Prolog
23 years ago...
Levi’s POV
“What the hell…?!” I muttered, walking over to the window. The two incubators displaying the two small children, that were fighting for survival. One wrapped in pink. One in blue.
“That’s what he said,” Mick muttered as he came up to me, scratching the back of his neck and looking very uncomfortable.
“What is this?” I asked, almost dreading the answer.
“From what we could gather is was King’s latest science experiment,” he sighed, only glancing at the window from time to time – a mix between disgust and sympathy flashing in his eyes. “Apparently he was more hellbent on creating an army than we realized…”
He didn’t say it, but the smell of the little ones was enough to confirm it.
“Hybrids!”
I simply just confirmed it. They were hybrids. Half-vampire. Half werewolf. The tubes going into their pale, transparent skin was red with thick, red blood trying to keep them alive. But was failing quickly. Their heartbeats were uneven and their breathing stagger and strained.
They were dying…
My wolf whined, willing them to fight. To stay… His protectiveness of them started the second I laid eyes on them and only got stronger for every passing second. I was surprised, but I couldn’t deny it. I felt it too. The bond…
“Are there more?” I asked, my insides shivering in rage. How could anyone do this…?
“There were,” Mick said and met my shocked expression with a disgusted look of his own. Without explaining he handed me a black leather book, thick as a brick. “It’s all in there,” he said, grinding his teeth. I flipped through the pages, getting more and more sick by the things it revealed.
King had been trying to bread with a werewolf for years, working his way from rogues all the way up the ranks, until he found the best result coming from a pureblooded alpha-she-wolf; a she-wolf where both parents had alpha blood.
Everything was neatly noted. Everything from the day of “intercourse”, the number of times he’d taken them, and numbers of spontaneous abortions. He’d then realized that by feeding her vampire blood, she successfully carried to term.
The two children were born 1 year ago, only a few minutes apart.
“They’re twins,” I muttered surprised, mostly to myself. Having twins for in the were-society is – much unlike our animal counterpart – very unusual. The survival of the fittest is quite a literal phase in our world, starting in the womb. Even if someone became pregnant with twins, there was a 90% probability that one would be stillborn or die during birth.
Somehow King had managed to do that and kept them both alive until now.
“The mother?” I asked, but not getting my hopes up. And as I suspected, Mick shook his head.
“She was dead when we found them,” he grinded between his teeth, digging his fingers deep into his pockets. “Apparently they drank her dry.” He nodded towards the children and my wolf was a second from ripping his head off. Did he seriously just insinuate that the children deliberately murdered their mother?!
“Or she offered it to them,” I growled back, not believing for one second that children could be born evil. My wolf was fighting to get control and rip Mick’s throat out, but I calmed him, by turning my attention back to the twins. Mick would understand in time, but first, we needed to make sure they were safe.
“What are they having now?” I asked, seeing that only red liquate was entering their small veins.
“This is Sin City,” Mick replied a bit confused. “The pantry is stocked with blood…”
“Make them lower the dosage and replace it with baby formula – the kind you give werewolves,” I ordered, feeling more and more anxious for their survival. But if King was right about them surviving in their mother's womb by mixing vampire blood and wolfs’ blood, there was a good chance that some of their metabolism was a werewolf.
“They’re vamps…” Mick replied confused, but my wolf wasn’t hearing any of it.
“But they’re also werewolves,” I growled, hating that he didn’t do as I told him instantly. “Get someone to mix them some formula.”
“With all due respect, Alpha,” Mick continued, but this time talking to me like a Beta. Which really wasn’t helping much! “But they’re hybrids.” He said like it explained shit. Damn it! If finding a new beta wasn’t such a pain in the ass, I’d… “Because of the neglect – and that we didn’t find them until yesterday! – their odds of survival are minimal,” he said, baffled by my order. “And even if they – against all odds – survive, who will take in hybrids to raise?”
I eyed the two babies that were finally sleeping soundly with their bellies now full of milk. My wolf was going wild, wanting to rip out Mick throat for speaking like that. He had already bonded with them and was busy marking them with his scent, making sure everyone knew to keep away from his children!
He loved them and so did I as if they were my very own. The only thing keeping me from barging in there and take them home, was one simple question: What will Dina say?
Our babies, my wolf simply replied.
It’s a lot, I reminded him. To ask her to raise the children of the man who kidnaped and tried to rape her.
My wolf didn’t reply but continued to take in the small, fragile creatures resting peacefully.
“We will,” said a firm, but melodic voice finally. I looked up and automatically a smile found its way across my lips, seeing my mate walk towards us.
“Luna?” Mick asked like the idiot he was, not even realizing what was happening. Luckily Dina had more patience with Mick than I had and therefore just shook her head as she walked over to me. She placed her hands on my chest and looked me into the eyes.
“The twins are ours and we will raise and love them like our own,” she stated, without even blinking. “And the pack will accept them like they will accept any other children of ours.”
I know I was grinning like a madman. I curled my arms around her, pressing her soft curves against my hard chest…
“With all due respect, Luna…” Mick of course interrupted the moment. I growled, losing patience with him quickly. But Dina was the one to defuse the situation.
“NO!” she growled, making Mick flinch, I grin and my wolf goes wild. “If you talk against my children again, I don’t care much for your respect!”
Goddess, she’s so hot when she does that, my wolf howled. I grinned at my lovestruck wolf. But I totally agreed. She was SO hot when she got all angry and shit!
“You may be excused,” she continued, dismissing a stunned Beta, that retreated with his tail between his legs. As she turned back to me, I couldn’t help but pull her into me and claim her lips with my own.
Our mate…
“You mean it?” I asked when I finally allowed her to breath and enjoyed the bright red blush that trailed across her cheeks.
“Levi,” she smiled at me, her eyes filled with the same love and compassion she had for all things. “My wolf felt yours in distress and we came to investigate. The second I understood the situation, my wolf all but took over and would have kidnaped them if it wasn’t for the fact that they need medical help.”
I beamed down at her, unable to believe how incredibly lucky I’d been having her in my life. She was so strong, so kind and so beautiful in all matters, I felt like I’d mated with a saint. I would spend every day for the rest of my life, making myself a man worthy of her unconditional love…
“How are they?” she asked, looking over at the two small infants.
“They’re weak,” I sighed, as there was no need to hide the truth from her. “The next couple of days will be crucial…”
She nodded and took my hand, resting it against her already swollen belly. We comforted and supported each other in the stillness and said a silent prayer, hoping our children would make it.
