Defy The Alpha(s)

Chapter 916: Beginning Of The End

"Aren’t you so handsome?"

Those were the first words Violet murmured the moment she opened her eyes and saw a handsome man hovering over her through her hazy vision.

Someone chortled from the side.

"Even in her sleep, she still hasn’t given up her obsession with fine faces."

It was Roman, clearly enjoying the scene.

Asher Nightshade ignored him, though he couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

She was adorable.

"Hello, love." Asher brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Oh."

Violet blinked in recognition when everything finally came into focus. The moment she tried to sit up, his hand gently pressed against her shoulder.

"No, no, no. Just rest," Asher stopped her, sounding far more alarmed than the situation warranted.

"But I feel strong," she protested softly.

"I know," Asher replied. "But still rest."

Violet gave in because she didn’t have the energy to argue.

A moment later, the bed dipped on the opposite side and she turned to find Griffin smiling at her.

"Welcome back, Vi."

Butterflies immediately fluttered in her stomach. His hair was sticking out in every direction as though he had spent hours repeatedly dragging his fingers through it. Knowing Griffin, he probably had.

I have an idea or two of what we can do with that hair, Thalia suggested helpfully.

Geez, calm down already. I just woke up.

She mentally scolded the horny animal.

Looking past Griffin, Violet noticed Alaric standing at the foot of the bed.

"Hey," he said, sounding oddly tentative. "Are you okay?"

Violet stared at him. Then she laughed.

"Of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?"

"Um..." Roman scratched the back of his head. "Because you’ve been asleep for a while?"

"It’s just a few hours of sleep, Roman. I was exhausted, that’s all."

Except all four of her mates exchanged strange looks before turning back to her. Violet caught it immediately. She knew them too well.

"Am I missing something?"

Her entire body tensed.

Asher noticed and took her hand in his. He pressed a tender kiss against her knuckles.

"It’s nothing to worry about," he assured her. "What matters is that you’re awake now."

"She slept for a week, Asher," Alaric informed her. "I think that worried all of us."

"A week?!" Violet nearly shouted.

Shock flashed across her face. All she remembered was feeling a bone-deep exhaustion and wanting to sleep.

Now that she looked closer, she noticed the dark circles beneath their eyes. No wonder they all looked terrible. They must have worried themselves sick.

"But it was sleep," Alaric quickly added. "I monitored your vitals the entire time. Everything was normal." His gaze flickered downward. "The baby too."

And just like that, Violet remembered she was pregnant. Her hand immediately moved to her stomach.

She glanced down.

At some point someone had changed her into a loose, sheer gown. One of her mates must have done it. Then another thought struck her.

Wait. Did her stomach look bigger?

"I’m getting fatter," Violet muttered, staring down at herself.

"But still beautiful," Roman immediately chimed in.

The relief that swept through the room was almost comical. All three of her other mates visibly relaxed.

They knew how dangerous conversations involving weight could be. Add a pregnant, all-powerful mate into the equation and nobody wanted to take chances. Perhaps Roman really was uniquely qualified for this role.

Until his next words ruined it.

"In fact, I think you’re glowing. Like one of those fertility goddesses people worship."

A pillow immediately smacked him in the face.

"Shut up, Roman."

"See?" Roman shrugged dramatically. "Violence. That’s definitely pregnancy."

However, Violet was still smiling, which the guys took as a very good sign.

Roman moved closer and knelt beside their mate. Then, through the thin fabric of her gown, he pressed a kiss against her stomach.

"You still look beautiful, my goddess."

Roman’s green eyes sparkled with awe as he held Violet’s gaze.

Violet felt the breath leave her lungs. Such a small gesture, yet somehow it made her heart melt.

Then Roman lowered his attention to her stomach.

"Hello, little one."

He rubbed her belly through the fabric with such adoration that even the others found themselves smiling.

Everything happened so quickly.

One moment Roman was grinning like a fool and the next, he froze completely. The smile vanished and his eyes lost focus.

At the same time, Violet gasped loudly.

"Something’s happening," she said, feeling power leave her body. "I think it’s the baby."

Asher, Alaric and Griffin immediately became alarmed.

Roman wasn’t blinking at all. His gaze looked distant, like someone who had been pulled into a vision.

"What are we going to do?" Griffin asked Asher.

The first thought that came to Asher’s mind was shaking Roman out of it, but with Violet and the baby involved, he had no idea what consequences that might trigger.

One could practically see the wheels turning in Asher’s head. Then he placed his hand on Violet’s stomach and gasped. He too was immediately pulled into the vision.

All Asher could see was the tiny form floating peacefully inside Violet’s womb, connected by the umbilical cord. Then something overwhelmed him.

Love.

Pure. Boundless. Unconditional

It hit him with such force that he didn’t even realize he had started crying until he was suddenly pulled back to reality.

"Goddess above!" Griffin exclaimed. "What happened?"

Asher lifted a hand to his cheek only for his fingers to come away damp.

"I saw my child..." he could only murmur, stunned beyond words.

Except unlike Asher’s emotional reaction, Roman was the complete opposite.

"It’s a fucking boy!" Roman pumped his fist into the air. "And he fucking loves me! He spoke to me!"

Alaric looked completely shocked. The baby talked to him?

Griffin burst out laughing.

"Someone isn’t even born yet and he already has us wrapped around his finger."

Unable to stand being the only one left behind, Alaric immediately leaned forward and placed his hand on Violet’s stomach, hoping to be pulled into his own vision.

Nothing happened.

He frowned.

Then shifted his hand to various parts of Violet’s stomach just in case there was some secret mechanism involved.

Still nothing.

Violet deadpanned.

"You do know he practically drained enough energy to power a city just to pull that stunt, right?"

"Sorry," Alaric apologized immediately, feeling stupid.

"Ha!" Roman laughed at Alaric’s failure. "Guess our boy already chose his favorite daddy!"

"That is not the case!" Violet shot him an admonishing look.

She turned toward Alaric.

"He’ll probably seek you out once he’s ready."

Violet wasn’t about to let favoritism become a competition between her mates.

"That still makes me his favorite," Roman declared.

He was having the time of his life.

Then he moonwalked dramatically across the room. Halfway through the performance, something struck him.

"Maverick!"

Everyone looked at him.

"That’ll be his name. Independent and defiant like his father, yet cool enough to choose me as his favorite. Yes. That’s it." His words were final.

At this point, nobody possessed enough energy to argue with Roman Draven. Not unless they wanted to lose brain cells.

"Thank you," Asher said to Violet after wiping the tears from his eyes. "Thank you for making me the luckiest man alive. I love you so much, my purple queen."

Violet’s smile was so wide her cheeks had to hurt by now.

"I love you too, puppet master."

She meant every word.

Then Asher leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, lingering intentionally. He made sure she felt every ounce of his love. Perhaps Maverick felt it too.

And yes, Asher had officially surrendered to the name. It wasn’t bad. More importantly, he lacked the strength necessary to fight Roman over it.

Except right at that moment, someone knocked on the door. Griffin was the one who got up to answer it.

When he opened the door, Micah stood there with a serious expression.

"This is really not a good time. We just got back out mate and don’t want to be disturbed."

"Oh, Violet’s awake? Good." Micah visibly relaxed. "Trust me, she needs to see this. All of you."

Griffin had no choice but to let him in.

The others must have picked up the conversation with their enhanced hearing because by the time Micah entered, Violet was already sitting upright and properly dressed.

"Hello, brother," Violet greeted.

"While it’s nice to see you awake, I’m afraid I don’t come bearing good news." His face darkened. "We have a problem."

The Cardinal Alphas exchanged concerned looks.

Didn’t they already deal with Angus and the virus? What more could possibly go wrong?

"What is it?" Asher demanded.

"Trust me," Micah said grimly. "Even I don’t know how to explain it. I think it’s best if you see it with your own eyes."

He glanced around. "All of you."

A few minutes later, Micah stood beside Violet while the others linked hands.

"Don’t let go," Micah warned. "I’m not coming back for anyone left behind."

Everyone understood the assignment. Nobody let go.

Then they vanished.

The next second, they appeared high above the ground. It wasn’t until they looked around that they realized they were standing on the rooftop of a building.

"Where are we?" Violet asked, immediately sensing something wrong.

"Bristol Province. Novara Region," Micah answered. "Our neighboring country."

Then something enormous passed overhead. Instinctively, everyone ducked.

Their eyes widened when they looked up.

Alaric spoke first. "Isn’t that—"

"A dragon," Roman finished.

His eyes gleamed with the awe of someone who had just discovered the impossible. Or in his case, a kin.

"What is going on here?" Asher asked, genuinely speechless.

Before anyone could answer, a loud boom shook the city.

They all looked down to see that a helicopter had just been swatted into a building by the dragon. It exploded on impact.

But the most shocking thing wasn’t that there was a dragon. It was the fact that there were more of them.

Not just the dragons. Far below, the city had descended into chaos. People screamed and buildings burned while creatures of every imaginable shape flooded the streets. Some crawled while some flew. Humans ran in every direction.

Violet looked horrified. Slowly, she turned toward her brother for an answer.

Micah’s expression was grim.

"It seems that when your darkness wiped out the zombies across the United Dorminia, it also tore open something else."

Violet’s stomach dropped.

"The barrier between worlds. The beasts are coming through."

Violet’s entire body shook at the revelation.

She looked down at the destruction below, and only one thought echoed through her mind.

What have I done?

The End.