Fire and Flames

Chapter 33

Caden

Rayne had gotten out of surgery five hours after he came back home. As the doctors operated on him they decided to remove Rayne's womb completely. They said it was the thing that saved him as he had severe internal bleeding.

There was still a great chance of Rayne dying but for now, he was as stable as he could be. He was in a coma and was constantly being monitored by many nurses that filtered in and out of Rayne's hospital room.

I held Hunter in my arms as Shiloh and Kalen slept cuddled up next to Rayne. I was bottle feeding Hunter because Rayne was in a coma. Even if he wasn't in a coma, he still couldn't produce any milk.

Rayne was so tiny. Smaller than usual. I could wrap my pointer finger and thumb around his wrist and still have so much space between my fingers. Rayne had deep dark circles around his eyes and his cheeks were sunken in. His skin was taking on a pale grey color. Many tubes and needles poked into his small body. An oxygen tank strapped to his face because he couldn't breathe on his own.

All I wanted was for Rayne's eyes to flutter open. For him to gaze up at me with his beautiful green eyes. For everything to be okay and go back to normal. But I knew it would not happen so soon. This isn't a fairytale. This was real life and as much as it sucks, there is nothing we can do but wait now. It is all up to Rayne whether he wakes up or succumbs to his injuries. The thought of Rayne never waking up made my stomach churn painfully.

There is a knock on the door and I tell the person on the other side to come in. Sage steps into the room, surprisingly alone without his two mates. Adrian and Fallon had been following Sage around everywhere he went. It was understandable since I was overprotective of Rayne.

"Caden," Sages says, nervously wringing out his hands. "I need to talk to you about something."

"About how Hunter and Kalen are your pups?" Sage's eyes widen in shock.

"How did you know?"

"Their scent has merged with Rayne's because he has been close with them, but if you look hard enough you can smell the slight difference in their scents. I knew from the moment I held them. I knew that if Rayne was pregnant with triplets he surely would have died. He wouldn't have lasted this long. I just want to know why you would give them to Rayne and not keep them and raise them yourself. I am not judging you I simply want to know why."

Sage takes a deep shaking breath, sitting down on a chair that was left out when Luna Eden and Alpha Zaryn came to visit Rayne.

"They are your brother's pups... They were conceived in the worst possible way. They were brought into this world in a cruel environment and were present when people were killed. I can't even look at the pups without seeing him. Especially Kalen. He looks so much like Afton... I can't give them the amount of love that they need and deserve. I know that I am a terrible person for keeping this secret from everyone including the pups and my mates but I think that it would be even worse if I kept them and didn't show them the same amount of love that I would give to Flynn and any of my other future children. You and Rayne can't have any more pups. And Rayne wanted nothing more than to have a large family with the love of his life. It's been his dream for as long as I can remember. You two can love my pups unconditionally. Something that I fear that I will never be able to do."

"Are you ever going to tell your mates?"

"No. I can't. Adrian and Fallon would make me keep them and I can't do that for them. I know that Adrian kept Flynn but this is a different situation. Not that what happened to Adrian is okay, but Afton did it with the intention of bringing me pain. I can't tell my mates that the pups are mine. Please, Caden..."

"Okay. Okay, I'll take care of them for you. And if Rayne wakes up... I'm sure that he will want to keep them as well."

"Rayne said he would gladly keep the pups only if you agreed to it. Thank you so much, Caden. You don't know how much this means to me. I want my pups to have the lives that they deserve. And I think they will do much better with you two as their parents."

Before I can respond, Sage leaves the room in a rush. I hope that he at least tells his mates sooner rather than later. It makes me feel uneasy about keeping this from Adrian and I can't imagine the strain Sage feels keeping this massive secret from both of his mates.

Hunter whimpers, pushing the bottle away from his lips. He glances up at me, big blue eyes holding my gaze. His face pinches and his fists curl.

"What's wrong, Hunter?" I rub his little belly in small circles. Maybe he has a little tummy ache. I place Hunter with his siblings and slide into the bed beside them. The doctors made sure to put all the wires and tubes on Rayne's right side so I was able to sit with him and the pups and not hurt him.

Hunter curls up with his siblings and his two brothers huddle around him. They must be able to sense that Hunter has an upset stomach. Pups hated any artificial milk and sometimes wouldn't even tolerate drinking another parent's milk. Which made it hard to keep pups alive because of their stubbornness. I couldn't just ask Sage for milk for his pups. And Rayne was incapable of producing any milk. It will be a long few months of the pups going through stomach aches, not wanting to eat anything, and crying for a parent who we weren't sure was going to make it out of a coma alive.

The pups had already formed a strong connection to Rayne. They stayed curled up with Rayne and whined and cried when anyone else tried to hold them. I was the only one that could hold the pups without them throwing a fit.

Alpha Zaryn and Luna Eden tried to take the pups when they had just arrived. They howled, searching with their little eyes frantically for Rayne. They all stopped crying when I arrived though. I scooped Hunter and Shiloh up into my arms and placed Kalen on my lap. I held and cooed to the pups until they all fell asleep.

Rayne shows no signs of waking up any time soon. The only thing we can do is wait. The doctors recommended that we pull the plug on Rayne's life support sometime soon because they thought that Rayne would not pull through this. Luna Eden refused to let Rayne die without a fight.

Speaking of Luna Eden, a knock on the door spurs me out of my thoughts. Luna Eden enters the room with a small bundle in his arms. His youngest son, Grant, asleep in his arms.

"I've come to sleep here tonight. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course," I say. "Do you want the bed? I can sleep on the chair."

"No, that's alright. I am fine with sitting on the chair. Zaryn is sending out some warriors to scour the area for evidence of any other victims and is also reporting everything to the Higher Council. He has a busy night and I do not want to be alone."

Luna Eden gets comfortable on the chair with his pup in his arms.

"Are they eating well?" Luna Eden looks at Hunter who is still suffering from his stomach ache.

"They do not like the formula and refuse to drink anyone else's breast milk."

"I can try to feed them. It is worth a try. I am Rayne's parent so maybe they will take well to my milk. That way, when Rayne wakes up he won't have to worry about having such malnourished pups."

I take in Rayne's weak, unmoving body. I don't have the heart to tell Luna Eden that Rayne may not make it out of this coma alive. That we should just begin to move on and grieve Rayne because this very well could be the end for him. Instead, I agree to let Luna Eden try to feed the pups.

"Thank you, Luna Eden. Rayne will be happy that you are helping with the pups."

"Of course! They are my grandpups! I would do anything for them."