Fated To Not Just One, But Three-Chapter 677: Labour

Olivia’s POV

​Suddenly, without warning, the world shifted.

​A white-hot bolt of lightning snapped through my spine. It wasn’t a kick. It wasn’t the dull ache I’d been feeling for weeks. It was a violent, crushing wave of pressure that made my vision blur. I gasped, my body jerking forward as I gripped Levi’s hand with enough force to bruise.

​"Olivia?" Lennox was on his feet in a heartbeat, his eyes wide.

​"Lennox..." I panted, my breath hitching. "It’s... it’s happening. Now."

​Another wave hit, stronger than the first. A gush of warm fluid soaked into the rose-colored skirts of my dress. My water had broken right there on the edge of Levi’s sickbed.

​Lennox didn’t hesitate. Although I was carrying the weight of twins, he scooped me up into his arms as if I were as light as a feather. He turned toward the door, his voice booming with an Alpha’s authority that shook the very walls of the medical wing.

​"HEALERS! MIDWIVES! IT’S TIME!"

​He carried me into the birthing suite next door, which had been on standby for weeks. Louis appeared out of nowhere, his face pale and full of concern. He helped Lennox lay me onto the bed, his large hands steadying my shoulders as the first real contraction of active labor tore a scream from my throat.

​The pain was agonizing. It felt like my hips were being pried apart by iron bars. I reached out, my fingers clawing at the sheets, searching for them. Louis grabbed my left hand, and Lennox took my right.

​"Breathe, Olivia," Louis urged, his voice thick with worry. "Just breathe for me, sweetheart."

​I was lost in a sea of red agony. Every time I thought it would stop, the next wave crashed over me. I looked at the door, my heart crying out for the one person who wasn’t there. Levi. Levi, please.

​Suddenly, Lennox’s hand went limp in mine.

​I heard a heavy thud. I forced my eyes open, gasping through the pain, and saw Lennox collapsed on the floor. He was clutching his chest, his head thrown back as his body began to convulse.

​"Lennox!" I screamed, forgetting my own labor for a terrifying second. "What’s happening? Louis, help him!"

​The healers rushed toward him, but Lennox let out a sound that wasn’t human. It was a deep, guttural growl that started in his chest and vibrated through the floorboards. His eyes snapped open—they weren’t amber anymore. They were a brilliant, glowing gold.

​He pushed himself up, his muscles rippling and snapping. He looked up at me, a wild, ecstatic look on his face.

​"I can feel him," Lennox rasped, his voice sounding like two people speaking at once. "Olivia... he’s back. My wolf... he’s back!"

​I froze, a contraction frozen in my gut. Lennox had been wolf-less since his "death." To hear him say it, to see the gold in his eyes... it was a miracle.

​"I can hear him speaking to me," Lennox whispered, his breath coming in fast pants. "He’s howling... he’s calling for you."

​In that moment, a phantom sensation washed over me. It was like a veil being lifted. My own wolf, who had been quiet and protective during the pregnancy, suddenly stood tall and let out a deafening howl in the back of my mind.

​MATE.

​The word echoed through my soul. I looked at Lennox, really looked at him, and the bond that had been frayed and scarred for four years suddenly snapped back into place with the force of a tidal wave. He wasn’t just my fiancé. He was my fated mate again.

​"Mate," he breathed, looking at me with raw hunger and relief.

​Another contraction hit me, so violent that I doubled over, a sob breaking from my lips. I couldn’t do this. It was too much pain, too much power.

​The lead healer rushed forward. "The babies are crowning, but she’s too stressed! Her body is fighting the birth. Lennox, you’re her mate—you have to stabilize her!"

​"Mark her," the midwife commanded. "It will settle her heart and give her the strength of your wolf for the final push."

​Lennox didn’t hesitate. He lunged onto the bed, his glowing eyes locked on mine. "I’ve waited four years for this, Olivia. I’m never letting go again."

​He leaned down to the crook of my neck, his breath hot against my skin. As the next contraction ripped through me, his teeth sank deep into my shoulder.

​A burst of golden light exploded behind my eyelids. The pain didn’t disappear, but it changed. I felt his strength pouring into me—the raw, untamed power of an Alpha wolf. My heart synced with his, steady and strong.

​"Now, Olivia!" the healer shouted. "Push!"

​With Lennox’s mark burning on my neck and his power flowing through my veins, I let out a scream.

​"Push, Olivia! One more!" the healer’s voice was a distant roar over the sound of my own blood rushing in my ears.

​I gripped the headboard until the wood groaned, channeling every bit of the Alpha strength Lennox had just poured into me through the mark. My body felt like it was splitting in two, a raw, primal agony that reached its peak until—slick.

​The first cry shattered the tension in the room. It was a high, piercing wail that sounded like a song of victory.

​"The first one is here!" Louis shouted, his voice thick with tears.

​But I didn’t have time to breathe. The second wave was already crashing over me, even more intense than the first. I felt Lennox’s hand squeeze mine so hard our bones nearly fused. I let out a low, guttural growl that didn’t sound human, and with one final, bone-deep shove, the second pressure vanished.

​Silence fell over the room for a heartbeat, followed by a second, identical cry.

​I slumped back against the pillows, my chest heaving, my skin drenched in sweat. Lennox was still hovering over me, his golden eyes slowly fading back to their natural green, his forehead pressed against mine. He was shaking.

​"You did it, Olivia," he whispered, his voice broken. "You did it."

​The midwives moved with practiced speed, cleaning the babies before wrapping them in soft, white linen. When they finally turned toward me, the room went completely still. Louis, who had been reaching for one of them, froze. Lennox went rigid beside me.

​"Oh, Goddess," I breathed, my heart stopping as they placed the two bundles into my shaking arms.

​I stared down at them, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. I expected them to look like me, or perhaps like Lennox or Louis. But as their tiny, wrinkled faces smoothed out and their eyes blinked open for the first time, I felt a sob rip through my chest.

​They were identical. Perfectly, hauntingly identical. They didn’t have my features. They didn’t have Lennox’s jaw or Louis’s build.

​They were the female version of Levi.

​Their hair was soft, but it was their eyes that undid me. They weren’t the murky grey-blue of most newborns. They were wide, clear, and a striking, brilliant sea-blue. The exact same shade that had haunted my dreams for six months. The eyes of the man currently lying in a coma in the next room.

​"Levi..." I sobbed, pulling the girls closer to my chest. They looked so much like him it felt like a ghost was staring back at me. "Lennox, look at them. They’re him. They’re completely him."

​Louis leaned over, his massive hand trembling as he touched a tiny, perfect finger. "It’s like looking at a mirror of him twenty years ago," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Even the way the little one is scowling... that’s Levi’s scowl."

​I pressed my face against their soft heads, the scent of new life and the lingering metallic tang of the birth filling my senses. "Levi, your daughters are here," I choked out, looking toward the wall that separated us from his medical room. "They have your face. They have your eyes. Won’t you come and see them?"

​The girls stirred in my arms, their tiny cries quieting as they felt my heartbeat.

​"They’re beautiful, Olivia," Lennox murmured, his eyes fixed on the babies with a fierce, protective love. "The pack... they’ve never seen anything like this."

​