End

8 Months Later

IAN'S POV

My heart was beating fast as I sprinted towards pack clinic.

I could feel the pain that Hannah was feeling at the moment, but I knew that the pain she was feeling was far greater than the pain that the mate bond transmitted.

The clinic finally came in sight, I hurriedly opened the door and tracing Hannah's scent, I was able to arrive in her room in not even a few minutes.

She was covered in sweat, her face red, her hair disheveled, yet she still managed to steal my breath the moment I saw her.

I ran towards her side and held her hand, Andrea and my mom stepped back.

"She'll be giving birth any time soon now, Ian." Andrea said, excitement yet nervousness could be heard in her voice.

"The midwife is on her way, she'll be here soon." my mom said, her hands clasping and blowing them out of restlessness.

I realized that I was feeling extremely excited too, but at the moment I was panicking for my mate. She was whimpering in pain as she held onto my hand tightly.

I placed kisses on top of her hand and her forehead to let her know that I was right beside her, that I wasn't going anywhere.

"Hannah, you can do it, alright." I whisper onto her ears and she nods. For the first time, she opens her eyes, and those grey pair of eyes looked back at me. She was full of pain, yet she looked so strong.

"It hurts, Ian, oh gosh." she says as she winces again.

I held tighter onto her, hoping to transmit her my strength.

"The midwife's here!" someone from outside screams and soon enough, I saw an elderly lady who I recognized to be Gloria rushing inside.

She quickly prepared all the tools that she was going to need and both Andrea and my mom were helping her.

The next minutes was Hannah screaming in exhaustive pain and agony and all I could was comfort her and try to get her through till the next push.

Hannah screamed when she was instructed to push, a shrill piercing through all of our ears, but I could feel that the whole pack was hoping for Hannah's safe delivery.

It was in moments like these when the pack bond was especially strong and you could even sense it in the air.

"More, Hannah! I can see his head!" my mom said.

I looked at my mom then to Hannah. I wiped the sweat away and held her hand tighter, planting kisses on her forehead when she was taking a small rest in between.

"Push Luna!" Gloria instructed and Hannah did so.

My heart was racing. I was a mix of emotions and it was between joy and agitation.

And there it came.

The room was filled with the loud cry of a newly born infant making his presence known for the first time on this world.

You may not believe me, but I swear the world stopped when the baby cried.

My heart got in caught in my throat and suddenly I was dumb.

It felt like the first time I met Hannah, when our eyes met during that rainy night at her worthless pack.

Finally, it was Hannah that brought me back to my senses, as always. I hadn't noticed that tears had started flowing from my eyes and I hadn't noticed that Hannah was now carrying our son.

He was so... small.

He was so fragile and I knew that I had to protect him at all cost.

He was still crying, his voice, although small, was heard throughout the whole room. Like a madman, I started to laugh.

"Hannah, h-he's here. You did it, Hannah." I managed to say as I crouched towards them and observed the baby boy that my beautiful mate was carrying.

Hannah was panting after all the labour that she had done, but as she was carrying the baby, her face lit up as if she had forgotten the pain that she just went through.

"Ian, he's so beautiful." she says, her voice filled with amazement at the life she was currently holding.

I put my arms around her as we both observed at... our son.

Hannah gently shushed him and pulling him closer to her. "There, there, it's okay. It's me, mommy." she says as she ignores the tears that flowed through and she looked at me. "And he's your dad."

My face must have lit up more when she mentioned me. "H-hey there, little bud." I managed to say without stuttering.

Hannah's voice must have soothed him because he slowly stopped crying.

"So, what was his name again?" Andrea asks from beside us, teary eyed herself.

Hannah and I looked at each other and instinctively, we both smiled.

"Austin. James Austin Fortis will be his name." I answered.

I was sitting at a rocking chair at the backyard of our house, Austin sleeping in my arms. Yes, our house.

Since we had a child now, we moved at out own house just a few minutes away from the pack house. Although, we still stay at both places whenever the circumstance require it.

Austin turned four months old today and he was currently sleeping in my arms. I was watching the afternoon sunset as we waited for Ian to come back home.

It had been over a year since all the Alphas and Lunas who are dealing with the Strays have gathered. Although the current happenings were still alarming, Maddie and Hazel were handling it well as well as the other Alphas.

There is still no news about the fourth warrior. Cassian still hasn't found her and the last I heard, he was starting to give up.

I had no more dreams or visions or clues as to where or who she might be, but all I know is that we aren't the only ones looking for her. Our enemies are trying to get to her first.

Outside our pack borders, things are a bit chaotic and each pack is trying to keep themselves safe.

We have sent many of our warriors for those packs who are especially in need, but that's just a damage control. Sometimes, they still get attacked.

Archer and Chase have updated us and apparently, there was a connection between the Strays and the Council.

To be honest, I wasn't surprised. I already had a bad feeling about them for the longest time before. Archer and Chase merely confirmed it.

As for Ian and I, we are taking each day at a time.

It was a bit weird at first because even at the midst of troubling times, we were still able to be a happy growing family.

The simple smiles of Austin was enough to wash away our worries and somehow, the chaos happening outside our borders are forgotten.

The wind blew my hair as I gently rocked on the chair when I picked up Ian's scent coming nearer. Soon enough, I hear the back door opening and closing.

I turned around only to be met with Ian's smiling face and shining blue eyes and I smile back at him.

"Austin's still sleeping, I see." he whispers and sits down at the long chair in front of me. I stood up and sat beside him.

I lifted Austin up and Ian took him from me slowly as not to wake him up.

Silence settled in as Ian carried our baby and watched him sleep. I rested my head on his shoulder and stared at the orange hues of the sky.

"I don't mind." I say lowly and smiled bittersweetly.

Ian's eyebrows furrowed as he met my eyes with an inquisitive look.

"You don't mind what?"

"I don't mind spending the rest of my living days like this. With you. With Austin. With our future kids. With this pack. I don't mind."

Again, Ian smiled sweetly and even with Austin in his arms, he was able to crouch low enough and kissed me.

"I wasn't going to give you any other choices, Hannah." he teases and we both chuckle.

"Tsk, you pushed me to almost leave, remember? But it's okay. I don't hold grudges."

Ian stayed silent for a while and I could feel his regret hanging in the air.

"You know, I was reading this book about the legends and do you know what Chári means? It means grace and the name Hannah also means grace." he starts explaining and I looked towards him trying to understand where he's trying to get at.

He smiled, a bittersweet one. "That's how you've been to me, Hannah. Ever so graceful although I didn't deserve it. I gave you many reasons to give up on me, but you stayed. And for that I can never thank you enough. There are not enough words to explain how I feel towards you and I'm sorry for that." he takes a deep breather before restarting as if his words weren't already making my heart beat so fast.

"Sometimes I think that all of this is just a dream, but then you smile at me and I know that there's no way this can be an illusion. I love you. And no, it's not just the mate bond, I truly love you, Hannah Davis."

I became teary eyed and I didn't even notice it.

"What's with the sudden speech, dummy? Now you've made me feel all sappy." I complained as I sat up straight to wipe the threatening tears.

Ian smiled and who was I not to fall for it for the thousandth time?

"And you're not the only one, Ian. I love you, truly."

And while we were staring lovingly into each other's eyes, Austin must have cringed because he started whining and soon enough, he started crying.

We immediately turn to him and give him our undivided attention.

"Is he hungry?" Ian asks, gently rocking him, an futile attempt to stop him from crying.

"No, he probably wet his nappies." I guess, checking his diaper.

"Come on, let's go inside. It's getting cold."

"Let's go."

THE END