"Flora, baby wake up. We have to leave."

"I don't trust you," she said looking into his eyes. It had been merely four hours since they were in the same room. They didn't discuss what happened yet. Dorian gave her the space she needed until he sensed danger near. "I'm tired of crying over you."

"I know you're still mad at me, but we need to leave now." He pushed the blankets off of her carrying her downstairs where the girls and the guys were looking outside.

"What's going on?" Flora asked becoming a little apprehensive. She had never seen them all look so tense.

"The half-shifters are here and in numbers this time." Dorian was stuffing food into a bag then tossed it to Marcus.

"I've never seen so many before," they heard Anna whisper.

Flora walked to the window and looked outside to see the ugly half-shifters by the trees just before they go out into the open. They were all crowded in one specific area. They were facing their way but not moving towards their position.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Dorian put his hands on her waist pulling her away from the window.

"I don't know. Maybe they sense five lycans in here."

He saw movement out of his peripheral vision and looked through the blinds again. There was only one half-shifter running towards the house. Dorian looked at the others making sure they were seeing what he saw.

"They're testing us."

Magnus opened the door and closed it behind him. He shifted, his clothes ripped as his inner beast obliterated his once smooth skin. His snout elongated and his teeth looked deadly. He stood huffing in front of the house waiting for the half-shifter.

When the half-shifter stopped, that was when Magnus advanced walking on two legs making him look more menacing. The half-shifter circled him snarling then finally lunged. In mid-air, Magnus struck the ugly wolf with one strike of his claws. Its body flew in the air all the way to where the other half-shifters stood.

The others looked at their own kind, dead with claw marks drawing blood profusely. They snarled and started to run after Magnus, who seemed unfazed by the amount of wolves charging at him.

Marcus handed Axel the bag full of food and clothes and ran outside with Roman right behind him to help out Magnus.

"Axel, both of you get Flora and the girls out of here." Dorian tossed them the car keys and ushered Flora out of the house. "Take them to my cabin."

Flora turned to him quickly, "what about you?"

"The nearby packs are nearly here. All the half-shifters were going through their territory just to get here."

"They want my babies, don't they?" Flora asked worriedly.

"I won't let them hurt you." He helped her into the car and buckled her in. He shut the door and turned around being jumped on by two half-shifters. Flora screamed into her hands, looking out the window. Dorian was on the ground where she couldn't see him.

Axel started the car, driving away. Flora looked out the back window to see Dorian in lycan form snapping one wolf's neck then pulled the spine out of another one. The amount of blood Flora saw made her want to throw up.

Dorian looked wild when she looked at the way he went after the other wolves. He looked like he had no control of the anger of his lycan. She knew he would be fine and that's all that mattered.

Once they all made it to the cabin settling in, everybody was on guard, making sure they weren't followed. Flora's pain in her stomach was starting to act up again. Coming and going, making her extremely uncomfortable.

There were a few light knocks on the door. Flora rolled out of bed rubbing her eyes to see clearly. She heard talking then heard the door shut again. The knocking still persisted though.

Flora looked through the peephole then retracted. Were her eyes deceiving her? It couldn't be, could it? Flora looked through again only to confirm the unwanted guest. The bitch tracked down her scent here.

"Flora don't," she heard Axel say. Flora flung the door open to come face to face with none other than Tilda.

"You've got a lot of nerve coming here."

Tilda closed her eyes as her jaw tensed. She opened them then exhaled. "I know you must think that I'm awful. Things shouldn't have gone the way they did and for that, I apologize."

Flora was about to respond until Tilda raised her hand. "Please, let me finish then I will leave and never come back here."

Flora nodded in agreement. "My inner beast was clouding my thoughts. Its instincts are to breed to make sure our kind doesn't die out. If I had controlled that part of me then you and your babies would have never felt pain. I never meant to cause you distress. I'm not a malicious being but you being human, it's different from your perspective. Out there, if there were more of us, it wouldn't have been a big deal for one to breed another even if he had pups. Though being in this form for awhile, I start to see why you reacted the way you did. This is all new to me, feelings. Something humans go through every day."

Tilda looked at Flora's belly. "I want what you have. Pup-children. From someone who cares for them like they do for me. You're a lucky woman to have Dorian. Just remember feelings, emotions are all new to us. So please let him in, understand each other, build on that."

Tilda started to leave but Flora took one step out wanting to ask a question of her own. Axel was right behind her making sure she wouldn't do anything rash.

"No."

"What?" Flora asked before she could even ask her question to Tilda.

"I'm not pregnant."

Relief washed over Flora. She didn't think she could handle if Tilda was indeed pregnant with Dorian's child. "I do hope you find what you're looking for, but just know that this doesn't make us friends."

"Understood," she said smiling. "I will watch over you and protect your pups. At a distance of course and don't worry about Dorian. He loves you even if he doesn't show it or say it."

She left quietly leaving Flora in her own thoughts. Later on that day the pain of her babies growing inside of her were hurting Flora as she tried easing it away.

The torment was becoming too much for Flora. The searing pain from her cramps stopped her from walking. She had to gather herself and breath for a couple of moments then walked a few steps before repeating the process. Laying down didn't help at all.

Roman picked her up and carried her into the bathroom. He put her down carefully then Nancy, Zoe, and Anna shooed him away then stripped Flora down. If she wasn't in pain then she would've protested the idea becoming embarrassed but that didn't matter now.

Flora tried her hardest not to cry, she was a strong person with pride. She had cried all week over Dorian, too many to count.

The girls helped Flora into the shower and left when she asked them for privacy. She could hear them nervously talking outside the bathroom door. She took shaky breaths squeezing the shower sponge in her hands.

The door slightly squeaked open but she was in too much pain to care as she held onto the wall for support. The shower door opened then closed. Flora could tell that Dorian was in the shower with her.

He wrapped his arms around her like he used to when the cramps used to be minor, it had eased the pain momentarily. Her breath hitched when he pulled her closer to him so their bodies were touching. She was reluctant to give in but the babies must've known their father was here cause her body started to relax, the pain fading away.

As much as she wanted to retract herself from him, she couldn't when he was slowly taking the pain away. If only he could heal the pain in her heart as well, she thought to herself.

He placed his hands on her lower back keeping them in place. Nothing about what they were doing was sexual whatsoever. It just felt comfortable. She even buried her face in his neck. She put her arms around his neck, relishing in the warmth he was generating.

"I've missed you." He whispered

"I know," that was the only communication they did during his stay. He wrapped her in a towel even so much as drying her off. He kept looking at her as if he wanted to say something but didn't.

Dorian carried her onto the bed, tucking her in. What surprised her was when he rested his head against her stomach. She felt his lips on her stomach, knowing he was talking to the babies. At the moment she ran her fingers through his hair, touching the softness of it.

This was as normal as it would get. Her life would never be the same as it was before. Though they would need to have a long talk about everything.