One Night with My Brother, Giving birth of Twins (BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 3 ?

Moon P.O.V

A sharp gasp escaped my lips as a vision struck, hurling me into its murky depths. My eyes blinked rapidly, trying to readjust to the sudden shift in surroundings. The air was thick with fog, obscuring most of the dark woods around me. My heart thudded while I tried to see through the dense mist. The stars above twisted and blurred like the sky itself was alive and unsettled.

I moved forward gingerly and promptly tripped over something at my feet, just about falling. The damp earthly scent of the forest filled my lungs, and it became even harder to breathe. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill seeping into my very bones. My breath came out in ragged puffs, visible in the cold air, and I shivered teeth chattering uncontrollably.

"Hello?" I called, voice a little shaky.

There was no answer. My only greeting was the crunching of leaves and twigs that gave way beneath my feet as I walked deeper through the rocky and uneven land. The roughness and dampness of the tree branches rubbed against my fingers as I balanced on them, not wanting to take a fall on the hazardous ground. My fingers were turning white from the cold, and I cursed the fact that I was only in a T-shirt and leggings.

Could my vision not do a little better job of preparing me? Give me a coat next time.

I huffed in frustration, my breath misting in the air as I finally stumbled into a small clearing. I looked up at the sky, trying to orient myself, but a full moon through the fog made my heart skip a beat. Hanging in the sky, it lay as a silent sentinel, watching over the dark forest below. The instant my eyes locked on the moon, a sharp cry echoed through the trees and sent another jolt of dread through me.

The sound was unmistakable: the cry of a baby, piercing, desperate. My heart wrenched painfully in my chest as I followed the sound, pushing through dense undergrowth. I could feel the unease grow and settle in my stomach.

The trees parted, and I saw her—a woman with bright red lipstick pressed onto her lips, cradling in her arms some small, delicate bundle. The sight choked the breath from my throat when I realized who the baby was. Amelia. My Amelia. My fragile Amelia.

She shouldn't be alive!" the woman spat, her tone full of poisons and ill will. She roughly placed Amelia in a crib that was placed with malice in the middle of the dark forest. The very sight of it sent blood run cold within me. What was this? What was happening?

I tried to scream, to run towards Amelia, but my feet wouldn't move, as if they were rooted to the ground. That woman's soul-hating glare seemed to sear a hole into my soul, and my panic began to rise. I couldn't lose Amelia. Not like this. Not to this nightmare.

"Ahh!" I sat up straight, my heart racing in my chest. My eyes flew open, and I started looking frantically around myself, almost as if I expected to be in that cursed forest still. But I wasn't. I was in my room-the walls now very inviting. My breaths came in ragged gasps as my racing heart struggled to calm down.

I turned to my side, and there she lay Amelia, sleeping serenely in her crib. The relief washed over me, yet the residual fear of the dream managed to stick, like a shadow. I pressed a hand against my chest, trying to steady my breathing. That dream. it had felt real, so real, so vivid. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before.

I said to myself in a whisper, "I thought that was real," trying to shake off my trembling terror.

Just as I was starting to relax, I heard the soft groan of the door as it opened. I turned, and my breath caught in my throat. Gray stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed on mine. He looked different, distant as if the brother I grew up with had been replaced by another person.

"I didn't know that you already gave birth," he said with a voice devoid of the warmth I had been so used to.

My heart began to race once again, this time for a completely different reason. Not now. Not here. Not again.

"Y-yeah. it's been a week since I—" I stuttered.

"I just got home from the annual hunt," Gray said, cutting in sharply and efficiently. His gaze flickered to Amelia, sleeping in her crib, but something in it was wrong, and immediately I placed myself between her and him, a useless human shield.

Amelia started to cry, her small voice cutting the tense silence that fell over the room. Immediately, I stooped down, scooping her up into my arms and holding her close against my chest as I tried to soothe her. She was in one of those frantic cries, and I could feel the tension running from the tiny body.

"Seems she's scared of me," Gray said, his voice hard, almost accusing.

"Don't say that, she just woke up. She always cries after waking up," I returned voice steady, while my stomach was being eaten away by anxiety.

Gray sprang forward, suddenly suffocatingly close. "Tell me, Moon," he persisted in a low, compelling voice. "Is Leo the father of that child?"

His question hit me like a blow to the chest. My heart felt like it was being torn apart. How could I tell him the truth? The fact that it was his child, that he was the father? How could I destroy everything we shared-everything I felt?

"Yes," I lied, pushing out the words through the lump in my throat. "And why not?"

Gray's eyes had darkened, his face inscrutable. "You know how dangerous he is, Moon," he said, while the edge of his voice spoke volumes of concern, well masked by his cold demeanor.

"You don't know him, so don't you dare judge," I snapped, still desperately trying to retain control of the situation. I laid Amelia easily back in her crib, hoping she would go back to sleep now that she was no longer upset. The silence between them stretched, thick and heavy.

Gray's eyes seemed to pierce right through me, searching for something true, some sign of weakness. And I just couldn't let him see that already I trod on the edge. He does not remember, does he? Of course, he does not.

"I'm telling you this because I want to protect you, Moon," he then said; his voice softened a fraction, and yet the coldness remained.

"I love him, and you won't do anything about that," I said, trying to sound firm, but my voice quivered a little.

"You know Leo is from another pack. We don't trust him."

"And why not?" I snapped, finally meeting his gaze for the first time since he came into the room.

Gray's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. "I already warned you."

"Yes, you did, and that's enough," I said turning away from him, my hands shaking slightly as I tried to compose myself.