"We've been here for almost a week. What the hell is taking them so long?" Taylor mumbles from beside me. We are huddled together in one of the few patches of light streaming in through the holes in the roof of the small shack we are locked inside. It's cold in the shadows, and without anything to keep up warm, we have to result to any bit of sunlight we can find.

"Actually, it is probably closer to a week and a half," Allie says from the other corner of the shack. "The full moon is getting close. Looks like it will be here tomorrow. You better hope your mates get here before it rises."

"Allie, shut up," Micah says from beside her.

She turns to glare at him, but he just pulls her against his side, causing her to relax. It seems as though we are not the only ones worried about the full moon tomorrow night.

"Sorry," she mumbles, not moving her head from where she has it buried in her brother's neck. He reaches up and pets her blonde hair away from her face, helping to relieve any more of the remaining tension her body is holding.

"It's okay," I say, cringing against the wall as another contraction wracks through my body.

Cramps have been tormenting my body since early this morning before the sun had even risen, and have been getting worse as the day goes by. They used to be about twenty minutes apart and easily manageable. Now, they are getting closer together, only letting me rest for barely ten minutes before another one hits.

Taylor, noticing my discomfort, turns his head to look over at me. I try to force a smile, but find it impossible with the intense pain in my lower back. Quickly, he unwraps his arms from around his legs and sits up on his knees.

"Liam," he gently questions, "what's wrong?" The contraction finally seizes and I lean back against the wall behind me, trying to catch my breath.

Shaking my head, I try to shoo him away from me, but he does not listen. "It's nothing."

"No it's not," he says, looking over my body with a critical eye.

I cannot let him know that I am having contractions right now. I do not want him to fall into another panic attack, so I will just have to wait until our pack comes to get us.

Hoping to distract him, I start babbling. "So, what's so special about this full moon anyway? The Warriors must be bigger idiots than we originally thought, seeing as they believe they can get any one of us pregnant, even though they are not our mates. Everyone knows that a wolf can only create a family with their mate. God, they are such idiots. Why did we have to be captured by idi-"

"Liam!" Micah says, cutting off my long stream of babble.

He is looking me over with an incredulous eye, his sister lifting her head from his neck and giving me the same look.

"You're going to give me a headache with all your rambling," she says, but with no bite in her tone this time. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I respond, a fake smile on my face.

They both look as if they do not believe me, and turning, I see that Taylor has not stopped his inspection of my aching body.

"So," I say, deciding I must make them talk in order for them to stop trying to figure out what is wrong with me. "Am I the only one who thinks the Warriors are crazy?"

"No," Micah says, "we all know they are crazy, but they aren't when it comes to knowing about the different moons."

That catches my attention. Resituating myself against the wall, I try to get comfortable before turning my full attention to the omega across from me. "What do you mean?"

He exchanges a look with the others before raising an incredulous eyebrow at me. "You really don't know, do you?"

"No," Taylor says before I can respond. "He never has had any reason to know. He never even knew male omegas could get pregnant until, well, you know." He gestures at my stomach.

"Well, I guess that explains it," Allie says.

My annoyance at them talking about me like I am not even here flares up. The pain from another contraction coming on is not helping either.

"I swear to god, if you don't tell me what you are talking about right now, I am going to seriously hurt all of you," I growl, squeezing Taylor's arm to try and relieve some of the pain.

They all stare at me in shock, and I can see my friend's eyes widen in understanding when he realizes that I am having contractions.

"Liam!" he exclaims, "You're in labor and didn't tell me?"

I turn my glare to him, but it does not deter him. If anything, he scoots even closer to me. He does not say anything as I squeeze his arm, allowing me to transfer any pain that I am feeling. Finally, the contraction subsides and I let out the breath I had been holding.

Cracking open my eyes, I look over to see Taylor pressed against me, his hand hovering over my stomach as if asking permission to touch me. Nodding my head, I lean my head back against the wall and let my eyelids slide shut once again. The exhaustion of the constant contractions is starting to weigh on me.

"Liam," Taylor says, his fingers gently pressing against the skin at the bottom of my stomach, "we need to get you out of here. You should have told me earlier that you were having contractions."

"I didn't want you to panic," I whisper, too tired to move or open my eyes.

His prodding becomes a little harder as his hands travel from one side of my stomach to the other. After a couple of minutes, he lifts up my shirt to get a better look. The way his hands are pressing into my skin helps to relieve some of the pain centered there.

"How far along is he?" Allie says, coming to sit next to Taylor. I hear the rustling of clothing and know that Micah has joined her.

"Judging by how close his contractions are and how thin his skin is, I would say that he only has a few hours left until the baby is ready to come out," Taylor says. "We have to get him out right now. If he has the baby in here, the alphas will kill it since it isn't one of theirs. We can't wait any longer."

Opening my eyes, I see Allie and Micah silently nodding their heads. We had all been hoping to be out of here by now. Honestly, I had been starting to lose hope.

Suddenly, the door slams open, revealing the leader. His black hair is slicked back by the grease accumulated from not washing. His dark eyes sear into all of us but stay on me the longest. A snide smile spreads across his face as he puts the pieces together about what is going on, but before he can act on his findings, loud growls from wolves and moans from the infected filter into our tiny shack.

"What the fuck is going on out there?" he yells, sending all of us scrambling away from him.

Taylor wraps his arms around me, massaging my back and sides, while Allie and Micah crowd in front of me as if they are trying to hide me from view. They are trying to protect me, a vulnerable pack member, and I automatically know our pack has grown to include Allie and Micah.

"Something is attacking, driving a huge horde of the infected into our camp. There are too many of them. Even those of us in wolf form can't fight them all off," a gruff voice says to the leader from outside our shack.

Seething, the leader turns his attention back towards us. His fists clench as the noises of the infected grow louder, and as the growls become fewer, he finally snaps. Surging forward, he pushes Allie and Micah away from he and rips me out of Taylor's arms.

"Stop! Stop, you asshole!" Taylor yells, jumping on the alpha's back.

They both crash into the wall, and the siblings grab me when the alpha throws me to the ground in order to try and get a hold of Taylor.

"You pathetic omega. How fucking dare you touch me!" he screams, elbowing Taylor in the face and knocking him out. When Taylor crumples to the ground, he growls and kicks him in the stomach repeatedly.

"Stop it!" I cry, trying to get away from the siblings' arms so that I can check on Taylor, but they hold me tight. "Stop that! You're going to kill him!"

With one last kick, the alpha spits on Taylor's motionless body before wiping his mouth and turning towards us. His disarrayed hair and clenching fists add to his look of insanity. Micah steps in front of me, but the alpha backhands him, sending the omega to the ground. Allie sniffles behind me, but does not release her grip from around me.

"You sure you want to do this, sweetheart," the alpha says in a sickly sweet voice.

I feel her nod against my shoulder, but I disentangle myself from her arms. When she tries to grab me again, I give her one last hug before gently pushing her towards her brother. Tears stream through the mud on her face, and I can tell she wants to defend me, but I cannot have anyone else getting hurt because of me.

"Good choice," the alpha says, grabbing a fist full of my hair and pulling me along with him.

Before I can stop myself, I fall to the ground, luckily landing on my back instead of my stomach. Another contraction rips through me, but this time, I do not stay silent.

"Get off of me, you bastard! Let go of me!" I scream, my hands wrapped over his to try and lessen the pain of him pulling me by my hair.

The combination of pain from my hair being ripped out, the cramps from the contractions, and the fear of what he may do to my baby sends me into hysterics. Desperately, I kick my legs and try to wiggle away from him, but that just makes him tighten his grip on me.

"Stay still," he growls, but I do not listen.

My eyes are clenched shut, but I can tell I am being dragged over grass. Sounds of the infected and the growls from wolves are growing louder. Suddenly, the hand in my hair unclenches and I fall the rest of the way to the ground. Hearing the alpha scream in terror, I roll onto my side and see two wolves standing over a mangled mess, but instead of finishing him off, they turn towards me and leave him for the approaching infected to finish off.

Even though there is blood on their muzzles and paws, I do not feel any fear when I look at these wolves. Gritting my teeth, I sit up and face them, not really looking at them until the contraction I am feeling passes. The both hesitantly walk over to me, their fur a dusty blonde and their eyes a familiar green. When they rub against me and nuzzle my belly, the pain and confusion clear away.

"Erik? Ethan?" I whimper.

They both let out affirming growls before helping me to stand up. Gently, one of them bumps me with their nose, signaling me to walk.

"What about the other omegas? We can't leave them."

The wolf on my right motions his head behind me, and turning, I see Tatum and two figures I do not know helping the omegas out of the shack. Taylor is still unconscious, lying limp in Tatum's arms. Micah tries to wiggle away from the blonde man holding him, but he looks too exhausted to really get away. Allie just walks behind them, her head buried in the female's neck as they walk in our direction.

"Okay," I whisper, finally turning back towards my mates.

Together, we hurry away from the decimated camp, screams of the alphas still loud, but growing quieter as we walk away. For the first time in weeks, I feel a sense of calm, but it is shattered by an even worse contraction than before.

"W-wait," I stutter, falling to the ground from the pain.

My eyes are tightly closed and my teeth are clenched as I grab my stomach. I cannot breathe through the intense pain. Arms wrap around me and turning, I see Erik and Ethan in their human forms, both looking at me with concern.

"We need to get him away from here. The baby is going to be here soon," a voice says from our right. My mates both turn, growling at the intruder, but fall silent once I let out another whimper.

"T-Taylor?" I question. Finally, after what seems like hours, the contraction passes, allowing me to breathe. Looking up, I see a beaten up Taylor hovering over me, having a stare down with my mates.

"You're awake," I say with a smile. He breaks his gaze away from my mates and reaches out to help me stand up.

"Yes, and we need to move," he says.

My mates press themselves against my side, and that is when I realize the others standing behind Taylor. Micah and Allie give me reassuring smiles, but the betas behind them look at me apprehensively.

Turning, I look into Erik's eyes. "He's right, I can't have the baby here."

Understanding finally spreads across his face, and he starts furiously nodding. Looking at Ethan, I see him doing the same, his eyes flickering between my stomach and my face.

"We have a place," Ethan says.

"Okay, let's move," Taylor says to my mates. Feeling another contraction coming on, I just nod and allow Erik to pick me up.

"Hurry, the baby doesn't seem like it is going to stay in much longer," my friend says. We all start running, hopefully to the safe place Ethan had mentioned.

*****

The picture at the top is of Jesse