Page 99 of Alpha Exile

"Who's the daddy?" He winks at me.

"Let's find out." Taking a deep breath, I prick my finger, let my drop of blood fall in the center of the bowl, and speak the spell to life. "Blood to blood, father to babe. Come close now and stake your claim."

The drops of blood shiver with the power of the spell.

One rolls towards the center of the bowl, and I start to say his name—

Then another joins it.

I blink, staring down into the bowl. The guys lean in close, trying to see. Finn raises his brows high.

"Is that...?"

"Two drops, yes." I lick my lips nervously. "Apparently I'm having twins."

"With me," Kieran says, sounding stunned, "and with Finn."

We all lift our heads to stare at him at this, and he just gives us a roguish grin. "All things are possible if you try hard enough."

"How, though?" Lance crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes at him. "We did all agree to use protection with Delilah to prevent just this from happening unplanned. And while I'm thrilled at the news, I can't help but wonder—"

"I didn't break the rules!" Finn throws his hands up in defense. "And I'm smart enough not to let a condom break during sex. No offense, K."

"None taken."

"He's telling the truth," I reassure Lance, whose protective streak is pulsing through our mating bond as his brows crease suspiciously. "I guess maybe we just... didn't notice a slip up."

"Latex is no barrier for my determination, Dollface." Drawing me close, Finn kisses me on the forehead, pure joy beaming from every inch of him. "Let's celebrate tonight, and iron out the details later."

"Like where the babies will be sleeping," Bastian murmurs.

Babies.

Babies.

I think I might faint.

* * *

The dinner table fills up fast with Cat's dishes and several glasses full of sparkling apple cider. Kieran and Finn sit on either side of me, while Bastian, Roarke, and Lance sit opposite us. Roarke pulled me aside and told me how thrilled he is that we're having a baby—then later, Lance vowed he'd protect the future Glass Pack babes with his life, and Bastian shyly asked me if he could show them the magic charms he grew up with.

Of course I said yes. I'm so happy that they're thrilled for me.

I just hope I start feeling thrilled for me soon, because as dinner stretches out, I start to feel more and more nauseated. If it weren't late in the day and I didn't have an iron stomach, I'd think it was morning sickness.

Thankfully Cat and Kerry keep the conversation moving with bubbly laughter. Kerry's new boyfriend Caleb has turned her into a beaming mush of a woman; she keeps looking at him with bright eyes and stroking his strong forearms with her fingers.

They're debating what names I should give the babes when Kerry looks over at me and asks, "What do you think, Delilah? Juniper sounds like an excellent name to me, but maybe it is too hippy-dippy."

I swallow my forkful of paella and lick my lips, feeling eyes on me. Kieran reaches over to clasp my hand, loosely holding my fingers reassuringly.

"I was thinking it might be nice to name one of them after my father," I murmur, the thought coming to me only as I speak it aloud, a secret chamber of my heart opening up. "Willa would be nice. Something to remember him by, since none of this would've been possible if he hadn't called me home after his death."

Inside me, I feel something blossom and grow, other than the new lives just beginning.

Peace.

"Willa is a nice name," Niall says, his voice roughened with emotion. "Your father would be proud to see who you've become."

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