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“No!” I clutch at him desperately as another contraction hits, shorter but sharper. “I’m not leaving you, Liam!”

The door frame splinters with another hit. We’re out of time.

“You have to,” Theo says, already pulling on jeans and grabbing the gun we keep under the bed. “For the baby. For our daughter.”

Tears stream down my face as Ezra lifts me into his arms. I’m too heavy, too awkward with my pregnant belly, but he carries me like I weigh nothing.

“I love you,” I sob, reaching for Liam and Theo as Ezra backs toward our bedroom door. “Please, please be careful.”

Liam presses a fierce kiss to my lips. “We’ll find you. No matter what happens, we’ll find you.”

“No! Come with us,” I cry out as Ezra is already moving to the door.

My heart races with panic as the front door crashes open just as Ezra slips through the back bedroom entrance. I hear Theo’s roar of challenge, followed by Liam’s deeper growl.

Gunshots echo through the cabin, and I bury my face in Ezra’s shoulder, unable to look back.

The night air is chilly as Ezra carries me into the darkness. He runs smoothly, his breathing steady despite my weight. The forest is pitch black around us, but that doesn’t seem to bother Ezra one bit.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmurs against my hair. “I’ve got you, honey.”

I try to believe him, but another contraction rips through me, and I bite down on his shoulder to keep from screaming. The pain is blinding, coming faster than I expected for early labor.

“We need to get you somewhere safe,” Ezra says, picking up speed. “The contractions shouldn’t be this close yet.”

“The stress,” I gasp when I can speak again. “It’s making everything happen faster.”

We’ve made it maybe half a mile when I hear the crack of a rifle echoing through the trees.

Ezra stumbles, a strange look crossing his face as he stiffens.

“Run,” he whispers, his voice suddenly weak. “Sarah, you need to run.”

He collapses to his knees, still cradling me to keep me from hitting the ground. In the faint moonlight, I see the spreading darkness on his chest, the wetness that isn’t water or sweat.

“No,” I whisper, my hands flying to his face. “No, Ezra, no!”

His beautiful eyes, which have looked at me with such love for three years, are already growing dim.

“I love you,” he mouths, using the last of his strength to push me away gently. And then he falls, his body crumpling to the forest floor.

“Ezra!” I scream, forgetting everything in my desperation. I cradle his face, slap his cheeks, and press my ear to his chest. Nothing. No heartbeat, no breath. My alpha is gone.

Voices in the distance jolt me back to reality. They heard my scream. They’re coming.

Another contraction seizes me, so powerful I nearly vomit from the pain. I crawl away from Ezra’s body, every inchfeeling like a betrayal. I can’t leave him here, alone in the cold dirt. But I have to for our daughter.

For the last piece of him I’ll ever have.

I drag myself behind a thick bush just as flashlight beams sweep the area where Ezra lies. I shove my fist into my mouth to stifle my sobs, watching through the leaves as alphas in uniforms surround my alpha’s body.

“Got one,” a voice calls out.

“Where’s the omega?” another demands. “She can’t have gotten far. Must be wearing scent blockers.”

“She has to be close by.”

I sink lower, pressing my face into the earth. The contraction subsides, giving me a moment of clarity. I have to move. I have to get away from here.