Chapter 8 Awakening

Author

When Juliet's consciousness finally returned, it came in fragments-first sound, then sensation, and finally sight. The steady beep of monitors. The cool press of sheets against her skin. The antiseptic smell that could only mean one thing: safety.

Lucy's private clinic.

She blinked slowly as the world came into focus. White walls. Soft light filtering through partially drawn blinds. And next to her, three tiny bundles nestled in a portable bassinet.

"They're beautiful, aren't they? " Lucy's voice came from the doorway.

Juliet tried to sit up, wincing as pain shot through her abdomen. Her hand instinctively went to her belly-flat now where it had been swollen for months. The phantom weight of her pregnancy still pulled at her muscles, her body not yet understanding what her mind already knew.

"My babies," she whispered, throat raw.

Lucy moved closer, adjusting Juliet's pillows so she could sit up.

"Three healthy pups. Two boys and a girl. All strong. All fighters. Just like their mother."

Juliet's eyes darted around the room, counting again. Three. Not four.

"Where..." The question died in her throat as memories crashed back-the cottage, the labor, Sofia's voice, the desperate flight into the woods. "The first one. My firstborn."

Lucy's face tightened. She sat on the edge of the bed, taking Juliet's hand in hers. "Sofia found him in the cottage. They took him. I'm so sorry, Juliet."

The pain that tore through Juliet then was worse than labor-raw, primal, and complete. Her wolf should have howled, should have risen to fight. But there was nothing. Just emptiness where Rosie had been.

"We have to get him back," Juliet said, already trying to swing her legs over the side of the bed. "We have to..."

Lucy's grip tightened. "Juliet, stop. You almost died. The trauma of the shift during labor, losing Rosie... your body is barely holding on."

"I don't care !" Juliet snarled, surprising herself with the ferocity in her voice. "That's my son ! My firstborn !"

"And if you go after him now, you'll lose these three too," Lucy said firmly, gesturing to the sleeping infants. "The Waltons are expecting you to come for him. Sofia will have guards, trackers-the full resources of the Frostfang Pack waiting. It would be a suicide mission. And without your wolf..."

The truth hit Juliet like a physical blow. Without Rosie, she was just a human. Weaker. Slower. An easy target.

Lucy's voice softened. "They won't hurt him. That baby has Blair blood-Alpha blood. Sofia will likely take him straight to Alpha Kaius."

Juliet slumped back against the pillows, the fight draining out of her as quickly as it had come, leaving only a bitter ash in her mouth.

She stared up at the ceiling, the silence in the room heavy and suffocating.

"So that's it then," she laughed, a brittle, broken sound that cracked in the quiet room. "My son's only shield is the very blood that made us targets in the first place."

She turned her head, looking at the wall with hollow eyes. "He's safe not because he's mine, but because he's his. I have to trust the monster to protect my child. God, what a cruel joke."

Lucy didn't deny it. There was no comfort to offer that wouldn't feel like a lie.

Instead, she moved to the bassinet and gently lifted the smallest bundle. "Would you like to hold your daughter? "

The baby was impossibly light in Juliet's arms, wrapped in a soft white blanket. When she opened her eyes, they were the same piercing blue that Juliet saw in her own reflection. A shock of black hair crowned her tiny head.

"There's something else you should know," Lucy said quietly, watching Juliet's face. "All three of them... they're scentless."

Juliet's breath caught. That kind of trait was rare.

"Is it because of the shift? " she asked.

Lucy nodded. "That, and the trauma. Their bodies adapted in utero. It's like their wolves learned to hide before they were even born."

Juliet looked down at the baby in her arms, a strange mix of awe and guilt pooling in her chest.

No scent meant safety. No trail to follow. A gift born of chaos.

"They need names," Lucy said gently. "All three of them."

Juliet looked at the third -born, who lay sleeping peacefully.

With his brown hair and golden eyes that had briefly opened during his first feeding, he was the image of his firstborn brother-the one now lost to her.

"Leo," she whispered, stroking his cheek with a trembling finger. "He looks so much like him... we'll call him Leo."

Juliet looked at the second child, another boy, with deep black hair that reminded her of his father. His eyes were as blue and endless as the sea.

"Milo," she said softly, brushing a thumb over his tiny fist.

And finally, she looked down at the daughter cradled in her arms. "Elena. Her name is Elena."

Tears streamed down Juliet's face as she gazed at her children-three beautiful miracles, and the hollow space where a fourth should have been.

"We'll get him back," she promised, her voice cracking under the weight of a vow she wasn't sure she could keep. "Someday. When we have the leverage. When we aren't running for our lives."

Lucy nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. They both knew the grim calculus.

The Blackwood pack wasn't just a pack; it was a dynasty, an empire with tentacles in every boardroom and back alley across the East Coast.

Alpha Kaius's resources were practically infinite.

The chances of reclaiming a child from them-especially one with Alpha blood-were statistically zero. It would be like trying to steal a cub from a lion's den while wearing a steak necklace.

After a long silence, Lucy pulled a thick manila envelope from her bag and slid it across the bedside table. It hit the surface with a heavy thud.

"These are for you," she said, flipping it open to reveal a passport, a crisp new driver's license, and a stack of notarized documents. "Austin Voss. Widow, freelance graphic designer, seeking a fresh start. I've booked you on a red-eye to London leaving tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow? " Juliet looked up sharply, wincing as the sudden movement pulled at her stitches. "We don't have time," Lucy cut in, her eyes hard. "Sofia knows I helped you. She's not stupid, and she's relentless. It won't take her long to sniff out the trail leading here. You need to be gone before her enforcers kick down my front door."

"There's fifty thousand in the account I've set up," Lucy continued. "It's routed through a shell company, completely clean. It's not a fortune, but it should get you established somewhere safe."

"And what about you? " Juliet asked, suddenly realizing what her friend was risking. "When they come looking..."

"I'll be fine," Lucy said with a tight smile that didn't reach her eyes, smoothing out her skirt as if preparing for an interrogation.

"I've already prepared my story. Hippocratic Oath. You showed up bleeding, I treated you as any doctor would, and you left against medical advice. Without a warrant or proof, they can't touch me. It's a free country, mostly."

Juliet didn't believe her, but she nodded anyway.

Arguing would only waste precious time.

"I need to feed them," she said instead, looking down at Elena who had begun to stir and whimper. "And then I need to learn how to be Austin Voss."

As she settled the baby at her breast, Juliet made a silent vow. She would survive. She would protect these three children with everything she had.

And somehow, someday, she would find a way back to her firstborn.

The woman who walked through the international terminal the next evening bore little resemblance to the trembling Omega who had fled into the night.

Her golden hair was now chestnut brown, dyed in the clinic sink and cut short in a practical bob.

Oversized designer sunglasses hid her distinctive blue eyes.

Three sleeping infants were secured in a high-end travel system, their papers identifying them as the children of Austin Voss.