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“There’s something…” said Lio slowly as he stared at the baby in Grandma’s hands.

“The boy doesn’t look normal,” said Markus in a shocked voice.

“Why the fuck are you scaring Alana?” said Owen loudly as he quickly made his way to the babies. “Oh, my god.”

I shut my eyes tight, breathing hard. Then I sat up in a pool of my bloody mess and stared at the baby in my grandmother’s hands, who was squirming, wrapped in a blanket. He had stark red eyes and nearly translucent skin.

The baby looked exactly like the vampires in the secret city. An exact replica of James but with my facial features. The girl baby in Markus’s arms looked normal without the omega mark on her shoulder. The omega mark was three small claw marks on every omega’s shoulders, signifying that she belonged to a pack. My baby girl could be either a beta or an alpha female, but I wouldn’t be sure until she had grown.

“What is this?” said Lio, blinking rapidly and staunching my bleeding with a cloth. “How is this possible? The man who dropped you off at the clinic. He was a vampire wasn’t he?”

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded, crying.

This was the worst-case scenario, and I thought all of it was behind me. I didn’t even want to look at the babies. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I might pass out.

“Be patient,” advised my grandmother gently.

Lio exhaled after a moment. “Listen, I need a moment, okay? She lied to all of us. I don’t know who to fucking trust now.” He washed his hands in the kitchen, walking out of the house, and my heart felt like it was torn into a million pieces.

I tried to get up, but Owen pressed a hand to my chest.

“Don’t. We’ll take care of you,” he said, his eyes darting wildly between the vampire baby and me like he couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I’m so sorry,” I said weakly, getting up on my elbows. I was in excruciating pain, and I was getting dizzy. “I should have told you.”

“It’s okay,” said Owen, scooping me up in his arms. “Let’s get all this blood washed off you and take care of you. I would drive you to the hospital immediately, but I can’t because they’ll want to see the babies. Stay with me, Alana.”

I struggled not to let the dizziness overtake me as my head bounced on his arm.

“Owen,” I said.

“Don’t, it’s okay,” he insisted, rushing me up the stairs. “Relax, baby. Just relax.”

He sat me down in the bathtub and removed my bathrobe.

I was too scared to look down there and see the mess. I knew it was messy from all the blood all over his arms. The bathtub was cold underneath me until he turned on the water. I couldn’t focus as he poured the water over me, scrubbing my skin. My eyes burned with tears and soon I was crying uncontrollably while he washed me, my tears mixing in with the water and blood. Owen pressed kisses on my head while he washed my back and legs.

"It's all my fault," I blubbered. "Lio is leaving because of me."

"He'll never leave you," reassured Owen. "Don't cry baby."

"The baby…isn't his," I hiccupped, feeling like I was going to faint.

"I need you to relax. Now," commanded Owen. I looked up at him when he used that sharp tone. He was never rough with me like that. "I don't want you blaming yourself and making yourself weaker baby. You have to be strong for your babies."

"How?!" I yelled through my pain and tears. "How will I go on living like this?"

"Shh, take a deep breath baby," said Owen and I inhaled. "Another one."

I took another deep breath still in shock. How would I feed my baby boy? Would he drink milk? James hated all the normal food I ate. Fear and terror flowed through me, worsening with every minute passing by. Everything passed by in slow motion, by the time Owen dried me up, placed a pad in my new underwear, and tucked me in my bed with blankets all around me. He was the best when it came to taking care of me.

“Why are you so nice to me?” I asked exhausted from my tears, leaning against the headboard as I watched my grandma and Markus enter the room with the freshly washed babies. The baby in Markus’s arms was crying uncontrollably.

“I care about you, Alana. And so does the rest of us,” he said, tucking in the blankets around my legs.

I looked away from the babies, terrified to hold the vampire one.

“Sweetheart dear, time to meet your babies,” said Grandma. “You need to feed your little boy.”