b298 /bbRonan /bband /bKa

    bMara /b

    bOne /bbHour /bbLater /b

    I had delivered twins, a boy and a girl.

    They’d taken them away to clean and swaddle, but the moment they left the iroom/i, I was already aching to see them again. I’d been wheeled back into the private room, still shaky, still high on exhaustion and emotion.

    Lucian sat at my bedside, holding my hand like it was sacred. His other hand brushed my hair back softly before he kissed my forehead, then my knuckles, over and over.

    “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you, my love.”

    The joy in his eyes was undeniable. He was glowing, an Alpha, a mate, a new father.

    “We have twins, Mara,” he said with wonder. “A boy and a girl.”

    I nodded, smiling faintly. “I still can’t believe it.”

    The door opened, and the nurses walked in carrying two bundles wrapped in pale blue and pink.

    Martha stood and immediately reached for the little girl, cooing at her as if she had waited her whole life for this moment. She smiled, yful and soft, and then gently handed her to me. My heart swelled as I cradled the tiny, perfect life in my arms.

    Lucian took the boy and stared down at him with quiet pride.

    Martha’s gaze flicked from one baby to the other, a note of surprise in her voice. “Both your children have Alpha Marks, Mara.”

    i blinked and looked down quickly, searching their small shoulders.

    Sure enough, two faint, glowing crescent marks/pulsed just below their skin.

    “Is that… okay?” I asked Lucian, uncertainty creeping into my voice.

    He grinned, his eyes alight. “It’s more than okay. It’s iamazing/i. It means they’ll be strong pups, born leaders. And they’ll have all the freedom thates with being born Alpha.”

    I giggled softly, catching the glint in his eyes. It was our private joke. His father had once been able to pressure and control me because I wasn’t Alpha–born. Being cut off from the n would’ve left me vulnerable.

    But our children?

    No one could ever threaten them like that.

    They owned their marks.

    Just thenb, /bthe door opened again, and Keisha and Denis entered, smiling, arms full of balloons and gifts. The room lit up even more with their energy.

    They both paused when they saw Martha.

    “Martha,” Keisha said softly, surprised but respectful.

     298 Ronan and Ka

    Denis gave her a polite nod. “Wee back.”

    She smiled gently. “Thank you.”

    I saw her begin to reach for her purse, about to excuse herself.

    “You’re not leaving,” I said firmly.

    Martha paused.

    “You helped bring my twins into the world,” I added. “You stayi./ii” /i

    She nodded slowly, tears rising in her eyes again, but this time, they weren’t from pain.

    They were from healing.

    Just then, the door swung open again.

    +5 bPoints /b

    Darian walked in with Tiffany, little Emma in his arms and Richard clinging to his leg. The joy ion /itheir faces melted into stunned silence the moment they spotted Martha.

    She stood up slowly, then, without warning, ran straight into her son’s arms.

    Darian caught her, wrapping her up tightly in his embrace. His eyes glistened with unshed tears.

    “Why did you leave like that, Mother?” His voice cracked. “We were iworried/i. We couldn’t reach you. We didn’t

    know where you were. Father was,

    “I know, Darian,” she cut in softly, pressing her hand to his cheek and holding him again. “Mara told me

    everything. I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone would care this much. If I’d known… I would’ve stayed in touch.”

    He held her tighter, nodding, telling her without words that she was already forgiven.

    I looked on, heart full. My babies had brought her back, not just to us, but to herself. Without this birth,

    without this moment, I wasn’t sure she would’ve found the strength to face everyone again.

    Martha reached for Emma, pulling her into herp as if she’d never been gone. She whispered something that

    made the little girlugh and beam, snuggling into her. A quiet peace settled in the room.

    Meanwhile, Lucian and I were still… stuck.

    “Okay,” I said, exasperated but smiling, “we’re really doing this now?”

    “We’ve had nine months, Mara,” he teased, bouncing our son gently in his arms. “How is it still this hard?”

    “Because we both want names that feel right,” I said, sighing. “And so far, all we’ve got is your random list and

    my abandoned notes.”

    “Well, we can’t keep calling them ‘boy‘ and ‘girl‘ forever,” he chuckled.

    I looked down at our daughter in my arms. Her little face scrunched slightly as she yawned, tiny, perfect, fierce already

    “I think she’s a Ka,” I said, feeling the name settle into me.

    Lucian smiled, nodding. “Ka… yeah. That’s strong. Beautiful, too.”

    We both turned to look at the boy in his arms. Calm, watchful. Already carrying himself like he knew the

    weight of the world.

    “What about… Ronan?” Lucian said. “It means ‘little seal, but also warrior. I don’t know, it just fits.”

    298 Ronan and Ka

    Iughed. “From ancient warrior to ocean pup in one name.”

    “But you like it?” he asked.

    I looked at the baby again. “Yeah. I like it. iRonan /iiand /iiKa/ii./ii” /i

    Lucian leaned over and kissed my temple.

    “They’re perfect.”

    Lucian gently excused himself from the room, brushing a kiss across my forehead before stepping out.

    Ten minutester, he returned, calm but purposeful. And that was when Martha stood.

    “I should get going,” she said, her voice carefully neutral.

    Every head turned.

    b“/bMartha, no,” Keisha said, despite the strain of her very pregnant belly as she got up from her chair. Even

    Denis moved instinctively to block the door.

    “No one wants you to go,” Tiffany added softly.

    The atmosphere shifted, like everyone understood without needing to speak it: iif /iishe /iiwalked /iiout /iinow/i, iwe /i

    imight /ilose iher /iiagain/ii. /i

    I gripped the edge of the bed, watching her closely.

    “Martha,” I said gently, “you icannot /ileave this room. Not after everything. You’ve been gone three months.

    We’re owed at least one uninterrupted moment with you.”

    She squinted at me, suspicious. “What’s going on?”

    I gave her the most innocent shrug I could manage, but she wasn’t buying it.

    I linked Lucian instantly.

    b“/bbDo /bbsomething/bb, /bbLucian/bb. /bIf bshe /bbleaves /bbnow/bb…/bb” /b

    b“/bbDon’t /bworryb,” /bhe responded calmly. b“/bbFather’s on /bbhis /bwayb./bb” /b

    Of course. That’s why he’d stepped out. He’d gone to make the call.

    I felt a small surge of hope.

    Martha shifted on her feet. b“/bI didn’te here for this,b” /bshe murmured. “I came for the birth, not a

    confrontation,”

    “You came here because you still care/ I interrupted softly. “And that’s okay. No one’s going to judge you for loving someone who didn’t know how to love you the right way. But if you leave now, you’ll never know if things could be different.”

    She looked around the room.

    Everyone was watching her with the kind of intensity that said they weren’t going to let her disappear again.

    “Martha, please,” Keisha said, voice tender but firm. “You are part of this moment, the birth of the twins. Don’t

    vanish before we even celebrate that.”

    Martha sighed, clearly torn.

    298 Ronan and Ka

    Then I saw it, a flicker in her eyes. A realisation.

    She knew.

    She iknew /iVander was on his way.

    But she didn’t run. Not yet.

    And that was something.

    b1 /b

    t