The Alpha's Rebel

Chapter 46

I find the note when I'm picking up our clothes from the floor the next morning. Maddox went into the office early, and after a long night of physical activity between us, I needed the morning to sleep in. Our clothes are scattered across the room from said physical activity, and when I pick up my shorts to throw them into the laundry hamper, I hear the crinkling of paper.

I dig my hands into both pockets and pull out a folded up note, the paper the same as the note Vara sent us yesterday morning. How did the note end up in my pocket?

I unfold it, expecting to see the exact note Vara sent us yesterday and her witchy powers are the reason it ended up in my pocket, but it's note the same note at all. It's definitely from Vara, and it was definitely her witchy powers that had it end up in my pocket, but the words written on the page make my heart drop.

Keep your little one safe. V.

My heart drops into my stomach, and I take a shaky breath.

There's no way. I have an IUD.

Vara's note doesn't mean anything. I could go to the store and take a test. I could take a million tests. I could go to the doctor and get an ultrasound.

This note from Vara means nothing.

But I know it means everything.

Maddox and I have a baby growing in my stomach right now.

~~~~

I meet Lea at the training grounds an hour later. It's clear throughout our two our training session that I am distracted, and Lea knows I'm distracted, but she doesn't push me to talk about it or even ask. We just do one exercise after another, and it keeps my mind busy. I shut off my brain and push my body harder than I have maybe ever pushed it.

When we wrap up, sweat dripping from both of us, Lea says, "We are training buddies, but I also consider us friends. If you need someone to talk to, my ears are always open."

I wipe the sweat from my eyes and nod. "Thank you. I've just got a lot on my mind, especially about the hunter," I respond, and Lea nods. She knows it's not a lie, but she also knows there's more to the story. I change the topic. "Why don't you and Carson come over for dinner tonight? Maddox makes a mean cheeseburger."

"Our big bad alpha cooks?" Lea gasps, feigning surprise but also not entirely convinced that our big bad alpha does indeed cook.

"Our big bad alpha does a lot for his even bigger and badder luna," I grin, and we both burst into laughter. It feels good to laugh, despite the terrifying news I received this morning.

"We would love to. Is there anything we can bring?" Lea asks.

"Dessert, maybe."

"On it," Lea grins, giving me a mock salute. "I do have to run to training for the preteens, but Carson and I will see you guys tonight. What time do you want us coming over?"

"Six, maybe? Does that work?"

"That works," Lea says. "We'll see you then!"

She runs off to a different area of the training facility, and I grab my stuff and head home to shower. My thoughts are swirling, the hunter and the baby and how the fuck I'm going to tell Maddox racing through my head. It's only a matter of time before he's able to scent it on me, so I don't have long at all. I'm unable to get a grip on any of these thoughts as I walk home, and Maddox must sense the discontent.

Harp, what's wrong? he mind links me.

I can't break the big news over a fucking mind link, so I tell him as much as I can.

I'm already thinking about how we can sneak into the hunter's component to get Vara's book back without being caught and killed. We didn't get this far into solving this mess only to die when returning a favor.

What if I told you that I've been doing research on the hunter's compound today?

His words shock me, and I almost pivot on my walk home to go to the pack house instead.

Maddox, how the hell do you even have that information? I ask. And I do pivot to start walking to the pack house instead of home. Maddox doesn't get to have all the fun. I break into a sprint only seconds later.

Apparently, my mom left some super top secret file behind, and it's been locked up in my dad's safe ever since. I told him what was going on and asked him if he knew anything about the hunter's compound, and voila.

You sexy mother fucking genius. I'm on my way.

I race to the pack house, barrel through the front door, and take the stairs two at a time. I don't knock on Maddox's office door, letting myself in and locking the door behind me. Maddox is sitting at his desk with papers spread out in front of him, zoned in on figuring them out. At the sound of my arrival, he looks up, and the focused face he has is washed away with a smile.

"Hey," he greets.

"Hi," I respond, feeling like a stupid fool in love at what his smile does to me. I move behind the desk to lean down and give him a kiss, then take a seat in the chair across from him. "Have you found anything yet?"

"I've been studying the maps of their compound to figure out the best way for us to get in. I think," Maddox explains, moving the map on the top of the pile towards me, "That this is where Vara's spell book is." The top corner of the map says Sub Basement, and Maddox is pointing to a small room in the middle of the paper. There's no label to the room, nor on any other part of this floor, but when I take another moment to study the papers, I see why Maddox thinks this.

The entire floor around this room in the middle is a maze, designed for the people who have it memorized to get through and the people trying to sneak in to get lost. "I have a feeling it's not as easy as memorizing a maze," I say. "It's the hunters. There's bound to be booby traps and things to kill whoever's trying to navigate it without knowing exactly the right path."

"So we have to figure out precisely the right path," Maddox responds.

"Yeah," I say.

"Too bad Vara can't use her witchy magic to figure it out for us."

The mention of Vara's magic has my mind racing back to the note I found this morning, and I turn my gaze to the map so Maddox hopefully doesn't see how much my face drops.

I have to tell him. This baby is every much his as it is mine.

How do I just drop that on him, though? This was definitely not in the plan, especially given everything that's going on. It feels like the moon goddess is playing some cruel, sick joke on us, giving us a baby that defied the impossible obstacle at the absolute worst time.

I'll tell him tomorrow morning. Maybe we can try and have a slow start, actually eat breakfast together, and I can tell him then.

"Hey, Harp, everything okay?" he asks, his voice soft as he reaches across the desk to grab my hand. I look up from the papers and meet his eyes.

"Yeah," I nod, but it's clear he doesn't believe. "No." I pull out the most believable excuse, one that isn't even an excuse because it is one of the many reasons weighing on me. "I just want to protect our pack, but it feels like we're no closer to solving this than we were when the problem started."

"Hey," Maddox says, standing up and walking around the desk. He pulls me up from my chair and folds me into his arms, and I wrap my own arms around his abdomen. "It's going to be okay," he whispers into my ear, running a soothing hand up and down my back. "We will stop the hunters and save our pack. I promise."

"I know," I sigh, pulling my head away from his chest and meeting his gaze. "I know we will." He leans down to press his lips to mine, and I lose myself in the feel of them, in the moment of peace it gives me, in the reminder of who we are.

We're Harper and Maddox. Of course we'll win this war.