I smiled as I watched my little ones in their separate cocoons. That’s what I chose to call the incubator they had been placed in. For me, the incubators made it seem like my boys were incomplete. The only wrong thing was that they had been born four months earlier but it was no big deal, they were survivors.

“They are so beautiful,” I heard from behind me and looked back, smiling at Nurse Abigail, the one who had cleaned me up after delivery.

I nodded, my voice clogged with emotions and she leaned against me. Wordlessly, we watched them for a few more minutes with tears rolling down my cheeks until I suddenly pulled back.

“What’s the matter?” She asked, staring at me weirdly and I shook my head. How do I tell someone else? I couldn’t and besides it was my problem.

I just stood there, my heartbeat racing as I realized that Luther would be visiting me soon. They were his children after all so why wouldn’t he come to see them? I was the one he had a problem with and not them so…….? 

My heart stopped at the thought of him taking my children away from playing in my head. After accusing me of killing his mother, I couldn’t trust him with my life much less the lives of my sons.

“Ma’am, you are going to pass out if you keep doing this…” Abigail scolded, glaring at me and I sighed as a tear rolled down my cheek. And then another followed, and then another, and then another until I was crying a river. 

I was beginning to draw unwanted attention and as soon as she noticed, Abigail quickly pulled my hand and led me towards a back door. 

Once we were alone, she hugged me and didn’t let me go until I was calm and able to form audible and clear words.

I gave her a summary of the issue, left out Luther’s name, and just called him “my baby daddy” and by the time I was done with my story, she was cursing Luther in seven different lives. 

It was funny to watch and I would have laughed if it had been a different situation but this was no time to laugh and make jokes. My children could be in danger and I had to do something, anything to keep them safe.

“By 9 pm, I need you to wait for my signal. I am expecting him to show up and try to take them from me. I need you to skillfully take one of the boys and hide him safely.”

Abigail shook her head, covering my mouth with her hands. I knew I had just asked a very big thing of her but I was desperate.

“Please,” I mumbled from under her hand and she sighed looking into my eyes. I don’t know what she saw there but whatever it was convinced her and she promised to do it.

Satisfied with the plan I had just made, I let Abigail help me to my room after looking at my boys one last time. It would probably be the last time I saw them together in one place.

Luther never came after a few hours. The thought brought relief to my soul but also made me worried. The fact that he was unpredictable meant he could very well catch me off guard. 

The fact that he could just show up whenever he felt like it made me scared and I knew the only way to prevent him from separating me from my children would be to run away with them. If I did that, I would be long gone before he even realized anything and that way, none of my children would have to grow up with him.

“How are you feeling this morning?” Abigail asked as she wheeled a food cart into my room. Leaning up in bed, I returned the smile and asked about my sons. I hadn’t been to see them yet and the thought that Luther could have gotten to them was killing me.

“They are fine, I watched over them all night. No one came around,” I heaved a sigh at her words and my fears subsided but I still had my guard up.

“I’m going to run away,” I announced and she looked at me. “It’s the only way.”

She shook her head and sat at the edge of my bed. “You aren’t fully recovered yet so I can’t let you leave.” 

She closed the subject by feeding me my meal and didn’t drop the spoon until not a grain of rice was left in the bowl. She left me a few minutes later after making me promise to stay put.

“I heard that the Alpha would be visiting the hospital today, do you have any idea why?” I heard voices just outside my door and I was immediately on alert. Luther was coming? No, I had to……

“I heard his mate is in this hospital and she has just given birth..”

I didn’t wait to hear the rest before I jumped down from the bed and bolted out of the room in search of Abigail.

By the time Luther showed up, I was in the nursery holding one of my sons in my hands. He had been fussy all day so Abigail advised me to stay with him. 

I had never been allowed to get too close since their birth so I jumped at it.

“Give him to me,” Luther ordered as soon as he got close enough and grabbed my son from my arms. 

I tried to reach for him again but Luther pushed me back with his hands, hitting my surgery spot. 

The pain sent me back to my seat, whimpering and shaking.

“Don’t even think of running away or else, you will suffer the consequences when I find you,” he warned, rocking our son in his arms. “I will find you and kill you in front of your son so he will learn from a tender age the fruits of disobedience.”

I sobbed, my heart sour at the man Luther had become. “Please give him to me, he needs me,” I tried to reach out for my son but he kicked me away, taking a few steps away from me towards the door. 

That's when I realized what he was going to do. My worst fears had been confirmed, he was taking my child!

“Please don’t take him away…….” He didn’t let me finish before he walked towards me again and held me by the neck.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. He is my son!”

I sobbed, my voice cracked with emotions but he didn’t care. “Please don’t separate me from my child.”

“You are so pathetic!” he spat, venom dripping from every word. “I can no longer have a weak wolf like you in my life and so I, Luther Theodore, Alpha of the Savannah Pack, reject Natasha Cobbs as my mate.”

The pain of the rejection mixed with the pain of being separated from my child hit me and I slumped but he didn’t care. He just walked out, taking my son with him.

The last thought on my mind, before everything faded to black, was I had saved his brother.