Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 267: Northside Mountain

*Damon*

I’m not crazy about driving the woman who I’m sure is my mate toward one of the most dangerous places in the kingdom, but I’m doing it anyway because that’s what she wants. I’m not really used to being this way. I can usually order people to stay away from things that are dangerous like this.

It’s odd that I can’t be that way with my mate. I want to protect her from danger with every fiber of my being, but part of what I admire most about her is her strength and determination. Because of that, I’m extremely averse to doing or saying anything that might crush that aspect of her.

Well, that’s something new. I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.

I’m pretty sure that Alessandro and Braden feel the same way because they haven’t said anything that would stop us from going, either. I guess as long as we’re with her, there’s no way anyone can hurt her.

We’ve long passed the part of Northside where I’ve been before. I don’t like coming up here, so normally, I don’t. Ironically, the last time I was here was when Alessandro, Braden, and I were teenagers. The three of us and a van load of other friends came up here on a dare. We made it to the base of the mountain then turned back before our parents caught wind of our stupid idea.

Now, we’re heading up the road going up the mountain, and we’re increasing in altitude fast. The sun set a while ago, so it’s dark and hard to see anything outside the headlights.

“How weird that it’s not snowing,” Alessandro says. “There isn’t even any accumulated snow. You’d think that there would be.”

“Yeah, I always thought this whole place was buried in it,” I agree. “I guess not.”

“I’m surprised that there’s even a road here,” Braden says. “I didn’t see it that one time we came here when we were kids.”

I nod. I’ve been thinking the same thing myself, though it doesn’t seem like anyone has maintained it at all. “Me, neither. It’s fairly rough. It must be really old.”

“No one ever talks about this place anymore, so I’m not sure how long ago it was that people were here building roads,” Alessandro adds. “It’s strange that they’d do that for no real reason, though. All the old folks I know say no one ever comes here, so why a road?”

“Well, someone must have built this for some reason,” Daphne says.

She hasn’t spoken in a while, and it makes me glance over at her for a second. It’s hard to see her in the dark, but her eyes have a little shimmer to them.

I turn back to focus on the road before I get lost in those eyes.

We soon come to a place where it’s so bad that I can’t keep driving, not in this car. The road runs along the side of a mountain, and its outer edges are so eroded that it’s just not safe to pass in a vehicle this wide.

“Here’s where we get out, I guess,” I say.

Exiting the car, it’s surprising how quiet it is outside. The forest edge is just against the road, yet I don’t hear any of the sounds I expect to hear—no crickets, no frogs. I don’t sense any creatures nearby at all.

“Are you all getting that empty feeling?” Alessandro asks.

I nod. “It’s like this forest is deserted, but that can’t be.”

“What do you mean?” Daphne asks.

I turned to her. “I forgot that you don’t have your wolf. We can’t sense any animals around here at all.”

“I guess it is pretty quiet,” she says. “Which way do we go now?”

“That’s your call,” Braden says. “How is it that you hear whatever it is telling you where to go?”

“I just need to be in nature like this, focused, with my eyes closed,” she explains. “I’ll lean against this tree.”

“All right. We’ll keep watch,” I say.

We all wait a few minutes, watching her lean against the tree and close her eyes. She looks so beautiful in the moonlight. The smile that lights up her face is gone, but there’s a different kind of beauty in this serious, thoughtful expression that fascinates me. I can’t take my eyes off her.

After a few minutes, she opens her eyes. “Well, that was strange. It told me to follow the brightest star.”

We all look up. We’re still close enough to the road that the sky isn’t lost in the forest canopy. Sure enough, there’s one very big, very bright star in the northeast. I’m certainly not one to follow stars or believe it when someone says they’re being led by spirits somewhere, but now, I don’t even question Daphne. I just think of all this as a mission, something I have to help her do.

I guess that’s more of the mate bond in play.

We figure out the best way to head in that direction, which happens to be straight into the forest rather than down what’s left of the road. The guys and I grab what we can of the provisions we’ve packed in the car and start heading in.

It would be a lot faster if we all shifted, I know, but Daphne can’t do that yet, so it’s best to stay in human form and stay close. We walk for a while until I hear a loud yell from behind.

“Argh!”

We whirl around to see Alessandro as he catches himself with his palms on the ground and pushes himself back up.

“What the hell, Alessandro?” Braden hollers. “Watch the forest, not… never mind.”

Alessandro shoots him a glare but then shrugs. “What?”

I’d seen the tree root protruding, but I had the sense to avoid it. Being behind Daphne, I guess he was enjoying the view.

Braden shakes his head and we all turn back around. I catch a glimpse of Daphnesnickering as she starts walking.

It’s still quiet for quite a distance until we get deep into the forest where we all smell smoke. Daphne tells us that she thinks we should go toward it, so we do. I’m still not used to following someone else’s dreams, but this seems like the most natural thing in the world to do.

Eventually, we find the campfire. It’s in a clearing with logs arranged around it for seating. There’s a grate on the fire with a steaming pot on it, and an old man stirring it looks up as we approach.

“Who’s there?” the man calls out.

I step forward and notice two elderly men. Northside is part of my kingdom, and I’ll inherit the throne to this kingdom soon, so these people are my subjects, whoever they are. I might as well find out who’s hanging out up here in this part of my kingdom.

“I’m Alpha King Heir Damon Barlowe,” I say. “These are my friends and my mate. And you are?”

Daphne furrows her brow slightly at my introduction, but she says nothing.

They both stand and show me the sign of respect, not something I’m expecting in what is supposed to be the roughest place in my kingdom.

“Alpha Heir, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” the same man says. “I am Edor, and this is my brother, Easton.” His brother gives a nod.

“Why are you here in this cold and abandoned part of the kingdom?” I ask. “And why is this forest devoid of animals?”

“And why is there no snow here?” Alessandro adds.

“I’m happy to explain.” Edor gestures toward the campfire, and we all sit around it. I pull up one of the log seats so Daphne doesn’t have to sit on the ground.

Once we are all seated, he begins. “My brother and I were part of the crew who built the roads here back when we were young. It was beautiful here. It still is. The idea was to build a resort for the royal family and visiting dignitaries. Was going to be a beautiful place, fancy, with all the trimmings.”

No one has ever told me that our family had ever planned to build a resort.

“But the throne changed hands to the Barlowes, and the idea was scrapped.” He looks at me. “That would have been your great-grandfather who took the throne, I believe.”

So, it wasn’t even my family. It must have been the Wilcox family, who ruled before us. “How old are you two?” I ask.

He chuckles. “Old enough.”

“So why didn’t you leave when they stopped plans to build the resort?” Daphne asks.

“We did,” Easton chimes in. “We went home just like nothing had ever happened. But then we started to get sick and got weaker and weaker. We came back here figuring there was no prettier place to die than up on this mountain. But as soon as we ate those berries over there—” He gestures toward a bush off to the side. “Those made all the pain go away. We tried bringing some off the mountain, but they only work when you stay here. So, we figured it’s better to stick around and feel great than to die miserably down south.”

“We figure it was the reason for the resort,” Edor says. “They must have found out that they only work up here and decided it wasn’t worth it. I guess it’s not a good idea for a king to be stuck on a mountain. Plus, we think that eating these and then leaving the mountain made us sick in the first place.”

“Probably,” I agreed.

“Last I heard, the Wilcox family went across the ocean and built a resort up in the woods somewhere there in Dark Forest,” Edor continues.

Daphne’s eyes go wide at that revelation, though I don’t know why. She turns away for a few seconds, and when she looks back, her expression is neutral again. I decide to ask about that later when we’re alone.

“I don’t know what happened to that idea,” Edor adds.

We talk to the brothers for a couple of hours, learning a lot about Northside. It isn’t at all what I expected.

“We’ve always been told that Northside is full of nothing but criminals,” Braden says after a while. “The rumor is that this is where outlaws come to hide.

“Eventually, Alpha King Wilcox ordered that no one was to return here,” Edor explained. “So, I suppose you would call us outlaws. Maybe that’s how the rumors started.”

“I suppose so,” I agree.

Daphne stands. “Gentlemen, I’m afraid I need to step over there for a moment.” She lowers her voice to a whisper beside me. “I have to pee.”

“Oh,” I say. I stand to follow her, but she puts her hand on my arm, and pleasurable sparks of electricity radiate down it. I can’t tell whether Daphne feels it, but maybe not since she’s still without her wolf.

“I can handle this myself,” she says, chuckling a little.

“Daphne, I can’t let you go out away from the campfire alone,” I insist.

That just makes her laugh more. “I forgot you guys were still calling me Daphne.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Alessandro asked.

She shook her head. “That’s not my name.”

“Well, what is it?” I ask, surprised.

She chuckles again. “I’ll tell you when I get back. I kind of need to go take care of this right now. I’m only going to be a few yards that way.”

I don’t like it, but she can’t take care of business in front of these old men, and she doesn’t know for sure that we’re her mates yet, so I can’t refuse to give her the privacy.

“Holler if you need us,” I say.

“Of course.” She smiles and heads into the forest.

It’s so dark that I can’t see her, but I still hear her movements, and that’s reassuring.

But after a few moments, she screams.

I run over there, along with Alessandro and Braden, who are both as shaken as I am.

She’s nowhere to be seen.