Ria:
I don't really know what happened last night. I had been hungry and decided to go to the kitchen for a snack.
When I'd gotten close, I heard Drago and Mary talking. When I heard them talking about being pregnant, I knew they were talking about me. I had startled and backed up, not paying any attention. I ran into the pillar with that big vase on top, and it all crashed to the floor.
When Drago and Mary appeared at the kitchen door, I saw his face, and I knew I was right. They thought I was pregnant and were hiding it from me.
I heard more running feet, and suddenly all I could think of was getting away. So I turned and ran.
He caught me, and I realized his hands were covered in scales, then there was pain on the back of my neck. Then it felt like heat flowing through my whole body, and things started getting confusing.
Then he carried me to the room, and I heard growls. Something inside me shoved forward and responded.
I didn't know what was happening, but I wasn't in control anymore; something else was. I heard growls, purring, and chuffing coming from my own mouth.
My vision changes and sharpens. Drago is above me, but his eyes are different, and black scales surround them.
Then Cole and Ash were there. Both of them looked different; there were animalistic sounds. Then two sharp pains, but the thing pushing and controlling felt satisfaction and happiness.
Then things got really fuzzy. I couldn't tell what was real, what was a dream. It all blended together, but I never felt like I got control back.
I woke up this morning in my own bed, in pajamas I didn't put myself in. I also knew without one single doubt that I had been fucked, a lot. I was enraged, but not just at them. I had become complicit in it all. My own body betraying me, not to mention whatever this strange thing inside me was, had wholeheartedly participated. I couldn't blame that on them, could I? What the hell was that thing? I'd never felt anything like that before.
Then I thought about the changes in their faces. The scales around the eyes, on the hands, and on the arms. Drago's had been black and shiny, Ash's red, Cole's deep green, and then Cinder's blue. This wasn't the first time I had seen it, but I was sure they were wrong about me. Did last night change that? Did I have a monster inside of me?
Then I thought about last night's revelation. They were sure I was pregnant. That thought sat on my chest like a 10-ton weight. I couldn't breathe thinking about that.
That thought circling through my head, along with flashes of last night, got tangled up with the reports from Senator Keeting. Then the idea I'd never see my family again, never joke and kid around with Cin. I'd never cuddle Elijah and Marcus, even though Elijah tried to swear he was too big for sister cuddles, but secretly loved them. Never sit in the kitchen with Beth just talking, watching her bake, and watching how she loved each and every one of us.
I pulled the picture from the nightstand drawer. I just held it and caressed each and every face. I couldn't do this.
I couldn't face having a baby from rape. I was constantly on alert and on edge, prepared for the wheels to fall off. I swore I wouldn't ever live that way again. I couldn't live every day drowning in sorrow, anger, hate, and regret.
I couldn't live this way.
I got up from the bed, used the bathroom, and brushed my teeth. Brushed and rebraided my hair.
Then I did something I'd never done before. I went up the next flight of stairs. I'd always just stayed on this level or gone down to the ground floor. I knew the stairs were there; I'd just never taken them before.
I got to the 4th floor. This one didn't look quite as new as the others. There was an echoing emptiness throughout. I opened some doors, and many rooms were empty. A couple was more storage than anything.
Then I opened the door at the end of the hall. The room was round, and the walls were the same stone as the outside; there was no interior wall covering.
There was a huge bed, it was a 4 poster, with huge towering posts. There was a strip of ornate wood at the top connecting all of the posts. To this were attached heavy velvet brocade fabric curtains. These matched the bedspread. They were all slightly dusty. There was a massive fireplace that had definitely been used. There was a wardrobe in the same dark wood as the bed. There were small, high windows. An old clawfoot tub is set against the wall next to the fireplace. There was a single door next to the headboard of the bed.
I walked over and opened the door. There were narrow stone steps leading up. The steps curved, and this looked like a smaller tower with just the steps, but it was also round.
The stone was cold against my bare feet, but I ignored it. I had a destination in mind, and I felt this would lead me there.
At the top of the stairs was an old metal-and-wooden door that looked almost ancient. I wondered how long it had been since someone came up here.
The door stuck, and I had to work to get it open. It scraped and made a rather awful noise as it moved. I emerged on a roof.
Well, since this was a castle, the battlements were technically the walls. There were spaces between sections that stood straight from the roof. These, I'm sure, would have been used to see out and patrol, or maybe archers shot arrows out of the spaces.
I walked over to the side and could see out of the gap between the sections. I was high and could see the mountains all around. The sun was still rising, so the sky was bathed in different colors, signaling dawn.
It was beautiful, and up here, a brisk breeze made me shiver.
I climbed up, so I was standing on the wall right between two taller sections of stone. The wall went straight down from here, but this section of the castle was poised at the top of a cliff. I could see a river below, but looking straight down, I saw a long drop ending with huge rocks and boulders. There were tall trees thick below, but a rather straight shot to the rocks.
I wasn't afraid, I was peaceful. I knew I couldn't live like this, and they had left me no alternative.
I closed my eyes and remembered my family. I thought of the precious, wonderful moments with them. Then I took a deep breath and jumped.
Drago:
After we had left the castle, we had gone out to a meadow we often used for shifting. All 4 of us let our dragons out and took to the sky.
They had flown and hunted. They had lounged in dragon form and played with each other. It was now approaching dawn, and we were flying home. The colors of sunrise were painting the sky, and my dragon sight enhanced it even more.
Then my eyes caught something else. A flash of red on the battlements of the castle. I honed in on it and caught a glimpse of movement.
I increased my speed, then I saw her hair blowing in the breeze. She was standing on top of the battlements, and my heart stopped. I started beating my wings as fast as I could. Soaring through the sky like a bullet. Then she jumped. My dragon roared and dove towards her. We were gaining on her, and then I reached out a clawed foot, and snatched her at the last moment from the jaws of death, and beat my wings to stop our descent, and lifted back up to the sky.
I felt her fighting me and screaming at me to let her go. My brothers were right with me.
Rather than fly to the meadow, I flew to the front of the castle and set her on the ground before landing close to her. My dragon screamed his feelings into the sky. Then I shifted back to a man standing, looking down at her, lying on the drive.
Cole had rushed to her to check her over. She was unconscious, and there was a bit of blood under her nose. He picked her up and rushed into the house. No doubt to get her to our medical facilities in the castle's basement level.
I followed closely, as did Ash and Cinder, but we did not speak. I'm not sure any of us could have managed speech right then anyway.
We followed Cole down to the bottom level and heard him with her in one of the rooms. I took a moment to open a wardrobe we kept here and threw on some sweats. We had these placed all over to help people with clothes when needed after the shift.
I grabbed an extra pair for Cole and walked into the room. He had her on a bed, hooking her up to all the monitors. He looked up and asked Cinder to run and get Victor.
I threw him the pants, and he threw them on quickly. He listened to her heart and lungs.
"I think she may have a broken rib or two, but I don't hear blood in her chest."
Then Victor arrived, frantic and out of breath, "What can I assist you with, sir?"
"Victor, I need you to call Dr.Paskal's office. I need an ultrasound machine here immediately."
"Immediately, sir." With that, he ran back upstairs.
We all just stood there and watched. The monitors were beeping reassuringly. I couldn't let myself think right now, or I'd lose control. So, I just waited.
It was only about 40 minutes before we heard commotion coming down the stairs. Ash went and helped them bring the machine into the room.
Cole wheeled it next to Ria, he lifted her top, scooted her pants down around her hips. He tucked the blanket around her pants to keep her covered and warm.
He squirted a gel on her stomach, then took something in his hand, and ran it through the gel and around her abdomen. He hit a switch.
The absolutely most precious sound I'd ever heard filled the room, our baby's heartbeat. I saw Cole take a deep breath. Then I saw him freeze, and the sound in the room changed; it became multilayered. His face froze, and his jaw opened in utter shock.
I surged forward, "What's wrong?"
He looked at me, stunned. "There's 3."
I looked at him, completely confused about what he was saying.
"3 what?" I looked at Dr. Paskal, and he had a dumbstruck look on his face, too.
"3 babies, there's 3 babies, we're having triplets." Cole told me.
Now I'm sure my face matches everyone else's.
"Holy fucking shit." Cinder was as eloquent as always, but I shared the sentiment.
"Everything looks just fine. No issues." Cole cleaned her off, and covered her back up.
He put a binding on her lower chest right under her breasts. If anything appeared wrong, they'd do an ex ray, but since her dragon was around she would heal quickly.
I made sure everything was good, they wouldn't leave her alone for a second, then I went to ask a friend for something I never in a million years thought I would.