Page 37 of Stolen By the Alpha Hunter (Moonbound Mates #3)

PEACHES

T here’s something chilling about abandoned places.

It’s even worse with abandoned people.

I can barely feel Javi through the bond, even when we’re in the same room. It’s the worst feeling in the world. Still, I stay at his side and I wait.

…and I wait and wait.

He’s human again, but my whole first day back at the den is like this—staring, vacant green eyes, his body motionless. I only leave to use the bathroom, not even bothering to go back to my room.

“I miss you,” I whisper against his chest.

I don’t know what time it is when Maggie comes to get me, a gentle hand on my shoulder. I look up at her, my eyes bleary, my heart in my throat.

“You should take a break,” she says. “Have a bath, get some food and rest.”

I look down at Javi, biting my lip. “Someone needs to watch him.”

“Colt’s right outside, just waiting for the go ahead to keep an eye on him,” she says. “And Suyin is in and out. He’s in good hands.”

I rub my palms against my eyes and heave a deep sigh. My head is pounding, and I know she’s right.

Sitting here isn’t going to do him any good when my presence hasn’t done a damn thing to wake him.

“Okay,” I say. “I’m…yeah. You’re right.”

“Colt, you can come in!” she calls.

The door opens and Maggie’s big, tatted alpha steps inside, his eyes flitting to Javi. He takes in the scene with an appraising glance, then crosses his arms.

“Wow,” he says. “Big guy. He’s gonna be helpful when he wakes up.”

It’s weird, but the way he talks about him makes things seem easier, simpler. It makes me feel certain that he’s going to wake up, Colt’s confidence giving me courage.

I smile. “He’s really strong.”

“I can see that,” he says. “Go—I’ll come and get you if anything changes.”

Maggie and I leave the clinic and walk toward the baths, my legs wobbly.

I’ve been sitting down for too long. The corridors of the den are practically empty, which means night’s fallen and everyone’s at dinner, if I had to guess.

Well—everyone except for my core group of friends, here to support me through it all.

“Thank you,” I blurt out as we walk through the door to the springs. “For everything. It’s been…this has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“I would say I can imagine…but I can’t,” Maggie murmurs. “But you got out and you’re never going back there—we’ll make sure of it.”

I frown. “I still don’t understand how they got to me in the first place. I haven’t even really thought about it, but that was the scary thing. It was so easy .”

“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s your mate?” Akari asks.

I bite my lip. “Boyd told you they were the ones who grabbed me?”

She nods. “I don’t know. Fate has a weird way of bringing us together, and it’s not always fun or pleasant. Maybe your alarm bells didn’t go off because your wolf could sense something that you weren’t even aware of yet. Speaking of which…”

Her eyes dart down to my stomach.

I sigh. “Yeah…I’m pregnant.”

She gives me an encouraging smile. “You’re going to be okay.”

We get undressed in private and I wrap a towel around myself before going to the edge of the pool.

I used to be shameless with getting naked in front of the other omegas, but now it feels strange.

I’ve had my privacy transgressed on so many times in the past few weeks that I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to go back to the way I was before.

I only take off the towel right before I slip into the spring, letting out a sigh of relief.

Footsteps sound at the door and I look up to find Tilda and Charlotte joining us, the two of them going to get changed.

They wave before coming over and stepping into the water themselves…

and it all feels so ordinary that it makes my heart stutter.

The Rig is already starting to feel like a nightmare, fading as I settle back into my home.

I can’t forget, though.

Because that’s where all my memories of Javi live…and if he’s gone…

I burst out crying before I can stop myself, a sob wrenching itself out of my throat. I try to hide my face in the water, but the others crowd around me and Maggie reaches out to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

“Hey,” she says. “You don’t have to do anything if it’s too soon.”

“That’s not it,” I say. “I’m just…I’m afraid that if I start to feel too comfortable, I’ll forget what happened, and I don’t want to forget everything with Javi.”

“That’s his name?” Charlotte asks. “Javi?”

I nod. “Javier Ortega.”

Tilda tilts her head. “Will you tell us about him?”

I look toward the water and the swish of waves from our movements reminds me of the Rig. It makes me think of all the moments that were hard…but all the ones that were nice, too. My nights on the Rig were scary, but I spent most all of them wrapped in his embrace.

“I don’t really know that much about him,” I say, my voice hollow. “He doesn’t like to talk about his past.”

Charlotte smiles. “That’s okay. Just tell us the love story. Can you do that? You know I love a good romance.”

I smile back—because talking about him, even a little bit, makes me feel like I’m with him.

“Yeah,” I say. “I can do that.”

So I tell them everything.

About the initial kidnapping, seeing my father again, being taken to the citadel.

I describe the hunt, my father’s plan that horribly backfired to find the cruelest, toughest alpha to be my mate.

I tell them that Javi has always been gentle, that even when I can tell he wants to be cranky, he can’t resist being kind.

And I tell them about our impossible baby.

“That’s twice now, huh?” Charlotte says. “Guess it’s possible for omegas to get pregnant with their mate outside of our heats…the more you know, I guess.”

“You’re pretty young,” Tilda says. “You know you don’t have to?—”

“She doesn’t want to hear that right now,” Maggie snaps.

“No, it’s okay,” I say. “I know. And I’ve thought about it…but I can’t decide until Javi wakes up.”

“And you don’t have to,” Charlotte says. “I mean…gosh, that’s quick. What’s it been, three weeks?”

I nod. “Between heats. Crazy, right?”

“Next one’s right around the corner,” Maggie says. “Just a couple more days and it’ll be the full moon again.”

“I can’t believe it,” I say. “It’s been…it’s been a whole month.”

I take a sharp breath and Tilda shakes her head.

“Don’t let yourself go there. You’re safe. We’re not letting anyone hurt you.”

As if summoned by those words, a startled shout sounds from the hallway.

All four of us snap toward the noise, instincts sparking. Tilda’s up like a shot, snatching a towel and wrapping it around herself with one arm while the other draws her blade from the sheath she never parts with. Warrior. Protector. She's ready to take on whatever comes through that door.

But I only have a split second to appreciate that before something massive barrels into the hot spring chamber, sending the steam swirling in its wake.

The omegas scramble back.

I don’t move.

My lungs stop working. My heart might too.

Because green eyes find mine.

“Javi,” I breathe.

Time doesn’t just stop—it shatters . He’s there, swaying slightly, bare and bruised and too thin. His shoulders are hunched like he’s forgotten how to carry them. His body is marked with healing wounds, the aftermath of everything we barely survived.

But it’s him.

It’s him.

The bond snaps back into place like a thunderclap in my chest. Everything in me surges toward him like the tide hitting shore.

My mate. My love.

My miracle.

Javi takes one staggered step forward, eyes locked on me like I’m the only thing holding him upright.

“You can’t go in there!” Colt’s voice barks from the hallway, a second too late.

Because he’s already moving.

Because nothing could stop him.

There’s a splash that soaks the tiles, and I cry out as Javi stumbles straight into the spring, arms out, too dazed to do anything else. Water sloshes, steam rising—but then he’s there, in front of me , dragging himself toward me through the pool.

And I run.

I launch myself at him, colliding with his chest as he catches me with both arms, like he never stopped waiting. The impact jolts us both, but he holds on, strong and real, breathing hard.

I bury my face in his neck and sob against his skin. He smells like heat and salt and home. His lips press to my bond mark, and I feel it light up inside me like a second heartbeat.

The tears come harder.

“Peaches,” he whispers raggedly. “You got us out. This is…this is the Austin Den, right?”

I nod, breathless. “Yes. Yes. We’re home.”

His arms crush me to his chest, and I cling to him like I’ll never let go.

The attraction is there too, simmering between us in the water, in the scent of each other, in the bare skin and desperate love—but this isn’t about sex.

It’s about survival . About making it. About choosing each other again and again and again.

Then he suddenly pulls back.

“The baby,” he says. “You’re…are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Suyin checked me out at the clinic. Can’t you feel it?”

I take his hand and put it over my stomach, which still looks perfectly normal. Even so, I’m certain he can feel this thing we made together—this good, beautiful part of the horrific experience we had on the Rig.

“They’ll never know pain and suffering like we did,” I say. “They’ll be safe.”

He goes still.

Then his brow furrows. “Wait…you said they .”

His eyes flick to mine. Confused. Hopeful. Scared to hope.

“You said they’ll never know pain like we did. They .”

I nod, tears stinging again. “We’re having two, Javi.”

He exhales like the ground just disappeared beneath him.

“Twins?” he chokes out.

I laugh through my tears, cupping his face. “Yeah. Twins.”

His arms wrap around me again, fierce and shaking, like he’s trying to protect all three of us from the world.

“They’re safe,” I say into his shoulder. “Because we got out. And because you came back.”