"Emily," I hear my baby brother whisper as he bends down, draws me up to his chest with one arm under my knees and the other under the small of my back. I whimper, leaning my head against his collarbone as I whimper. It hurts. Derek's hand draws mine away from the blood I'm trying so hard to hide. His eyes burn red and he throws himself forward to tear into the Alphas. I whimper a second time, my fingers close around the neckline of Preston's shirt.
"Take her down to Melissa. She'll be able to get her into a room if it's been marked."
The second I hear Melissa's voice, I turn my head to glance at her. She's telling Stiles to carry me into another room, and I feel the mattress underneath me. Fingers pull my jeans down to examine me. I throw myself to one side and puke up crimson blood, pain in my chest as I attempt to breathe.
"No miscarriage, but it looks like two broken ribs, one's punctured her diaphragm. How far along is she?"
"Seven months," I croak, "36 weeks today."
"I have to set your ribs. I know you have your insane werewolf healing, but you need to heal correctly. And I need to do an ultrasound to make sure nothing's happened aside from bleeding from sensitivity."
"Okay." I whisper, taking Stiles hand and gripping it tightly. He brushes my hair back from my face and waits as I feel her fingers shift my rib back into place. It's blinding pain and I don't scream this time. I let out a full-fledged howl, trying to keep care and not shatter Preston's fingers.
"Hold her still, Stiles!" She snaps. She's in healer-mode. I scream when she sets the other rib.
3POV
Derek can hear her cries of pain from three floors up, and the Alphas hid.
"You let her get away?! NOW CORA AND MY FATHER ARE DEAD!"
"MY FIANCEE AND MY CHILDREN COULD BE DYING, AND YOU WANTED ME TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT JENNIFER BLAKE?!" Derek bellows in response, almost a snarl at the human. Stiles flinches at the harsh tone of voice he's heard only a handful of times from Derek.
"SHE'S GOING TO BE FINE, DEREK! THEY ALL ARE!"
"She's dying, isn't she?" Scott murmurs as he pushes hair away from Cora's forehead.
"Carter." She whimpers, "Carter."
"Who's that?"
"Her son." Peter whispers, "Isaac took him home a couple hours ago."
"He's fine, Cora. He's with Isaac." Derek whispers, kissing her forehead gently, "Carter's at home."
"Okay. I-I want to go home, Der. I want to see my baby." She slurs her words together as she's drawn back into the depths of unconsciousness.
"I'm the only one that can help her." She says, from the doorway. Jennifer smirks, crossing her arms as she saunters in. Derek throws an entire rack of medicine over as he lunges for her, only to be held back by Peter gripping him by the shirt.
"She tried to get away!"
"Yes, and you don't know she didn't do something to Emily as well. You have to calm down. I'm all for torturing her for information. Afterall, in a real Pack, she'd be killed for harming a beta, let alone an Alpha's mate." Peter growls, "If Emily dies, I don't care what you know. I'll tear you apart myself."
"You killed your own niece, Peter. Why are you defending her?"
"Because my sister asked me to. I may have done a lot of things, but disobeying a direct order from my sister is not one of them." The amount of emotion in his voice about Talia, the awe and respect, isn't a tone of voice Derek's used to hearing his uncle use.
"What do you mean?" He murmurs, "About mom."
"The basement on the night of the fire. Your mom told me that when I got out, I was to protect her. And I'm going to do exactly that."
"Then where the hell have you been every time she's gotten hurt?" He snaps, suddenly ready to tear out his Uncle's throat…again.
"Sawyer wasn't my fault. I was here, looking for you, Derek. If anything, it's on you." Peter argues.
EMPOV
"Let me help." I turn my gaze to find Delaney staring at me in horror from the doorway. Hmm. The little bitch has a heart. Preston's heart pounds again at the sight of her. A backpack is slung over her shoulder as she slips into the room. Melissa and the other steps away as she pinned her hair up. Her blue-grey eyes focused as she opens up her pack and pulls out a poultice and vials similar to Deaton's.
"Melissa, if you could remove her shirt so I can access her ribs and stomach, it would be appreciated."
The power and maturity drifting from this little girl in waves is incredible. Scott's mother does as she asks, reaching down and gently tugging my shirt over my head to set it gently in a clean chair. Cold, soft fingers press lightly over my stomach, and across until they press into a painful spot that causes me to cry out.
"The placenta's been damaged." She murmurs, more to herself than us, "Your children are full-blooded wolves. Their placenta can heal as they do. But, the wound was inflicted by an Alpha. I can help—with runes and herbs. If you'll allow me, that is. If not, your children will die."
"Anything it takes to save them." I agree without hesitation, taking Preston's hand again. She begins furiously murmuring to herself in an ancient language as she put countless plants into the bowl and crushes them up. I watch in curiosity, inhaling and finding some common ones I've smelled before—in Tiffany with my own Emissary. Her fingers dip into the bowl and she drags it across my skin, swirling over my left rib, down to my right hip, sloping to the top hem of my panty-line, up to connect it in a diamond before completing the rune on my right rib. It soaks into my skin, glowing blue like Derek's eyes before he was an Alpha. I cry out as it burns against me before it cools and the pain in my ribcage stops. The aching in my lower half ceases and everything sough of my chest floods with cool. Soothing and relaxing. All the tension leaves my muscles.
"Thank you." I whisper, "But, why? Why are you helping me?"
"Because my birth mother has caused you and your family so much damage, I want to put a stop to it. My full name is Delaney Baccari. That woman's name isn't Jennifer Blake. It's Julia Baccari."
I sprint out to the car in pouring rain, in only my undergarments to grab one of Derek's spare shirts and my emergency shorts and panties from the backseat before I force myself back into the hospital to dress.
Tucking the shirt into the shorts, I braid my hair absent-mindedly as I try to think of what I can arm myself with this time.
"Emily, here." Preston murmurs as he pulls a dagger out of his large backpack, "Chris gave it to me a month ago, and taught me how to throw. He said you were almost as good a shot as Kate."
"He was right. I've always been good with a knife." I murmur, as I slide it up under the back of my shirt, my bra holding it in place.
"C'mon, Little Brother." I say, taking him by the elbow. We take the elevator and I close my eyes—getting a lock on Derek's scent and following it.
DPOV
I glance up when the door swings open and she walks in—wearing my gray tee shirt, with her black leather jacket, and those damn dark high-waisted shorts. It makes me want to throw her down on the nearest surface and make her scream my name. Anything to stop my Uncle from ogling her like he does. If he agreed to defend her, it wasn't for my mother. It was because he wants her for himself.
"Emily," I breathe, setting my hands on either side of her face, kissing her lightly on the lips, "You're okay? The boys are okay?"
"We're fine, thanks to Delaney," Jennifer visibly stiffens at the name. The fuck?
"You—You saw Delaney?"
"Yes, I met your daughter. She's a sweetheart." The icy tone in my fiancée's voice sends chills through me, "She's also strong, isn't she? Stronger than you?"
"Shut up." She snarls.
"Leave her alone." I growl at the woman, pulling Emily against my chest. Her lips press above my heart, and I fight back a groan. She may not have forgiven me, but she still trusts me to keep her safe. I tuck her head under my chin and see Preston step into the room as well. He carries himself the same way as Chris, with the same facial expressions as Emily. It's bizarre.
My mate pulls free to stroke my sister's arm comfortingly, kissing her hair. Like my mom used to do. I bite my bottom lip as I watch her. I always watch her. Whenever I'm near her—I don't think of anyone or anything else.
I feel the light weight of her fingers through mine as we made our way into the garage to escape, Cora thrown over my free shoulder. She sends a dark look at Jennifer. I bite back a growl when she pulls me to her and kisses me with more force than in the Loft. She rolls her tongue forward across my lips as I groan and try not to reach forward and tug the shirt out of her shorts. Emily slowly pulls away, keeping her face close to mine for a long moment.
"We don't exactly have time for you two to fuck against the jeep right now!" Stiles shouts. Em freezes for a moment before her widened eyes look at the boy and she bursts out laughing.
"Why are you laughing?!" He shouts. I hide my face in her hair to contain my own laughter as I realize what she finds funny.
"You just...You're so innocent; that's the last thing I expected to come out of your mouth!" She giggles. He pouts like a petulant toddler and I feel her body shake even harder with laughter. I haven't heard that sound in so long—it's absolutely adorable.
"Uh...Derek?" Jennifer says. Her heartbeat picks up and I move around to see what she's panicking about.
"Julia...Julia." Kali's sing-song voice echoes around us, "It is you."
"You can't beat her on your own."
"That's because we're going to run."
"You can run all you want," My mate strips her jacket and shoes, crouching low with her claws extended, "That bitch killed my brother."
And then she lunged. I watch her struggle and claw, kick and punch, Kali. Ducking out of hits that I took when I fought her. At an opportune moment, I pick her up by the waist and pull her away from Kali, carrying her into the elevator. Before the door can close, Emily pulls out of my arms and runs for the stairs instead.
What the hell is she up to?
Before I can escape to go after her, all the electricity shuts off at once. Oh, hell.