Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 191: Becoming a Father

*Eli*

Now, this is a vehicle. I’m so thankful that I was finally able to reach Rose, and that the other Alphas rushed these cars out to meet us. That old piece of shit van held out for a lot longer than I’d expected, but this… this thing is fast, and I know it’ll get me to Rose fast.

I’m going to have to get myself one of these.

I guess that won’t work, though, because I’m about to become a father, and there’s definitely no room for a baby’s car seat in here. Maybe I’ll get one for Rose and me to take quiet rides in the countryside together once the baby is grown.

I guess I can’t really think about kids growing up and moving out yet when this is the very day that I become a father for the first time. There’s just so much going through my head that I can’t even keep a coherent thought in there for longer than a few seconds.

A son? A daughter? Will I be training up another Alpha, teaching him how to be a strong, fair leader and how to treat his mate with respect and love? Or will I be watching a mini version of my beautiful Rose grow into a delightful young woman, destined to be a future Luna? If she’s even half as gorgeous as Rose, which I’m sure she will be, I’ll have to fight off the boys all the way from puberty through her twenty-first birthday.

I can see it now—some smartass young Alpha’s son thinking he has any business even attempting to date my daughter. And if he dares to treat her like anything else than a goddess and a princess… I’ll kill him.

Okay, I’m getting away from myself. Maybe it’ll be a son, and I won’t have to worry about any of that. Either way, the child I have with Rose is going to be loved and cherished through his or her life. I smile as I look out the window, watching the stunning pink and golden sunset that’s signaling the birth of my child.

I just hope that Rose’s all right.

‘Hurry up!’ she keeps hollering in my head, sometimes accompanied by some not-so-sweet words, but any words my beautiful Rose—my mate—is babbling in the throes of labor as she has my child are a pure treasure. ‘You fucking idiot! Get your ass here right now before I punch you!’ Ahh… the sweet music of true love.

I look over at the driver, realizing that I haven’t said a word to the man since he picked me up. He’s pretty intent on driving right now, and that’s great, but I guess I should be polite since he’s getting me to Rose quickly.

“Thank you,” I say. “I’m guessing you know this, but I’m Alpha Eli. What’s your name?”

“Chuck,” he says, taking his eyes off the road for only a split second to shoot a smile in my direction. “And you have the look of a man about to be a father for the first time. I’ve been there, and believe me, your life is about to change forever. It’s in a good way, of course. And you’ll do fine.”

“I hope you’re right,” I say. “I just want to be the best father I can possibly be.”

“We all do,” he says. “And right now, you can’t possibly imagine what it’s going to really be like when you first look your little pup in the eye, but once you do, fatherhood will become second nature.”

“You make it sound so easy,” I say, chuckling a little.

“It is,” he says. “And it’s not. But every day you’ll be stronger in a way you never imagined. As young shifters, we spend all this time strengthening our muscles, our fighting skills. And in school, we sharpen our brains. That’s all good and well, especially for an Alpha like you who will rule the pack. But our children strengthen something you never knew you had inside of you. I can’t even put a name on it. Resolve, maybe? Tenacity?” He shook his head. “Nope, none of those words even come close. But you’ll feel it, and you’ll know it's there, and you’ll know it makes you stronger.”

“You sound experienced in all this,” I say.

He laughs. “Three daughters and one set of twins—sons,” he says. “Now believe me, that’s experience.”

“No doubt,” I say. I notice the twinkling in his eyes as he mentions his children. Will I have the same look about me when I’m finally a father?

He focuses back on the road and steps on the gas a little harder, so I let him concentrate on driving while I watch the scenery fly by—and it really is flying. I wasn’t that far from Mark’s castle to begin with, so I’m sure we’re almost there.

Sure enough, I see a huge estate appearing on the horizon a few moments later. Even from far away I can see that it’s majestic, surrounded by lush greenery—exactly how I pictured Mark’s domain.

We get closer, and I see that everything is well cared-for, as is always the case when a great leader is in charge. As we approach, I notice some well-manicured flower gardens and wide-open green spaces, but I can’t really concentrate on any of that because the closer we get, the more knots form in my stomach.

It’s not a sense of dread, not at all. It’s excitement mixed with fear mixed with uncertainty. I’ve been to more battles than I can count, but the jittery feeling I experience before those has nothing on the intensity of this experience.

I barely let Chuck come to a stop in front of the castle before I open the door and jump out. I don’t even manage to say goodbye to Chuck, or to thank him, and I make a note somewhere in the back of my head to do so later, but with five pups of his own, I know he understands how I feel right now.

He’s thankfully mind-linked about my arrival ahead it seems, because servants come pouring out of the front entrance and run right up to me.

“Alpha Eli,” says an older woman who looks like the kind of person you wouldn’t ever ignore when she’s talking to you. “Come with me.”

I nod and she leads me—thankfully quickly since she’s spryer than she appears outwardly—down a maze of hallways that I would never be able to navigate on my own.

“How much farther?” I ask. “How is Rose?”

“She’s fine, Alpha Eli,” she says. “And you’ll be able to ask her yourself very shortly. But first—” She ushers me into a room with a sink and towels. “You need to wash up, sir. I don’t mean to offend, but you do look like you’ve been knee-deep in… oil? And we can’t have you holding a newborn pup with those arms.”

I’d forgotten what a mess I am from working on the van, and she’s right. I let her lead me to the sink, where she provided a huge bottle of liquid soap that smelled like oranges, a scrubbing brush, and then eventually a towel. I washed up quicker and more thoroughly than I ever had in my life, and when she did a quick inspection, I felt like a five-year-old again having to make sure that my mother approved of my cleanliness before a formal dinner.

But I’m no five-year-old. I’m an Alpha who is about to become a father. The woman—I don’t have time to ask her name—half-grabs me by the sleeve and ushers me back the way we came.

And then… I feel her and experience the fragrance of her beautiful scent before I hear her crying out. It’s my Rose, and she’s part shouting, part cursing, and part apologizing. Mostly shouting and cursing.

The woman leading me slams the door open, and I run in just in time to see Rose push, and like magic, a beautiful pup with bright red locks comes out, and my world changes in an instant, just like Chuck had said.

“You’re here, Eli…”

I hear Rose’s voice, and I want to run to my mate, but I’m so captivated by this beautiful child—he’s a boy, they tell me—that I can’t take my eyes off him. They even let me cut the umbilical cord.

The nurse cleans him up quickly and hands him to me, his beautiful blue eyes blinking at the bright lights. He’s the tiniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but he may as well be as huge as the biggest mountain by the way he’s captured my attention… and my instant love.

I sense the other Alphas around me as well as the medical personnel in the room, but for a few beautiful moments, it’s like the world is nothing but me and my son.

But then I notice a mood change, and the air in the room is suddenly heavy with a chill that makes me want to take my son, run away, and hide with him forever. It’s the deepest sense of fear and foreboding that I’ve ever felt, and it hangs over the room like a fog.

Finally, I break eye contact with my son and look up, noticing the influx of more medical personnel rushing into the room. I look at the other Alphas and they’re all staring at the bed, so I follow their gaze and my eyes see Rose.

But she’s not looking back…. She doesn’t seem to be responding to the world around her at all.

And a huge puddle of deep, dark blood is pooling on the floor.