Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 165: A Heart Full of Pain

*Mark*

Tristan screams at Barbara, and she’s standing right there behind King Gene like she owned the place. We’re all in shock seeing her standing there, but I’m still sending orders for my warriors to head out, and I can tell the other Alphas are doing the same. We’re not going to waste one minute dealing with her—well, the other Alphas and I will probably waste a few minutes to make sure she gets locked back up in the dungeon where she belongs—but Rose is the priority, so our armies are deploying to Kane’s castle.

“What’s the matter, not happy to see me?” Barbara answers Tristan with a sickening smirk on her face.

“You’re supposed to be in fucking prison!” Tristan hollers. “And we know you took Rose, so I think you have half a fucking millisecond to tell us where she is before we have you begging to be returned to the dungeon rather than experiencing the hell that we’ll make you endure!”

He’s steaming mad, and Reece and I match his mood. It’s more than clear that Barbara kidnapped Rose and handed her over to Kane. I can’t imagine how she has the gall to show her face here.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says. “I’m the victim here!”

“What?!” is all that comes out of Tristan’s mouth.

Gene spoke up. “Barbara is an innocent victim,” he says. “And you’ve locked her away in a dungeon for no reason at all! That awful king—er, that awful man who was in the dungeon killed the guard, kidnapped her, and framed her, locking her up in my closet!”

“In your—” I began, but Barbara interrupts again.

“In his closet!” she says, repeating Gene’s words and painting an obviously fake pout on her face. “I just barely escaped with my life. I could have suffocated! I have nothing to do with the Breeder’s disappearance!”

Tristan narrows his eyes at her, but a voice comes into both of our minds. It’s Reece. ‘Obviously,’ he says, ‘she has Gene fooled. Let’s let that ride for a bit so we can get the hell out of here and get to Rose. Chances are, Barbara doesn’t know where Rose is, either.’

‘Maybe,’ I say. ‘Do we want to take that chance?’

“But I did… overhear the guards telling me where they took the Breeder!” Barbara says, still trying to act innocent.

“Your millisecond is more than up,” says Tristan, approaching Barbara.

Her eyes went wide with fear. “I… I do know where she is,” she says. “I swear! It’s Alpha Stephen! They’ve taken her to his castle!”

‘She’s wasting our time,’ says Reece in our minds.

‘Maybe, but it’s not that far away from Kane’s,’ I say. ‘If she’s right, then we get to Rose faster. We can take our backup forces with us. It’s quicker to fight Stephen than Kane. If she’s wrong, we can quickly get to Kane’s. If we waste our energy on Kane first, we may be leaving Rose and the pups waiting unnecessarily at Stephen’s castle.’

‘Good point,’ says Tristan. ‘What do I do with Barbara?’

‘Just leave her,’ says Reece. ‘We need to get moving now. Those people are drugging Rose. We don’t have time for this shit.’

‘Agreed,’ says Tristan. Out loud, he says to Barbara, “You’d better fucking be right. If you’re lying, practice that begging.” He says the last part just inches away from her face with a look of death in his eyes. I can tell she’s about ready to piss her pants, but she tries to keep up the innocent act.

“I’m trying to help,” she says, faking a tear.

We all turn around, having no more time to waste dealing with this evil bitch. I hear Tristan bring Adam into our mind-link, and he instructs the Beta to keep an eye on what happens to Barbara. Adam agrees and we’re on our way, with all our backup troops following while our frontline warriors continue their swift march toward Kane.

Wherever Rose is, we’re getting her back. Now.

* * *

*Kelly*

‘I don’t have your scent yet,’ I tell Eli in the mind-link.

He’s been guiding us slowly toward him while he continues to walk in the direction that he’s decided is heading toward Gene’s castle. Trevor and some of Eli’s other warriors are with me, and we’re all riding on all-terrain utility vehicles, which are honestly pretty fun to drive, but means that we have to stay in human form, where our tracking skills aren’t as sharp.

At least his voice is still in my mind. I’m so thankful that he’s all right. Even if he does have a broken paw, I’m thankful to the Goddess that he’s alive.

I’m not really familiar with this area; I’m not even sure whose pack lands these are, so I’m a little nervous out here with such a small team of warriors. I know I can hold my own in a fair fight, but if we run into a huge army or something, we’re screwed. The other Alphas are off looking for Rose, and they have their entire armies with them, so whatever we run into out here, we’re on our own.

The forest starts to thin out a little, making it easier to find a trail, and though I don’t have a whiff of Eli’s scent yet, I’m pretty sure we’re close. I wish he hadn’t gotten hurt, not just so he can be healthy and safe now, but so I won’t feel bad about giving him a smack of sisterly love for making us all worry.

I think about Rose and just shudder in horror at the thought of her being alone, pregnant, with that awful Kane man—not to mention being trapped there when pregnant with four innocent pups. I feel so horrible for her and wish I could at least send her a message that Eli is safe. It would ease her mind, I’m sure. I also worry about how knowing that Rose is kidnapped is affecting Eli. I know how much he loves her—and how excited he is to be a father—and I just know this is killing him inside.

We round the corner past some thick brush, and finally, I catch Eli’s scent. The breeze is blowing gently from a thicker area of forest to my right, so I point in that direction so the rest of the vehicles can follow me. Passing by several thicker groves of trees, I finally spot him, limping and exhausted. I’d recognize that red fur anywhere.

I barely have time to stop my vehicle before I rush to him and give him a hug. He just sort of collapses into my arms and doesn’t even say anything in the mind-link at all. One of the warriors rushes toward him with a bag of medical supplies and immediately begins to tend to his wound, which is on his front paw.

I want to talk to him, to hug him, to yell at him, to smack him—anything tangible to finally feel like he’s home to me. At the same time, I know it’s crucial that he stay in his wolf form where he will heal faster, at least until he’s got his wounds disinfected, and after that, he can shift.

It feels like forever as they’re applying the antiseptic and then finally, he shifts, and another warrior hands him some clothes, which he also has to help him change into, since his hand is in bad shape.

“I’ve never been so glad to see your face,” he says finally.

“I really should smack you, you know,” is the first thing I can think of to say. “Do you have any idea how much we’ve been worried about you?”

He chuckles, then winces in pain. “I love you, too,” he jokes. Then his face turns serious. “Rose?”

I let out a breath and say, “No word yet. But Tristan, Reece, Mark, and three armies are headed that way. They will get her.”

“I have to go,” he says, barely giving the warrior time to finish wrapping up his hand before he’s standing up and making like he’s going to the vehicles.

“Oh, no you don’t!” I holler. “You’re going back to Gene’s castle to heal.”

He whirls around and looks at me with a gaze that could freeze fire and finally I see it firsthand—the pain in his heart. I know now that it’s futile to try to stop him from getting to her.

I hold up my hand before he can say another word. I’m not going to keep him from her. “At least drink and get some food in you,” I say. “Rose needs you to be strong for her.”

He inhales a few rations quickly, and it’s not long before we’re all back on the vehicles, racing toward Kane’s castle.

We have to find Rose as soon as we can. I pray that the pups are safe!