double take as I take in the beautiful girl laying on the bed, weakly asking the nurse a barrage of questions, ranging from “What the hell is going on?”, “Where’s my dad?” and “Are they after Guardian Valen?”

Her voice, though obviously frail, is the most melodic sound I have ever heard.  I want to listen to it all day, every day.  For the rest of my life.

The sound of Mikaera yelling at me, telling me to “Hurry the f**k up!” almost snaps me out of my daze, almost being the operative word.

It’s then that I realise that I’ve stopped in my tracks, staring at the girl who is now gazing at me with a fierce intensity.

My body starts to tingle the closer she gets to me and in her eyes, I can see my past and my present all merging together into a future with her.  My wolf howls in happiness, I can feel him itching to shift that he can mark and complete the mating ritual.

“Mate.” we almost shout simultaneously.

Absentmindedly I hear Mikaera comment in surprise "O-ooh s**t!"

She gasps in shock, her eyes wide and hopeful while mine water with how happy I am followed by a sudden sadness at the realisation that my life has just become so much more complicated than I thought it would ever be.

My pregnant girlfriend is in a room sleeping peacefully with her vampire - what ever the f**k he is to her now, there is a battle raging outside this Thunder hospital because the Witches and Hunters want a war for power, and I’ve just found my mate.

Fuck. My. Life.