by Amira Rain
With a cry of anguish, I ran faster. "No!"
I was within fifteen feet of him when a wall of lions suddenly blocked my way.
Coming to a halt, I rapidly zapped them all in turn, dropping them like flies. At the same time, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a group of at least a half-dozen Angels moving in from the west, and I could tell from paint or blood or something else smeared on their faces that they weren't any of Cole's men, who, to my knowledge, never put anything on their faces when going into battle. Figuring that they must be Bennett's men and that they'd maybe decided to paint their faces so that they wouldn't hurt each other with accidental friendly fire, I turned to zap them but before I could even fire a shot, a group of lions charged them, allowing me to turn my attention back to trying to reach Cole.
However, at this point, another wall of lions was between us. Also, the lions I'd levitated had dropped to the ground and were now back up, staggering toward Cole. Others were still streaming in from the east. Also, horrifying me, I'd been able to feel during my previous few zaps that my supernatural energy was already waning. I shouldn't have been at all surprised. Having only been a Gifted for a couple of weeks when Cole had taken me to New Bad Axe, and then not having used my powers at all since that day, it was natural that my supernatural "muscles" wouldn't be in very good shape.
A strangled sob escaped my mouth, and I realized that I might not ever see Cole alive again. Might not ever feel his arms around me. Might not ever see him hold his child, who he loved already.
I knew I couldn't give up. Not until every last zap I had in me had shot from my palms. I knew Cole would fight for me the same way.
With a wild cry, I took to zapping lions indiscriminately, dropping some and making others roar in pain. I also levitated some and sent them spinning. However, for every lion that I pulled off Cole, a new one came in to take his place.
I zapped furiously with perspiration breaking out along my forehead and the back of my neck. "Get away from him!"
Most of the lions in particular paid me no heed, but some distance to my right, I suddenly saw one turn from a separate fight that was happening between at least a dozen lions and another wave of Bennett's Angels that had moved in from the west. Immediately, I recognized the lion from my brief time in North Haven. It was his eyes that had made me recognize him. This lion, large, majestic, and battle-scarred, was Commander Northrup. Just the man I wanted to see.
Zapping a lion with my left hand, I cupped my right around my mouth and began shouting as loudly as I could. "Commander Northrup! Help! Pull them off him! Make them stop!"
Just then, the pile of lions on Cole seemed to explode, with him flying up and out of the middle, snarling, sending lions scattering in all directions.
Heart soaring, I gasped, already beginning to run. "Cole!"
I could see he definitely was not okay, though. Rivulets of blood were running into his eyes, probably making it impossible for him to see, and almost immediately, he was again tackled by another damned, accursed lion. Almost simultaneously, another lion wall went up in front of me. On my right, Commander Northrup was leaving the fray with the Angels, heading over to me, and I began shouting, gesturing toward Cole.
"He's not a dark-hearted Angel; he's not! Please believe me! Call your lions off him! They'll be killing a good man!"
Commander Northrup made no motion to call his lions off, though, and in fact several passed him on his way to me, and he did nothing to stop them.
"Do you hear me? He's not a dark-hearted Angel! Call your men off! Call them off!"
Commander Northrup accelerated his movement toward me, then came to a sudden stop, quickly took the side of my top between his teeth, and began trying to drag me away toward the east. And that was when it hit me. He actually thought he was rescuing me from Cole. Coincidentally, he'd decided to lead his men into New Bad Axe to rescue me the very same day that Bennett and his men had attacked. I'd honestly forgotten all about the possibility of a North Haven rescue.
I'd honestly thought that after I'd sent Commander Northrup my letter, specifically telling him that I didn't want rescue, they'd forget all about me, too. Obviously they hadn't, and also obviously, Cole had been too occupied dealing with the Bennett situation to have his men properly monitor the area between the village and North Haven. If Cole hadn't been so tied up, I had no doubt that Commander Northrup and his fighters wouldn't have been able to just basically waltz right up to the mansion how they had.
Now that I knew what was going on, I pushed at Commander Northrup's head and face with all my might, trying to get him to release my top. "Listen to me! I do not want to be rescued! That man your men are killing is my baby's father, and he is not a dark-hearted Angel! He's actually a lot like you!"
Commander Northrup suddenly paused in his tugging with the side of my top still clenched between his teeth and looked up at me.
Still trying to push him away, I yelled again. "Do you hear me? Commander Marlowe is good! Before you got here, he was trying to defend me against bad Angels who are attacking our village!"
Suddenly, several things felt like they were happening all at once, even though I knew that fractions of seconds must be dividing the things. The first thing that happened was that I heard a wolf howling in pain, then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a jet of blood rise several feet in the air, right above where the lions were still attacking Cole. The second thing that happened was that an animal-like wail came from my mouth as I realized that Cole might have just been killed. The third thing that happened was that Commander Northrup began releasing my shirt, but he wasn't fast enough. Because the fourth thing that happened was that I was already in motion to zap him at extremely close range, bringing my electrified hands down on his head with a noise like a thunderclap.
*
Commander Northrup's massive body hitting the ground made another thunder-like boom, making many of the lions around us freeze. I didn't even pause, however, zapping left and right and every which way, quickly losing strength but still running toward Cole full speed. Within a second or two, a roar from somewhere behind me made me think that Commander Northrup might be about to attack me, but I didn't slow, didn't even turn around. Another roar from behind me, this one shorter, followed by another shorter one, seemed to be some sort of signal from Commander Northrup to his fighters. Because almost instantly, the lions attacking Cole fell back, mouths bloody, their gazes going to someone behind me, probably Commander Northrup. It seemed that he'd finally gotten my message about Cole loud and clear.
When I reached Cole, I practically fell on him, sobbing. My words came out in barely-intelligible, rapid garble. “I love you please don't die I love you please don't die.”
Holding what I thought might just be his dead carcass, and not his body anymore, I kissed the side of his furry, bloodied face, suddenly realizing something. Shifters and Angels could only be killed via decapitation, and the lions hadn't yet severed Cole's head. Not a moment later after I realized this, a weak cough made me gasp. It had come from Cole's lungs. His eyes were now slowly opening. And then, in an instant, he shifted from his wolf form to his human form, coughing once again.
Sobbing, I buried my face in his chest. "You're okay. Just keep breathing. You're okay."
Soon, the sound of crackling electricity made me whip my face up, and I saw that two more of Bennett's Angels were approaching.
Commander Northrup and his lions were all standing still as statues now, most of them seeming to be just looking at Cole and me, and I shouted at them. "Please go help take out the Angels that are attacking this village! Go to the west! Kill the Angels with the painted faces! But leave all wolves alone, because the face-painted Angels have wolves and so do we, and you won't be able to tell them apart!"
The moment I'd finished speaking, Commander Northrup began charging west, roaring, and his men began following. Watching them all pause just briefly to kill the two Angels approaching, I startled when I felt a hand on my face.
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Cole was caressing my cheek, trying to speak. "You're the bravest...the bravest I've ever...."
A coughing fit overcame him, and I told him not to try to speak. When the fit had passed, I curled up beside him, resting my head in the crook of his arm and shoulder. "No...I'm not the bravest. I just worry a lot, which probably isn't good, but today it was, because it made me look out the window. Maybe it was our destiny trying to show me that I needed to help you."
I lifted my face to look into Cole's eyes to tell him that he was the bravest, but I found that he appeared to be asleep, eyes closed, but chest moving up and down rhythmically. Exhausted and feeling like I was becoming more so every second, I put my head back down, knowing that the "Gifted crash" was probably going to hit me soon, and it did. Probably not even five seconds after I'd closed my eyes, I fell unconscious, or fell asleep, or did whatever usually happened to newbie Gifteds after a battle. I was such a newbie Gifted that I'd never even figured it out.
When I awoke, I was in my bed, and though sunlight was filtering through the curtains, I had a feeling I'd been out for a while. The feel of someone squeezing my left hand made me turn my head, and I saw that Cole was in bed beside me, opening his mouth to speak.
However, I beat him to it. "Tell me you're okay."
As if I'd just conformed to him that I was okay, he exhaled in a rush wearing an expression of clear relief. "I'm okay. Shifters heal quickly."
Not quickly enough that I couldn't still see cuts all over his face, wounds that had transferred from his shifter form to his human form.
"Are you really okay?"
Cole seemed to fight a smile, squeezing my hand again. "I'm really okay...and I'm alive, thanks to you. But how do you feel? Katie's already checked you over, and the baby seems perfectly fine, but do you feel pain anywhere? Does anything feel not right?"
I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "No...I'm just really tired."
"Then, why don't you go right back to sleep. I'll be right here."
"But is everyone in the village okay?"
"Everyone is just fine."
"And all your fighters?"
"Also fine."
"And what happened to Bennett's army?"
"Most dead, except for a few Angels and wolves that escaped my men and Commander Northrup's."
"Oh...Commander Northrup. Is he okay? And all his men?"
"No injuries that won't heal as quickly as my own. Commander Northrup and I spoke briefly about an hour ago, and he said that he tried to rescue you today because he thought the letter you sent must have been coerced. He and I are going to have another meeting tomorrow, and until then, he and a few of his men are going to be staying as guests here in the mansion. Can't say I ever thought this day would come."
With my heart feeling light as air, I smiled. "I'm glad it did."
I soon yawned, and Cole again urged me to go back to sleep, and after using the bathroom, having a snack, and at least ten minutes of being fretted over by Mary-Alice, I did. And unlike my first post-battle Gifted nap of the day, this time I dreamed; nothing that I could remember later, but just happy, hazy dreams that filled my heart with joy.
Over the next few days, my heart continued to be filled with joy, because Cole and Commander Northrup came to terms about a few things. They even actually became friends. Cole specifically said "tentative friends," but this was good enough for me.
Telling me that he now knew in his heart that it was the right thing to do, he decided that he would renounce his Angel status and begin fighting for the cause of freedom and not domination. Commander Northrup spoke to some people in Washington, and they all agreed that Cole should be given formal, government-recognized status as leader of New Bad Axe, now a free territory. He and Commander Northrup would now be working together as equals fighting on the same team.
The great majority of Cole's men, including Clark and Leo, decided to renounce their Angel statuses as well, and stay on in New Bad Axe as fighters for freedom. Some of Cole's men refused, however, and he gave those men the option to voluntarily leave, or fight him to the death. They all left.
A few weeks later, agents from Washington showed up with three Gifteds that they'd decided to post in New Bad Axe, which thrilled me. Two days later, the agents were back with three more, saying that there would be more coming, women from all different parts of the country that hadn't settled well in their current posts, for whatever reason. A week after that, eleven men arrived in the village with government papers stating that they were shifters and had been posted to New Bad Axe. They were followed the next day by eight more shifters. Cole figured that he and his men needed to build more houses in the village, and soon.
First, though, he started building a new house for us and our baby. We'd decided that we just didn't want to live in Eric Winthrop's mansion anymore. Our new home would be a large, multi-story log cabin, like the one Cole had described to me my first day in New Bad Axe. When the log cabin was finished, the newcomers to the village would remain in the mansion, where Cole and I had settled them in initially, until their own new homes could be built. After that, the mansion would be used as a hotel of sorts to lodge guests to the village and new shifter and Gifted arrivals.
When I was about six months pregnant, Cole and I also used the mansion to host our wedding and reception. Mary-Alice and I pretty much cried throughout the entire joyous day. Cole had come prepared, with a tuxedo jacket stuffed full of tissues. In private, away from all guests, when it was just the two of us alone in one of the hallways, he even used one of the tissues himself.
Three months later, with he and I still living in the mansion because our cabin wasn't completed yet, I endured a ten-hour labor in the bedroom with the whirlpool and fireplace. Katie and Cole both attended to me, with Katie leaving the room for long stretches to visit with Mary-Alice so that Cole and I could just have some time alone as I labored. However, I was glad Katie happened to be in the room when, sitting in the whirlpool with Cole holding me from behind, I suddenly felt something happening, or about to happen, a sensation of heaviness in my lower stomach like nothing I'd ever felt before.
"I need to get out. I think the baby's coming, and I just feel like I want to lie down on my side."
Being that I'd planned to possibly give birth right in the tub, I didn't even know exactly why I wanted to get out, but I just felt like my body was directing me to, and I also felt like I wanted to lie on my side for some reason.
Cole and Katie quickly got me out, toweled me off, and helped me into bed, where I did lie on my side, with Cole holding me from behind like he'd done in the whirlpool, and Katie standing facing me, at the side of the bed. Right away, I began pushing, suddenly feeling an urgent need to do so. And just three pushes and maybe as many minutes later, my baby arrived into the world, caught by Katie, who had tears streaming down her face like I did. When I soon heard a lusty cry after Katie had quickly suctioned the baby's mouth with a suction bulb, I myself cried even harder, rolling onto my back so that Katie could put the baby in my arms. When she did, I realized that next to me, Cole was crying, too, sniffling and clearing his throat in a funny, cough-like sort of way. And when he spoke, he kind of coughed through his words as well.
"She's...she's just...absolutely beautiful. She's perfect."
She. We had a baby girl.
Crying so hard I wasn't even making any sound, I brought my face to her slimy little head and kissed her, then turned to look at Cole's tear-stained face. "She's a miracle...our own baby girl."Very soon, after she'd continued to cry and squawk while Cole and I counted her precious tiny fingers and toes, I put her to my breast, where she latched on right away, suckling in a rapid sort of way that made me think she was a girl after my own heart, which was to say, born hungry. However, after just a few minutes, she fell fast asleep, and Katie took her to get her all cleaned up in a small, foam-lined baby tub in our master bathroom.
While they were gone, Cole and I finally decided on a name, having
waffled between two girl names for months. But now we were certain. One of the first names we'd been considering just fit.
When Katie brought our new daughter back, all cleaned up now and with a bit of fuzzy hair the same very dark brown as Cole's, I held my arms out and took her, smiling. "Hello, Joy Alexandra. Hello."
When Cole soon held her, he kissed her cheeks, told her he loved her, and then asked her what she thought of the world. In response, Joy squawked a little, then promptly fell asleep, possibly irritated and bored with her new wide world.
For the first few months of her life, Cole wasn't home as much as he would have liked, frequently having to lead his fighters, now both Angels and Gifteds, in defending the village against Angels who were determined to reclaim the village. Twice, I participated in the defense, becoming a stronger Gifted each time.
When Joy was about six months old, Cole arrived home one day when I was holding her wrapped in a thick white blanket, just looking out the window of our new, spacious log cabin home. Turning to greet Cole, I smiled, alarmed when he stopped dead in his tracks, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. I asked him what was wrong, and he slowly advanced, looking at me with something like wonderment.
"That was it. You smiling...our baby wrapped in a white blanket...that's one of the images I saw in my dreams."
Smiling again, I decided that now was maybe a good time to add to his wonderment. "Well, did you see any images of me holding two babies in your dreams?"
Coming to a stop in front of me, Cole just stared at me blankly. "What?"
I grinned even harder. "You heard me. In about eight months, I'll be holding two babies. Katie just gave me a test today, and it was positive. Joy is going to be a big sister."
Always kind of a sassy little miss, she apparently didn't like the sound of that, because when Cole gently pulled me and her into his arms, she began fussing and kicking her chubby little legs.
The following evening, Grandma Mary-Alice, as she was now called, gladly volunteered to babysit Joy and also Noah, who was Cassie and Clark's baby son, so that Cole and I could go out on a double date with Cassie and Clark. The four of us had dinner at New Bad Axe's brand-new and first restaurant, which was a steakhouse with a western theme. After dessert, we took to the dimly-lit dance floor, where Cole held me close, leading with strong, sure steps, as we swayed in time to a slow song.
