Page 24 of Fated to the Wolf Prince
“Can you sit down for me so I can check your ankles?”
She grimaced and clutched her lower back, but didn’t stop moving.Hell, she really might be in preterm labor.
“Okay, you shouldn’t be having contractions yet. It’s time to sit down and put your feet up.”
When she didn’t respond, I crossed the room, wrapped my arms around her shoulders, and pulled her to me in a hug. She shuddered and then clung to me, sobs racking her shoulders.
“They can’t take my baby, Bri. I won’t let them. I would die, just die. Do you know how long it took us to get pregnant? A hundred years. A hundred years of hopes and dreams, and they might take her. Please, please, promise you won’t let them take her.Please.”
Wolf shifters were not a fecund species, despite our longevity. It was typical for children to be rare, and spaced far, far apart if a couple were blessed with a second pregnancy. But even knowing this clinically, seeing the toll it took on Gracelyn in the moment, it hit me harder than it ever had before. I had a fated mate now, and it was all so much more real. Visceral.
“Shhh, Gracelyn. It’s going to be okay. Nobody is going to hurt you or your child. But if we can’t get these contractions to stop, she might come too early, and we don’t want that. Do you think you can lie down?”
She nodded, still gulping and gasping through her flood of tears. She let me steer her out of the front room and into a larger living area, with a big, fluffy chaise lounge next to a love seat. I guided her down onto it and grabbed a few throw pillows to arrange behind her back. Once she was comfortably reclined, I sank down onto my heels and checked her pulse at her wrist. It was a bit fast, but nothing dangerous.
She groaned again, and I placed a hand lightly on her belly. Rock hard. I acted on autopilot, relying on my studies but also instinct. Seeing a female in trouble drove my wolf, had her pushing me to act and act quickly. I found their bedroom and grabbed more pillows to stuff under her feet. I positioned her on her side and then went to the kitchen for an ice pack. I wrapped it in a towel to keep it tolerable on her flushed skin. I settled it against her neck, and she shivered.
I settled back down on my knees next to the chaise and ran my thumb over the back of her hand, back and forth, just trying to give her something to focus on. After several minutes of silence, she spoke.
“He didn’t mean to upset me. He never does, really. He’s just so scared, he didn’t want me to, to—” She hiccupped, then groaned. “He didn’t want me to dothis,” she gestured to herself, upset and contracting, “but I can’t help it. It’s every wolf’s worst fear, come to hang over the end of my pregnancy like a guillotine. I just want them gone, Bri. When they’re gone, I can pretend they don’t exist. But having them here, waiting. Who would call them here? Who could be that cruel?” She started sobbing harder, her shoulders shaking, and I leaned forward to hug her again.
“I don’t know, honey, but Kane’s going to find out. Nobody wants them here, and nobody wants them putting pressure on you.” I stroked her hair, shushing her softly until her sobs softened to gentle, even breaths. As gently as I could, I pulled back to grab the soft chenille throw from the back of the love seat and tucked it over her. Instead of covering her feet, though, I pulled the hem of her stretchy black leggings up a few inches so I could see her ankles.
Definitely swelling, maybe more than the alfalfa I’d grabbed on the way out of the room could help. We needed juniper, and she needed to be off her feet until it kicked in and knocked this swelling out. Tucking the blanket around her feet just so, I walked back to the front door and opened it a crack. Adam was slumped against one of the support posts, eyes sunken and grim, the very picture of a worried-sick male. He nearly leapt at me, but Gael’s hand on his arm halted him in his tracks.
Kane closed the distance, but I held up a hand. “No one else is coming in until she’s okay with it. I got her comfortable and lying down with her feet up, to see if we can stop the contractions for now, but she’s got more swelling than I realized, and that’s putting strain on her too. I need somebody to get some juniper berries so I can make a poultice for her.”
Adam let out a tortured whine and pulled against Gael’s hold. “Please, Alpha. She needs me, even if she’s too stubborn to admit it. I won’t do anything but hold her. Please.” My heart clenched at his pleading, but this wasn’t my call to make. It was Gracelyn’s.
“I promise I’ll call you the second she asks for you,” I reassured him as softly as possible. My gaze swung to Kane, who had his hands clasped together behind his back. “Can you send someone for the berries?”
He nodded once, his eyes never releasing mine. “Anything you need, anything she needs.”
“Thank you. Can you tell Leigh and Shay—I don’t know. At least where we are? I don’t want them to come looking for me and worry…” I couldn’t say the words.That something had gone wrong.
“Of course. Do you want them here?”
“No, no. I don’t want to stress her any more than she is already. They’ll understand.”
“Consider it done.” He stepped forward, anchoring me with a hand around the back of my neck, giving me a gentle squeeze, before dropping his lips to mine, the chaste press of lips nothing like his earlier claiming, but still I swayed forward, inexplicably drawn to him, no matter the circumstances. “Thank you for helping my pack mate.”
“Of course, Kane. I could never leave someone in pain.”
His lips twisted into a smile as he stepped back, barking orders that sent Gael and another wolf I didn’t know off at a jog in separate directions, and I softly closed the door again, returning to Gracelyn’s side.
When she woke an hour later,it was with Adam’s name on her lips. I stopped grinding the juniper berries to get him, and he bolted past me like his tail was on fire. I didn’t mind, though. They were sweet together, tiff or no. As soon as the berries were smooshed to my satisfaction in a smooth paste, I sprinkled over some dried alfalfa, stirred it in, and then walked back to the living room. She was clinging to him, nose buried in his neck as he stroked her hair, a look of peace finally on his face.
I set the bowl of poultice on the low coffee table. “I think her contractions have stopped for now, and she really needs to rest. If you two will be okay, we can smear this on the soles of her feet, slide some socks over it, and let her keep it on until morning. It might take a few days, but it should help her ditch the extra fluid and feel a lot better.”
Adam nodded solemnly. “Thank you for your help today. If the contractions start again…”
“Just call me. I’m in the second dorm, so I’m not far.”
“Thank you, Bri.” Her voice was still drowsy, and I smiled at how content she was, tucked up with her mate. He would take good care of her.
“You’re welcome, Grace. I’ll let you two get some rest.”
I let myself out of the cabin and into Kane’s waiting arms. He lifted me off my feet like I weighed nothing, and it was so nice to let someone else take care of me, for once. I was suddenly exhausted, eyes blinking shut as soon as my head hit his shoulder. His warm, comforting scent and solid arms lulled me to sleep before we made it back to the dorms.