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We paced Shepard’s hallway, back and forth, until the fact it was a hallway lost all meaning. The hardwood floor didn’t matter. The walls didn’t matter. All that mattered was that my feet kept moving one after another. I could’ve walked to the end of the world and did another rotation. I would’ve walked over broken glass and hot coals to keep the other pain at bay. Did it hurt this much with Faran? Had I forgotten?
“Shift,” Marcus whispered in my ear. “Your fingers are sprouting fur. Shift if you can.”
“Will it hurt the baby?” I whispered, clinging to Marcus’s arm.
“Not if your wolf wants out. He knows what to do,” Marcus stroked my hair as he spoke to me.
It had all happened so fast. First, we got the call about Shepard. Then my water broke. It all twisted up inside my brain until I sighed and gave into my wolf. The pain was still there even as I dropped to my hands and knees on the floor. I surrendered to the fur sprouting from me and soon my hands were paws.
Once in wolf form, I was a ball of instinct and time drifted away. Marcus stayed there with me, stroking my head and ears, between pushes. A baby wailed in the other room. Shepard’s pup was here! My tail wagged. It was time to keep pushing.
Dara peeked his head out and I swallowed hard, begging my wolf not to growl at him. Marcus held up a gentle hand and Dara’s head disappeared.
“You got this,”Fen whispered into my thoughts over our mating link.
Hearing his voice inside my head, made me focus on him. He held Baby Faran and rocked. I could almost see the nursery through his eyes and my happy sleeping first pup. That image gave me the last surge of energy I needed to deliver our second little boy into the world. He came out whining and hungry.
A bowl of hot water materialized from the bathroom, but I didn’t see who brought it out. All my attention was on the little black wolf that lay on the too-white towel. After the cord was cut, I shifted back to my human form. I lay panting on my back in the hallway while Marcus cleaned our little boy up. He’d kept who he was a secret until his entrance into the world. I smiled to myself. I remembered somewhere in my research that the name Olen vaguely meant secret. I whispered it aloud and Marcus turned his head to grin at me.
“He looks like an Olen,” Marcus whispered, as he wrapped him in a clean towel and laid him on my chest.
“Can we come out?” The bathroom door cracked open.
It was Daniel who peeked out this time. Marcus glanced at me, and I nodded. The anxiety had fled from me and my wolf. Our pup arrived safely and was surrounded by family.
“Sorry, brother. Didn’t mean to take over your hallway,” Marcus grinned.
“No worries,” Daniel said, pushing open the door.
He glanced at me, and I nodded at him too. He squatted down nearby for a better look at his nephew. He held out a finger and Olen tried to suckle it. He shifted from an adorable black wolf pup to a just as adorable human baby with a thick mop of hair.
“He’s beautiful,” Marcus said, his eyes misting over.
“If you want, you can rest with Shepard in our room, while we get everything cleaned up,” Daniel offered.
“Thanks,” I nodded.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Fen
Once the house fell quiet, I tiptoed down the hall with Baby Faran and Baby Norbert clutched to my chest. The latter had woken up and started to cry when his newborn baby brother wailed. So, I rocked them both while their carriers ushered life into the world. I’d never been at a birth, and figured I was more useful in the nursery. Someone had to soothe the babies and let them know the world wasn’t ending. In fact, for two new people, it was only the beginning.
Shepard’s bedroom door was open and he and Irwin sat propped up against pillows feeding their babies. I held my breath and took it in. Not too long from now, I’d be the one feeding my pup for the first time. I blinked back tears and kissed the babies I held atop their heads.
“Hey,” Irwin said, not looking up at first.
“How are you all?” I asked, leaning against the doorway.
“We’re great. Come meet them,” Irwin said.
He glanced up at me, his eyes aglow. His scent was pure joy as I tiptoed across the room to the edge of the bed. Shepard and Irwin scooted apart so that I could lay the babies between them.
“Sit,” Shepard nodded to the bed. “No need to get sore feet.”
I sighed as I sat down. He was right. My feet hurt just from standing in the doorway. I knew pregnant bellies looked heavy, but I never knew just how much of an extra load carriers lugged around while they were pregnant until I experienced it myself. Still, I ran a hand over my belly. Little Lux was a kicker, and it was the only way to soothe the little guy.
I scooted as close to Irwin as I could manage and peered into his arms. Olen looked so much like Marcus. The DNA test said both of our babies would look like him, but looking at Olen was like looking into one of Marcus’s baby photos. I leaned in close, my wolf wagging his tail, and kissed his thick mop of hair. He was perfect just like my mates.
