by Noelle Marie
Katherine bit her bottom lip. “Bastian knows that he threatened me?”
Markus rolled his eyes. “Of course, he knows. You don’t think that Zane told him about it as soon as it became clear that you were missing? When we couldn’t find you, he was the first person Bastian confronted. Why do you think he banished Rip in the first place?” Markus shook his head. “And he didn’t just exile him to the outskirts of town like he did your little friend Melanie. He did what he should have done back then and made it clear that Rip isn’t welcome within a ten mile radius of the town, and in particular, you.” He paused. “Of course, this was after he beat him to a bloody pulp.” The muscle in the man’s jaw twitched. “Bastian nearly killed him, Katherine. If not for his werewolf-enhanced healing, I’m almost certain that Rip would have died.”
Katherine didn’t exactly feel bad for Rip, but her worry for Bastian’s mental state tripled at the news he had lost control like that. Despite his animalistic nature, Bastian was one of the most controlled people Katherine knew.
“How is he?” she asked quietly, the question nearly lost in the wind, as she finally worked up the nerve to ask the thing she desperately wanted to know and didn’t want to know at the same time. It was obvious enough, of course, that she was asking after Bastian, and not Rip.
Markus winced. “Not good, princess.”
He didn’t immediately elaborate, and Katherine recognized that he was giving her the option of retracting the question. He would shield her from the answer if she wanted. She knew that was exactly what Bastian would do, but to Katherine, not knowing was worse. She inhaled through her nose. “Tell me.”
Markus sighed, like he had already figured that would be her response. “The only word I can think of to accurately describe his actions these past weeks,” he explained carefully,” is rabid. If I didn’t already know him before you were taken, I would think he was out of his damn mind. It’s almost like his inner wolf has taken over, even when he’s physically in his human form.” He paused a moment, letting that information sink in. “When we first knew for certain that you were gone, he was wild in his rage. He disappeared into the woods for hours, just howling. When he came back, he was covered in blood. No one even dared to ask him about the poor animals he’d slain.” Markus’s mouth hardened in a stiff, straight line. “I won’t lie to you, the first week was rough. He’s been in marginally better control of himself since we discovered where you had likely been taken, but he only eats what Sophie manages to force down his throat, and I literally don’t think I’ve seen him sleep since you’ve been kidnapped; he’s committed himself so wholly to finding you.”
For once, Katherine appreciated Markus’s bluntness, but that didn’t mean tears didn’t wet her eyes at his description of Bastian. “You think he’ll be okay when he sees me?” she asked through the tears she could feel burning in the back of her nose and throat. “You don’t really think his wolf is permanently in control, do you?”
Markus’s eyes softened at her obvious concern. “I have a feeling that as soon as he sees that you’re safe, he’ll revert back to his usual overprotective, overbearing, smothering you in love, non-rabid self. Just don’t expect to be let out of his sight in the next decade. Hell, don’t be expected to be let out of my sight.”
Before Katherine could mutter an obligatory protest to that, another contraction gripped her belly. “Markus,” she choked, clinging desperately to his shirt as she was enveloped in pain.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you. I think that the cabin is just past this underbrush.”
Zane, who’d been quietly leading the way until then, yipped in agreement.
Thank God.
Katherine sniffled as she recovered from the intense contraction. She didn’t think she could stand to hear any more about Bastian just then. “How did you guys find me?” she asked tiredly.
Markus readjusted his grip on her. “Luther found those books you ordered near Melanie’s cottage,” he explained. “He realized he hadn’t seen her in a while – since around the same time you’d disappeared – and went to go check on her. When he found the books in the snow, he immediately took them to Bastian.” Markus winced. “When we went to investigate, we found some of your blood splattered near the door frame.”
Katherine nodded thoughtfully. “They hit me on the head.”
Markus’s jaw clenched at the revelation, but he refrained from comment. “We inspected every inch of the cottage after that, but the only other clue we could find about what might have happened was a strange scent that didn’t belong to either you or Melanie clinging to the little house. That, along with Luther’s reminder that there had been suspicious footprints in that area for months confirmed what we’d already suspected: someone had snatched you.”
“Lukas,” Katherine agreed.
Markus tensed. “Is that the name of the bastard who did that to your hand?”
It was the first time either Zane or Markus had brought up the angry burn – at least in person – and Katherine stiffened before ultimately shaking her head no.
When she didn’t elaborate, Markus sighed. “Anyway, since the western colony was the closest civilized,” Katherine snorted at that particular descriptor, “assemblage of wolves in the area, Bastian sent two alphas to find out if anyone had recently disappeared from there as well. Imagine their surprise when they spotted Melanie, snuggling up to a man near a bonfire on the edge of the colony.” Markus shook his head in disgust. “No one was sure right away if Melanie had been kidnapped, too, or if she was just an accomplice in the scheme to grab you. Apparently, what they saw was proof enough that she was there willingly. More importantly, though, her presence was a good indication that you were somewhere in the western colony’s camp as well.”
Katherine pursed her lips. “Yeah. Gerard’s hut.”
Markus eyed her. “Is that the bastard’s name?”
Katherine still didn’t want to talk about it, but she also didn’t want to lie, so she compromised by nodding wearily against his chest.
“Anyway,” Markus continued when it became clear she wasn’t going to explain, “they managed to leave camp unnoticed; Melanie and her beau were quite occupied.”
Katherine could only imagine how “occupied” they were considering the way they had gone at it in front of her at the motel.
“As soon as they returned to Haven Falls and Bastian heard their report, he gathered up the most able-bodied alphas and betas of Haven Falls – only leaving a few behind to protect the town – and took off. We’ve been scouting out the area the past few days. We set up camp in one of the abandoned cabins we came across along our way and made the decision to attack the western colony this morning – after the full moon. It was utter hell keeping Bastian from invading on his own last night as soon as he turned, but somehow, we managed. And now,” Markus paused, offering her a grim smile, “here we are.”
It was quite the story.
“Here we are,” Katherine agreed just as a tiny lodge came into view through the trees, “and now we’re here, finally.”
Katherine couldn’t even feel true relief, though, because mere seconds after they came upon the cabin, another contraction took hold of her. Katherine grit her teeth, but a strangled sort of scream still managed to crawl up her throat and escape. She fought to keep breathing as her entire belly spasmed.
“Zane, I don’t know how much more if this she can take,” she heard Markus say through the haze of pain. It was the first time she’d heard even a hint of panic in his voice since she had announced her water had broken. She knew he had probably been quietly freaking out the entire time – she certainly was – but trying to hide it from her so as not to set off her own panic.
Katherine wanted to tell him that it was far too late for that.
Zane quickly transformed back into his human form and was jiggling the cabin’s door handle as her contraction eased, and she came back to her surroundings. “It’s locked,” he announced tightly befo
re unceremoniously ramming his shoulder into the slab of wood and breaking it off its hinges.
Both men, with Katherine still cradled in Markus’s arms, hurried inside. There was no running heat or electricity, of course, but it was still much warmer in the tightly sealed cabin – it had been tightly sealed before Zane had broken down the door, anyway – than outside. It was dark and dusty, but Katherine could still make out sparsely decorated walls and lumps of furniture covered by sheets. Judging by the dirt that had accumulated on the once-white, cotton fabric, she didn’t think anyone had stayed there in a long time.
There was only one level of the dwelling to explore, and Zane made fast work of it, ducking his head into one room and then another, before finally peeking into a third room and calling out to Markus, “Come lay her down in here!”
Markus hurried to obey, following Zane into what looked like used to be a bedroom. The small ten by ten foot space was empty save for an old, ratty mattress laying on the floor, protected by a singular, dingy sheet. It wasn’t even resting on a box spring. Katherine was in no state to complain, however, and merely curled up on her side, clutching her knees as close to her chest as possible when Markus set her down.
Katherine could practically feel the man’s sense of helplessness as he stared down at her, clenching and unclenching his hands uselessly at his sides as he stood at the side of the bed.
Zane must have sensed his uncharacteristic restlessness because he jerked his head towards the door. “Go see if you can find some candles and something to light them with.”
Markus didn’t need to be told twice. He practically ran from the room– presumably to do as Zane had instructed. It was strange seeing him so eager to take orders, but Katherine didn’t have time to be properly amused by it, for as soon as he left the room, another contraction took gripped her. “G-Gabriela,” she managed to stutter amid the pain, her arms wrapped tightly around her belly. “A-aren’t you going to go get her?”
Zane grimaced, an apology written so clearly on his face that he may as well have markered the word “sorry” across his forehead in big, block letters. He kneeled near the mattress. “I don’t think there’s time for that.”
Katherine’s already overworked heart leapt into her throat as her inner panic intensified. “But you said you’d go get her!” she argued. She could hear the beginnings of hysteria creeping into her voice, but was unable to do anything about it.
“Hey, look at me,” Zane ordered firmly, reaching out with gentle hands and grasping her by either side of her face. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, alright? I may not be Gabriela, but I know enough about human anatomy to get you through this.”
Katherine stared at him for a long time before finally quipping in a wobbly voice, “I guess all that reading really does pay off.”
Zane offered her a tiny smirk at the comment, but his expression was void of any real amusement. “Of course, it does.”
Katherine took a deep breath, nodding. “Okay. Okay.”
It wasn’t like she actually had a choice in the matter. After all, the baby was going to come whether it was Gabriela, Zane, or nobody at all helping her through labor.
At that moment, Markus rushed back into the room, his arms overflowing with supplies he’d apparently found around the cabin. “Here,” he said, throwing a dusty pair of jeans and an oversized plaid, button up shirt at Zane, “I found these stashed away in a closet.”
Markus had already dressed himself in similar dregs, and as Zane pulled the jeans up his legs and shoved his arms into the sleeves of the shirt, Katherine couldn’t help but think they looked like a pair of rugged lumberjacks. Or maybe even hillbillies.
She would have appreciated the comical sight more if she wasn’t in so much discomfort.
“I also found this,” Markus said, throwing a frayed blanket over Katherine’s huddled form. “And there weren’t any candles, but there was a flashlight in the back of a kitchen drawer.” He turned it on and set it on the floor near Zane.
It didn’t offer a lot of extra lighting, but it was better than nothing.
“That’s fine,” Zane said. “Did you happen to see any shoes with the clothes? Some boots with laces maybe? I’m going to need some string, and something sharp, like a pair of scissors or a knife.”
Katherine stiffened. “What do you need that stuff for?” she demanded.
He was supposed to be helping her give birth, not doing arts and crafts.
“I need something to tie off and sever the umbilical cord with when the baby comes out,” he explained patiently.
When it “comes out”? If only it was as easy as he made it sound.
Markus left to go hunt down the objects Zane requested.
“I’m going to need you to lay on your back,” Zane told her. She didn’t want to, like she instinctively knew it would make the pain worse, but she allowed him to roll her over anyway. He pushed the blanket Markus had found for her up to her waist. “I’m going to take these off, okay?” he said, grabbing for the clasp of her jeans.
His clumsy fingers couldn’t help but remind Katherine of Gerard’s forceful ones, and she shoved his hands away.
Zane froze, a concerned frown tugging at his mouth and a hint of suspicion lurking in his eyes. It was like he knew.
“Just... let me,” Katherine insisted, and began to peel off her pants along with her underwear. They were stuck around her knees for a minute when a contraction hit and she had to take a break, but she managed.
Zane had just covered her back up with the blanket when Markus returned with a shoelace and serrated steak knife in his hands.
This was her life.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said in a small, tinny voice she barely recognized.
“Of course, you can,” Zane assured calmly. “Women have been doing this since the beginning of time.”
Katherine knew that Zane meant for the logic to be comforting, but the comment only made her want to strangle him. Especially when another contraction hit. Katherine fought back a scream.
She was breathing hard by the time it finally ended. She could feel pieces of her hair sticking to the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead despite the fact that the cabin was a cool forty degrees.
As a matter of fact, her entire body felt incredibly warm.
Markus must have noticed the flush on her cheeks, because he kneeled and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.
“She’s burning up,” he informed Zane bluntly.
“It’s normal,” Zane assured. “Her body’s gearing up to give birth. Temperature fluctuations are expected. Katherine, do you want your coat off?”
She nodded jerkily, and Markus helped her unzip it and get her arms out of the sleeves just in time for another contraction to hit.
“Something’s happening,” she choked as an unbearable pressure in her lower back and belly suddenly demanded that she bear down.
“What?” Zane demanded. “What’s happening?”
“I-I think I’ve got t-to push,” she croaked, snatching Markus’s hand without permission and squeezing so hard that she could feel his bones grind together.
Markus didn’t dare complain.
Zane pushed the blanket back up to her waist. “Okay, Katherine. To open the birth canal as much as possible, I’m going to need you to grab your knees and pull your legs up to your chest, okay?”
Katherine obeyed, releasing Markus’s hand to clutch her left leg by the back of the knee. She hesitated, however, to use her injured right hand to do anything.
Zane immediately picked up on her dilemma.
“Help her, Markus,” he barked.
The man looked slightly nauseous, but immediately obliged, looping his arm around the back of her right knee.
She was in so much pain she didn’t even care that they were looking directly into the most private part of her body. Nothing was private about giving birth.
Katherine could feel another contraction com
ing on, and she fought not to tense.
“Take a deep breath,” Zane instructed calmly, “and when the urge to push comes, bear down as hard as you can, okay?”
Katherine nodded.
And when the contraction came, that’s just what she did.
She didn’t even get a chance to catch her breath before another one came. And another. And another.
“Harder, Katherine, come on!”
It continued like that, painful contractions hitting her over and over again, barely a minute between each one, for well over a half hour. She couldn’t get a proper break to even breathe, and another ten minutes into it, she was a sobbing mess, covered in sweat and tears.
“Push, Katherine!” Zane ordered for the umpteenth time.
“I can’t!” she cried even as her body demanded that she bear down. She was so tired, and everything hurt. She finally understood what her Great Aunt Minnie had meant by “ring of fire.”
The contraction passed after a minute, and still, there was no baby to show for it.
“I can’t do this,” Katherine sniffled, no longer caring how pathetic she sounded. Any attempt to tough it out and not let anyone on to how much she was hurting had gone out the window twenty contractions ago. “This baby is never going to come out. It’s stuck, and I’m going to die like this.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d expressed such a sentiment in the past half hour, but Markus must have finally had enough of her dramatics because he grabbed her firmly by the chin, forcing her to look at him. “You survived us. You survived multiple attempts on your life from werewolves and hunters alike. Hell, you were kidnapped and held hostage for weeks while that sick asshole Gerard did who knows what to you. You’re covered in bruises, and for God’s sake, look at your hand.” Markus clenched his jaw, the muscle in his cheek twitching as he was forced to take in his own words. “But you’re still alive, aren’t you?” he pointed out a moment later. “You’re tougher than all of us, and you’re going to let this defeat you? The next time a contraction comes, you’re going to push until you physically can’t anymore, and then you’re going to push harder still. Got it?”
