Marked by the Alphas

Chapter 48: Chapter 48

Kane POV

Instantly, I am irritated when I hear her voice. Ah, man, not Alice again. Is she born with a special skill for showing up at the wrong time?

“How the fuck did you get out of your quarters?” I growl, not looking at her. If I look at her, I might snap her neck.

“Really?” She shrieks. “That’s how you greet me?”

“Alice, I ...”

“Fine,” she cuts me off. “Your father let me out, okay?” freeweɓnovel.cøm

“What the fuck?” Axel growls. “This is the second time ...”

“I’m pregnant.” She cuts him off, and I look at her, shocked to my core.

I lock eyes with Axel, and time seems to stop. This cannot be possible. We have not slept with her since ... since Elara, really. Just that one night we claimed her.

We always assumed we would have pups with Alice. Hell, there was a time I actually was excited about the idea. But now ... a cold knot of dread forms in the pit of my stomach.

“Hello!” Alice glares at us, putting her hands on her hips. “Did you hear what I said?”

Axel gulps and shoots me an uncomfortable look.

“Right there with you, brother.” I sigh.

“Wow, Alice, how ...” I try choosing my words carefully, but it feels like my brain is short-circuiting. “I don’t think that can be true.”

Alice’s expression turns sour, and red fury creeps up from her neck to her cheeks and ears as Elara looks confused.

“What he means,” Axel steps in, struggling as much as I am. “Are you sure?”

“What the fuck?” Alice scoffs, snatching something out of her back pocket – a pregnancy test. “I’m sure.”

Fuck.

“I can’t believe you asked me that,” she shrieks, on the verge of hysteria. “Aren’t alphas supposed to be dignified and shit? Now you’re acting like bitches and questioning me as if we never slept together.”

“That’s not ...”

“Whatever,” she snaps, cutting me off.

“Maybe they’ll listen to you.” She waves the test in Elara’s face, and I must control myself not to slap her hand away. She has no right to drag Elara into this mess.

“It’s positive,” Elara says in a small voice.

The confirmation is a punch in the gut. I want to grab the test from Alice’s hand and stamp it into oblivion, pretending it never existed.

“See?” She smirks victoriously. “Don’t act like we weren’t fucking constantly before the mating ceremony. Surely, you’re not surprised?”

“We just didn’t expect it so soon.” Axel shakes his head.

“Congratulations, Alice,” Elara says, a genuine-looking smile plastered on her face.

What the hell kind of Twilight Zone are we living in right now? We wanted Alice, we wanted babies with Alice, but then we got Elara, and everything changed. If I must be honest with myself, I fantasised about a moment like this with Elara bringing us this news instead of Alice. Goddess, what a fucking mess.

“I don’t want to hear congratulations from you,” she sneers, wrinkling her nose at Elara. “I want to hear it from my mates.”

“Watch it, Alice,” I growl. “You don’t talk to Elara like that.”

“I will ...” Alice suddenly turns green, and she abruptly goes quiet, claps a hand over her mouth and dashes to the bathroom.

“Fuck me,” I mutter under my breath. That tiny glimmer of hope that Alice is wrong dies. There is no doubt – Alice is pregnant. The gestational period for werewolves is shorter than for humans, only about three months, which means some she-wolves get much sicker at the beginning.

I stuck my head out of the office. “Ma!” I call, sticking my head out of the office. “Alice is pregnant and sick. Will you watch over her?”

“Kane Constantine!” She huffs, storming towards our office. “Where’s your manners? I’m not a dog you can whistle over.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologise, scratching my neck awkwardly. “I’m a bit in shock.”

“Hm,” she glances from me to Axel and Elara. “I bet you are.”

“Fine,” she sighs just as I am about to think she might protest, or at the very least yell at me for not being there for Alice myself. “I’ll take care of it.”

Elara POV

I sit quietly in my chair, watching Kane explain to her mother what just happened. When Alice flashed the test at me, my heart sank like a heavy boulder dropping to the bottom of the ocean. freewebnσvel.cøm

I do not know why I am this upset. After all, they picked her as a second mate and claimed her. This was going to happen at some point. I mean, this is how it is supposed to be. Alice bears their offspring, while I do her duties until I can leave.

“Elara,” Kane turns to me, and I realise for the first time that Gabriela has left. “I don’t know what to say.”

Kane and Axel walk over to me, sombre expressions on their faces.

“Oh, well, I do,” I grin sarcastically. “Target has a sale on diapers.”

“That’s not funny,” Axel frowns in disgust.

“But it’s your reality,” I sigh. “That baby is coming, whether you like it or not. Your only choice is how you will receive it.”

“Elara, this is not what we wanted, I swear,” Kane looks at me pleadingly.

“What you want is no longer relevant,” I shrug.

“I need a drink,” Axel huffs, walking towards the cabinet. “Do you want?”

“A double,” Kane grunts.

“Sure,” I snort. “It’s not like I’m pregnant.”

A heavy silence fills the room as we each sit with a drink. I do not even bother to listen to their minds. I have my own problems.

As devastating as this news was to my ego and heart, I must see this from a different perspective. Besides, once my memory is wiped by the spell, everything will change, and I will not remember today. At least this way, Kane and Axel will have someone to love. A tiny little human who will adore them and help them forget about the drama with their mates.

I, on the other hand, must say goodbye to them. One last, perfect memory of them until tomorrow.

“Gentlemen,” I place my glass down and stand up. “Anyone interested in a ménage à trois?”

“For real?” Axel gapes at me.

“After what just happened?” Kane asks.

“You don’t have to,” I shrug. “I just thought ...”

“I’m in,” Kane cuts me off, and jumps up.

He wraps me in his arms, and I revel in the warmth of his kiss. The atmosphere quickly changes into a dizzying swirl of heady scents clouding the room when Axel joins us and kisses my neck.

Does this make me evil? Luring them to bed for my pleasure when Alice had just announced her pregnancy?

“Yes,” Lily purrs, satisfied by our mates’ touch. “But you won’t remember soon enough, and right now, they’re yours to take.”