The feeling of having Taylor back in my arms is almost overwhelming. It has been months since I last saw him. When we first left, it was the middle of summer, and now it is the middle of fall. Him and the others were supposed to be here weeks ago. When they did not arrive when they were supposed to, we all started to get a little worried. But as the days passed without any sign on them, the slight worry had turned into a burning fear.

All of my nights have been restless, my mind too occupied with the whereabouts of my boyfriend and little brother. The thought that I would never see them again caused a burning ache to settle in my chest, never going away even in sleep. The few hours of sleep that I was able to get where always fitful and ended up with me waking up in a sheen layer of sweat from the intensity of the nightmares.

Now that Taylor is here snuggled into my side and Elliot is in my arms, the burning ache has been extinguished. For the first time in weeks, I am able to take a deep breath without it hurting. My arm tightens around the both of them, and Taylor gives my side a reassuring squeeze.

Together, we walk into the house, not letting go of each other for a second. The others walk in front of us, only Alpha Seren trails behind. Once we are all safely inside, he locks the door, a habit he has every time the front door has been opened.

I lead Taylor into the living room, seating us on the remaining space left open on one of the couches. The conversations are low as everyone gets acquainted. It doesn't take long for me to introduce Taylor to everyone, seeing as they know so much about him from my ramblings anyway. Ethan is sure to tell Taylor that, too, which causes my face to heat up. Taylor just smiles up at me, leaning over to give me a chaste kiss before relaxing into the comfortable couch.

Ethan doesn't wait long to unstrap Matty from Liam, giving the baby lots of kisses on his smiling face as he lets out small squeals of glee. The alpha joins us, taking his seat in the recliner. His eyes end up on Matty, widening a little bit in disbelief. Ethan had told him a lot about the baby, but hearing about someone is not the same as seeing them in person.

Liam must sense the alpha's eyes on his baby because he whispers something to Ethan. When he nods his head, Liam takes Matty from his mate and slowly makes his way over to Alpha Seren.

"Alpha," Liam says once he stops in from of the older werewolf. "Would you like to meet your grandson?"

Alpha Seren looks away from the baby long enough to meet Liam's eyes and give a slight nod of his head. His hands are trembling slightly when he takes a curious Matty from Liam's arms. He holds the baby out in front of him for half a minute, his eyes taking in every piece of him. It isn't until Matty lets out an indignant squawk that he brings the baby closer to him, laying him across his legs so that they can both stare at each other.

After what seems like forever, the alpha finally looks up, his eyes slightly glassy. "He is amazing. Luna would be proud of you."

"Thank you, alpha," Liam says, a hesitant smile spreading across his face. He seems to relax back into the couch at Alpha Seren's words as if he was worried that the man would not approve of Matty.

Ethan wraps his arm around Liam, pulling him against his side. He seems to be doing better than he was weeks ago when he was talking about possibly splitting away from his mates. It is impossible to truly tell with Ethan, though. He is good at hiding how he really feels.

It is only when I look around the room that I realize that not everyone is here. I had been too preoccupied with Taylor and Elliot to see that some of our pack members are not here with us. Apparently, I am not the only one to notice their absence, because Micah speaks up from where he is sitting on the other couch.

"Where are Jesse and Erik? I thought they would have made it here quicker than us," he says, brows scrunched together in confusion.

"They were with you, weren't they?" Ethan asks.

Liam pulls away from him then, staring down at his hands where they are rhythmically clenching and unclenching. He looks like he doesn't want to talk, but when Ethan rubs a reassuring hand on his thigh, Liam lets out a heavy sigh.

"They were out on patrol the night of the full moon with Zalo. We weren't supposed to leave until the next morning, as you know. But, that plan got blown to hell when a huge horde of infected broke through the woods and were headed straight towards us. There was no time for us to wait for them, so we had to make a break for it."

"And you haven't seen them since?" I question, a cold shiver of fear spreading throughout my body. After finding out who Zalo really is, I don't trust him out there with our pack mates. Add in the fact that neither Jesse or Erik have made it here yet and the resulting picture does not look pretty.

"Well," Liam draws out the word, his eyes flickering over quickly to Taylor, almost too fast for me to catch. A feeling of dread settles in my stomach.

Taylor tenses up beside me, and I look down at him, brows scrunched together in worry. "Taylor?" I question, trying to catch his gaze, but he refuses to meet my eyes. "Did something happen?"

When Taylor doesn't speak up, that feeling of dread starts to get even stronger. Micah speaks up before I can say anything else. "We may not have run into Jesse or Erik at all, but we did run into Zalo."

Taylor pulls away from me completely, letting my arm drop from where it was wrapped around him.

"What did he do?"

Both Liam and Micah look over at Taylor, their blue eyes worried. Micah speaks up again when Taylor still remains silent.

He looks over at me before he starts speaking. "We stopped for gas just a couple miles from the house. Taylor and I went into the store to look for any supplies that might have been left behind. We were only in there for a couple of minutes before I was knocked out cold by Zalo, and Taylor..."

Taylor's hands clench in his lap, and when he finally looks up, his eyes are distant. "Zalo attacked me. He was in full rut, but that doesn't excuse what he did."

Taylor doesn't say anything else, and I can tell by the stubborn set of his jaw that he is not going to say anything else on the subject.

"That's how I ended up with them," the new omega- Avery- says from where he is seated next to Micah.

Ethan finally speaks up. "So none of us know what happened to Jesse and Erik or where they are?"

Everyone shakes their head. This isn't good. Something inside of me is telling me that their disappearance has something to do with Zalo. With all the new information that we have learned about him and what the others said about him attacking Taylor, he has to have a connection with our pack mates' disappearance.

We all sit in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from Matty's coos and the little ones' quiet babbles as they play with each other. It isn't until the sun is completely set that Alpha Seren breaks the long silence.

"With everything that has happened today, I think that we should all turn in early. There is nothing that we can do tonight." Even though his voice is steady, it is still possible to catch the underlying tremor of worry in his tone.

He stands up and walks over to Ethan and Liam, handing Matty to his son. Ethan takes him with a small smile on his face, cuddling the baby to his chest. The sight makes my heart clench and a feeling of longing passes over me. Feeling someone's eyes on me, I look down and am met with the sight of Taylor's pretty tawny eyes.

They flicker over my face, seemingly trying to gauge my thoughts. A small smile spreads across his face before my boyfriend looks away. Confused, my brows scrunch together. Knowing Taylor, I won't find out what is on his mind until he decides that he is ready to tell me.

Ethan stands up first, Matty held tightly to his chest. "Come on, I'll show you your rooms."

Ethan holds out a hand and Liam takes it, allowing his mate to pull him up from the pit that is the couch. Everyone else gets up, following behind Ethan as he trudges up the stairs until we get to the third floor.

"All of the rooms with open doors are not being used." He looks back at everyone. "That leaves about four down here that are still available, and all the ones upstairs are unoccupied. Where ever you choose to sleep is fine."

The others nod their heads, and all of them walk back over to the flight of stairs, climbing up to the fourth level. The only ones who stay on this floor are Nik and Andrea. They don't stay with us for long though, only giving quiet goodnights before retreating to their rooms.

Ethan raises an eyebrow in the direction of the ones who left us, not like they can see it now that they are on the floor above us. "Well then, they must think we have cooties or something."

A laugh works its way out of my mouth before I can help it. Taylor squeezes my hand that he is holding onto, turning his face into my shoulder to try and hide his laughter. Ethan is cackling madly like he thinks he is a stand-up comedian, while Liam just rolls his eyes at all of us.

Elliot pulls on my pant leg, and when I look down at him, I see that his brows are scrunched in confusion. "Tate, what so funny?"

His words send me into another peal of laughter, and the confusion on his face only grows. Reaching up my free hand, I wipe at my eyes, stopping the tears before they can fall.

"Okay, crack ups, let's move this party along," Liam says, shaking his head as he walks down the hall. He tries to hide his smile by turning away, but we all see it anyway.

Taylor pulls me along after him as he walks towards Liam, and Ethan and the little ones trail behind us. Liam stops outside the door that is the third on the right. Opening the door, he takes a peek inside before popping back out.

"I knew this was the right room," he says before turning to look at us. "The little ones can stay in here. That way we can have our own space."

That sounds great right about now. The thought of getting some alone time with Taylor causes heat to spread throughout my body. The others seem to agree, and in less than fifteen minutes, the little ones are changed into some clean clothes, wiped down of the dirt that was caked onto them, and tucked into bed. They are asleep in a matter of minutes, only staying awake for the first five minutes of Liam's story.

We all walk out of the room and Liam closes the door behind us with a barely audible click. Liam and Ethan give as quiet 'goodnights' before making their way into the room that is next to the one the little ones are sleeping in. Twining my fingers with Taylor's, I pull him in the direction of our room.

Closing the door behind us, I let go of him in order to walk over to the bedside table where a lamp is set. Taylor lets out an impressed sound once I turn it on, but doesn't say anything else about it. He has probably heard all about this place from Liam, including the fact that they have access to electricity.

As I get the bed ready, Taylor walks around the room, his fingers trailing along the furniture as he walks. He stops, though, once he reaches the crib. Seeing him standing there makes me pause in the middle of turning down the blankets. His fingers tighten on the dark wood momentarily, but then let go. Slowly, they trail down the bars and onto the lavender colored sheets that cover the mattress. He stands there silently, not looking over at me for a while.

An antsy feeling starts to claw its way through my body, especially since I can't see his face, making it impossible to tell what he is thinking. Feeling like I have to explain my self, I start talking.

"That was already in the room when I chose this one. I decided not to move it, though." Taylor finally looks over at me once I pause, as if waiting for me to continue. Running my fingers through my curls, I pull on them, trying to rid myself of the nervous feeling in my body. "Just in case something in the future were to happen."

Taylor still doesn't say anything for a while, and just when I feel as if I am going to pull all of my hair out, I hear a tiny sniffle. If I hadn't been listening so closely, then I would have missed it. That small sound has me across the room in seconds, wrapping my arms around my boyfriend's waist.

"I'm so sorry, lovely. I should have known better." The thought of him being upset about seeing this crib causes the guilt to be heavy in my stomach. Of course, he wouldn't want this in here right now. It is probably just a reminder of what happened to his baby when the Warriors had him. "I'll get this out of here right away."

I step away from Taylor, intending to move the crib out of Taylor's sight as soon as possible. When I try to pull my arms away, though, Taylor holds onto them, stopping me in my tracks. Slowly, he turns around, and I am met with the sight of a silently crying Taylor. My heart clenches so hard that I fear it may stop completely.

Taylor pulls me close to him so that everything from our chests down is pressed together. His arms move so that they are around me, resting at the bottom of my back. He sniffles again before looking up at me.

"Tate, please don't move it," he says, voice wobbly from the earlier tears. "I love that you kept it here."

My head cocks to the side at his words, thoroughly confused as to why he would be crying if he isn't upset by the crib being here. "Then what is wrong, lovely?"

He bites his lip, but a smile breaks through anyway, which just causes my confusion to increase more than it already was. His hands rub along the length of my back, and he seems to melt into me. Taking a step back, he keeps me tight against him so that I move with him. Soon enough, we are falling onto the soft mattress. Well, more like me falling back onto it and Taylor wrapping himself entirely around me.

"Tate, I have something to tell you," he says, voice loud in the otherwise quiet room.

My heart speeds up when I try to figure out what he possibly has to tell me. "Okay..."

He rolls off of me, propping himself up with one arm while using his other hand to brush my curls away from my face.

"I'm pregnant," he whispers, voice so low that I almost don't catch his words.

"W-what?" I stammer out. This seems to just make Taylor smile more than he already is. He raises an eyebrow at me and repeats his words.

"I'm pregnant, lovely," he says, fingers twirling in my hair. "About five months along by now, I would guess."

Happiness spreads through me faster than it has ever before. A smile spreads across my face, but it is not nearly enough to show all the emotions that are going on inside my mind. The thought of Taylor being pregnant, that he is carrying our baby right now is the best news I have ever heard.

Reaching out a shaky hand, I place it on his stomach. I haven't been able to get a good look at it before now, too preoccupied with having him back to notice that he now has a bit of a baby bump. Taylor smiles at me the entire time, watching me with happy eyes. I guide him onto his back before sitting up so that I can get a better view of him.

Grabbing onto the bottom of his shirt, I look up at him questioningly, silently asking for permission to lift up his shirt. Taylor rolls his eyes a little bit at my over cautiousness but nods his head nonetheless. Gently, I pull up his shirt and place my hands on his stomach. My fingers spread across the bump, trying to touch as much of it as possible, and it isn't too hard since he is not that big yet.

There is only a little bump, but it causes a huge smile to spread across my face again. Bending down, I place a kiss just above my lovely's bellybutton. The love I feel for him seems to become even more, which I did not think was possible.

My lips move across his skin as I start to talk to the small life that Taylor is carrying inside of him. "Hi baby," I whisper, nuzzling against the stretched skin. "I bet it is really warm and comfortable in there. Your daddy is keeping you nice and safe." Taylor's hands find their way into my curls again; their favorite place to be. Looking up at Taylor, I see him watching me with watery eyes and a loving smile on his face. Keeping my eyes on him, I place another kiss on the bump. "I love your daddy so much, baby, and now we have you."

Taylor's fingers tug at my hair then, and I move up his torso like he wants me too. He rubs his nose against mine, giving my lips a brush of his. "I love you too, lovely, so goddam much."

It's hard to kiss when we are both smiling so much, but we manage. It isn't long before clothing is being pulled off and thrown across the room and the kiss deepens into something more. That night, after being together for the first time in months, I am able to fall into a blissful sleep with an equally naked and sated Taylor cuddled in my arms. Both of our hands resting on top of his stomach, protecting our baby from anything that might go bump in the night.