Chapter 911: For Their Mate

"Roman?" Violet’s expression softened with concern when Roman Draven simply stood there. Frozen.

"I think we’ve successfully broken him," Griffin joked.

Unfortunately, nobody was in the mood to laugh considering the circumstances.

"Oh God," Violet groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "I should have told him earlier."

Suddenly Roman blinked as though someone had finally pressed play again.

"Are you kidding me?" His large green eyes locked onto Violet in utter disbelief. "You’re already a baby mama."

There was a pause before it dawned on him.

"Our baby mama," he corrected quickly. "Oh shit."

Roman immediately began looking between his three mate brothers with open suspicion.

His gaze narrowed. Could it be his? The possibility sent a thrill through him.

Then another thought occurred. What if it wasn’t? Oddly enough, that didn’t dampen his excitement in the slightest.

Instead, his eyes lit up even more.

"I’M PICKING THE BABY NAME!" He declared openly across the courtyard.

Roman glared at the others, his finger moving between them accusingly.

"Depending on which one of you bastards beat me to it, I’m claiming naming rights. And don’t any of you dare say no!"

The outrage in his voice had less to do with the pregnancy and more to do with the fact they had kept such a massive secret from him.

Griffin immediately raised both hands in surrender. Alaric pointedly stared at Asher with an expression that clearly said he’s the responsible bastard.

Asher remained completely unfazed. His face practically screamed, come at me then.

Unfortunately, Roman’s emotions had always operated like a roller coaster missing several safety regulations. The excitement vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

His expression fell as he remembered the actual problem.

"Oh hell no!"

His voice came out firm.

"You are absolutely not going anywhere."

Violet immediately knew what he meant.

At that point, she had never felt more exasperated.

"What is wrong with you people?" she demanded. "I’m pregnant, not incapacitated."

She turned hopefully toward Alaric.

"Please tell me you don’t agree with this."

Alaric visibly hated being dragged into the middle of it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t about to lie.

"I’m sorry, Violet," he said. "But they’re being realistic. District One is enormous. You aren’t thinking about the scale of what you’re trying to do."

"Please, I can —" Violet insisted.

But his frustration finally boiled over. "You’re not thinking about what happens to us if something goes wrong!"

A bolt of lightning slammed into the ground several feet away and the surviving wolves immediately scattered, deciding their life was not worth the tea.

Violet visibly flinched. The realization hit Alaric just as quickly and his anger vanished, guilt immediately took its place.

Alaric closed his eyes and took a slow breath. When he opened them again, his voice was gentle.

"I’m sorry, Violet." The words came out more vulnerable. "If something happens to you..." He swallowed hard. "I don’t think I can survive that."

His gaze shifted toward Asher, Griffin and Roman. The expressions on their faces said everything.

"None of us would."

The sudden silence was a moment of reflection between them.

"I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight." Violet’s voice shook when she spoke. "But I can’t help it when I know I can save them. District One is still my hometown..."

Tears immediately filled her eyes and she wiped at them furiously, only for more to replace them.

"I’m so sorry I’m this way, but I can’t help it." Her voice cracked. "There must be children there. How can I sleep at night knowing I condemned those children to their fate?"

"You didn’t condemn anyone to their fate," Griffin said, gently pulling her into his arms. "And you can cry all you want, my love. I don’t mind the tears."

Except one of them very much minded the tears.

Asher Nightshade stared at Violet with genuine horror on his face. Their mate was crying.

Crying?

He had somehow managed to make their mate cry. The realization struck him harder than any physical blow ever could. He had already broken the promise he made to her.

If only Asher understood that the pregnancy hormones were making Violet far more emotional than usual. Sadly, all Asher could see was the woman he loved crying because of something he had said.

So while Violet buried her face in Griffin’s chest, Asher quietly made up his mind.

"Fine," he said suddenly.

The single word caught everyone’s attention.

"We’d rescue them."

"We will?" Roman and Alaric chorused.

Violet’s tears immediately stalled. She slowly lifted her head from Griffin’s chest and looked at Asher with cautious hope.

"Really?" Her eyes brightened. "You will help?"

"Don’t thank me yet," Asher told her seriously. "Since the bombing has already begun, there’s only so much we can do for the souls already lost."

Violet’s lips trembled at the reminder. A fresh sob escaped her throat and she buried herself against Griffin once more.

"It’s alright," Griffin soothed, rubbing her back. "Cry, baby. Let it out."

Unlike Griffin, who seemed perfectly content to comfort their emotional mate, Alaric and Roman looked completely stupefied. This was not the Violet they knew at all. Pregnancy was truly terrifying.

Roman was already making plans in his head. He was going to start a vlog. Not for anyone else. Just for Violet. He would record every ridiculous, emotional and beautiful moment of this journey. One day, after the baby was born, he would sit her down and make her watch all of it. He could already picture the embarrassment on her face and the thought alone nearly made him smile.

Asher called out, "Micah."

"Oh great," Micah groaned. There was no escaping this now. Once his brothers-in-law called his name in that tone, his peaceful day was officially over.

Asher’s expression turned serious as he pieced together the plan. "You are essential to making this work. You’ll teleport us directly into the middle of the conflict. I can’t formulate a complete strategy until I see the battlefield for myself, but from the footage we know bombers are dropping payloads. The two of us will attempt to convince the pilots to stop the attack."

Micah immediately caught the wording.

"Attempt?"

"If they refuse," Asher replied, "I’ll convince them otherwise."

The implication was obvious. He’d use his powers.

Then Asher turned toward Roman.

"In your dragon form, you’re our only aerial advantage. You’ll protect Violet while she does her thing. Can I count on you for that, Roman?"

The humor vanished from Roman’s face. What remained was an Alpha, a mate and a protector.

He met Asher’s gaze and answered without hesitation.

"Promise."