Overprotective was an understatement.
Cassandra barely makes it into Grace's private quarters before she presses her back to the door, chest rising and falling with exaggerated drama like she's just escaped a high-speed chase. She closes her eyes, savouring the rare and fleeting sensation of privacy.
"You know he's going to find you, right?" Grace's voice floats through the room with the kind of amusement only a mother of an Alpha could master.
Three pairs of feminine eyes...Grace, Lexie, and Sasha...turn toward her with identical expressions of mischief and sympathy. The Luna, the Beta female, and the Lead Warrior's mate, respectively, have all seen it before. Still, Cassandra feels distinctly betrayed by how entertained they are.
She huffs. "It's been over a week since we got back and I haven't had five minutes to myself, without him hovering like a very clingy shadow wolf."
Lexie smirks, sipping tea like she's watching a soap opera. "He's just being sweet."
"He followed me into the pantry yesterday to make sure the jars weren't too heavy," Cassandra deadpans. "Glass jars. He then suggested we switch to 'soft fruit only.'"
Even Grace chuckles at that. "Well, he has always had a flair for the dramatic. He gets that from Luke."
Cassandra drops onto the couch beside Sasha, exasperated. "It's like living with a paranoid bodyguard who thinks rogue blueberries are out to get me."
"Three... two... one," Sasha counts under her breath, smirking.
The door swings open.
"Mom, have you seen..." Darius cuts himself off as his golden eyes lock on Cassandra's. His shoulders visibly relax, as though her very presence restores balance to the universe. Without waiting for an invitation, he strides across the room and pulls her into his arms, burying his face in the curve of her neck like a man reunited with his soulmate after years of exile.
Which, apparently, is how he acts if she's gone for seven minutes.
"You were gone," he mumbles, lips brushing against her skin.
Cassandra groans, though her arms slip around his waist with practiced ease. "I was in the next room. Your mother's room."
"You could've tripped," he says seriously. "Or fallen asleep. Or passed out from lack of hydration. Or someone could've looked at you wrong."
Grace, Lexie, and Sasha giggle behind her.
Cassandra sighs, leaning into his chest like she's given up trying to win. "I love you, but you're impossible."
"I need to be able to see and touch you," he whispers, voice low, rough with emotion. "Please... just be patient with me."
His words hit her harder than she expects. She feels the trembling edge of vulnerability beneath the Alpha façade. This isn't just paranoia. It's a deep-seated fear of loss. And she knows...it's because of the pup and what he had lost.
Shaking her head in fond defeat, she mutters, "Fine. But I'm warning you now...when the hormones hit full force, I'll be the one breathing down your neck, and not in a sexy way."
"I accept my fate," he replies without missing a beat, squeezing her waist gently.
"Poor guy," Sasha whispers to Lexie. "He's going to cry at least once a week by month four."
"At least," Lexie agrees.
"Alright," Grace claps her hands once. "Before he whisks her away again, someone ask them the important question."
Lexie perks up. "Oh! Are you guys finding out the gender today?"
Darius grins proudly, tightening his arm around Cassandra's waist. "That's the plan."
"I just want the baby to be healthy," Cassandra says, rolling her eyes affectionately. "Whatever we're having, I'm already obsessed."
"Good answer," Grace nods. "But personally, I think you're having a girl. A strong one."
"I'm voting boy," Lexie says. "A tiny version of Darius with floofy hair and permanent grump face."
"Twins," Sasha offers with a mischievous gleam in her eye. "One to keep you sane, and one to drive you crazy."
Everyone laughs...except Cassandra, who pales slightly. "Twins? No. Nope. Take that energy out of this room."
"Oh sweetheart," Grace chuckles. "You don't tell the moon what to do."
A short while later, Darius leads Cassandra through the winding halls toward the pack clinic. His arm never leaves her waist, as if his touch alone could ward off fate itself. Cassandra doesn't complain this time. She's nervous too...not about the pregnancy, exactly, but about how much her life has changed. About the love she never expected and the future that seems to grow more real with every flutter in her stomach.
Dr. Reid, the pack's resident healer, greets them warmly. He's been around since Darius was a pup, and he treats Cassandra with that same blend of reverence and fatherly concern.
After settling her on the examination bed and applying the familiar cold gel, he begins the scan. Darius holds her hand tightly, eyes locked on the screen with laser focus.
At first, all they hear is the soft whoosh of the machine...like distant waves breaking against a shore. The wand moves. Dr. Reid adjusts the screen. Tilts the wand again. And again.
Darius's jaw tightens.
Cassandra squeezes his hand. "You're crushing my fingers."
He loosens his grip, but his eyes are locked on the healer, reading every twitch, every wrinkle of the man's brow.
The silence stretches.
Dr. Reid makes one final pass and then sighs, setting the wand aside and wiping Cassandra's belly clean. "Everything looks perfect."
"But?" Darius growls. The sound is low. Dangerous.
The old healer flinches ever so slightly. "Nothing bad, I promise. I should have mentioned it sooner. I apologize if I caused you worry. It's just...well, the pups are fine. Both of them."
Both.
Cassandra blinks. Darius's hand goes still.
"Come again?" she says, her voice faint.
Dr. Reid clears his throat. "You're having twins. A strong heartbeat for each, measuring on track. Congratulations."
There is absolute silence.
Then:
"Twins?" Darius repeats, like he's trying out a foreign word.
"Twins," Cassandra echoes, staring wide-eyed at the monitor.
Then chaos.
"I knew it!" Sasha crows from the hallway, where she's clearly been eavesdropping. She bursts into the room with Lexie behind her. "You owe me lunch, Lexie!"
Lexie throws her hands up. "In my defence, I didn't know she was going to manifest psychic powers this week!"
Dr. Reid bows out with dignity, leaving them to their moment.
Cassandra lies back against the pillow, eyes wide. "I'm going to get so big."
"You're going to be perfect," Darius says, eyes shining with awe and a bit of terror.
"You're going to cry so much," Sasha says sympathetically, patting him on the shoulder. "You poor, doomed wolf."
"Why are you crying?" Cassandra asks him softly, noticing the shimmer in his eyes.
"I'm not," he mutters. "I just...there are two heartbeats. Our heartbeats. It's a miracle I get to have one of you. And now three?"
Cassandra reaches up, cups his face, and presses a kiss to his cheek. "We're going to figure it out. Together."
"Yeah," Sasha pipes up. "And you have a whole army of meddling friends and family."
Lexie nods. "And a beta who's already building a crib. Well, two cribs now."
Darius looks around at them all. Cassandra, glowing and calm. Sasha, grinning and chaotic. Lexie, teary-eyed and smug. And he feels...truly, for the first time...like everything is going to be okay.
Twins and all.