Juliet

Juliet's hands trembled as she stared at the ultrasound screen in Lucy's private clinic.

Four distinct shapes flickered on the monitor-four tiny, flickering heartbeats. Four lives growing inside her.

She felt the room tilt just a little.

"You're pregnant with quadruplets," Lucy said gently, her voice calm but clinical as she moved the wand across Juliet's still-flat stomach. "Four little pups, Jules."

Juliet couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Rosie, her wolf, was howling inside her-a mix of panic and something fiercer. Protective.

"That's... that's impossible," she whispered, even though the proof was right there on the screen. "Four? "

Lucy Carter had been Juliet's closest friend since their Princeton days-two overachieving weirdos in the AI medical research program who had bonded over late-night coding sessions and bad takeout.

She was one of the only people who knew what Juliet truly was.

And now, Lucy was staring at her with that sharp, no-bullshit look that had always seen straight through her.

"What happened, Jules? " she asked, wiping the gel from Juliet's stomach. Her brow furrowed deeply. "I haven't heard from you in over a month, and then you show up looking like you've been through a war... and now this? " She gestured at the monitor. "Quadruplets. From an Alpha, judging by their size already."

Juliet closed her eyes, fighting the burn behind them.

"I've been hiding out near the border," she said softly. "The Waltons-" her voice cracked. "They drugged me. Sent me to the Blackwood Alpha's bed."

"Alpha Kaius Blair? " Lucy's head snapped up. "Jesus, Juliet."

Juliet nodded, guilt and fury twisting in her gut. "They meant to send Sofia. I was just... convenient. Disposable. A backup plan."

Lucy stared at her for a long moment. Her voice dropped. "So the pups are his? Does he know? "

"No," Juliet whispered. "And he can't. He can never know."

Lucy's mouth tightened. "But mate bonds..."

"We don't have one," Juliet cut her off, sitting up straighter on the table. The paper crinkled under her like it was protesting the truth. "I was drugged. It wasn't... real."

Lucy didn't speak right away. Just watched her, expression caught somewhere between disbelief and compassion.

"Four pups from one night doesn't sound like an accident, Jules. The Moon Goddess doesn't just... roll dice." Her voice was quiet. Serious.

Juliet shook her head hard. "Don't. Please. I can't go back there." Her hand drifted to her stomach automatically, protectively. "I can't survive another rejection."

Lucy's expression softened immediately. She understood.

As an Omega, Juliet's biology was already fragile. Being rejected once had nearly broken her. Twice could kill her. Rosie might not survive it.

"I know," Lucy said gently. "But you need to think about these babies. Four is high-risk for anyone. But for an Omega..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She didn't have to.

Juliet stared at the ceiling, blinking fast.

"My parents died when I was five." She swallowed hard. "I grew up in a state-run Omega orphanage before the Waltons pulled me out like they were doing me a damn favor."

Her voice turned sharp. Bitter. "I thought I found family with Jasper. And we both know how that ended." She laughed once, the sound cracking halfway through. "But even fated mates can betray you, apparently."

She placed both hands on her belly, and this time, the shaking stopped. "These pups are mine. They're all I have now. And I'm keeping them. Every single one."

Lucy sighed, but didn't argue. Instead, she turned to the cabinet and pulled out a small amber bottle.

"This will suppress any lingering scent markers," she said, handing it to Juliet. "Being scentless finally has its perks."

Then she reached into a drawer and handed her a key. "I've got a cottage on the edge of town. No neighbors. No prying eyes. You'll be safe there while you figure things out."

"Lucy, I-" Juliet's throat closed up. The words tangled.

Lucy rolled her eyes, but her voice was warm. "Oh, don't get sappy on me. What are best friends for, if not hiding you from homicidal noble families and pissed-off Alphas? "

Later that afternoon, Lucy helped Juliet settle into the cottage.

It was tucked deep in the woods, the kind of place you'd miss if you weren't looking for it. Small, but warm. The kind of cozy that wrapped around you like an old quilt.

Through the windows, Juliet could see the pine forest stretching for miles.

It was quiet, wild, and completely removed from the packs and their politics.

"The pantry's stocked, and I brought prenatal vitamins formulated for werewolf pregnancies," Lucy said, placing a large bottle on the kitchen counter.

The label was handwritten, the glass dark amber-classic Lucy, always five steps ahead. "Four pups will drain your nutrients like a Vegas slot machine. Take these religiously."

Juliet nodded, heart pounding beneath the grateful smile she offered her friend. "I don't even know how to thank you."

"Name one after me," Lucy said with a wink, then added more quietly, "Just stay safe. Take care of yourself and those babies. I'll check in every week."

After she left, the silence settled in around Juliet like snowfall. She wandered the small space, letting her fingers trail over the wood surfaces, the checked curtains, the old stone fireplace.

It smelled like cedar and cinnamon.

In the corner, she imagined four tiny cribs. Four high chairs lined up like little soldiers.

Four sleepy heads resting on her chest. Four reasons to keep breathing. To keep fighting.

She didn't know how she would manage. She had no plan. But failure wasn't an option.

In the bedroom, Juliet sank onto the bed.

The mattress dipped with her weight, soft and worn. She placed both hands on her still-flat belly.

Four tiny heartbeats. Four pieces of her.

"We'll be okay," she whispered, voice rough but sure. "I promise. I'll protect you."

Rosie shifted beneath her skin. Her growl was soft, but full of warning. Protective. She agreed with Juliet. These pups were theirs.

That night had left its mark on Juliet. Alpha Kaius Blair's scent still clung to her memory like smoke.

But for the first time since then, she felt something new.

Hope.

It was fragile. A spark in the dark. But it was hers.

Her life hadn't turned out the way she imagined.

She'd been used. Betrayed. Left behind. Now she was alone, carrying pups that were never meant to exist.

But they were hers.

Maybe... just maybe... they were the family she had always been searching for.

Juliet

The cottage had become Juliet's sanctuary over the past four months.

What started as a temporary hideout had slowly turned into something else.

It was modest and hidden deep within the forest, far from roads, cell towers, and questions.

No neighbors. No surveillance. Just trees, quiet, and the steady pulse of life growing inside her.

The living room now held four handcrafted cribs, lined up neatly against the far wall.

They didn't match perfectly. One leaned slightly, another had uneven slats. Still, each one had been sanded smooth, brushed with oil, and painted with care.

Books about multiple births and werewolf pup care were stacked across every surface.

Their pages were creased, underlined, and tagged with color-coded sticky notes.

Juliet had studied them the way she once studied blood pathologies and toxin interactions. Her mind hadn't changed. Only the subject mattered now.

At nearly six months along, Juliet's belly had grown enormous-larger than most full-term human pregnancies.

Lucy had joked she looked like she was smuggling a small pack of wolves.

Which, in a way, she was.

"You look ready to pop," Lucy said as she stepped into the cabin, setting her worn leather medical bag on the kitchen table.

"How are you feeling today? "

Juliet shifted on the couch, trying to find a position that didn't press a foot into her ribs.

"Like I swallowed four Alpha-born cubs who've just discovered kickboxing," she muttered, wincing as another jab landed hard beneath her sternum.

"Is it normal to feel like they're staging a coup? "

Lucy laughed, already pulling out her stethoscope.

"Four pups with Alpha blood and a rogue mother? I'd be worried if they weren't giving you hell."

She knelt beside the couch and pressed the stethoscope to Juliet's abdomen, moving slowly and carefully.

Her face went serious for a moment. Then she smiled.

"All strong heartbeats. All four are doing well."

Relief washed over Juliet like a warm tide.

Every check-up, every steady heartbeat, felt like a small rebellion against fate.

"We need to talk about delivery," Lucy said, putting the stethoscope away, her tone sobering.

"Quad births are risky for werewolves. With your rogue status and no pack healer, we're on our own."

Juliet nodded. They'd had this conversation before.

Hospitals were out of the question-too many records, too many questions, and too many eyes that might trace her back to the Blairs or the Waltons.

Pack healers were worse.

They answered to Alphas. And Juliet couldn't afford to be found.

"I've been looking into home births," she said, gesturing to the high stack of books beside her.

"I've got everything you asked for. The herbs, the supplies... even backup clean towels."

Lucy glanced around the room and nodded with approval.

"I've filed for a leave starting next week. I'll stay here until they arrive."

She reached out and gave Juliet's hand a squeeze.

"You won't go through this alone."

The words hit Juliet harder than she expected.

After months of silence, secrecy, and survival, the promise of company felt like a lifeline.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't thank me yet," Lucy said with a crooked grin.

"You might start cursing my name once the first head crowns."

Juliet laughed softly, then winced again as another pup kicked.

-

Two weeks later, Juliet woke in the middle of the night.

Pain slammed into her like a freight train, sharp and deep, stealing the air from her lungs.

She gasped and clutched at the sheets.

A warm wetness spread beneath her.

"Lucy !" she cried, voice tight and cracking. "It's time !"

Lucy appeared in the doorway seconds later.

Her hair was tousled from sleep, but her eyes were alert.

"Let's get you to the birthing room."

They had turned the small guest room into a makeshift delivery suite.

It was stocked with clean towels, medical supplies, and every emergency tool Lucy could smuggle out of her clinic.

She slipped an arm around Juliet's waist and helped her across the hall.

Juliet staggered, bent over as another contraction hit like a punch to the spine.

"That was fast," Lucy muttered, worry creeping into her voice.

She crouched to check Juliet's dilation.

Her eyes widened.

"You're progressing faster than expected."

Juliet's breaths came in quick, shallow pants. "Is that... bad? "

"Not necessarily," Lucy said, though her tight jaw told a different story.

"Werewolf births can move fast. Especially for Omegas. Especially with Alpha blood involved."

The next few hours passed in haze and heat.

Sweat clung to Juliet's skin.

She gripped the sheets until her knuckles turned white.

Lucy moved like a storm in control-quick, calm, exact.

"I can see the first crown !" she called out.

"Push, Jules !"

Juliet obeyed.

A raw scream ripped from her throat as she bore down, her entire body shaking.

Then it came.

A sharp, piercing cry filled the air.

High-pitched. Alive. Furious.

"It's a boy !" Lucy announced, beaming.

She wrapped the tiny, wriggling pup in a clean blanket and laid him on Juliet's chest.

Juliet sobbed.

Her arms trembled as she held him.

He was so small, but strong.

A shock of brown hair crowned his head.

His eyes opened briefly, bright gold, clear and fierce.

His lungs already worked like they belonged to a born Alpha.

Joy burned through her exhaustion like fire through dry grass.

But there was no time to rest.

Another contraction rolled through her like a wave of fire.

"This is just the beginning," Lucy said, voice steady.

She placed the baby in the waiting bassinet and turned back to her.

"Three more to go. You've got this."

Juliet braced herself.

Her muscles tensed.

Her jaw set.

Then a noise outside.

A slam.Car doors.Voices.

Her blood turned to ice.She met Lucy's eyes.They didn't speak.

Someone had found them.

Lucy's head snapped up, eyes narrowing, her whole body going deadly still.

"Stay here," she said, voice low and tight.

She stripped off her gloves and tossed them aside before striding out of the room, her footsteps sharp and purposeful as they echoed down the hallway. Juliet lay frozen on the bed, every muscle locked in place, her breath coming in shallow gasps while her ears strained to catch every sound. Her heart pounded like a war drum, and pain coiled low in her belly, building like a storm that threatened to tear her apart.

The front door creaked open with an ominous groan.

Lucy's voice rang out from the entrance, firm and clipped, edged with the kind of urgency that made Juliet's blood run cold. "This is private property. You need to leave. Now."

Then came another voice-a voice Juliet hadn't heard in months, a voice she had desperately hoped never to hear again cutting through the night air like a blade.

"Where is she, Dr. Carter? "

Cool. Controlled. Venomous.

"We know she's here."

Sofia Walton.

Juliet's heart plummeted straight into her stomach as terror slammed into her chest like a freight train. Her hands twisted into the sheets until her knuckles went white, and her throat went bone dry as panic clawed its way up from her chest.

How had they found her? It was impossible-she'd been so careful, so hidden, completely off the grid for months.

Lucy's voice came again, steel-hard now and unwavering in its determination. "There's no one here but me. This is my personal residence, and you're trespassing. Leave before I call the police."

Sofia barely paused, her response cutting through Lucy's words like they meant nothing at all.

"Don't try to play games with me," she snapped, each word dripping with malice. "We know the little whore is here."

Another contraction ripped through Juliet's body with vicious intensity, making her back arch off the bed. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she bit down on her knuckles hard enough to break skin, tasting copper as she fought to stay completely silent.

Then a soft whimper echoed from the bassinet.

Sofia's voice turned knife-sharp with sudden interest. "Was that a baby? "

Heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway, getting closer with each passing second, and Juliet's lungs seized as panic surged through her veins like wildfire. They were coming for her-Sofia would find her helpless and in labor, would find her baby, would drag them both back to hell where they'd never escape again.

*No.*

The word wasn't hers but came from somewhere primal and fierce, somewhere deep inside where Rosie had been waiting.

*Run.*

Another contraction hit, but this one was different-raw power rushed through her limbs like electricity. Her fingers trembled as her skin felt electric and alive, her spine arching as her breath came in sharp, desperate gasps that seemed to fill the entire room.

Her bones began to shift as Rosie took control.

"No," Juliet gasped, cradling her swollen stomach protectively. "The babies... they're not ready..."

*Trust me,* Rosie growled with fierce determination. *I will protect our pups.*

The shift came like a lightning strike, violent and unstoppable. Bones cracked and reformed while muscles stretched and rebuilt themselves, skin tearing and reconstructing in a transformation that should have been impossible in her condition.

By the time the door burst open with explosive force, the bed was empty except for blood-slicked sheets and haunting silence.

The window hung open to the night, curtains snapping in the cold air like battle flags announcing a war that had already begun. Outside, a wolf with piercing blue eyes melted into the trees, her shape disappearing into shadows while her belly remained heavy with unborn life.

Agony tore through every nerve in Juliet's body as Rosie ran through the darkness, each stride sending shockwaves of pain that threatened to tear them both apart. Juliet floated inside the wolf's consciousness, feeling every jarring impact but powerless to stop the desperate flight that carried them away from danger.

Her mind drifted in and out of awareness while her bones jarred with each stride, as if they belonged to someone else entirely.

Rosie moved with desperate purpose through the night, running through blood and paralyzing fear without stopping, without slowing, not until they reached the one place that might truly be safe. She was heading for the storm cellar behind Lucy's clinic-the only place Sofia would never think to look, hidden behind a sagging shed and a fence that leaned like it had given up, half-buried in ivy and the kind of shadows that devoured secrets.

With every pounding step, Juliet felt herself fading as her mind dimmed like dying embers, while Rosie surged forward with crystal-clear determination.

*Hold on, *Rosie whispered urgently.* Almost safe.*

The rusted doors groaned as she shoved them open with her snout, padding down into the consuming darkness of their childhood refuge. The air inside was cool and dry, heavy with dust and damp wood and bleach.

Rosie circled once, then collapsed in complete exhaustion, releasing her hold on Juliet's body.

The shift back came agonizingly slow this time, and Juliet gasped as her human form returned, slick with sweat and trembling while her belly contracted violently. Another wave of pain slammed through her with merciless intensity, and the second pup slid into the world with a sharp cry that echoed off the stone walls.

A boy, smaller than the first but breathing strong and determined. He had a head full of black hair and eyes the color of tempest-dark ocean-deep, sharp, unmistakably blue.

Minutes later, the third came in a rush of fluid and relief-another boy crowned with chestnut hair that gleamed even in the dim light. When his eyes opened, they gleamed gold like captured sunlight, bright and wild and fierce with newborn fury.

Then the fourth and final pup arrived with quiet determination. Black hair again, and the same piercing blue eyes as her second brother, but this one was a girl-tiny and absolutely fierce, her cry softer than the boys' but equally demanding of attention and love.

Juliet lay motionless on the cold stone floor, arms trembling as her heart raced with exhaustion and overwhelming emotion. The world had narrowed to four perfect, fragile cries that filled the darkness with new life, and she should have felt overwhelming relief that they were all safe and breathing.

But something was wrong-deep in her soul, she felt it.

Not pain from the birth, not blood loss from the trauma, but something fundamental unraveling inside her chest, dissolving like sugar in rain.

*Juliet, *Rosie whispered with infinite sadness. *I can't stay.*

Terror cut through her like a blade, sharp and cold and final.

"No. Please. Don't leave me alone with them."

*I have to,* Rosie said with gentle finality, her voice already growing distant.* The shift shattered something inside us that can't be repaired, but the pups are here and they're safe, and that's what matters now.*

Rosie's voice was fading with every word, becoming nothing more than whispers on the wind.

*Juliet,you are everything they need and more. You always were stronger than you knew. Love them, keep them safe-that's your destiny now, and it's more important than anything else in this world.*

Juliet gasped as her chest heaved with emotion, her limbs shaking uncontrollably while she gathered the pups to her chest one by one. Their hearts fluttered against her ribs like four precious, synchronized clocks marking time in their new world-alive and real and completely hers to protect.

Tears streamed down her face, her wolf was gone, leaving behind only the faintest whisper of love.

*Juliet,I love you. I love our pups.*

Then-emptiness so complete it took her breath away.

The bond was severed forever, and Juliet didn't scream or fight against the inevitable. Her body surrendered before her mind could fully process what had happened, and she collapsed beside her pups with her arms still protectively wrapped around their tiny forms.

Her eyes closed as her breathing became barely perceptible, and then merciful darkness claimed her, carrying her away from pain and loss into dreams where Rosie still ran free through endless forests under starlit skies.