The Chosen Series Box Set: Books 1 - 3

by Charlene Hartnady

  “Are you sure about trusting this person?” Ward’s brow was deeply creased. His jaw locked as he grit his teeth, looking angry.

  “I need your help.” Stephany ignored the line of questioning.

  The human sounded like she was clearing her throat. “Sure. Speak to me.”

  “I am not physically able to birth young and because of that, I need your help.”

  There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

  “I need you to help me birth this baby. You are a human healer aren’t you?”

  “I think the key emphasis should be on the word human. I’m not a surgeon either, just a plain old general practitioner.”

  “I am due to have this baby anytime within the next two weeks. He is ready to come any time now. The problem is that my pelvis will be too narrow to birth him if he gets any bigger. I need you to make my labor come now. To help me have him. Can you do this?”

  There was a loud sigh on the other end. “You should go to a hospital. I don’t—”

  “It’s too risky. If the vampires find out we are here, Ward will be executed. I will be severely punished.”

  Becky made an incredulous noise. “I’m sure they wouldn’t…I mean Brant is your friend they—”

  “Ward breached the castle twice without permission. Waged a war on the vampires. The wolves took me twice. I disobeyed direct orders. The list goes on. We are in trouble. I need to have this baby now while I can still, hopefully, birth him. This can’t wait, it needs to be quick and it needs to be quiet.” Stephany had to force herself to release her hold just a little on the phone or she was sure that she would crush the device.

  Becky snorted. “I must be freaking nuts. Come to my clinic. I will make sure I have the necessary supplies. If you arrive within half an hour, call before you come in. I have appointments to cancel and staff to send home. On second thought, I’d better have Elisabeth cancel tomorrows appoints as well,” she muttered to herself.

  “Thank you. I’m not sure I can ever repay you.” The enormous relief that she felt had her closing her eyes and turning her face to the heavens for a brief moment.

  “Don’t worry. You will owe me…big time.”

  Before Stephany could respond, Becky rattled off her address twice and ended the call after ensuring that Stephany remembered it.

  “The human said half an hour?”

  She nodded.

  “Take it slow.” Ward looked in Rushe’s direction. “We may need to pull off before we reach town. I want to try and avoid being seen.”

  Rushe made a sound of acknowledgement, the vehicle slowed as he took his foot off the gas.

  They did end up pulling off the road for ten minutes and then arriving at the entrance to the clinic exactly thirty minutes later.

  Becky let them in within seconds of knocking on the door. There was a closed sign in the window.

  Becky’s eyes widened when they landed on her distended belly. “Wow. You weren’t joking.” The female gave her a quick hug before turning her eyes on the males. Ward stepped in next to Stephany, putting an arm around her shoulders.

  Becky eyeballed the other males with her hands on her hips. “Oh my.” She let out a low whistle as her gaze travelled over Rushe for a second time. “They are just as freaking hot as the vamps, maybe even more so.”

  “Damn straight.” Rushe stepped forward. Stephany noticed how his hooded gaze tracked Becky’s lush curves, staying for the longest time on her large mammary glands. The female wore black business pants and a tight white blouse that showed the barest hint of a deep cleavage. His nostrils flared as his gaze dipped lower.

  “Please tell me that you boys bite a little.” Becky licked her lips.

  Rushe chuckled before flashing the human a gleaming canine. “Maybe a little, but I promise it won’t hurt.”

  “Oooohhh, sounds good.” Becky giggled, her blond curls bouncing as she gave her head a flick. It was a human flirtatious gesture that Stephany had seen Tanya perform while in the company of the kings.

  Ward growled, causing Becky to start with a little squeak. “Enough.” After the loud vibration, he managed to sound controlled. Rushe took a step back, dropping his eyes to the floor.

  “Can you help my female?” Ward slipped his arm around Stephany’s waist.

  Becky folded her arms, squaring her shoulders. She nodded once. “Yes. Come on in.” They made their way to a small, neat waiting area. “Can I offer you something to drink?” Becky asked once everyone had taken a seat.

  “No,” the slight growl was back. “We need to begin. Time is limited.”

  “I understand…” Becky took a deep breath, her eyes solemn, her whole demeanor turning even more no-nonsense and serious. “The problem is that I’m not a gynecologist. I don’t carry the necessary medication required to induce labor. I don’t have any of the equipment required to perform scans or to check the infant’s heart rate. We would be going blind if I were on my own.”

  “Our females normally give birth naturally without any of the things you mentioned. It is very rare that we seek an outside healer for assistance.” Ward sighed. “What I’m trying to say is that any type of assistance would be greatly appreciated and way more than what we would’ve had anyways.” His eyes had gone from being a beautiful emerald green to a dark almost black color. “I am worried about my female. This baby is due any day now. Though we are concerned that he will soon grow too big.”

  Becky smiled. “I understand.” She took in a deep breath. “I have asked a friend to help out. He will deliver some of the basic medications and equipment that we will require for an induction. We have a little time.”

  “Please understand”—Ward leaned forward, placing his hands on his thighs—“time is of the essence. We are in danger. If the vampires learn of our presence here…” He shook his head.

  “I am here to help you. We’re on the same side and you can trust me. I won’t tell anyone about this. It is important that you understand a few things before we begin though. Firstly, this may not even be possible. Our human drugs may not work on a vampire and even if they do, not all inductions are successful.”

  Ward stiffened. “Not successful, are you saying that it can result in death?”

  Becky frowned. “No, what I’m saying is that it doesn’t always work. I will give Stephany the drugs but she won’t necessarily go into labor.”

  Ward let out a sigh, scrubbing his hand over his face. “I thought you meant…”

  “It does not mean that this will be without risk—”

  A knock sounded.

  “Wow, that was quick. Must be Eugene with the meds…” Becky stood and walked towards the door. “I won’t be a sec.”

  As soon as the female was out of earshot, Rushe turned to Ward. “I’m next on the list.”

  If Ward heard what the other male said, he gave no indication.

  “I really like that female.” Rushe’s nostrils flared.

  “You like all females.” Tyler spoke for the first time. His voice deep and gravelly.

  “Yeah, but I really like this one…very much. She looks soft and rounded. Her lips are so full and succulent.” He made a frustrated groan. “So tiny with such big breasts. Just thinking of her plump mammary glands makes my dick—”

  “This is not the time,” Ward growled. Thankfully putting an end to whatever Rushe was about to say.

  After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Rushe stood. “I didn’t think I wanted a human, but I have changed my mind. I will pursue this one as soon as permission is granted.”

  “You will wait until it is your turn. We are here to birth my son.” Ward also stood and started pacing.

  “I will take her number and”—there was a long pause—“if the opportunity should present itself…if she should offer to…”

  Ward snarled. “If you so much as lay a paw on her, I will cut off your dick and make you eat it. Do you understand me?” He sighed, gritting
his teeth for a few beats. “I understand your frustration. Look,” he paused. “Take her number. Once it is your turn to take a female, you can come back.”

  Rushe nodded, but she noticed how his jaw clenched and his hands fisted at his sides. “My wolf is responding to her. It is not something that can be helped.”

  “We don’t fucking need this. Are you sure?” Ward let go of her while taking a step in Rushe’s direction.

  Rushe nodded, looking pained.

  Ward cursed under his breath. “You will need to control the urge. I want the human’s full attention on my female and that means that your cock stays in your pants. Your job is to guard the perimeter and to keep our future heir safe. Am I clear?”

  Rushe nodded, turning to Stephany. “I am sorry if I came across as selfish. I’m pretty sure that that human female is my future mate.” Then he grinned. “It makes sense that my beast would end up choosing my female. He is extremely strong and willful.”

  “You should stay as far away from the human as possible. The urge to mark her with your scent will become difficult to control the longer you spend time with her.” Ward hooked his fingers in his front pockets. “Once you have rutted her, your urges to take her as a mate will increase even more.”

  Rushe nodded. “I will stay away from her…for now.” The male moved to the far side of the room just as Becky came back in carrying a large brown paper bag.

  “You won’t believe the bullshit story that I had to tell to get this stuff.” The bag crinkled in the human’s hands.

  “What are the risks you mentioned earlier?” Ward growled before Becky could sit.

  “Ward.” Stephany reached out and clasped his hand. “Please remember that Becky is trying to help us.”

  Ward turned to glance her way, his eyes softening as they landed on hers. He nodded once, turning to face Becky again. “I’m sorry, I am worried about my female and our son. I apologize if I seem rude.”

  “Could be a girl,” Becky said.

  Ward threw the human a tight smile. “I am worried for our baby. I may sound angry or rude, but know that it is fear. Please tell me about these risks.”

  “Childbirth is a risk, full freaking stop, but the hospital is five minutes down the road if need be. How far along are you?”

  Rushe cleared his throat. “Excuse me…Becky,” the male’s gaze heated as the human swivelled her seat to face him. “Is there a back exit to this building?”

  “Yeah, sure. Just take the middle door”—she pointed to an exit behind Rushe—“go down the hall and it leads to the back.”

  The big male winked, throwing her a half smile. “Thank you.” His voice had dropped about a hundred octaves.

  “Anytime, tiger.” The human’s cheeks were inflamed.

  Rushe frowned. “I’m not a tiger, I’m a wolf. Just as big, just as bad only…we do this thing with our dicks when we—”

  “That’ll be all,” Ward growled.

  “Drives females wild,” Rushe quickly added. He winked at Becky, then turned and took a step towards the exit.

  “You’ll have to show me sometime.” The human giggled while doing the hair flick thing again.

  “Of that, you can be sure.” Rushe growled over his shoulder as he walked from the room.

  When Stephany looked back at Becky, her cheeks had turned an even darker shade of red. “I’m so sorry.” She bit her lip for a few beats. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I might be a raging flirt, but I’m normally highly professional in the work place. It’s just…” She looked confused for a few seconds “Never mind, I’m over it.”

  “It’s not your fault. Please explain how this will work,” Ward requested.

  “I need to know how far along you are first?”

  “I am ten weeks,” Stephany said.

  Becky frowned.

  “It is normal for pups to be born between ten and twelve weeks.” Ward kept his eyes fixed on the human.

  Becky nodded. “I see. I want to check your cervix…” Stephany felt her brow crease just as Ward frowned. Becky paused, looking at each of them in turn. “Before a woman goes into labor, the opening to her womb gets thinner. This opening is called a cervix. I will check yours”—Becky looked Stephany in the eyes—“hopefully the process will have already started. If so, then all we really have to do is speed it along.” The human licked her lips. “That’s what this stuff is for.” She looked down at the bag in her hands. “I just wish I could perform a scan. Take a look at what’s going on in there.”

  Stephany shook her head. “We have tried to use that machine on vampire females before. It is the one humans use to look into their stomachs to see the growing baby with, right?”

  Becky nodded.

  “They don’t work on us. You would not see anything.”

  “I will check you manually then. I would like to first try the non-evasive method for inducing labor though.” She rummaged in the packet, pulling out a tube. “I will perform what’s called a membrane sweep.”

  “A what?” Ward clasped Stephany tighter.

  “I’ll separate the sac that the baby is in and your cervix…um…womb opening from one another. It won’t hurt.” She locked eyes with Stephany again before continuing to address them both. “This does sometimes help to bring labor on. I’ll also put some gel high up in your vaginal passage to help with cervical dilation.” She paused, “We need your womb opening to thin and to start to open, this will help make the baby come.”

  “How long will it take?” Ward kept his eyes on Becky.

  The human shrugged. “Could be as little as a half an hour or it may not happen at all. It’s hard to tell. We will need to give it six hours before we move on to the more evasive techniques though.”

  “What techniques would those be?” Stephany could feel Ward tensing up.

  “We attach a drip with a chemical called oxytocin, which is also known to stimulate labor.”

  “What is a drip?” Stephany could tell that Ward was working hard to keep it together.

  Becky smiled. “I’m sorry. I’ll show you.” She removed a bag of clear liquid with a closed see-through package. Inside the package was a sharp metal object. “I attach the needle to the drip and insert the needle into your arm so that the medicine goes directly into your vein.”

  “I thought I explained that silver will kill my baby.”

  Becky frowned. “I’ll double check, but I’m pretty sure the needle is stainless steel so don’t worry.”

  Stephany shook her head. “My body will heal around the needle. It will not work.”

  “Alrighty…” Becky chewed on her lip for a few seconds. “I would have to attempt to break your water manually then.”

  “I would probably just heal and again, if you use silver, it will harm my child.”

  Becky puffed out a small amount of air. “We will have to attempt it, if ripening the cervix fails.”

  Ward shook his head. “Is there any way that we could attempt it now? I don’t want to try something that might harm Stephany or the baby, but please understand that this is urgent.”

  “I will check Stephany’s womb opening first. It would need to be ripe in order to rupture the membrane. I’m not going to do anything that would put either of them at risk.”

  Ward growled. “I don’t want that either.”

  The human smiled. “I can see that you care for Stephany greatly.” Becky touched Stephany’s knee as she turned to face her. “It is important that you know that induced labor can be very painful, particularly if the membranes are ruptured artificially. Your contractions will come quickly. You won’t have time to slowly adjust one step at a time.”

  A wave of fear washed over her, but she pushed it down. “I will do anything that I need to in order to have this baby. I can only hope that he isn’t too big already.”

  “You’re not that big, Steph. I’ve definitely seen women get much bigger.”

  “Look at my hips.” To emphasize her point, Stephany put her hands o
n either side of herself.

  Becky’s face took on a concerned look. “You are tiny.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I had quite a bit of experience with births when I did my residency in the emergency room.” The human clutched Stephany’s hand. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that you birth a healthy baby.”

  Stephany nodded, biting down on her lip. “Thank you.”

  “Good. Let’s get started. I suggest that we go through to my rooms.” She pointed to a doorway on her right.

  Ward kept his arm clutched possessively around her. “Stay outside the door.” He glanced Tyler’s way. The male nodded once before moving into position. He squeezed her hip and gave her a reassuring smile. It was easy to see the worry in his beautiful green eyes.

  Becky handed her a neatly folded gown as they entered the spacious room. There was a bed on the far wall as well as a desk and some chairs. There was also various strange looking healer equipment set up around the room. “I’ll give you a few minutes to change.” Becky smiled. “You can lie on the bed when you are done.” She covered the bed in what looked like a very large paper towel and left.

  Stephany quickly changed, handing her clothes to Ward who folded everything neatly before placing them on a chair in the corner. He helped her onto the bed, which thankfully had an incline so she didn’t have to try and lie flat on her back, which was seriously uncomfortable in her current state.

  When he tried to move away, she grabbed his hand. “Please stay with me. I need you.” Her voice broke a little, so she took a deep breath to try and calm her turbulent emotions.

  His eyes locked with hers, burning with such sincerity. “They would have to drag me away.”

  A little whimper escaped. “Don’t say that.”

  “No one saw us. As long as we stay holed up in here, we’ll be safe.” He caressed her jaw with the pad of his thumb. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’m right here. Concentrate on birthing a healthy son for us.”

  “What if my womb opening is not even close to being ripe? What if—”

  He cut her off, threading his fingers into her hair. “Stop with the what-ifs. Positive thoughts…we agreed, remember?”