The Alpha’s Favorite Sin

Two

Sensing what was about to happen, grief slowly embraced me. 
I just spent nine months carrying two tiny humans. Felt them kick. Move around inside me like they owned the place. And now I'm never going to hold them. Never going to count their fingers or kiss their foreheads or hear them call me mama.
They're literally taking my babies. Right now. While I'm sitting here bleeding and wrecked and still feeling empty where they used to be.
And I'm supposed to just... what? Say thanks and move on?
Absolutely not.
I sit up straighter. Meet Garrett's eyes without flinching.
"Where's my money? Because I don’t see it with you."
No smile. No small talk. 
"The contract said two million." I let the words hang there for a second. "But I found something interesting. You guys somehow forgot to mention I was carrying twins."
"So if we're actually playing fair here, the price just doubled. Four million."
It's just how this is going to go now. They want both my babies? Then they pay for both so I can move forward.
Simple math.
Garrett laughs. Actually laughs mockingly straight in my face. "I'm sorry, did you think you were in a position to negotiate?"
"I'm in a position to ruin you. One phone call and it's all over for you."
"To whom?" Vivienne steps closer. She's beautiful in that cruel way rich people are. "You have no family. No friends. No one even knows you're here. That was part of the agreement, remember?"
My stomach drops, but I keep my chin up. "The agreement also said I'd get paid. So pay me and I'll disappear. That's what you want, right?"
"What we want," Marcus says, his voice stone cold, "is to protect the king's bloodline from gold diggers like you."
"I signed an NDA. If you had mentioned this from the start, I wouldn't have signed up for this."
"NDAs can be broken." Garrett's smile widens. "People talk. Get drunk. Get desperate. Decide they want more money. And His Majesty agrees. He gave the order himself."
Everything in me goes cold. "The king ordered this?"
"Of course," Vivienne says smoothly. "Did you think we'd act without his command?"
But that doesn't make sense. I've heard things about the king. The most powerful alpha in the Northern Territories. Ruthless in war but kind in judgment. People respect him. 
Would a man like that really order the murder of a nineteen-year-old girl who carried his children?
"I don't believe you," I say. "Why would he want me dead when I have done nothing wrong?"
"Believe what you want." Garrett shrugs. "You'll be dead either way."
"Please," I try one more time. "I won't say anything. I'll disappear. You'll never hear from me again, I swear it."
"Too late for that." Garrett nods at the guard. The guard grabs my arm, and I fight. I fight like my life depends on it because it does.
I claw at his face, drawing blood. He swears and backhands me hard enough that my vision goes white.
"The babies," Vivienne says suddenly. "Marcus, secure them. We need to deliver them to His Majesty within the hour."
Marcus walks to the bassinets and picks up both babies awkwardly.
The syringe is at my neck now.
"HELP!"
The needle punctures my skin, and the sedative floods my system immediately.
My vision starts to blur, and my body gets heavier.
"Get her in the vehicle," Garrett orders. "Marcus, you follow in the second car with the heirs. We'll meet you at the palace after we handle disposal."
My babies. Both of my babies.
I try to reach for them, but I can't move. The sedative is pulling me under.
The last thing I see before everything goes black is Marcus walking out the door, one baby in each arm.
Then nothing.
***
Cold air jolts me awake.
My head is spinning, and my body is aching. I'm on the ground in the woods.
"She's waking up." "Vivienne's voice," annoyed. "Hurry up."
I try to move, but my limbs are still heavy from the drugs. 
Garrett crouches next to me, holding a syringe. Then he jabs the needle into my neck.
I can't scream. Can't move. The silver is paralyzing everything.
"Make sure she's unidentifiable," Vivienne says to one of the guards. "We need it to look like a rogue attack."
The guard pulls out a silver blade.
He grabs my face and tilts my head back.
The blade drags across my throat. Then burning silver pressed to my face, my cheeks, and my forehead.
The smell of my own flesh burning.
My vision is fading. Going dark.
This is it. I'm dying.
But then a strange howl interrupts the night.
"What the hell!" Garrett starts.
A massive female grey wolf and a second creep out from the tree line.
They charge straight at them.
"We need to move now!" Vivienne screams, running for the vehicles.
The guards scramble, abandoning my body, pulling their weapons.
I can hear shouting. The sounds of a fight.
But I can't see anymore. Can't move either. 
Everything is fading fast.
Just then, I hear footsteps as someone approaches.
"Hold on, my dear," a woman's voice says. "Just hold on."
Gentle hands lift me. 
I try to open my eyes but can't.
***
Pain wakes me.
Everything hurts. My throat. My face. My entire body.
I try to open my eyes, but they're covered. Bandaged.
"Don't move." A woman's voice. The same one from the woods. "You're safe now."
"I'm Mira," the woman says. "I'm a rogue healer. I was gathering herbs in the north woods last night when I heard men's voices. I found them trying to kill you."
"I saw the man with the babies," Mira continues. "So I attacked. Went straight for him. While trying to save his own life, he let his guard down. The others ran. They left you there to die and took off with one baby. But I got the other one."
One baby.
She saved one.
Relief and grief slam into me at the same time.
"I'm so sorry," Mira says quietly. "I tried to get both of them, but they were already in the car with one before I could stop them. But this little one is safe. You're both safe now."
My son. One of my sons.
I try to speak, to thank her, but only a horrible rasping sound comes out.
"Your throat was cut pretty bad with a silver blade," Mira says. "I've done what I can, but the damage is severe. Your voice might never fully heal. And your face, the burns from the silver, you're going to need reconstructive surgery that I can't do here."
My baby is alive, and so am I.
But my other baby…
The grief presses down on me. My other son. The one Marcus escaped with. The one I'll never see again.
He's with the king now. He's going to grow up thinking he has no mother.
"Thank you," I try to say, but it comes out as barely a wheeze.
Mira's hand touches mine. "You don't have to thank me."
After nine months of cold stares and cruel treatment, genuine kindness almost breaks me.
"You're safe here," Mira says. "But the people who did this are going to be looking for you. If they find out you survived…"
I know. They'll finish the job.
"You need to disappear," Mira continues. "New identity. New life. I can help with that. I have connections, people who can create documents, arrange the surgery you need, and help you start over completely." She pauses. "But you have to want this. Do you want to live?"
Do I want to live?
I want revenge. And I want my other son back.
I nod.
Mira squeezes my hand. "Good. Then we start tomorrow."