Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 474

Chapter 474

I gave up trying around midnight and slipped out of bed. Andrei was sleeping soundly beside me. I didn’t want to wake him, so I quietly left the room, taking care not to make a noise.

The twins‘ room was across the hall; Hope had been kept in the healing chambers all night so her situation could be monitored, and so I could rest without having to nurse. The door was cracked open slightly. I pushed it wider and stepped inside.

Jane and Max were both asleep in their shared bed. Jane’s limbs were sticking out at all angles, her hair in her face. Max was curled on his side with one arm hanging off the edge of the mattress.

I stood there watching them for a long time. Goddess, I’d been so afraid I would never see them again. That I would die in the King’s clutches and they would grow up without me.

But I hadn’t died. I was here. They were safe.

I crossed to the bed and carefully climbed in between them. They stirred slightly but didn’t wake, just rolled over and pressed against either of my sides. I wrapped my arms around them and closed my eyes.

For the first time since returning home, I felt like I could breathe. Finally, sleep found me.

Andrei’s POV

I woke to find the bed empty beside me. For a moment, panic seized my chest. I sat up, scanning the room, but Natalia wasn’t there.

I threw off the blankets and stood, my heart pounding. Where was she? Was she okay?

I quickly left the room, pulse in my throat, only to see the twins‘ door sitting wide open across the hall. I found her there, curled up in the bed with both children laying on her chest.

Relief flooded through me. I leaned against the doorframe and just watched them for a moment. Natalia looked so peaceful like this, so… different. So much like the version of her I’d only briefly gotten to see before the war tore our country apart.

I wanted to bring her back to bed with me, but I didn’t want to ruin her peace, and there was no room for me that small mattress, so I started to turn away to let them sleep.

That was when I saw the blood.

There was blood on Natalia’s throat. On the twins‘ faces. Spreading across the sheets in dark, wet stains.

on

I blinked, and the vision shifted. I was standing over them now, although I didn’t remember moving. There was something in my hand. A knife. And my hands–my hands were covered in blood.

I looked down at Jane. Her eyes were open, staring up at me. Empty. Dead.

“No,” I whispered. “No, this isn’t-—”

I stumbled backward, slamming into the wall. The knife clattered to the floor. But when I looked down, my hands were still covered in blood. It dripped onto the floorboards, pooling at my feet, filling the room. It was going to rise to my throat, take everything-

“Andrei?”

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Chapter 474

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Natalia’s voice snapped me out of it. I jerked my head up. She was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes. The twins were still sleeping beside her. There was no blood. No knife. They were fine.

“What’s wrong?” Natalia asked. She climbed out of bed carefully, trying not to wake the children, and crossed to me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I stared at my hands. They were clean. No blood. Nothing.

“I-“My voice came out hoarse. “I thought I saw-

“Saw what?”

The fumes. It had to be the fumes. Grace said they had caused my hallucinations in those caves. That had to be all this was a lingering effect.

–

“Nothing,” I said. I forced myself to meet her eyes. “Just a nightmare. I woke up and you weren’t there, and I-” “I’m sorry.” She reached up and touched my face. “I couldn’t sleep. I just wanted to be near them.”

“It’s okay.” I pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her. Over her shoulder, I could see the twins sleeping peacefully in the bed. No blood. No death. None of it was real. I was not in Hell. I was going home in the morning with my family.

I clenched my fists and forced my hands to stop trembling.

“Come on,” Natalia murmured, pulling away and lacing her fingers through mine. “Let’s go back to bed.”

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Chapter 475

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