Page 33 of Chased Bear

The plan was for me to take at least two weeks off, where I could focus on just Jayce and our child. It was important bonding time with our baby and the time when Jayce could use the most help. Unlike with humans, he’d heal quickly. But there was so much more to it than that. He was learning about his new role as dad and what our baby needed. We both were.

After those two weeks, I’d start taking back some of my Alpha responsibilities little by little. I wasn’t going to be there for Jayce every step of the day and then stop just like that. It wouldn’t be good for either of us.

After a month or so, I’d return to work full-time. At least that was the plan as of now. It could and probably would change. Of course, there would be a redistributing of tasks, given that I’d have a child now. I wasn’t going to pawn off all the work, but late-night tasks might get picked up by a Beta and things like that. We hadn’t gotten that far and partly because I wanted them to see all what I did so when we sat down to have that conversation, we’d be able to have an informed conversation and not just me telling them what I thought.

Best of all, I had an additional Beta to delegate to. But still, I didn’t want the den to feel like I’d abandoned them simplybecause I had a child. And I didn’t want my child to think I was putting the den first. It was all so complicated, and I had a feeling that wasn’t going to change any time soon.

“Dude, bears have done this since the beginning of time. You’re not the first alpha to have a child. Stop worrying, all right?” Zane wasn’t trying to be pushy, and I tried not to take it as such.

My mate had said almost those exact words to me just yesterday when I had gone over the plan with him for the hundredth time. That didn’t stop me from going over it again. It was my way.

“How is Jayce doing, by the way?” Patrick asked.

“Fine. Last week, he had to be put on bed rest, so now he’s in the bedroom, lying down.” It sucked. Not only because it added a new layer of worry, even though Rissa insisted there was no reason to have any, but because my mate was not a fan.

“I’m not fine!” Jayce shouted from across the hall. Why did he have to have superpowered hearing. I hadn’t even known that was a thing, but my mate could hear a conversation three miles away now, so it must be.

Three miles, three rooms… same thing.

I grimaced. “It’s been a struggle.” Jayce still didn’t enjoy being on bed rest. I didn’t blame him, and he was a champ, enduring it for the benefit of our child. He tried very hard not to get too restless, but it had been a week. Rissa had agreed that today would be the day we induced his labor. His blood pressure wasnot where they wanted it to be. Hence, the reason I needed my Betas completely brought up to speed. After this meeting, I wasn’t going to be available unless something was on fire.

“Aydan, I need you—” Something in his words set my bear on edge.

“All right, meeting’s over. Zane, please send Rissa over.” I was halfway out the door when I finished speaking.

“On it. I’ll send Corey too. I know he wanted to be here with his bestie.”

“Right. Of course.” Corey had been studying with Rissa to assist with childbirth. There weren’t many omegas in the pack, so we didn’t need a full-time person helping Rissa, but an additional hand during labor would be helpful, especially since he was so close with Jayce.

“All right. Duties are officially yours. I am on leave.”

Just like that, the worry of how the den would fare without me washed away. I trusted these three—they were my Betas for a reason. My den was a good one. They would do just fine.

As I reached Jayce’s bed, his nose was wrinkled up, and he was breathing shallowly.

“Tell me what’s wrong. What’s wrong?” I felt so helpless.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he held up a finger for me to wait. It sucked waiting and not knowing. I was grateful that only a few seconds later, he began to speak.

“It’s not that I’m in labor, I don’t think, but there’s this weird pull on my side and it hurts. It’s nothing like the Braxton Hicks... I think we need—”

Before he could finish, Rissa was already standing in the doorway with Corey.

“That was fast. I just sent for you,” I said, thrilled beyond belief that they were here. I had no idea what I was doing or how to help my mate. I needed them.

Rissa shook their head. “Yeah, we saw him on the way in.”

“So you were already on your way here?” Sometimes I would swear that Rissa’s abilities were more than just healing.

“Yeah, we were. It’s a good thing Zane was just leaving too.” Corey was speaking to me, but his eyes were on his friend. “We passed the baby off to my mate on our way in. We’re ready to do this thing.”

They might have been ready. I was not ready, especially when Rissa finished their exam and announced that the pull was not labor pain and that they were going to have to do a C-section. Now.

That was not normal with shifters. Sure, it happened, but nowhere near the rate it did with humans. I tried to think back—had anyone I known had one? I couldn’t remember, but I didn’t think so.

I wasn’t even sure what it entailed. I knew it involved surgery, but… crap, we didn’t have a surgery ward or anything like that. We didn’t even have a hospital. Rissa had a medical bed, so maybe that was enough. It would have to be. There was no way I was allowing my mate near a human hospital. His temperature was too high, and they’d be sure something was seriously wrong with him on top of whatever was. And it wasn’t exactly like I could tell them not to worry about it and bears were just like that.

“Rissa, I’m going to need you to talk us through this, because right now, my mate is squeezing my hand so hard it’s probably going to break, and my stress is about as high as it can get.”