Chapter 491

Olivia

I rolled over in bed with a heavy sigh. Despite the warm sun streaming in through the window and the sound of the birds chirping outside, I was feeling incredibly apathetic and lethargic that day.

“I hate this,” I whispered, tossing aside the paperback novel I had been attempting to read with no luck. It thudded onto the end of the bed, the beautiful man and woman on its curled cover staring up at me almost judgmentally.

Normally, I loved trashy romance novels like that one; but today, the idea of reading anything almost churned my stomach.

“Just another week,” my wolf reminded me for what felt like the millionth time.

I let out a small scoff and pushed myself up to a seated position, where I leaned my head back against the wooden headboard and turned to gaze longingly out the window.

With February and the first half of March behind us, the cold weather was beginning to dissipate and the snow had completely melted. Soon, it would be spring, which meant that temperatures were rising.

I ached to be out on my back patio, propagating the seedlings and bulbs that would wind up in my vegetable garden. I wanted to walk along the beach, feeling the ocean breeze on my cheek.

And yet here I was, completely stuck in bed for the past week. I couldn’t even count how many times I had tried to remind myself that it would go by quickly; it just felt like an eternity. Time passed so slowly with nothing to do.

I let out another sigh and checked the clock on the nightstand. Noon. Soon, Nathan would come upstairs from his study for my fifteen allotted minutes of movement, during which time we were lucky to walk downstairs and around the house.

Then, once that was over, I might take up residence on the couch until dinnertime. After that, it would be time for an assisted shower, then back to the bed.

But it wasn’t just myself that I was worried about. It was Nathan, too. He was not only bending over backwards for me and waiting on me hand and foot, but he was also single-handedly taking care of the twins and managing his Alpha duties from home.

And, just like clockwork, the sound of footsteps came down the hall. A moment later, Nathan was pushing through the door with a tray of toast and tea.

“I thought you might be a little hungry,” he said as he set the tray down on the bedside table.

I offered him a smile but shook my head. “You know you don’t need to wait on me like this,” I said gently. “I don’t need all… this.” As I spoke, I gestured to the pile of other plates and cups on the nightstand—most of the food had gone largely uneaten.

Nathan followed my hand for a moment and let out a slight chuckle. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

With a soft laugh of my own, I patted the empty spot beside me on the bed. Nathan hesitated for a moment before he sat down and held my hand, but he didn’t relax.

As he stroked my knuckles with his finger, I watched him intently for a moment. The dark circles under his eyes spoke of plenty of sleepless nights, and the yawn that he was clearly stifling was even more of a dead giveaway.

“Hey,” I said softly. “You look exhausted.”

Nathan blinked for a moment before lifting his gaze to meet mine. He smiled, but it didn’t fully reach his eyes. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about you and the baby, that’s all.”

“I know.” I took his hand and pressed it over my belly, letting him feel the warm pulse emanating out. “But you can’t be burning the candle at both ends like this. Especially not with the baby coming soon.”

At the mention of the baby coming soon, Nathan’s face went pale—and so did mine. It should have been a happy occasion for our baby to be coming, but it felt more terrifying than anything.

It was too soon.

Suddenly, Nathan stood and drew in a shuddering breath. “I have to run out for a couple of errands,” he said. “I’ll only be gone for about half an hour, but I’ll call Clint to come over—”

“Nathan.” I laughed slightly. “It’s half an hour. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Nathan asked. “I don’t want anything to—”

I shook my head. “You just put the twins down for a nap, right? I’ll be fine. Please, don’t call Clint.”

Nathan paused for a moment, staring at me as he contemplated, before he finally sighed and nodded. “Alright. But if anything happens, you’ll call me right away, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, um… I’ll go now, then,” he said, leaning over to plant a warm kiss on my forehead. “Try to eat some of that toast, alright?”

“I’ll try.”

I watched as Nathan walked out of the room. A few moments later, I heard the front door open and close downstairs. The house fell into a silence that was oddly comforting after a week spent under constant surveillance.

…

But the silence only lasted for so long.

About fifteen minutes into the half hour, I was giving another attempt at reading my novel when I heard the sound of soft cries coming from the nursery. I looked up from my book and quirked an eyebrow, waiting to see if the cries continued or if it was just happening once.

The cries continued. I cursed under my breath and sat up, unsure of what to do.

The doctor had given me strict bed rest orders with only fifteen minutes of movement per day. But I couldn’t just leave the twins crying like this, and the nursery was only down the hall; surely it would be fine if I just got up long enough to soothe them.

Finally, when the cries weren’t stopping, I decided that I had to go down there.

I carefully swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood, feeling a bit wobbly after laying down for so long. I wavered there for a moment before I regained my stability and made my way out of the bedroom.

“I’m coming, loves,” I said softly as I made my way down the hallway.

I pushed the door to the nursery open to see that Elliot had awoken and was now standing in his crib, gripping the bars with tears and snot streaming down his face. In the crib beside him, Aurora was beginning to stir as well.

“Aww, did someone have a nightmare?” I cooed softly as I made my way over to him. He held one of his grabby little hands out to me as I approached, and I couldn’t resist; I scooped him up and held him against my chest, bouncing him gently.

“There, there… It’s alright,” I murmured as I held him. “Mommy’s here.”

Within a few minutes, Elliot’s cries began to subside. But it had felt like forever since I had held him like this, and so I decided to hold onto him for just a few more minutes, just to revel in his sweet scent and the sensation of his soft breathing against me.

It was during this reverie, though, that I lost track of time and space and didn’t hear the sound of the front door opening and closing.

I didn’t hear the footsteps coming up the stairs, and I didn’t hear the telltale sound of the creak on the floorboard behind me until a voice suddenly snapped me out of my deep thought.

“Olivia, what are you doing?”