My eyes cracked open. The first thing I saw was a blinding flash of sterile white. Panic instantly shot through .
For a terrifying mont, I thought I was back in that facility—that everything had been a hallucination, and I was still trapped in one of Esther’s experints.
My heart rate spiked, and I tried to sit up, only to feel a sharp pain in my abdon that forced back down with a gasp.
“Easy there,” a familiar voice said, and relief flooded through as Matilda’s face ca into view, her kind eyes crinkling at the corners. “You’re safe now, Hazel. You’re at the pack infirmary.”
I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my racing pulse. If Matilda was here, that ant that I was finally back in Emberfang grounds.
“How long have I been out?” I croaked.
“About twelve hours,” Matilda replied, checking the IV drip attached to my arm. “You collapsed from exhaustion, among other things. We thought it would be better to keep you here rather than in your bedroom. Those triplets of yours would never have given you the peace you need to heal properly.”
A small smile tugged at my lips. “They can be a bit... overwhelming.”
Except I had greatly missed this sort of ‘overwhelming’.
“That’s putting it mildly,” Matilda snorted, making notes on a chart. “I had to physically bar them from spending the night in here. Even then, they took shifts sitting outside the door like guard dogs.”
I glanced around the room, taking in the dical equipnt and the sunlight streaming through the blinds. It was fairly empty, and the only thing I could sll was the antiseptic.
“What happened to ?” I asked, my hand instinctively moving to my stomach. Fear gripped as I rembered the blood running down my legs before I passed out.
Matilda noticed the movent and her expression softened. “We found a significant amount of wolfsbane in your system. It’s a miracle it didn’t kill you, considering the concentration. We’ve managed to purge most of it out now.”
I imdiately pinched my lips. I could still feel the cold needle pressed against my skin again and again, injecting so unknown liquid into my system. Just the mory of it made shiver.
“Honestly, I’m baffled as to how you survived it,” Matilda said, shaking her head. “That amount would have been lethal to most wolves.”
I swallowed hard, afraid to ask my next question. My fingers pressed lightly against my abdon. “And... did I... is my...”
Matilda’s eyes followed my hand, and her expression changed to one of understanding. “Right, about that...”
My breath caught in my throat. The way she was looking at —was she about to deliver bad news? Had I lost the baby? The thought made my chest tighten painfully.
“I suppose you might’ve already known about your pregnancy?” Matilda asked gently.
The relief that washed over was so intense I felt tears spring to my eyes. “It’s still there? The baby is okay?”
Before Matilda could answer, the door burst open with such force it banged against the wall. Three tall figures rushed in, their expressions a mix of concern, relief, and excitent.
“You’re pregnant?” Lucas demanded, his green eyes wide with shock.
Liam moved to my bedside imdiately, taking my hand in his. “Hazel, why didn’t you tell us?”
Levi, for once, seed speechless, staring at with his mouth slightly open before a slow, delighted grin spread across his face.
“Alphas!” Matilda instantly wore a stern expression. “I told you not to eavesdrop! The patient needs sufficient peace and quiet to rest!”
“It’s not our fault the walls are paper thin!” Levi whined. He turned back to with a delighted expression, like a dog wagging its tail.
I looked from one to the other, caught off guard by their sudden appearance. “I—I only found out recently myself. There wasn’t exactly ti to share the news between kidnappings and explosions.”
“Who’s the father?” Lucas asked, his voice carefully controlled.
Matilda cleared her throat. “From a genetic standpoint, it might be near impossible to check. Identical triplets share the sa DNA. Unless we run extensive tests after the birth, we may never know which of you is the biological father.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Liam said firmly, squeezing my hand. “The baby is ours—all of ours.”
Lucas nodded, his expression softening as he looked at . “Liam’s right. This child is a Sullivan, regardless of which one of us contributed the DNA.”
“I call dibs on being the fun dad,” Levi announced, perching on the edge of my bed and placing his hand gently on my stomach. His touch sent a warm tingle through . “Hey there, little pup. Uncle Levi—or maybe Daddy Levi—can’t wait to et you.”
Despite everything, I found myself laughing at his antics. “The baby can’t hear you yet, Levi.”
“Never too early to start bonding,” he countered with a wink, then leaned closer to whisper, “You look beautiful like this, you know. All soft and glowing.” His breath tickled my ear, causing to blush.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Matilda said, shooing him back. “Hazel needs rest, not you three hovering and exciting her.”
“We’re not leaving her alone again,” Lucas stated, his tone leaving no room for argunt. “Not after everything that’s happened.”
“Agreed,” Liam said, his eyes darkening. “From now on, one of us is with her at all tis.”
“And I an at ALL tis,” Levi added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows that made roll my eyes despite the seriousness of the situation.
“We can discuss security asures without overwhelming my patient,” Matilda said firmly. “Hazel’s body has been through a trendous ordeal. The wolfsbane, the stress, the physical exertion—it’s a miracle both she and the baby survived.”
The ntion of our close call sobered everyone. Lucas’s jaw tightened, and he moved to stand by my other side, his hand finding mine.
“We won’t let anything happen to either of you again. I swear it.”
The intensity in his eyes made my breath catch. I believed him. For all their faults, the Sullivan brothers protected what was theirs with fierce determination.
Suddenly, a mory flashed through my mind—Leo standing apart from our group, staring at Helena’s photograph as the facility burned behind us. Leo, who had risked his life to save multiple tis despite his gruff exterior.
“Wait,” I said, looking around at the triplets. “Where’s Leo? Is he okay?”
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The brothers exchanged a look that sent a chill down my spine.
“What happened?” I demanded, trying to sit up again despite the pain. “Is he hurt?”
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