by Angela Foxxe
“Because you’re not the first girl in the history of the world to have a baby, and every one of them was nervous, and felt something was wrong. Don’t borrow trouble.”
“It’s weeks late, Cara, weeks. Something is wrong, and I can’t shake the feeling you aren’t telling me everything.”
“Reign, no one is hiding anything. We know what you know.”
Reign laid her head back down, something wasn’t right. She could feel the baby move, she could feel the life inside of her, but it was as if something was invading her mind. Almost as if some malevolent force was trying to force her to carry the baby to the New Moon. Where it, and she, would most likely die. Cara stood in the corner, silent as always. Ever since her abduction, she spoke very little, if at all. Now Reign felt like her presence was a burden, not a boon.
“There is something wrong. And I’m tired of being kept in the dark.”
Reign slid her legs out of the bed, and the momentum was enough to pull herself up. She was awkward and off balance, but she stood. Her oversized pajamas were warm enough, but they did not allow for much movement, especially since she weighed almost thirty pounds more than her usual one thirty three.
“Reign, this isn’t a good idea,” Cara moved, not to stop her, but to steady her. She didn’t really feel all that steady, but she was determined.
“Help or get out of the way.”
The dilemma she put Cara in was obvious, Reign did not belong to the pack, but she was Richard’s love. If she helped Reign, she crossed Richard, if she didn’t help, she crossed Richard.
Reign softened. “I’m sorry, Cara, but I need to know what I don’t know.”
Cara nodded and moved to support the girl. “He’s gonna be so mad at me.”
With Cara’s help, Reign made it to the door. She could hear the voices on the other side, Richard and Indigo, and the doctor. The wolves always thought they were whispering, but they were so loud.
“... I don’t know,” said the doctor’s voice. “Nothing medical.”
Well, that is something.
“Could it be the child is a wolf, is that what the delay is?”
“As I said, it’s nothing medical, she’s stressed, to be sure, her heart rate, BP, all of it is elevated, but physically, she’s fine.”
Indigo spoke up, “Boss, could it be pack m...”
Richard cut him off with a grunt. “Don’t even say that, it would take all of them
to --”
Reign couldn’t take it anymore. Something was wrong. In addition, she needed to know. She burst through the door, levelling her gaze right at Richard.
“Take all of them to do what?”
Richard glared at Cara, who turned beet red under the gaze of her Alpha.
“Don’t blame her, look at me. I may be nineteen, but I’m no idiot, you can’t hide something from me and think I won’t notice. Now tell me.”
Richard’s face showed the war that played out. Anger, frustration, and finally surrender. She knew he couldn’t hide it from her, she just needed him to know that.
“Richard, I can take it, I’m no wimp for god’s sake. I’m nine months pregnant, and this ain't easy, so spill.”
The doctor coughed politely. “Perhaps I should excuse myself, pack business is not my concern.” He did, being led out by Indigo and Cara, leaving Richard alone with Reign. Richard took her hand and led her back to bed, making her comfortable before sitting down himself next to her.
“You know about the rule, no humans can know,” he started. She nodded.
“Well, it’s not strictly true, obviously,” He gestured at the now departed doctor. “There are exceptions, doctors on rare occasion need to know, lawyers, etc. But never are we to date, or love humans. Love is a tricky thing and it, more than anything, can burn us. And I’ve broken that rule Reign, god, have I.”
He placed his hand on hers, placing her fingers against his lips. “I love you more than I ever have anyone, more deeply than I knew possible.”
Shame leaped unbidden into her heart for doubting him, his sincerity and honesty; the tears in his eyes mirrored her own.
“Richard, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned...”
He interrupted her with a raised hand. “Yes, you should have. You’re human, you’re young, pregnant for the first time, as if that wasn’t bad enough, you’re surrounded by the pack. We’ve lost touch with our humanity, and we forget.”
He took a deep breath, letting his pride and stubbornness out with his breath. “Do you recall that day on the cliff?”
Reign did, her face burned red with the memory of their intimacy. “Of course I remember. That was the moment I was yours.”
Richard smiled. “Okay, yes, that, but I meant before that, when I turned into a wolf. It’s
not an easy thing to force me into. I have scent.... A long time of practice, I turned because of pack magic.”
Reign knew that there was something like that, of course, she was in love with a werewolf, so why wouldn’t there be magic.
“I don’t understand, I thought it was some kind of telepathy or link or something.”
“Call it what you want, but it’s magic, there is a magic to werewolves, it’s not biology, or science, it's magic. Just like there is magic to all the supernatural.”
“All the... what do you mean? There’s more?” Reign asked.
“A lot more, more than I could ever tell you. For now, just accept there is magic in us. And this will be easier.”
“Okay, I can do that, I think.” She had seen him, first hand, shift from human to wolf. A part of her always assumed that what they called magic was some sort of science. She could accept that he called it magic, but to believe in actual magic, she didn’t know if that was something she could do.
“For now that’s good enough, but soon you might have to let go of your ideas on how the universe works, and that’s not an easy thing to do,” Richard said.
She nodded. She loved him with all her heart, it hurt just to be away from him, but there was a difference in loving someone, and accepting them telling you that the sky is red when you know, know, it is blue.
“The Alphas, they can get together and use a ritual that links all of us. Like I was to Cara, to help her through the pain. They share a link, we all do, all the children of the moon. Through this link, we are stronger than if we were alone. It’s why we have packs, it’s why wolves run in packs; together we can do far more, bring down larger prey, protect our cubs. A pack is strong, a wolf is not.”
“This ritual, are they using it to hurt me?”
“Not you, they share a link with our daughter, through me.”
Reign’s heart caught in her throat, our daughter.
“What are they doing to her?”
“Keeping her from being born until she kills you, then they will let her go.”
The icy dread that had haunted the back of her mind for the last few months became a reality. The nightmares, the feeling of someone watching her, all of it, made sense now. And it was too much, the room spun, her vision swam, and all she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears.
I’m gonna die, was her final thought before passing out into the cold grasp of unconsciousness.
Richard sat patiently outside her room; both Skye and Doctor Messing were in the room with her, and she was perfectly safe, at least physically. He was in a corner, and he was exactly where the Alphas and Heidi wanted him; they knew he would agree to anything to get them to stop. Why couldn’t they just leave well enough alone?
Damn European elitists.
They were the reason he left Europe all those years ago. Their rules and structure, and their using the packs as a means of becoming more powerful. They had their reasons; the wolves were the natural enemies of the vampires, who banded together both their own kind and human thralls. The wolves’ strength was also their weakness. A lone wolf was stronger than any two vampires, a pack stronger than any coven. The bloodsuckers did not fight fair;
they banded together dozens of vampires, and hundreds of thralls and picked off the wolves one pack at a time.
It was why there was even an association of Alphas. Their pack magic bonded together and the eighteen or so alphas became as powerful as gods, or so they thought. Richard had met a god or two, and he knew better. He wanted none of it; after their last war with the undead, it was over. There would never again be a war like that, both sides had too much to lose. Both sides had already lost too much. The wolves were determined to not forget the lessons, hence the Alphas were staying together.
Richard left Europe and them behind. In the New World, the Alphas had less power, less influence. Apparently, he was wrong. For this to be working, they had to be close; Portland or Seattle, maybe Vancouver, but no further.
“What’s the plan, Boss?” Indigo, as always, was at his side.
“I suppose killing them all would be out of the question.” He meant it as a joke, but Indigo did not smile.
“Wouldn’t be the first time we faced impossible odds. We are behind you, you’re our Alpha, ours. You lead, we follow.”
Richard’s heart swelled with pride and love; in that moment he could feel every one of the pack, and each of them felt exactly the same way. Something wonderful had happened with Cara’s kidnapping, a kind of bond had formed between them all, even the newcomers could feel it, and it overwhelmed them all. Love, respect, family, they were more deeply bonded than any mortal had a right to be.
“If I thought we could win, I would thank you, thank you all,” he projected.
The link faded but they were still there, ready to fight, to die, for him and Reign.
“We can’t let her die, Boss. Those fools are short sighted, they still think we’ll heal from the blight, but I’m thinking if we were going to heal, we would have by now.”
Richard nodded. “It’s possible, and I mean remotely possible, the new moon will heal us. But I doubt it.”
The two sat in silence for a few more moments. Richard needed his friend there, needed his council and support. He honestly had no idea what to do next.
“You know, there’s an option you’re not considering,” Indigo said quietly.
“Loptr,” Richard said with barely a sound.
“He does owe you.”
An icy dread clawed its way to Richard’s heart; it could work, but the price could be higher than Reign’s life.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Reign awoke a few hours later. She felt no better for her rest, but now she knew what was going on. She accepted that Richard believed that it was magic, after all, he was a werewolf, but she could not. There had to be a way to stop it.
They could go underground or far away. Was there a range limit? Could they do this thing, whatever it was, from across the world, and how were they doing it? Reign was sure Skye knew a way to induce labor; certainly, the baby didn’t get to decide when it was born.
She opened her eyes after many minutes. The sun dipped on the horizon, her time was ticking away. She took a deep breath, calmed her nerves and cleared her mind.
Freaking out about dying isn’t going to stop the dying. Focus.
She sat up carefully. Her stomach felt like she was wearing a sack of flour and every time she moved, her bladder compressed to nothing. The baby had to be huge, so that in itself worried her. Reign was not a large woman, how would she birth a baby that was so late?
“Reign, honey, what are you doing?” asked Skye, sitting in the corner with a book in her lap.
“I need to go for a walk, maybe I can induce with enough exercise.”
Skye smiled, the look in her eyes told Reign that she believed it was futile. But she humored the girl, grabbed both their coats, helped Reign into hers, and led her out the door to the front of the lodge. They had moved her to a downstairs bedroom to keep her from having to go up and down stairs. Richard wasn’t there, for which she was thankful. She needed some time to think, to figure out what to do. She couldn’t wait for someone else to solve her problems.
“Skye, what would happen if I was bitten?”
“By a wolf?”
“Yeah, would it kill the baby, or would we both survive?”
Skye sighed and was silent for a long time. They walked out the door into the cold December air; the last rays of the sun faded over the forest leaving behind pink fire in the sky.
“I nae think you understand what it tis yer asken,” Skye's sudden return of her thick brogue caught Reign by surprise. She’d known Skye for months and she only ever spoke like that when she was stressed.
“I know if I was one of you, none of this would be happening; none of you would be in danger, and my baby wouldn’t be in danger.”
350
“Yer baern isn’t...” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, it takes effort to slip my accent. Your baby isn’t, just us and you; no matter what, your baby lives.”
“That’s something, Skye, but I want all of us to live, myself included. I know that is selfish, but I don’t want to die.”
Skye smiled, took Reign around the shoulders and walked with her. The cold didn’t seem to bother Skye, and they walked in silence for a long while. The pink sky turned inky black, the crescent moon rose, crickets came to life, and the howl of a wolf could be heard in the distance.
“It’s not just a bite, girl, it's death, in a way,” Skye said, breaking the silence.
“What do you mean?”
“The Wolf exacts a heavy price; you have to pay it, you have to be strong enough to pay it. I’m not sure what you know about it, but it's not a disease, like some tales say it, it's not a curse either. The Wolf, he’s alive, and real and in all of us.
“He doesn’t like weaklings, and sometimes people make it through who shouldn’t, maybe he sees something in them, I don’t know, but he won’t take you unless you are near death and fight to survive. To be turned, Reign, you have to be mauled half to death. Something you wouldn’t survive in your current condition.”
Reign hadn’t known; she assumed it was just a bite, like in the stories, like Cara had told her had happened to her. She could certainly understand why someone would leave out the part about being mauled by a raging wolf.
“So that’s it then, there’s no other way? I can’t drink your blood or something?”
“Well, no, we're not vampires, which are real by the way, I’m not sure if he told you...”
She nodded. “I assumed, it seems the two go hand in hand.”
“Well, yes, we’re not them, they are a disease, one for which there is no cure. We, however, are a gift. But its a gift only the worthy can get.”
They walked the rest of the way home in silence. Reign’s feelings subsided. A sort of calm came over her mind.
There has to be a way.
She was sure Richard would find a way, and if worse came to worse, and she was going to die anyway, he could always turn her after the... birth, if you could call it that.
Richard was waiting for the two women when they returned. He was dressed in city clothes with a half length leather coat on, keys in hand, Cara at his side. Cara had a bag packed that Reign recognized as hers.
“There you are, we have to go. Skye, Indigo’s in charge while I’m gone, make sure he has no trouble,” Richard told her. Skye gave Reign a quick hug before making her way into the lodge.
Richard took the bag from Cara, kissed her on the cheek, which made Reign supremely uncomfortable, and then he took her by the hand and led her to the car.
It’s not real, these feelings, they are being forced on me, remember that.
“Where are we going?”
Richard ignored her for the moment, got her seated in the middle of the back seat, and adjusted the seat belt. The SUV felt huge with just her in it. He hopped in the driver’s seat and started up the engine. He let it run for a moment, hands on the wheel, clearly lost in thought.
“It’s okay, Richard, Skye told me the baby will live no matter what, and I think I’m okay with that.”<
br />
“Well, I’m not. Listen, there’s a way, it could be more dangerous than just letting nature take its course, but there is a way.”
“Skye said that to become a wolf you had to survive a mauling, is that what you're saying?”
“No.” He shook his head. “That isn’t an option, he won’t accept you as is, trust me, pregnant women never survive. That’s not what I’m saying.” Richard heaved big sigh.
He set the vehicle in motion. The black SUV made its way down the winding drive to the main road. The two of them sat in silence while he focused on the road. Once there, he turned east, toward Spokane. Reign said nothing, he would speak when he was ready, and she had her own things to think about.
