Mateer was torn. The predator in him wanted to track the man who’d kidnapped his mate and shred him limb from limb. As a mate, his place was with Megan and their child. She was pale, her heart was beating way too fast and she clutched him desperately as she rode out a contraction in the middle of a battle. Megan needed him. Vengeance would have to be left to his pack brothers. “I’ll—“
“Incoming,” Jill shouted. “Take cover.” She crouched by the door and fired a targeted burst into the corridor.
Aydarr raced to take position on the other side of the portal as blasts ricocheted off the walls. He returned fire as well. The pack is harrying them from behind, he sent to Mateer. This will be over in minutes.
Mateer took Megan to the back corner of the room, helped her to sit and shielded her with his body. He had his weapon locked and loaded in case anyone did manage to get past Jill and Aydarr.
“Somebody give me a blaster, dammit,” Walt said as he crawled into cover next to Aydarr. The Alpha handed him a hand weapon.
There was another flurry of shots from the corridor and a lot of shouting. Aydarr rose to his feet and exited the room, Jill on his heels. The enemy retreats. Stay here while the pack and I mop up.
Walt slumped against the pocked wall, the weapon slipping from his hand as his head lolled. He appeared to be unconscious.
Timtur, Walt might be dying. We need medical help here. Mateer sent urgently. And where the hell is the doctor for Megan?
Watch yourselves, it was a trick to draw us off. Aydarr’s warning scorched into his head and Mateer rose to his full height, claws and fangs deployed, weapon ready. He advanced to the doorway just as a human unknown to him entered, followed by Harker. Mateer blasted a hole through the gut of the first man, threw his weapon aside and leapt over the corpse to get at Harker. He was in the grip of blood madness and barely acknowledged the impact as Harker shot him at close range, the bolt singeing his side. Nothing was going to stop him now.
“You dared lay hands on my mate, threaten my child and now you’ll pay the price,” he growled, mind obscured by red rage and urge to kill.
Cursing, Harker struggled in his grip, plunging a knife into his side. The human kicked and attempted to gain his freedom with hand to hand combat moves but Mateer overwhelmed him with sheer Badari strength. He had no wish to prolong the fight—he simply wanted the enemy to die by his hand as punishment for jeopardizing Megan and the baby.
He sank his fangs into the rebel’s neck and tore his heart out with his talons at the same time. Harker shrieked and convulsed in his death throes. Mateer cast the body aside, pulled the knife out of his own rib cage and threw it on the floor in disgust. Retrieving his rifle, he retreated to Megan’s side, keeping his focus on the doorway, weapon at the ready, in case any more of the rebels were left.
He crouched beside his mate, realizing he was snarling. She touched his arm, eyes wide in concern but no hint of fear.
“You’re wounded.”
“I’m healing already.” He forced himself to retract his natural weaponry and prayed to the goddess the healers would arrive with no further delay. “I’m sorry you had to see me kill him.”
Megan was busy staunching the flow of blood from the knife wound, using a strip torn from her tunic. Now she kissed his cheek. “I love how much you love us and I’m proud to be mated to such a fierce protector. Harker deserved what he got.”
Coming in. No sooner had Aydarr sent the warning than he and Jill, trailed by MARL were inside the room. Timtur, Camron, Dr. Madarian and Darik were right behind them.
“Mateer’s been shot and stabbed,” Megan said. “And Walt has internal injuries.”
Gemma came straight to her. “And you’re having a baby. You’re my top priority according to Aydarr.” She pulled out a portable med sensor and took a variety of readings. “Dehydrated. The baby’s heart rate is a little accelerated.”
Megan put her hand on Gemma’s arm as Timtur applied healing energy to Mateer, bathing them all in the soft green glow. “See to Walt. You know the Badari healers have a hard time with human physiology.”
“I need to do an exam on you, see how far dilated you are. We need to get you into a different room and—”
Eyes narrowed, Megan stared at her. “If you think I’m having my baby in a Khagrish lab, you’re crazy. All of you.” She glared at everyone in her vicinity and fought to stand. “I’ll walk out of here and head for the valley on my own two feet if no one will fly me. I am not giving birth here.”
Mateer was awed by the sheer power in her voice and coming through the mate bond. Megan was serious and he for one wasn’t going to tell her no. Even though Timtur wasn’t finished doing the healing on his wounds, he pulled away from his pack brother and rose to assist his mate. “Megan’s right and I stand by her decision.”
Gabe stuck his head in the doorway. “What’s the delay? The skies are clear but I’d rather not linger too long, in case Harker did manage to contact Gahzhing or any other Khagrish before MARL shut down the coms.”
“How long will it take to fly to the valley?” Gemma asked.
“Two hours. Maybe a bit less if I squeeze every ounce of power from the engine and redline it.” Confidence suffused Gabe’s tone. He was a hot shot pilot, which no one questioned.
“Can you deliver a baby in a flyer?” Mateer asked the other doctor.
She laughed. “I’ve delivered babies literally everywhere. Look, this is a calculated risk we’re talking about.” Gemma made sure she had their full attention before she continued. “This is the first Badari-human baby. I get the significance but all of you need to know even in normal childbirth unforeseen complications may occur and require medical intervention.” She pointed at the pockmarked walls where equipment must have once stood. “I have nothing here to assist me besides the contents of my medical bag. In the flyer I again have basically nothing to assist me aside from a few portable items. In the valley I have a reasonably well stocked hospital and additional trained staff. Our gamble is twofold—first, betting Megan has at least two hours or so before she gives birth and second, hoping she and the baby continue to be fine.”
“The baby is a bit stressed but basically okay.” Mateer sent his precious child a wave of reassurance.
“She’s probably reflecting my anxiety,” Megan said with a wry smile. “This academic discussion is all very nice but the decision is mine and Mateer’s and I’m going home. Gabe, fire up the damn engines while I waddle over there to the flyer.”
“With your permission,” Mateer swept her into his arms, ignoring a few twinges of pain from the spots where he wasn’t fully healed and Timtur hadn’t completed his process, but nothing to prevent him from safely carrying his mate out of the building. He heard Aydarr issuing orders to the other pack soldiers about the withdrawal, and the Alpha and Camron were getting Walt to his feet.
“I’ll examine you on the flyer,” Gemma said to Megan, as she kept pace with Mateer. “We can create a private area. And then I’ll see what I can do for Walt. If it’s any comfort, the contractions seem to have slowed down.”
“As long as the baby is doing fine.” Megan reached out to squeeze Gemma’s hand. “Promise me if she gets distressed and you need to do a C-section, you won’t hesitate. And Mateer, you mustn’t interfere if it comes to surgery. Gemma’s the doctor here and she’ll only be trying to help.”
She had another contraction while in transit to the flyer, but managed to breathe through it, hanging onto Mateer tightly. During the contraction she couldn’t hold two thoughts in her head unless they directly related to the coming baby. Breathing out as the pain eased, she asked, “Is the entire labor going to be like this?”
“You’re doing a wonderful job and the labor is progressing just fine. You haven’t entered transition yet, although I need to examine you to be sure. Once you start transition the contractions will be coming hard and fast, so it may help to concentrate one minute at a time, one breath at a time. It’s like climbing
Megan nodded, too tired to say anything.
“Bless the goddess Camron met and mated her,” Mateer said as he continued jogging toward the flyers at a slower pace so as not to jar her unnecessarily. Darik kept pace with him, on the alert for any external threat. “What would we have done without someone who knows how to successfully birth babies to help?”
Megan tried to imagine having her baby assisted only by Badari men. Even the few Badari females had no notion of pregnancy or childbirth. There were a few women among the human population in the valley who’d given birth but no one with medical knowledge to assist if there were complications, other than Rik, her nurse from the colony. But Rik was ex-military and his experience was heavily in the trauma and battlefield wounds specialty. She shuddered and sent the goddess a quick thank you. “We women have been having babies for millennia,” she said out loud, forcing herself to sound confident. “I’ll be fine.”
You must be fine, Mateer said to her telepathically, as if to keep the message private and not allow his Badari packmates to hear the ripple of fear she detected. As the senior enforcer of the pack, he wasn’t supposed to ever give in to fear or misgivings. Megan’s heart beat faster at how much he loved her and how worried he was. I cannot imagine life without you, he said in her mind, the raw emotions pouring from him in waves.
She kissed the pulse point in his neck, which was the only bare skin she could reach, the way she was held in his arms. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “You’ll never have to be without me.” Through the mate bond she felt him relax fractionally and she was satisfied. She thought with longing of the obstetrics ward at the Inner Sectors hospital where she’d worked and how easily modern technology could accomplish a child’s journey into the world, unless of course the mother belonged to a sect which clung to more old fashioned beliefs. Yes, she was blessed to have Gemma to attend her but it wasn’t going to be easy, not even in the valley’s clinic.
As Mateer hastened up the ramp of the flyer, Megan rubbed her belly and sent a wave of love to her baby. We’ll get through this and I’ll be holding you in my arms before we know it. Each contraction gets us one step closer to that moment. I can’t wait to meet you, little one.
Gemma had created a private area in the middle of the flyer, including a spot for Megan to lie semi reclining and Megan sighed with relief as her mate set her on soft seat cushions, and covered her with a crisp sheet. He drew a heated blanket over her next as the doctor began infusing fluids into Megan’s arm.
“Please go see to Walt,” Megan said. “He did his best to help me and I can’t rest easy while he’s lying there injured.”
“You won’t be resting exactly,” Gemma said with a smile. ”Are you less shaky now? Can we get you anything or assist in any way? Did you want Mateer to give you a foot massage maybe?”
“The infusion is helping, yes.” Megan tried to relax and not tense as the next contraction hit without much warning. She gripped Mateer’s hand as hard as she could and shut out other concerns.
Gemma watched her like a hawk for the duration of the contraction, checked her pulse and then went to the rear of the flyer, where Walt had been placed. Timtur took Gemma’s spot. After checking with Mateer and Megan, the healer placed his hand on her forehead. “Let me gift you and the baby a little of my power,” he said as Megan smelled the sweet perfume of flowers blooming and in her mind she saw an entire meadow spread before her.
“Ummm, nice.” Drowsy, she was drifting off, although she was sure the next contraction would awaken her. “Thank you.”
At some point she knew the craft must have taken off and Gabe was keeping his promise to fly her home at top speed. She heard the engines whining even here, inside the sound proofed cabin. Megan endured a quick examination by her fellow doctor, with only Mateer present.
“You’re making excellent progress, about seven centimeters dilated. “
“Active labor,” Megan said, trying to remember all the details of her obstetrics rotations back home but having a hard time concentrating on anything but her own immediate physical challenge.
Gemma took her pulse the old fashioned way, by hand, and the touch of her cool fingers was soothing. “Transition soon. I hope we’re safely at the clinic by then.”
Wanting to feel in control of the situation, Megan asked, “How’s Walt?”
“You worry about yourself and the baby right now.” Gemma patted her shoulder. “That’s what Walt would want.”
Struck by an awful dread, Megan tried to adjust her position so she could catch a glimpse of the soldier. “He isn’t dead, is he?”
“No, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. He’s going to need surgery once we hit the ground, so I’ll be pretty busy. Like old times.” Gemma projected an easy confidence. “Running between two rooms.”
As her labor became harder, Megan shut out the world. Jill came and kept her company for a few minutes but there really was no room for anyone but Mateer and the doctor. Her sister hugged her tight and they both shed a few tears.
She was in the midst of a contraction when the flyer landed and Gemma had the Badari wait until the pain eased off before Mateer carried her to an antigrav litter and sprinted to the clinic. Megan lay with her eyes shut to ward off dizziness. She also had no desire to see if anyone was watching her go by, although knowing the Badari efficiency, the path had probably been cleared of onlookers. The cool, fresh air of the valley was soothing to her overheated body and knowing she was home safe where she and her baby belonged was better than any drug.
Yet when Mateer shifted her to a hospital bed, she opened her eyes, fingers digging into his biceps as an unusual wave of panic ripped through her nerves. “You won’t leave me.”
He stroked her cheek and then rested one huge hand on her stomach. “Never. I wish I could send you strength the way Aydarr can, or provide healing like Timtur does. You’re magnificent, my love, but you’re so pale.”
Rik came and went, apologizing each time as he hooked up various pieces of equipment and took readings. Megan ought to find out how he was doing after being injured in the kidnapping—he’d tried to fight Harker as he and his thugs muscled Megan from the building and his shoulder was heavily bandaged—but she couldn’t summon the words or divert any energy. Her sole focus was her baby.
Gemma appeared in her field of vision, bending over her with a look of concern. “You’re in transition now, eight centimeters dilated. Are you sure you don’t want any meds to help with the pain?”
“My decision stands—we discussed this at length.” Megan shook her head, concentrating on her breathing and holding tight to Mateer. “We don’t know what the effect would be on the baby, being half Badari. No, I’ll make it.”
“If at any point you do change your mind, please speak up.” Gemma stepped away.
Mateer wiped Megan’s forehead with a cool cloth. “You’re doing great. I’m in awe of you—you’re tougher than any Badari, maybe even more so than Aydarr himself.”
Megan chuckled weakly. “I can sense him trying to send me strength but I can’t seem to take it in right now. Tell him I said thank you.”
“I will. The waiting room is packed—your sisters, the Badari healers, mates—and they send their congratulations and best wishes.”
“I’m probably scaring the hell out of all the human women right about now,” Megan said. “Childbirth is usually a lot simpler and less work in the Sectors these days, in the inner worlds at least.”
“I’m sorry you’re having to go through this,” he said.
She put her fingers to his lips, pleased as he kissed the tips. “No, don’t apologize. All this effort will be worth it, once we’re holding our child. How is she?”
“Determined, stubborn, like her mother.” He smoothed the damp hair off her face. “Of course she has no words to express these concepts but I can tell she wants to move from where she is right now.”
“When I was on the obstetrics rotation as an intern, the tough maternity nurses used to say the baby was in charge.” Megan chuckled. “The concept is more clear to me now, I must admit.”
Before Mateer could answer, the next contraction hit hard. She panted desperately in the rhythm which worked best for her. Hands curled like claws on Mateer’s forearms, she yelled. ”Get Gemma, hurry. I need to push.” The last word was a scream. Her entire body was intent on bearing down and sending the baby into the world. She wanted to push more than she’d wanted to do anything in her entire life. It was a wild, totally instinctive desire and Megan reveled in the power.
“Hang on breathe deep, not yet. We’ll change your position to give you better support.” Gemma spoke directly in her face, locking eyes with Megan. “Give us a moment to get set up and then I’ll tell you to push.” Gemma and Rik got her legs positioned in cushioned stirrups.
“I can’t wait—I need to push NOW!” Megan roared, feeling like an elemental being.
Next thing she knew, Mateer was bracing her back, saying over and over, “Push against me, beloved, you can do this.”
“I can see the head,” Gemma announced. “Next push should do it. I need you to bear down, Megan and push. Work with the contraction, don’t fight it.”
Time stood still for Megan as she let her body do what instinct commanded and then she fell against Mateer as she heard a loud crying.
“It’s a girl, as expected.” Gemma sounded as if she was close to weeping herself. “Dad, I need you to come cut the cord and then we’ll hand her to you and Mom for bonding. You did great, Megan.”
Disoriented, Megan realized Jill was holding her shoulders now as Mateer moved to do as the doctor instructed. The mate bond was blazing golden in her heart and a smaller bond glowed right beside it, connecting her to the baby. “I want to hold my daughter.”
-->
