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She smiled and sighed, like she hadn’t a care in the world. But early this morning, when it was still dark, she shook my shoulder, waking me up, and I could hear the fear in her voice.
“Get your mother and Elizabeth, Noah,” she said before her voice was cut off by a cry. Grasping her huge belly, she turned to me awkwardly, her back arching in pain. “He’s coming!”
By the time I banged on Elizabeth and Rill’s door minutes later, I’d completely succumbed to my fear. I almost broke the door down in my attempt to get Elizabeth moving faster, grabbing her arm as she tripped forward clumsily.
Rill stepped up then, stifling his yawn and holding their baby daughter, Daisy, in his arms.
“If you hurt my mate, I’ll hate you even more than I already do,” he said gruffly. Daisy’s dark head rested on his shoulder, her blue eyes watching me sleepily as he yanked my hand off Elizabeth’s arm. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
I nodded, chastened. I didn’t have any excuse for my behavior, and besides, Elizabeth was finally ready to go. After collecting my mother, I rushed them both to the house.
And seconds later, when Joanna arrived with a bright smile and a basket of towels, they proceeded to kick me out of the bedroom. Now I’ve been banished from even being in the house with nothing to do but wait…
“Never mate with an alpha like this one, Daisy-baby.” Rill’s voice rings out above me, and I glance up to see him smiling down at me mockingly, his daughter in his arms. “Not only will he worry himself into an early grave, but he’ll also annoy the hell out of you.”
Daisy’s blue eyes brighten as she babbles incoherently in response. But then Rill tickles her tummy, and she dissolves into giggles.
“Go away,” I moan, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands.
“She’s going to be fine,” Rill says after several seconds, his smile fading. “With Liz and your mother, she’s in good hands. They’ve got herbal cures for everything. Not to mention, they’ve delivered six babies in the past year. They haven’t lost a single one.”
I sigh, annoyed. I hate when he’s right, but it’s true.
Elizabeth, my mother, and Camilla’s mother, Lyn, have teamed up to deliver all the babies born since we arrived in Crescent Rock almost a year ago. I was wondering if Hetty would eventually want to team up with them, but she looked appalled when I suggested it.
“Blood and plants? No, thank you,” she said with a head shake. “I’ll stick to my books.”
Since we arrived in Crescent Rock last fall, she’s read every book she could find. When I commented on it, she grinned.
“It’s amazing what you discover about yourself when you actually have leisure time,” she laughed. “Who knew I loved to read so much?”
At the thought of her that day, sitting up in bed with a book resting on her big belly, I groan and sink my head into my hands. I can’t imagine what I’ll do if something happens to her. I don’t know what a life without Hetty involves. She’s my mate, my best friend, my—
“Noah.”
I look up with a start. My mother stands in the cracked open door, wiping her hands on a towel.
“Come meet your son,” she says softly.
“Already?” I jump to my feet, almost running into Rill and Daisy.
She shrugs and smiles. “When a baby’s ready, there’s not much you can do to stop him.”
“How’s Hetty?” I ask, following her into the house and slamming the door in Rill’s scowling face.
Mother just nods, her eyes sparkling with tears as she leads me up the stairs. “He’s definitely an alpha. A big one, too.”
I freeze, my blood running cold. “He’s big? How’s Hetty?”
She doesn’t look at me until we reach the top of the stairs, tilting her head toward the bedroom door. “Why don’t you see for yourself?”
Rushing past her, I push the door open.
Hetty’s sitting up in our bed, her blonde hair braided and resting on her shoulder. She looks exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes, as she smiles up at me weakly. She’s also holding the biggest baby I’ve ever seen.
“Wow.” I stumble toward her, falling to the edge of the bed. His arms, poking out of a knitted blanket, are creased with fat rolls, and he has a soft fuzz of blond hair on his large, round head. He’s sleeping, his eyes closed as his mouth suckles.
“He’s a big boy,” Hetty agrees faintly, carefully rubbing his forehead with the pad of her finger.
