Page 37 of Scent of Sanctuary

“Well, if they haven’t noticed already, they will,” she says, a smile in her voice. “They’ll be highly in tune with you so close after the heat. I can come over and give you an official pregnancy test, well, as official as I can in-house, but it’ll have to be at least a week or two from now to gauge anything.”

“Okay,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Seraphina, I’ve been your doctor since you were a kid and let me tell you that you have some wonderful people in your corner. I’ve caught a whiff of those Alphas several times over the years but never wanted to pry. However, the smile on your face and how happy your Omega always was? That was in some part due to them. Don’t push them away before finding out where they stand.”

She says it like she did something like that but I don’t feel comfortable asking as we say our goodbyes. I soak a little longer, mulling over my options. Secretly, deep down, I’ve always wanted kids. I wanted a family of my own and while this wasn’t on purpose, it’s a chance to move forward. It’s a terrifying step but the thought of holding a child in my arms brings a smile to my face.

I have to tell them, don’t I?

And I will, right after I soak myself into oblivion.

Refreshed and fully clothed, my hair pinned up on top of my head, I step out into the hallway and make a beeline for the living room where there’s an entire spread of spicy tacos and all the fixings. I swear it’s what we eat most days when I don’t cook but I’m not complaining in the slightest. There’s also a pot of coffee that I eagerly reach for, Ambrose pouring me a healthy cup and adding cream before handing to me.

It takes me entirely too long to realize what’s different, my gaze falling on the patio doors that are usually curtained. Panic flares in my chest before it’s replaced with awe, the reds and oranges bleeding across the sky. Lyle scrambles to his feet to close it but I just shake my head. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a proper sunset, Lyle. Not a real one anyway. I forgot how beautiful it was.” My throat tightens, the colors blurring through unshed tears, and I swallow carefully, moving to sit near Ambrose on the floor. “Can… can we open the windows?” I want to feel the night air on my skin and while I might not step outside, I’m safe right here.

Lyle’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead before he obliges, open the doors just a crack, a soft breeze slipping in, carrying the scent the evening. For the first time in forever, I’m staring at the outside, the world vast and terrifying but beautiful, too. God, I’ve missed so goddamn much.

Tears gather in my eyes as I set my mug on the table, turning to meet their gazes one at a time. “I never thought it’d feel like this. I thought I would always be scared but I’m not and I’m falling for each of you. I think I might have already fallen and just refused to acknowledge it.” My hands drop to my belly as I let out a deep breath. “I want this. All of this and you’ve told me that you want me too but would you still want me if I came with more than just me?”

A tear falls down my cheek as silence meets my question, Ambrose’s gaze dipping to my belly and then back to my face. “Sweet girl, are you carrying our child?”

I nod, my eyes stinging as I wring my hands in my lap. “Victoria is going to come over next week and check, but I… I didn’t plan this, I swear. I just…”

Callum kneels beside me, his hands cupping my face as his thumbs brush my tears away. “Sweetheart, we want you, all of you, however that happens, and you bringing us a child just means another bundle of happiness in our lives.”

“But I can’t even go outside, how would that work?”

Lyle sits beside me, his arm sliding around my shoulders. “Baby girl, you had us open the patio doors today. That’s a bigger step than you’ve made in the last few years. I think you’ll be just fine. I think we all.”

Seraphina

Asoftbreezecarriesthe scent of blooming lilacs; the sunset painting the sky in hues of peach and lavender. It’s been a month of fun and chaos, a month in which we have figured out how to live together, my Alphas now synchronized with my own chaos, their love a constant and calm force that keeps me anchored.

My new favorite place is here, in front of a coffee table that is now constantly cluttered with my laptop and a half-eaten bowl of fruit, usually strawberries. The horizon no longer feels like a threat to my personal space anymore. It's a promise, I think, as I breathe and rest my hands on my belly.

I didn’t plan for babies and especially not twins but it just adds to the perfect little life we’ve been building here. The word twins still sends a flutter of awe and fear through me, but their support has quieted the doubts, making motherhood feel possible, even beautiful.

I seek them out more now, my Omega craving their touch, their scent, wondering when I’ll be truly theirs, bites and all, but for now, this everything I’ve wanted. My nest has expanded beyond Ambrose’s room, indigo pillows scattered in Callum’s study, Lyle’s bedroom, and here, in the living room’s corner where I work, answering station calls, my headset a lifeline to the world I’m not ready to rejoin.

Ambrose keeps trying to slip his garish gray pillow into my nests, and when I find it, I chuck it back at him. It doesn’t match. And it doesn’t, not at all, clashing with the soft blues and creams he chose for the new theme of all my nests. I find it tucked into his bed most days, my heart warming at the thought that it means so much to him.

The investigation is till open but I’ve tried to move on and not worry about the implications of what all that cold mean. No one has bothered me since, no strange calls, no one at the door I don’t recognize.

I hang up a call after directing them to one of the detectives on a missing person’s case, leaning back against my pillows as I caress the swell of my belly. Victoria mentioned that I’d start showing early and that I might only carry five or six months rather than the usual seven. Which would be fine but I already feel like I’m waddling and I’m always in need of attention.

All normal things but things that make it hard to focus.

A knock at the door steals my attention and I grab my phone to check the doorbell camera, frowning when I see Jonah just outside. I haven’t heard from him in over a month, not since he called before the fire. I didn’t think I’d hear from him again. I quickly pull up my calendar to check which of my Alphas is supposed to be home from lunch.Lyle.

He answers just after the first ring, my words already tumbling out. “Jonah’s at the door. He’s just… standing there.”

Lyle growls, the sound vibrating through the earpiece. “Fuck, yeah, I know. He’s been hounding us to talk to you, and I thought it was a joke when he said he was going to show up at our house. I’m two minutes out. Don’t open the door if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to,” I whisper, my free hand tightening on my belly. My Omega doesn’t like Jonah at all and I’m skeptical about his intentions.

“Stay put, baby girl,” Lyle purrs. “I’ll deal with him.”

I move toward the kitchen, hoping that Lyle takes care of it quickly so he can come snuggle me. The steady hum of his truck comes to a stop, Lyle remaining on the call as he stalks toward the front door, their heated voices bleeding through the speaker.

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