Liam sat in front of me with terror on his features. He held my face in his hands as he whispered soothing words to me. I can barely focus on what he says though, the pain in my sides and belly too much at the moment. This felt exactly like a contraction, and I am terrified; it’s too soon. I need the baby to stay in a few more weeks.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
“Come on,” Liam said. My ears perked up at his words.
“What?” I asked, and he moved next to me and gently scooped me up into his arms.
“My uncle is expecting us,” he said, and he glided from my office. I can barely comprehend the passing halls of the packhouse as he carries me out. Another wave of pain hit me, and I tried to stifle my cry.
I can feel Liam tense around me. “Just hang in there, Little Luna,” he said in a low voice. I closed my eyes, trying to breathe through the pain. Goddess, please do not let this be the time. There is no way the baby is ready.
I know we arrived at the clinic when the cool air k****s my slightly sweaty skin, the combination of pain and warm summer air causing my perspiration. “Alpha, Luna,” I hear Doctor Ron. Liam doesn’t stop moving, so I know he is headed straight to a room. He set me down on a bed and reluctantly moves aside.
“Hello, Azalea,” Doctor Ron said. “I see we are having some pain.” I nod, still holding my stomach. “Alright, I want you to try and just breathe as evenly as you can while I check some things, okay?” I nod again.
First, he felt my belly and sides, pushing in a couple of spots. Then he got out the fetal monitors and hooked them up to me. Another wave of pain swept through me, and Liam is by my side, holding my hand as I cry out.
Doctor Ron watched the monitor for a few minutes as another wave of pain courses threw me, this one much less than the previous ones. Liam grew more worried as we sit there. Finally, his uncle turned to us with a calm look on his face.
“Good news, you aren’t in labor just yet. These are false contractions,” he explained. Liam didn’t seem assuaged as his uncle continues, “Your body is preparing itself for the actual birth. These are short periods of fake contractions to ready you.”
“Well, they feel pretty real,” I said.
He gave a small laugh. “Yes, they can. I am going to get you something to relax, but you can go home after that. Let’s keep off our feet for the rest of the day.” He looked up at Liam, who nodded. “I’ll be right back,” he said before leaving the room. Liam looked at me with worry still in his eyes.
His hand came up to my face, pushing some stray hair back behind my ear. “Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded my head. His thumb gently rubbed my cheekbone. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized. Liam leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine.
“I just want you and our pup to be healthy,” he whispered. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me close. Doctor Ron came back in, ending our moment.
“Alright, Luna, I want you to take this and relax for the rest of today. No work and no little pups, okay?” he said.
“Sure,” I said, taking the tiny pill cup from him. Liam turned around to the sink in the room and got a glass of water, bringing it to me to take the medicine.
“We want to be careful with these types of pains,” he continued. “I would like to watch them. They can come about from excess stress but also from nothing at all. It is imperative that if you begin to feel as if you need to push, you call me right away.” Liam nodded as he listened intently. “I assume you can recognize that feeling?”
“Oh, yea,” I said, recalling the first two pregnancies. “I remember.”
“Good. That will be a definite indicator that the contractions are real. You should also time them. These false contractions may not come in even or descending intervals as real ones will.”
“Alright,” I said, trying to keep the worry out of my voice for Liam’s sake.
“I will let you two go for now. Please call me if you have any concerns,” he said, turning to Liam.
“Thanks,” Liam said. Not even waiting for his uncle to leave the room, he bent down to pick me up. I wrapped my arms round his neck to make his job a bit easier. We left the room, passing a wheelchair that was left outside, probably for Liam to push me out of here in, but my Alpha blooded mate wouldn’t do that.
Liam was quiet the entire way back to the packhouse. When we arrived, Felix was waiting in the foyer, and I could hear a movie playing in the lounge just behind him.
“Can you contact my mother? Tell her I need her to grab the boys for the night?” he asked Felix. Felix nodded as Lacey came out of the lounge to join us.
“Is everything alright?” she asked, seeing Liam holding me.
“Yea, just a little scare,” I tried to reassure her.
“Azalea needs to rest for the rest of the night,” Liam told the couple. “It’s best if the boys go to their grandparents. Missy can choose what she would like to do; she is old enough to entertain herself.” Felix nodded, and Liam began to move again, taking me upstairs.
Lacey
My heart clenched as I watched Alpha ascend the stairs with his Luna in his arms. He looked scared almost, and I wonder what happened to worry him so much. It clearly concerned the pup, but I wasn’t sure what it was.
I turned to Felix, and I was pretty sure he was already linking the former Alpha about Leo and Junior. I waited for him to be done, and his eyes came back to me. The smallest hint of a smile graced his lips. He always had the same look when his eyes would come to me. It made my heart beat faster seeing his intimidating, stoic expression shatter just by my presence.
“Should we pack them an overnight bag?” I asked him. He shook his head. “Do they have things there?” He shook his head yes. “Will they be coming by to get the boys?” he shook his head yes again.
I am resigned to the yes and no questions with him, especially when we aren’t alone. He seems most comfortable communicating this way when it doesn’t concern matters of pack safety.
We both went back into the lounge where Junior and Leo were watching a movie on the discovery channel. “Will you have anything else to do after they leave?” I asked idly. Of course, we spend every night together now that we live together, but I think the stress of the impending war affects him. He hasn’t been sleeping well. Plus, we haven’t had much time to ourselves outside of nights since he began looking after the boys.
Felix shook his head, and his eyes held curiosity. “I was thinking maybe we could go out together,” I said. He was quiet for a minute, so I continued, “Like a date.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, looking like he was considering something. “Be ready in 30 minutes,” he linked without moving a muscle. My face broke out into a large grin. I raised up onto my tiptoes and left a soft k**s on his cheek before dashing out of the room and up to ours.
–
Now that I was much more used to Felix and his eccentricity, I found his quiet, surly demeanor funny and cute. As I was finishing up in the bathroom, Felix came in, pulling his plain grey cotton t-shirt over his head. He went to the closet, pulled out a simple black, short sleeve button-up, and put it on. He was a man of straightforward taste, but he was still swoon-worthy. When he saw me, I could see his eyes darken a bit. I opted for a deep red t-shirt dress with a cinched waist.
We left the packhouse and headed towards the nearest city, where he chose a restaurant to take me to for dinner. It was an Italian place, and we ended up having to wait for a table. I don’t think he did it on purpose, but Felix made others nervous as we stood there in comfortable silence. It was comical because he was soft and sweet, albeit quiet and set in his ways, to me.
Our waiter was a kid no older than 17, and he was clearly terrified of my mate. After we ordered our food, I sat there trying to pinpoint exactly what about him was so terrifying. “The scar,” it finally occurred to me. Felix raised an eyebrow at my sudden words.
“I think it’s your scar. I mean clearly combined with your size,” I said. He continued to give me a questioning look. “The reason you come off so intimidating. How did you get it?”
His face grew solemn for a moment, but he answered, “I killed the man who killed my mate.”
“The witch?” Felix nodded. “He gave you that scar?” Once again, nodding. “Did it bring you closure?” He paused for a moment before shaking his head this time.
The waiter brought our food and left quickly, not looking like he wanted to conversate much with Felix. We began to eat in companionable silence. There was something nagging at me for days now, and my wolf was urging me to bring it up. I wasn’t sure how he would react. Finally, my wolf won the battle inside me.
“Felix, do you want to have pups? I asked. His fork stopped midair between his plate and mouth. His eyes moved from his plate in slow motion to me, his mouth still partially open to accommodate his fork that was now stalled on its journey.
I grew warm in my face as he sat up straight and lowered his fork. He regarded me silently for a few minutes. “It’s okay if you don’t….” I said quietly, looking back down at my plate.
Harry had gotten sick not long after I was able to mark him. We never even got to discuss having pups, even if I had imagined them. After he passed, I just figured it would always be out of my grasp. But now that I have found my second chance, things have changed. Plus, spending so much time with the Alpha’s boys has ignited a slight ‘pup fever’ in me, and I can’t help but imagine what a tiny baby Felix would look like.
“Pups?” he said softly. I nodded my head.
“Yea, I just was wondering….”
I looked back up into his stoic face. Ever so slowly, he nodded. It took me a minute to realize what he was telling me, but when I did, excitement burst through me. “Really?” I asked quickly. He nodded again.
I bit my l*p, trying to keep back happy tears. “Um, when?” I asked him.
“When do you want?” he linked. When do I want to? As crazy as it felt, I knew I would have his pups tomorrow if I could.
“Anytime,” I told him. A slight grin kicked up on his lips. “How many?” I asked him.
He held up two fingers. “One boy, one girl,” he said.
I pursed my lips. “We don’t really get to pick that part,” I said. He just shook his head.
“One boy and one girl,” he repeated.
I just giggled. “Alright. We can talk about that later,” I said with a smile. Two kids with Felix sounded like perfection.
After dinner, Felix and I went mini-golfing. It was hilarious to watch him hunched over with the tiny golf club each time it was his turn. He still ended up beating me, although we were both terrible.
When we got back to the packhouse, we settled down in bed together when he jumped up. There were rogues at the border once more, and he went to check on the former Alpha and Luna’s home. The attack must have been handled quickly because he was crawling back into bed with me a little more than an hour later, stirring me from sleep. I cuddled into his embrace, happy knowing our future was headed in a direction we were both excited about.