She snapped her fingers. “Okay, I’ve got it. The town is less than a day away. Childbirth lasts a really long time right? My mom said she was in labor with me for almost two days. We still have plenty of time.”
Lotus and Brae exchanged glances. “Mila,” Brae said, this time coaxingly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be traveling through the mountains in that state…”
As if punctuating Brae’s statement, Mila had another of what she now knew was most definitely a contraction. It was sharper and more intense than the one before, and she hunched over, letting out a low whine.
“I’m getting Fern,” Brae said, dashing from the room.
“Wait!” Lotus shouted after her, but Brae didn’t stop.
Muttering a curse under her breath, Lotus hooked an arm around Mila. “Come on, walk it off.”
Mila laughed in spite of herself. “Walk it off?”
Lotus’s face colored. “I just mean that it will help you to walk.”
Lotus was right, it did help to walk. After the pain subsided, she let herself lean on Lotus, just a little.
“Do you think it’s going to be okay?” Mila asked her, knowing that Lotus would be honest with her.
“I don’t know much about childbirth,” Lotus admitted. “But I can hear his heartbeat, and it’s strong.”
Mila nodded. It was a small reassurance, but at least it was something to cling to when everything seemed like it was going to hell.
“Okay. I can work with that.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The pup rested, prone in the old female’s arms. The only indication that it was still alive was the sound of shallow breathing.
“We were trying to get him to the town,” Talon said, stroking they boy’s head.
Asch felt for him. He was far too young to bear the responsibility of so many fragile lives. He crouched down, giving Talon a sympathetic look.
“It may not be too late. We can still get him to a doctor,” Asch told him.
Fern, who was doing her best to dress the wound, sighed heavily. “Even if they can save him, there’ll be no saving this leg.” She gave Asch a pointed look. “If you’re going to do something, you better do it soon.”
“Massie County is less than a day from here,” Asch said to Talon. “Do you know anyone there?”
“I have never been to a human territory,” Talon admitted.
Asch wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t uncommon for young wolves born into stable pack to have limited experience with human society. Still, it was damn inconvenient.
He had ordered all of his pack, with the exception of Fern and Caim, to vacate the main room, so it irritated him when he heard footsteps approaching. Scenting Brae, he turned back to arch a brow at her.
From his position near the den entrance, Caim said, “You can tell my mate that we are not gone yet, and if I find out that she was up here—”
“Um, no, it’s not that,” Brae said. She had an anxious look about her, that made Asch immediately alert.
“What’s wrong?”
She swallowed. “Nothing, really, Mila just…” She held up her hands. “She’s always telling me that I rub her back too gently, she tells me that I need to apply pressure with my thumbs and…”
“Brae, is Mila alright?” Asch asked, becoming impatient.
“I think she’s having the pup,” she blurted.
For a moment, Asch drew a complete blank, as if Brae had spoken the words in a foreign language. He kept waiting for the words to make sense, but it wasn’t until Fern was up and holding back an enraged Caim that they finally sank in.
“It’s not due for another month,” Asch said evenly. Through sheer force of will, he remained calm. Caim was not so collected.
“What did you do?” he growled at Brae.
Cowering back, she said, “I don’t…I didn’t…”
“Will you both just shut up?” said Fern. “It’s early, but not unreasonably so. I highly doubt Brae made Mila go into labor with a backrub.” She looked to Brae. “Make yourself useful and get me soap and water, then meet me in her room.” Then, to the others, she said, “There’s nothing more I can do for the boy. He needs a human doctor. You lot need to figure out what you’re doing with him, and do it fast.”
Asch stood as Fern left the room. “Brae, when you’re done, go get River. The two of you are going to take Talon and the boy to town and find a doctor for him. After that, you’ll bring Mila’s doctor back here.”
“What if he doesn’t want to come?”
Caim said, “Then you’ll make him come.”
Brae nodded and skittered away. Asch started towards the passageway and then cocked his head to look back at Caim. “Are you coming?”
Caim averted his eyes. “Someone needs to stay here and watch them. You go.”
Asch stared at him for a moment, surprised by his response. Too absorbed in his own, chaotic emotions, Asch didn’t have the time to decipher Caim’s reaction.
~~~
Mila never thought that she would be totally okay with a woman sticking half of her hand inside her. After washing up, Fern had ordered Mila to lie down on the furs so that she could ‘check her out’. Mila was moderately relieved that someone competent had arrived, that was, until Fern began talking.
“Yep, your thing is definitely ready,” she said brightly, the wrinkles along the side of her eyes crinkling.
“My ‘thing’?” Mila repeated warily.
“The hole where the pup comes out,” Fern clarified.
Mila sat up. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
Lotus put a hand on Mila’s arm. “Fern has been bringing pups into the world since before you were born. Relax.”
Mila’s shoulders slumped and she sighed, putting her hands over her stomach. The pain so far had been bad, but not unbearable. Next to the concern she had for the baby, it was virtually nothing. All she wanted was for it to be okay.
Asch entered the room, his face awash with concern. As soon as Mila saw him, she wondered why she’d ever told Brae not get him. Relief flooded her.
“Is it time?” he asked, coming over to crouch down next to Mila. He took her hand in his and squeezed it.
“Still a few more hours to go, but it’ll definitely be tonight,” Fern told him. She nodded at Lotus. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
Asch looked uncomfortable as the others got up to leave.
“It’s okay,” Mila said. “I doubt she’ll miss anything.”
It was hot in the small room, and her body was sticky with sweat, but it didn’t stop her from leaning against him. He hunched down so that she could rest her head in the crook of his neck.
“Are you scared?” he asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Are you?”
He kissed the top of her head. “Terrified.”
“Caim?”
“I think he’s more afraid than the both of us.”
Mila bit her lip and pressed herself closer to Asch. She was torn between feeling sorry for Caim and being annoyed with him. Annoyance won out when her next contraction hit, and she grit her teeth, trying not to make a big show of it. Gently, Asch massaged her back until it passed.
“Can we just stay like this until it’s over?” she murmured into his neck.
“We can stay like this for as long as you need to.”
He held her for a long time, kissing and caressing her. Fern came in to check on her several times, and when her contractions were growing closer together, Fern finally shooed Asch from the room.
Mila didn’t advocate for him to stay. Although the pain was becoming more intense, everything seemed to be going smoothly. The baby was in the right position and according to Fern, her labor was progressing nicely, albeit a little fast.
Without any cause for concern over the baby, her old fears had begun to reemerge and she didn’t want Asch there when the baby was born. She would need time to mentally prepare herself for what was to come. One of her
mates was about to be a father, and the other, was not.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Mila had thought that the IHOP-baby—as she had affectionately dubbed him—was quite possibly the tiniest person she’d ever seen. Her daughter was half his size, and all Mila could do was stare down at her serene little face with a mixture of apprehension and terror.
“Are you going to be okay?” Fern asked. She dabbed Mila’s forehead with a damp cloth. “Want something to drink?”
Hoarsely, Mila said, “When I was in junior high they gave me an egg to take care of for the weekend.” She gave Fern a desperate look. “I broke it.”
Fern blinked at the non sequitur. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much. She’s a little tougher than an egg.” Fern fluffed the pillows and helped Mila to lay back. “Heaven knows, we dropped Caim plenty of times, and he turned out just fine.”
Mila gave her a shaky smile. “You knew Caim when he was a baby?”
“Sure did,” she said brightly. “And lucky for her, she looks nothing like her father.”
Mila looked down at her daughter. With her pudgy little face and her cute button nose, she looked far too soft and delicate to belong to Caim, yet Mila hadn’t needed Fern to sniff it out for her, she had just known.
“He didn’t come in to see me,” she said to Fern.
The older woman gave Mila a sympathetic look. “I imagine this has been very difficult for him.”
Mila frowned, her earlier annoyance returning. “It’s been pretty difficult for me, too.”
“His first sister was born prematurely,” Fern told her. She set to gathering up the soiled blankets and cloths. “Much earlier than this little angel, and it didn’t go well.”
“I didn’t know,” Mila said, feeling somewhat guilty. “He doesn’t talk much about his past with me. Did she…was she okay?”
Fern gave her a slow, sad smile. “None of us thought she’d make it through the night, but she did.” She looked down to fold a cloth in her lap. Quietly, she added, “Her mother didn’t, though.”
The room was silent for a moment, save for the rustle of fabric and gentle sound of her daughter’s breathing. Mila was at a loss for words. She stared down at her daughter, blinking back tears.
When Fern spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. “You’ll be easy on him.”
It wasn’t a question, but Mila nodded anyway. Fern wrapped up the soiled laundries in one of the furs and then gathered them up in her arms.
“Want me to send them down yet?”
“No, not just yet,” said Mila. Fern nodded and headed for the doorway. “Wait,” she called out. Fern paused. “What was her name?”
Not asking for clarification, she replied, “Dawn, and yes, I think that would be a good idea.” Then she was gone, leaving Mila alone with her daughter.
If it weren’t for the hours of labor and the dull pain that she was still in, Mila wouldn’t have believed that she’d just become a parent. Her mother had once told Mila that she’d known that she had finally become an adult the day that she’d given birth. Mila, however, had never felt so much like a child.
The moment Fern left the room, Mila unswaddled her daughter, as if she were opening up a birthday present. She counted every finger and toe, softly pinching each one for good measure. The baby seemed equally fascinated by her mother, and watched without complaint as Mila poked and prodded her.
“Who thought it would be a good idea to leave us alone?” she whispered. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with you.” The baby just stared back at her through bleary eyes. Mila ran a finger down her daughter’s face, and then leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead. “I guess we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.”
Mila relaxed back on the pillows and brought the baby up to her breast to nurse. The worst wasn’t over, but she had Dawn, and right now, that was all that mattered.
~~~
“Stop pacing,” Caim said irritably.
“Stop tapping your knuckles on the damn floor,” Asch countered, matching Caim’s tone.
They were alone in the main room. The rest of the pack had returned to the den just before sunrise, only to slink off into the lower chambers after gauging the moods of their alphas. Talon had left with River, Brae, and the pup several hours ago, reluctantly leaving what was left of his pack in Lazarus’s care.
There were many things Asch and Caim could have discussed in the hours that they were sequestered in the room with one another, namely what they were going to do about the Blackthorn pack. But for the first time in a long time, they had nothing to say to each other.
Fern came up periodically, updating them on their mate’s progress. She would say things like ‘she’s doing great’ and ‘everything’s going well’. If everything was going so well, then why the fuck was it taking so long?
It made no sense to Caim, just like it made no sense that she was giving birth so soon. They had taken perfectly good care of her, hadn’t they? He could not remember a time when he had felt so unsure of himself and so lost.
He regretted not going to her. The last time had seen his mate, he had ordered her away. Then, he had refused to see her when she went into labor. If she died, these would be her last memories of him. Caim had never come so close to hating himself.
Caim glanced over at Asch, who was still pacing. Before their mate had come into their lives, Caim had always relied on his friend to be his one, true confidant. Whenever something weighed heavily on his mind, he would speak frankly about it with Asch, who had never judged him.
Since she had come into their lives though, Caim had been guarded with his feelings. The things he felt, particularly when they pertained to his mate, had become private to him. They shared her body and her love. His feelings towards her were the one part of her that was just his and no one else’s.
In deep thought, he did not realize Asch had stopped pacing until he was sitting down beside Caim. Asch’s eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was in disarray from constantly worrying it with his fingers.
“You look like shit,” said Asch.
Caim grinned, about to respond when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned his attention to the mouth of the tunnel, standing when he caught Fern’s scent, mingled with the smell of his mate’s blood.
She emerged from the dark tunnel, carrying a large bundle of what appeared to be furs. Both males approached her uneasily.
“All over,” she said cheerfully. “Mama’s fine, pup is fine, and that’s all that matters right now, understood?” They gave her obligatory nods. “Good, now I want you to take this,” she said, handing the bundle to Asch.
They both stared down at the furs, Caim fully expecting there to be a pup somewhere within the bloodied pelts, but there was none. He glanced up at Fern impatiently.
Carefully, she said to Asch, “You are going to go down to the lake and clean these up. Hang them up to dry and go for a run. When you’re ready, you can come back and see your mate.” She looked to Caim. “And you are going to go meet your daughter.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Do you want to hold her?” Mila asked uncertainly.
She wasn’t sure what to make of Caim’s reaction to his daughter. He had entered the room a few moments ago, approaching her as if she were holding a bomb up to her chest, rather than newborn. Now he was crouched beside them, staring down at the baby as if he didn’t know what he was looking at.
His brows furrowed as he considered the question, then he said, “No.”
She tried to get a read on him, but his expression was just too ambiguous for her to discern. Not allowing herself to get discouraged, she decided to try a different angle.
“Well, I’m really tired,” she said. “Can you just hold her for a second while I get comfortable?”
Mila didn’t wait for him to respond. She plucked Dawn from her chest and, very gently, shoved her at her father. Probably reacting more on instinct than willingness, Caim accepted the small bundle.
“Are you disappointed that she’s not a boy?”
“No,” was his only reply.
Claimed by the Alphas: Part Six Page 6
