Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 220: A Familiar Scent

*Rose*

“Stop!” I shout at the driver again, and he practically slams on the brakes, sending Shelby and me flying forward against our seat belts. I don’t have time to think about whether or not it hurts as I open the car door and have a look around.

Shelby is out of the vehicle, too. “Rose? What’s going on?” she asks me. “Why did you have us stop right here in the middle of nowhere?”

I can’t explain to her why I needed the car to stop right here, but I smell something. It’s a very faint hint of something that reminds me of the babies. I’m not sure if that’s what made me stop, or if it was just mother’s intuition, but now that I’m out of the car, I definitely smell it.

“I’m going to walk this way,” I say, not really answering her. I take off through the woods, hesitating every few feet, looking around, lifting my nose to the air. Shelby is behind me, keeping her distance but also keeping an eye on me.

The ground is uneven with lots of large fallen limbs, leaves, and scraggly bushes. I step over them, weaving through, trying to pinpoint the scent.

In the distance, I see a little farmhouse. A couple of people are standing outside, either working or talking to one another. I can’t really see from here. Like lightning, I take off through the woods, glad that I can run again after all that time carrying those babies. I still have some loose skin that isn’t comfortable, but it’s a lot easier to move this way.

Not that I wouldn’t do anything to have my babies back inside of me where I carried them for all of those months and knew they were safe.

“Excuse me!” I call as I approach. An older man and woman turn to face me. She has a hoe in her hand, and he has a sack. It looks like they’ve been digging up potatoes. At first glance, it seems they make a meager living out here. I hate to disturb them, but I have to know if they’ve seen anything.

“Yeah? What’s goin’ on?” the woman calls.

“‘Nother crazy woman lost in the woods,” the man mutters.

“Oh, I’m not crazy. I may seem like it at the moment, but I’m not,” I assure them. “Did you say you saw another woman in the woods? Recently?”

“That’s right,” the woman says. “She weren’t friendly, though.”

“Probably in a hurry with all them bundles she was carrying,” the old man adds.

My heart flutters in my chest at his words. “Bundles?”

“Yeah. Squirmy little bundles.” he says, shaking his head.

“Babies,” the woman corrects him, and my knees go weak. If Adam and Shelby weren’t here to hold onto me, I might’ve fallen on the ground.

“Babies? Four babies? Two girls and two boys?” I ask, shooting questions at them so quickly, they don’t have time to answer.

“Didn’t check they’s diapers, but yes, there was four of ‘em,” the woman says as tears begin to cascade down my cheeks.

“Do you know which way she went?” Shelby asks as I try to get my emotions in check.

“Toward the village there,” the man says, pointing.

“How far is it by foot?” Adam asks.

“Depends on how many babies you’re carrying.” The man chuckles at his own joke, and I want to attack him for making light of the situation, but he can’t know the truth of the matter.

“‘Bout twenty minutes, but if you gotta car, that’ll shave off half.” The woman scolds her husband.

“Thank you kindly,” Adam says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some coins for them.

“Oh, we don’t need that for answerin’ a few questions,” the man says, waving him off.

“Please, take it,” I implore them. “If I find my babies because of you, I will gladly give you every penny in the coffers.”

“Oh, them was your babies?” the woman asks. “I knew there was something wrong about that woman! We shoulda stopped her, Jethro!”

“What was I gonna do, Velma? Hit her in the head with the hoe?”

As the two of them begin to bicker, we rush back to the car, and the driver takes off for the village. I don’t have my babies yet, but I do have an idea of where Retta has taken them.

I decide to let the Alphas know everything I’ve learned, even though I think they will be mad that I have gone out searching and taken off through the woods by myself.

After I tell them everything, Mark says, ‘We’re on our way, baby. What’s the name of the town?’

I see a sign posted at the border as we enter the city limits. ‘Amityville,’ I reply, and a cold chill goes up my spine. The name just sounds menacing.

‘Oh, shit,’ Mark replies, and I bet he doesn’t mean for me to hear. He quickly says, ‘Uh, that’s far away from where we are.’

‘It is?” Tristan asks, and I know it isn’t because Retta walked there after the car wreck, so they have to be nearby. He just doesn’t want me to know that there’s something about this town that’s bad news.

But it’s in his territory, so it can’t be too bad, right? Mark is orderly and rules with an iron fist or something. Really, if there are criminals here, they can’t be the kind that would hurt babies, right?

I hope not….

I keep my face pressed to the window, waiting for another sign that we need to stop. In the distance, a train whistle blows, and I feel my stomach drop. “Driver, go to the train station,” I say. “And hurry.”

Without a word, the driver mashes the gas, and we take off, shooting through town on our way toward that haunting sound in the distance. It’s as if the train is crying for me because it knows….

The train is leaving–and my babies are on that train….