Katy's peaceful slumber was abruptly shattered by the jarring sound of her alarm. 7 AM. She groaned, the reality of having to be at the library by 8 AM crashing down on her. Her body still ached with a deep, unfamiliar soreness, a potent reminder of the night's impossible events. With a sigh, she dragged herself out of bed, each movement a protest from her protesting muscles. After quickly dressing in comfortable, practical clothes for work, she made her way downstairs, poured herself a much-needed cup of coffee, and headed out the door.
Another sigh escaped her lips as she pulled up to the library. Just as she expected, the usual culprits: a mountain of returned books overflowing the drop box, scattered across the steps from people who couldn't wait for opening hours. Katy rolled her eyes. This was a familiar morning ritual, but today, with her body sore and her mind a chaotic mess, it felt like an insurmountable task.
She unlocked the heavy wooden door, placing her bag and coffee on the counter inside before steeling herself for the chore. Back outside, she began hauling armfuls of books. On her third trip, laden with a precarious stack, her foot caught on something unseen. With a yelp, she tripped, sending the books scattering across the floor with a loud thud. "Ugh!" she grumbled, burying her face into her knees, completely defeated.
Just then, the familiar "Bing!" of the door opening echoed through the quiet library. Katy's head snapped up, her heart leaping into her throat. Standing there, silhouetted against the morning light, were Jayden and Jamie.
They rushed to her side, their golden eyes filled with concern. "Katy, are you okay?" Jamie asked, his voice laced with worry.
She quickly got to her feet, brushing at her clothes as if to dismiss her clumsiness, and the raw vulnerability she felt. "Yes, I'm fine," she said, her voice a little too sharp. "What are you both doing here?"
The twins knelt, gathering the fallen books with practiced ease, placing them neatly on the counter. "We tried to call you, Katy," Jayden said, his tone serious. "And your text back wasn't convincing. "We wanted to come down in person to see what was going on."
Katy turned her back, walking to get behind the counter, letting out a silent, exasperated sigh. She could feel their intense gazes on her, waiting. The silence stretched, thick with unspoken questions. She gripped the edge of the counter, bracing herself.
"I need time to process everything," she finally blurted out, her voice tight with suppressed emotion. "I need you two to back off." The last twenty-four hours have been confusing and draining". "This situation is so fucked since I fucked both of you last night. "It's not normal." Her words hung in the air, blunt and raw.
The twins looked at her, their faces falling, a mixture of defeat and sadness clouding their features.
"I was saving my virginity," Katy continued, her voice trembling slightly, "but for some reason, I gave it up without hesitation... it was like I was under a spell. So just give me some time to process. Both of you need to leave now."
"Katy..." Jamie pleaded, stepping forward, his hand reaching out.
"Just go!" she insisted, her voice breaking.
With heavy hearts, Jamie and Jayden turned and walked out of the library, the "Bing!" of the door sounding like a final, painful punctuation. Katy watched them go, her shoulders slumping. As the door clicked shut, she let out a long, shuddering breath. A wave of remorse washed over her. She felt like she was a monster to them, pushing them away when a part of her, the illogical, primal part, screamed for them to stay.
Three months. Three long months had passed since Katy last saw or spoke to Jamie and Jayden. The memory of that morning at the library, her harsh words, and their crestfallen faces, still pricked at her. She'd thrown herself into her work, trying to bury the bewildering intensity of that night under a mountain of books and overdue fines.
Lately, though, even that has become a struggle. Katy had been meticulously saving her energy for work, often feeling overwhelmingly tired. The thought of food, which once brought comfort, now frequently made her stomach churn, an unwelcome wave of nausea that stole her appetite. She'd summed it up to being stressed from the twin situation, a lingering anxiety that pulsed beneath her everyday life. A part of her ached with how much she missed them, a phantom limb pain for a connection she barely understood. But she constantly rationalized it, telling herself it was for the best to just leave it at it was. There was no way she could date two guys at the same time; the sheer logistics alone were baffling, let alone the emotional complexity. And the way she had felt around them—that primal pull, the complete surrender of her senses—it scared her. It was too much, too intense, too unlike anything she knew.
Today, however, the weariness was overwhelming. Her head throbbed, her stomach churned relentlessly, and a profound fatigue settled in her bones. Katy finally decided to leave work early, informing her colleague she wasn't feeling well. The cool autumn air did little to revive her as she walked down the familiar street. Each step felt heavier than the last, her vision swimming. A sudden dizziness washed over her, making the world tilt. Her knees buckled without warning, and the ground rushed up to meet her. She collapsed.
The crisp autumn air, usually a source of invigoration during their wolf runs, suddenly carried a sharp, horrifying note. Jayden and Jamie, mid-stride, simultaneously caught it – a faint, metallic tang that sent a jolt of primal dread through their systems.
"Katy..." they both thought, the name echoing in their minds like a desperate prayer. Without a spoken word, they exchanged a terrified glance. Their powerful wolf forms surged forward, a blur of motion through the trees, following the ever-strengthening scent. It was unmistakably hers, and laced with something else: blood.
They burst from the tree line, their eyes scanning the familiar street. In the short distance from the forest edge, their hearts seized. There she was. Katy, crumpled on the sidewalk.
Instantly, fluidly, they shifted. Muscles rippled, fur receded, bones cracked into human form. Naked and vulnerable, they didn't hesitate, scrambling towards her, screaming her name.
They hunched beside her, their earlier exhaustion replaced by pure, unadulterated terror. Their eyes fell to the growing pool of blood staining her pants, spreading ominously on the concrete. Jamie's hand shot out, feeling for a pulse. It was there, faint .. Their golden eyes met again, filled with a raw, agonizing fear. Fear for their love, for their mate.
Jamie, his hands trembling, pulled out his phone, already dialing emergency services. "Ambulance, now! My mate... she's bleeding, unconscious!"
Jayden, meanwhile, cradled Katy's head, gently patting her cheek, his voice a desperate plea. "Katy? Katy, wake up! Please!" But she remained limp, unresponsive. Tears, hot and heavy, began to drip down his cheeks, mingling with the blood on her clothes. "Please don't leave us, Katy... Please..."
The distant wail of sirens grew louder, a beacon of hope against the crushing despair. The twins needed to get out of there before the ambulance arrived. They needed to get back to the house, get dressed and determine what was next. In what felt like mere seconds, the ambulance skidded to a halt. Paramedics swarmed them, their movements efficient and urgent. They worked as fast as humanly possible, hooking Katy up to monitors, their faces grim. She was carefully, swiftly, loaded onto a stretcher and rushed into the ambulance, the doors closing with a chilling finality. Jamie and Jayden stood rooted behind a tree in the forest, watching their world disappear behind flashing lights.
"Are you Katy's dad?" asked Dr. Lang, her voice gentle.
Dave looked up, his face a mask of devastation, tears streaming unchecked down his cheeks. "Yes, yes. How's my baby girl?"
Dr. Lang offered a small, sympathetic smile. "She lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stabilize her." Dave let out a shaky breath of relief, but the doctor's next words shattered the fragile peace. "One more thing... she's pregnant. About three months along."
Dave's eyes widened, his mind struggling to process the information. Pregnant? His Katy? The quiet, studious girl who barely dated? "What? How? Who?!" he stammered, the questions tumbling out in a shocked whisper.
Dr. Lang continued, her tone grave. "She had an issue with her pregnancy that was life-threatening for both. We rushed her into surgery and as of now the baby is fine at this moment."
Dave just stared at Dr. Lang, a whirlwind of disbelief and fear consuming him. His daughter was pregnant. His virgin daughter was pregnant. The impossibility of it, combined with the news of her critical condition, left him reeling.
"Can I see my daughter now?" he finally managed to choke out.
"Yes, but she's sleeping, which is normal for what she went through," said Dr. Lang said, her voice reassuring.
Dr. Lang escorted Dave to Katy's bedside. His heart clenched at the sight. Katy lay pale and still, hooked up to a tangle of monitors beeping rhythmically, needles taped to her arms. She looked so weak and pale. He sighed, a profound weariness settling over him, and offered a whispered thank you to Dr. Lang. Pulling a chair close to the bed, he sank into it, gently taking his daughter's hand. He held it tightly, tears welling in his eyes again, desperately hoping his daughter... his pregnant daughter... would be okay.
Awakening and Unveiling
Dave dozed off, the weight of worry and exhaustion finally pulling him under. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but he awoke with a jolt to a soft moaning sound. His eyes snapped open.
Katy was staring at him, her eyes wide and a little unfocused, her face still pale against the white hospital sheets. "What happened?" she whispered, her voice raspy.
Dave rubbed his face, trying to compose himself, to gather the strength to deliver the devastating news. "Katy..." he began, his voice thick with emotion. "You were found in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. "You had to have emergency surgery, and you lost a lot of blood." His voice started to tremble, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him.
He opened his eyes again, looking directly at his daughter, his heartbreaking for her. "Also, there's another thing..." he managed, his voice barely a whisper. "You're... you're pregnant."
The words hung in the air, heavy and shattering. Katy's eyes welled up, and then she burst into tears, a silent sob shaking her frail body. "I'm so sorry, Dad," she choked out, the raw apology piercing his heart.
Dave immediately reached for her hand, gripping it tightly. "We will figure it out, baby. It will be okay," he said, his voice a desperate attempt at reassurance, even as he was broken inside. His daughter, his little girl, so vulnerable and now facing something so monumental, and he had no idea how to fix it, no idea how to protect her from this new reality. The reality of a life changed, irrevocably, by a night he knew nothing about.
The rhythmic beeping of the machines around Katy's bed suddenly escalated into a frantic chorus, mirroring the turmoil within her. Her sobs grew louder, the monitors shrieking their alarm. A nurse rushed in, her face etched with concern, trying to soothe Katy with gentle words and a calming touch, but to no avail. Katy was inconsolable, the news of her pregnancy, on top of everything else, an unbearable weight. Finally, with a regretful glance at Dave, the nurse administered something to calm her down and put her to sleep. Within moments, Katy's sobs quieted, her body relaxing into an unconscious stillness.
An hour later, Dr. Lang came in to check on Katy. She glanced at the steady rhythm of the monitors, then at Dave's defeated face. He looked utterly worn out, slumped in the chair, his eyes red-rimmed and distant.
"You should go home and get some sleep, Mr. Anderson," Dr. Lang said gently, her voice full of empathy. "She'll be out for a while, and she is currently out of the woods." If anything happens, we will call you."
Dave nodded, the exhaustion finally catching up with him. He slowly stood, his body stiff. He leaned over Katy, pressing a tender kiss to her forehead, a silent promise that he would be back. With a heavy sigh, he left the room, the hushed hospital corridor seeming to swallow him whole.
The car ride home was a blur of streetlights and the dark, familiar roads of Haven wood. His mind, however, was a chaotic storm of questions. Did the father know? Who was the father? The thoughts spun endlessly, a painful loop of confusion and betrayal. His daughter, his innocent Katy, pregnant. It was an impossibility that had suddenly become a devastating reality. He sighed again, the weight of it all pressing down on him, as he pulled into his driveway. The house was still dark, a silent testament to the long, harrowing night. He dragged himself upstairs to bed, hoping sleep would offer some reprieve from the crushing weight of his unanswered questions.
Jamie and Jayden stood watching the ambulance's flashing lights disappear into the distance, carrying Katy, their mate, away. The piercing wail of the siren faded, leaving behind an unbearable silence. Their human forms shivered in the cool autumn air, but it was the icy grip of terror around their hearts that truly chilled them.
"No," Jayden choked out, the single word a raw whisper of denial. He dropped to his knees on the pavement, oblivious to the dampness, his hands clenched into fists. The scent of Katy's blood, faint now but still present, was a ghost in the wind, tormenting him.
Jamie was beside him in an instant, pulling him up. "We have to go. Now." His voice was gruff, but his golden eyes, still wide with shock and fear, betrayed his own terror. They both knew where she was going.
They shifted, the transformation into a blur of cracking bones and shifting muscle, their wolves bursting forth, driven by a primal need to be near their injured mate. They tore through the residential streets, their powerful paws pounding the asphalt,. The scent of disinfectant and human fear grew stronger as they neared the hospital.
They arrived at the emergency entrance, shifting back just out of sight in a secluded alleyway. Pulling on the discarded clothes they always kept stashed nearby for emergencies, they rushed into the sterile, brightly lit waiting room. The air was thick with the scent of sickness and anxiety, a stark contrast to the familiar scents of their forest.
"We need information on a patient," Jamie demanded of the harried nurse at the desk, his voice laced with an urgency that bordered on a snarl. "Katy Anderson. She just came in by ambulance."
The nurse, overwhelmed, just shook her head. "Family only, sir. And we're very busy right now."
Frustration, hot and bitter, surged through them. They were her mates, infinitely more connected to her than any human family, yet they were powerless in this human world. Their enhanced hearing strained, trying to pick up any snippet of conversation, any mention of her name. The mate bond, which had been a comforting thrum, was now a painful, erratic pulse, reflecting Katy's fragile state.
Hours bled into an agonizing eternity. They paced, their eyes constantly darting to the double doors where patients were taken. They heard whispers of a "critical" case, of "significant blood loss," and each word twisted the knot of dread in their stomachs tighter. The scent of fear radiating from a distraught older man, who must be her father, grew