Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 161: Find It Within Yourself

*Eli*

The blanket of snow on top of me is heavy, and I can barely breathe, but the world only goes dark for a moment, and then, I see a vision of Rose and our baby in her arms, and I know I can’t give up that easily.

Before my air completely runs out, I begin to kick with my back legs while I push up with my front legs. I’m able to find an air pocket and take a deep breath. From there, I can push my legs up a bit higher until I can see a bit of light through the snow.

I decide to shift so that my arms are longer, and that’s just what I need to pull myself out of the snow. As soon as my head is out, I take a deep breath, thankful to be alive.

Praying to the Moon Goddess that my pursuers were killed in the landslide, I take a few minutes to gather my wits about me. But then, a familiar scent hits my lungs, and I know they’ve survived the avalanche, too.

Pulling myself up off the ground, I shift and take off again, running as fast as I can, hoping they don’t see me.

More gunfire rings out behind me, echoing in the stillness of the snowy forest, and I know they’ve spotted me again. My paws fly over the terrain for the most part, but occasionally I hit a patch of thick snow that slows me down as I sink down to my chest. I refuse to be buried again.

I can’t look back.

I’ve lost enough ground with the snowbanks, so all I can do is move forward and pray to the Moon Goddess that I’m not meant to die alone in this forest, never to see Rose again… or the birth of my child.

I have so many plans for my son. I know in my heart that my child is a son, and all I want is a chance to be with him while he grows up. I have no doubt that the other three Alphas would pick up the slack and help Rose raise my boy, but that’s not the life I want for her or my child.

I know how much she needs me, even though she has the others. We’re a family, and every one of us is part of the plan that the Moon Goddess has for our children. I can’t expend an ounce of energy believing that the Goddess would have me find Rose and join in such a powerful bond with her only to be ripped away from her before we’d had a chance to be fully happy in our lives.

This cannot be my destiny.

My pursuers have clearly regrouped and are close on my heels even as I fly through the snow. The gun sounds farther away now; no doubt the shifter who remained in his human form to handle the machinery has no chance of keeping up with me or his friends that have shifted.

I can hear my heart pounding, my breath slowing to a steady pace as the forest around me nearly disappears with my intense focus on the path ahead… the path to freedom, to Rose and my child.

Effortlessly I dodge the trees and leap over boulders and fallen wood, becoming one with a strange forest I’ve never crossed before. The soft, glowing moonlight creates an eerie landscape of shadows, but by its brightness, I can tell that it’s a full moon.

The Goddess is with me.

Gathering more strength and confidence from my inner being, a part of me even deeper than my wolf, the part of me where the love for Rose and my unborn pup soars, I speed forward.

I hear the pounding paws and thumping heartbeats of my pursuers, and I seem to be gaining a little distance. As an Alpha, my wolf is both stronger and faster than those of other ranks.

Ahead I see a clearing, and my mind quickly debates whether I should plow straight ahead or veer off and continue to blend into the forest. I can’t hide from the wolves that pursue me either way since in this form we have strong tracking abilities, so on the fly I decide to head straight forward, hoping to gain momentum in the clearing.

As I hit the opening with nothing but fresh snow between me and the other side of the clearing, my pace quickens. I know I’m getting tired because I’m not in the best shape after being knocked out and hauled around in a box, but I have no choice but to keep moving.

The snow looks smooth and flat, but just as I reach the center of the clearing, I feel a sharp prickling in my front right paw. Suddenly, I’m jerked back and spun around, my back legs flying in a circle as I’m stopped dead in my tracks and turned around, my face smashing violently to the ground.

As I skid to a complete stop, I find myself facing my own tracks and staring down at my mangled front paw—with a strip of leather still attached and caught on a stick jutting out of the ground. Though I’d cut my bindings loose before, a loop is still attached to my paw but I hadn’t noticed before through the rush of adrenaline.

Two wolves approach through the forest and slow as they get closer . It may as well be a full pack in my condition. I am hopeless. I gaze at my paw, which is already swelling, and look back up at them.

They growl, baring their teeth, and start circling me—their prey.

I close my eyes, feeling the pain of my paw, the pounding of my racing heart, and the quickness of my breath.

* * *

“Eli,” he says.

“Father?” I reply. But there is no answer. Despite my young years, still only a pup, he expects me to work my way out of this mess.

We’re at the training grounds in my pack lands, and my father is a powerful Alpha. As his oldest son, I’m expected to follow in his footsteps.

So he trains me. Hard.

I feel like I can’t breathe since I’m trapped in this makeshift cage, shifted into wolf form, and surrounded by young recruits who have been ordered to make my escape impossible.

I’m about to give up. I’m starving, and Mother is probably insisting that the chef hold dinner for us until our training session is done. I just want out of here. I’ll never in my life need to break out of a round cage like this while surrounded by recruits. Sometimes Father makes up the most ridiculous scenarios. I think he does it on purpose.

‘Find it within yourself,’ he says finally.

I must have been in this thing for an hour, and I can feel the recruits tiring out, but they’re still determined to keep me penned in so they don’t disappoint my father. They won’t give up.

Hunger burns in my stomach and my leg is starting to ache from sitting on it so long in this cramped position. How am I supposed to escape with my front leg injured?

But Father doesn’t let off. Clearly, I’m not getting out of here until I find a way. So, I close my eyes, focusing in and trying to find that—whatever it is—that thing I’m supposed to find inside.

I wiggle my back paw and feel the sharp claws scratching against the ground. I get an idea. I slow my breathing down and focus, concentrating on my inner core, my back legs, and my rear claws.

I strike out, simultaneously flipping my back claws out while spinning around in a circle, somehow using my front paws for leverage even though they’re almost asleep from sitting so long. My claws catch the cage and cut the strings that bind it together, and the whole thing explodes outward to a chorus of yelps from the poor recruits standing around me.

My father approaches once everyone is clear and instructs the recruits to head home; they gladly comply.

I’m standing in the middle of the training grounds, looking up at my father as he says, “Good job, Son.”

* * *

The enemy wolves are close enough that I can feel their breath, walking around me in a circle in the thick snow, taunting me. I keep my eyes closed until the last minute, when I burst up, spin my back claws around and slice into both of them.

As they fall, I grab them one at a time and slice cleanly through their carotid arteries with my sharp fangs. They both go down quickly, two pools of deep crimson blood spreading quickly in the snow, and I look up to see the clouds passing over the moon.

It’s snowing.

The flakes fall slowly at first but increase until they start to lay a thick, fluffy layer over the fallen wolves and their blood pools… and cover up my tracks.

I leap forward, passing through to the other side of the clearing with the sharp pain radiating up my paw, but I ignore it as best I can and move forward.

I no longer hear anyone behind me, so I trudge ahead, albeit slowly with my injury, and after some time I finally reach a point where the thick, mountainous forest gives way to the foothills, with sparser trees and less snow. In fact, the snow stops completely, and I take a brief rest in a copse of trees near a cold-flowing spring at the bottom of a hill.

There’s no mistaking the pain in my leg, but it’s softened by the unmistakable rush of freedom. I take a long drink, hoping to flush whatever drug they’ve given me out of my system so I can be stronger for my long trek home. I assess the constellations in the sky to determine directions and map out my way back home, or at least Gene’s castle, where I can collapse happily in Rose’s arms once again.

Rose. I need to get home soon in case something happens with her and the pups. Worrying about me can’t be good for any of them. I push myself up to stand again and start heading in her direction.

I call out to her in the mind-link, but I can’t reach her yet. I must still be too far away, or maybe she’s asleep again. Desperately wanting an update on Rose’s condition, I take a stab at reaching the other Alphas.

‘Tristan, are you there?’ I ask.