Pregnant With Four Alphas' Babies: A Reverse Harem Romance Chapter 91: Attacked Without Warning

*Eli*

I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans but then pull them out again. What is taking the other three Alphas so long to get here?

“Calm down, brother. I’m sure we will come up with a solution soon. Just breathe,” Kelly tells me.

I inhale and exhale, but the relaxation technique is doing nothing to calm my nerves. The three men need to get here already so that I can tell them what’s going on. We need to deal with this–and fast.

Tristan walks in, followed by Reece and Mark.

“What’s wrong with you? Did Kelly shove her nun chucks up your butt?” Tristan quizzes.

I shake my head as I try to put what I’m about to say in an order that makes sense. “A messenger came in this morning from Elm Pack. An attack was launched against them last night. Eight of their wolves were killed, and five were wounded badly.”

Mark hisses, Tristan curses under his breath, and Reece punches the wall next to him.

“Who’s behind the attack? Kane?” Tristan asks.

I exhale sharply and shake my head. “The old bastard Stephen is apparently behind the attack.”

“Why would he want to attack Rose’s home?” Mark asks.

“I would have thought he’d be too busy spanking Emily to be launching attacks on Rose’s pack. Does Rose know?” Tristan inquires.

“Yes. She’s worried sick. She had been crying and locked herself in the bathroom. Poor girl. She came here just to be a Breeder, and now her life, and her parents’ lives, are all in danger. We don’t even know if Alpha Howard and Luna Karen are still alive,” Kelly explains.

“This is kind of bizarre. Do you think Emily sent Stephen to do her bidding?” Reece asks.

“Honestly, I can’t put anything past that witch. Alpha Stephen has no reason to attack Elm Pack. However, Emily is very cunning and has every reason to destroy Rose. It seems she isn’t relenting,” I reason.

Running a hand through his hair, Reece suggests, “Maybe we should go and console Rose.”

“No, mate. I think we need to console her in a more effective way. Actions speak louder than words. Alpha Kane is hiding and probably trying to reboot, so we can go to Rose's home and fight off Stephen. If Rose finds out we’ve gone to fight for her pack, her family, that would mean more than any whispered sweet nothings coming from any of us,” Mark tells us.

“Will it be safe leaving Rose here alone?” Reece asks, worry etched in his voice.

“Emily isn’t here anymore, so Rose is probably safe from her,” I add.

“We are wasting time, Alphas. We need to start heading in that direction now.” Mark is growing more impatient by the second.

“Wheels roll in ten,” Tristan confirms as he heads for the door. He stops at the entryway and turns to look back at Kelly. “Take care of her while we are gone. Don’t leave her side,” he pleads.

Kelly nods and turns to me. “Be careful, brother.” She gives me a tight hug, and once she’s released me, I start scrambling around to pack what I’ll need for the trip. Rose's hometown is too far to head over to on foot, even in our wolf forms. It would just tire us out and leave us vulnerable for the fight ahead.

When I finally walk out of the palace, Tristan’s forest green Jeep is already parked in the driveway. All the other Alphas are already waiting.

“Do you think we should have told the king about this?” I ask.

Tristan looks at me and scowls. “Do you think he cares about the fate of the ‘dirty Breeder’s’ home? Besides, he is not my keeper. If he’s not shelling out the gas money, it ain’t his business.”

I nod as I toss my pack in the back of the car. Tristan's right; the king will just try to talk us out of this mission. Alpha Stephen’s attack wasn’t directly impacting him or the palace, so chances are he wouldn’t give a rat’s ass.

Mark chimes in, “By the way, I caught how you told the king you meant no respect to him the other day.”

“And he didn’t even notice,” I said, smiling.

He shook his head. “Anyway, I have a bunch of warriors riding behind us. They’ll stay a little distance away; I’ll call for them if we need back up,” Mark affirms.

When threats are made directly or indirectly to someone I love, my defense mechanisms activate. Although I had never paid a visit to Elm Pack, I will treat their territory as if it was my own home and will guard it fiercely. What Rose treasures has now come to mean something to the four of us.

As the car heads down the road toward Rose’s home, the journey is plagued with an awkward silence. We are all formulating our planned tactics in our heads.

“If you decide to do a one, two, five, or seven; please let me know in advance,” Mark says sharply to Tristan.

I frown. “You want him to tell you when he is going to the bathroom? Y’all are becoming too close for comfort. I don’t want to know anyone’s bathroom schedule.”

Tristan chuckles. “No, that's not what he’s talking about. He means the ol’ one-two. Someone distracts an attacker–that’s one. And another one of us comes in and rips his head off. That’s two.”

I try to visualize what he’s explaining and grin. “That sounds like a hell of a tag team. I would enjoy that innovative maneuver.”

“Right? Tell that to grumpy Marky-Mark here,” Tristan teases while steering the car to avoid a pothole in the road.

“Not that it’s a bad move, but I just want you to warn me when we’re doing it,” Mark explains.

“Do any of you know where Rose's home is exactly?” Tristan asks.

I groan. “You mean you’ve been driving all this time not knowing the directions?”

Tristan shrugs. “I know the general direction, but not the exact GPS coordinates of her home. We’re in the general area. I just need to find somewhere to stop and ask.”

We all stare at him. We all blindly got into the car under the assumption that he knew where we were going.

He parks at a rest stop and climbs out of the vehicle. He’s gone for a few minutes before he comes back with a plastic bag of snacks and drinks.

“Okay, so I know where it is now. We aren’t that far actually,” he clarifies.

I grab the bag and take out a package that looks like it contains beef jerky. I unwrap the packet and bite into the meat. I can really use some protein right now. The taste is off, causing me to spit it out immediately.

I look to my side and see Mark also spitting out the one he was attempting to eat.

“What the fuck is this nasty shit?” Reece asks.

Tristan smirks as he chews on his own piece with so much zeal. “Vegetarian jerky,” he says proudly.

“Why would you buy vegetarian jerky? Also, when did you become a vegetarian?” Mark demands.

“First of all, I didn’t buy it. The nice lady at the counter offered it to me for free. Second of all, I’m about to be a dad, and I know how it feels to have one’s child under attack. I will not eat a poor cow’s young one. Would you like it if someone ate your child?” Tristan asks. He steps on the gas, causing the car to lurch forward, and Mark's open drink splatters in his face.

Mark punches Tristan in the arm. “Drive like you’ve got some sense. Also, I doubt anyone would literally eat our children. We’re wolf shifters. We need protein from real meat. How did you get so fucking huge without protein from meat?”

“Well, since finding out that I was going to be a father, I’m just trying to be more responsible. I want to create a better society for our children.”

We are all silent as his words sink in. Tristan has a responsible side to him that seems to be hidden amongst the crazy pages of his life most of the time.

“That’s good and all, but I prefer real meat,” Reece argues.

Tristan throws his head back and laughs. “Yeah, me too. It was free, so I thought I’d give it a try, but it’s like chewing on tree bark.”

Ahh, this is the Tristan we all know and love. He veers the car to the side of the road and turns the engine off.

“Elm Pack is over that hill. We’ll leave the car here and go there on foot. The car will make too much noise. We need to make sure our approach is silent.”

After we shift, we move stealthily toward the hill. Tristan carries a bag in his mouth as we go for our clothes.

We slowly stalk through the last clump of trees that hide the entrance of Alpha Howard’s homestead.

The house looks dark and abandoned. A window stands open, a torn white curtain billowing in the air as it’s pulled in and out through the void.

Despite our heavily built frames, our movements remain fluid. We barely make a whisper as we put one paw in front of the other. I look at Reece, and he inclines his head at me. We’re all quiet, as one who is stalking prey should be. My senses work tirelessly, as my sensitive ears take in every sound from the forest around us.

My ears perk up at every sound as we walk, whether it's a breeze whistling through the dense forest or the scamper of little animals looking for food. In direct contradiction to the pounding of my heart, my breath comes out in calm, controlled exhales. I can feel my heart beating in anticipation at the culmination of a long week of fighting off constant attacks lodged against us and the woman we hold dear.

The homestead is quiet… too quiet. I sniff the air. I don’t smell the metallic stench of blood that usually lingers after a fight.

“Something is off,” Mark interjects through the mind-link formed between all of us.

“Do you hear that?” I respond through the same link.

“No. It’s too quiet,” Tristan adds.

I shake my head as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Listen carefully. It sounds like it’s coming from the forest around us. I think we walked into a trap.”

The sounds increase in volume. I confirm, “I think it’s an ambush!”