I wake up to the gnawing and strange aching sensation travelling across my belly and try to turn over to
relieve whatever it is. Struggling now my bump is fully formed and weighing me down while Colton’s
arm across me isn’t helping any. The room is completely dark and silent, so it must still be the middle of
the night and his even, peaceful breathing signals he’s out cold.
I maneuver his forearm up over my boobs and manage to roll sideways away from him, so my butt is
jutted against his groin to stop my stomach hanging over the edge of the mattress and get frustrated at
my inability to move around like a normal human anymore.
I have reached that stage where I’m just begging them to come out quickly because I can’t take much
more of this endless beached whale sensation. It has limited any kind of movement and being
independent. I feel like my days consist of peeing multiple times, being eternally hungry, cranky and
uncomfortable and burst into tears over the most insane things.
I still haven’t quite settled into sleeping in our new room over here in the valley either. New
surroundings, new atmosphere and new bearings to get used to once again. It’s been three weeks after
the renovations were done and yet, I still don’t feel like it’s home. I miss the homestead, where Sierra
and Radar decided to stay and govern in our absence, now they are planning to produce pups and live
happily ever after. In their cocoon bubble of love where life is rosy, and they want to raise siblings for
Colton under the shadow of the now vampire free mountain.
The pack split and some stayed over there for the peaceful rural life they have nurtured, although a
vast amount came home to be reunited with the valley wolves, and things have been slowly becoming
normal. Rebuilding, fixing, bonding once more.
“Ahhhhh” I let out an involuntary groan as shooting stabbing pain rips across my lower pelvis and grip
Colton’s arm so tight I almost pierce him with my nails. It’s bone achingly awful as pain goes and try as
I might to bear down and grit my teeth I can’t hold it in.
“What is it? I’m up, I’m awake…. What’s going on?” Colton’s frantic scramble to upright, his eyes
instantly amber as he scans the room for danger and realizes I am the one assaulting him as he
relaxes back down. Pulling me to him in a protective hold.
“Pain.” I murmur, pushing the words out in a strangled breath, screwing my eyes shut and release his
forearm from my grip to point downwards at my stomach with a jerky motion. It’s about all I am capable
of doing.
“As in….. are you? Tonight?” Colton’s tone swiftly shifts from sleep addled and confused to panic
ridden. His brain shifting into alert as he realizes what this could be.
“Hmmmm” is the only reply I can give as I try to deal with this cramping. It’s like having my periods,
only amped up by fifty times the pain. And everywhere, not just my abdomen.
“Okay, okay… do you want to get up, lay different. Shall I go get the midwife? Do you need a massage,
a hug, or something to grip?” Colton goes into nervous overdrive, spewing out every instruction he
memorized from our birth lessons with the midwife the past couple of months. Suddenly awake and
buzzing and ready for action.
“Shhhh” I raise my finger to my lips, screwing my eyes tighter and try and quieten him down while I
bear this internal agony. Every single sense and urge in me is crying to turn wolf to help ease it but I
know I can’t. I’m fighting that inner need to protect myself from something excruciating. Even though
I’m in labor and the danger to them is probably no longer an issue now they are fully formed, I can’t risk
it. I have to birth my pups in human form.
“I’ll link her. I’ll get her here fast.” He whispers it gently and starts patting my shoulder as I breathe
through what feels like my insides twisting into knots, and then slowly subside very gradually until I can
bear it again, before fading to a low ache. It goes form storm to gentle waves in minutes but for the one
suffering, it felt like hours.
“It’s passing” I exhale heavily and my whole body begins to relax again, away from the tense wooden
posture I was holding without realizing. Colton moves away from me and starts arranging the bed
covers and places a cushion under my feet to get me into a comfortable position.
“If this is the start, then it’s going to be a long night, baby. They’re coming. I asked Meds and Carmen
to come too as I know you want them both here. Tell me what you need.” Colton seems like he’s in
control and on form as bossy Alpha, but I can feel his angsty tension radiating at epic levels and the
slight tremor in his voice gives him away.
“It might come to nothing. They said we could have false starts.”
“Let’s just play this as if it’s real. No one will care about losing some sleep if it’s a false alarm. I’d rather
be prepared and disappointed, than something going wrong.” He moves around the bed and tucks me
in, feeling my forehead and pours me a glass of water on the bedside before turning the lamps on to
dim. He creates a low cozy glow which barely casts away the shadows and I blink towards our wall of
curtains.
“I want them open. I want to see the moon and stars while we wait.” I have no idea why, but I feel like it
will keep me calm while waiting to see if this pain returns. There’s a myth of our kind that pups should
be born under the moon to ensure a healthy start and whether a fable or not I am hoping seeing it will
keep me calm.
Colton does as I ask, wanders to pull the expanse of dark velvet away from the rows of windows and
exposes the blackest night. Stars twinkling high in the sky and a full moon to set the mood. The air is
crystal clear, no clouds in the sky and it’s almost a perfect night for stargazing. The sky is as close to
purest onyx as I have ever seen.
“Are we going to do this here? Or do you want to go to the infirmary?” Colton walks back to me and sits
on the bed to stroke my hair.
“Here. If we can. If anything happens then make the decisions to ensure the safety of our babies.” We
have had this conversation before and Colton looks away, frowning because it’s a topic he doesn’t like.
I have told him multiple times that should anything go wrong, the babies come first. I won’t die, I know
this. I have Colton with healing abilities and as soon as the babies are out, I can turn wolf and heal
myself. I’m willing to take whatever pain or complications and push myself to near death just to get
them safely out. He knows this and he agrees but he still doesn’t like it.
I don’t get another word out as another pain sears across my body, with a much stronger intensity than
before, so fast considering it’s only been minutes since the last one. I gasp and crunch my body up to
try and combat it but it’s like being side swiped by a bus.
“Breathe through it, pant like Marda showed you.” Colton’s hands are on me, but I try and blot out the
world by closing my eyes and focusing on the agony that’s ripping me up inside. I didn’t know what I
expected childbirth to feel like, but this wasn’t it. There’s nothing to describe how much it hurts.
“Should I tell my mom to make their way to the valley? Do you want them here? What about your dad?
I have the contact number to have him travel here tonight.” Colton can only talk at me while stroking my
hair, empathizing what he can see me experiencing. The pain of childbirth is one of the only pains that
a mate doesn’t share. Wolves in labor need protection, so their mates are spared the bonded agony so
they can watch over and help them through it. Nature at its finest, I guess.
“Hmmmmm, I don’t know” I roll and squirm in a bid to relieve the building pain and pressure.
Disinterested in thinking, feeling anything around me and not really caring about who is here and not
when all I can focus on is getting through each second of this.
“Your dad will never forgive me if he isn’t here for the birth. He has far to come.” Colton changes from
stroking to kneading my shoulders and back and yanks the duvet away when he feels my body heating
up.
“Do whatever you need to do, I just ….” I trail off unable to say anything else as the intensity ups and I
hit the peak of the contraction. Murmuring and moaning as the worst pain I have ever felt in my life rips
through me and I spasm involuntarily. All I can do is cling onto the edge of the mattress and grit my
teeth, body rigid as I try to cope with it.
“I can ease it with magic…do you want me to try?” Colton’s tone is tight and forced, he sounds
desperate at seeing me suffer.
“No, I don’t know if that will slow it down and hinder progress.”
“This is hell to watch and it’s only the beginning. Tell me what to do. How can I ease this? A bath…
walking around? What about some kind of pain med from the midwife?” Colton’s stress levels grow and
yet I honestly cannot do anything about it. I am so hyper focused on being trapped inside my own body
with this horrible cramping and twisting. All I can do is breathe in short pants and try and remember
everything they told me when preparing for birth. I have to remind myself that this is normal and I’m
okay. I can do this.
“In through the nose, nice and slow, and out through the mouth. It can help reduce the pain.”
“No…just go notify my dad.” I blurt out in a snappish tone, irritation rising and it’s all I can do to keep
myself together. I am instantly wracked with guilt at being that way towards him, but this is excruciating.
“I already linked Meds and told her to do it. Try and stay calm. I know your sore baby, and I’m probably
annoying you but I’m a bit out of my depth here.”
“I just want it over…get them out. It hurts.” Tears fall rapidly as the throws of what seems like the
longest contraction ever grows into minutes. I don’t know how it’s supposed to go in early labor, but this
feels huge, like there isn’t much time. It seems fast.
“I know, baby. They’re coming. I won’t leave you alone I swear.”
“I’m here! I’m here!” Meadow bursts into the room without knocking, in a frenzy of chaos as someone
falls in behind her and a yelp of more bodies outside our bedroom door alerts us to the fact we have a
group audience.
“Move, your ass is bigger than ever. Doorways can barely contain it anymore.” Carmen shoves
Meadow in further and falls over her for a second time, missing face planking the floor by an inch as
her beloved mate catches the back of her clothes and stops her midair. Jasper pulls her into his arms
and rights her on her feet.
“Can you do things at normal speed, and I wouldn’t forever be stopping you from injuring yourself.”
Jasper croons at her, hooks his arm around her waist as he guides her past the glaring Meadow.
“Did you just tell me I have a fat ass, Puta?” Meadow spins on her and is met with Jaspers raised palm,
a sign of defeat and apology. The buffer between these two these past weeks.
“She means you look amazing, and the new baby weight is starting to show.” He smiles with that
charming smooth way of his, the calm to the trouble Carmen creates and shrugs as Meadow scowls his
way.
“She’s lucky she has you. And for the record, my ass is not that much bigger.” Meadow spits
sarcastically and throws her hair over one shoulder in a defiant maneuver.
“Pftttt, at only a month gone I’m sure that a lot of excess baggage you’re already hauling in the trunk, if
your head was on backwards then you would see what I do. I guess you’re one of those femmes that
grow out everywhere but the belly.” Carmen mumbles with a sly side eye and smirk and Jasper clamps
a hand over her mouth with a sigh of defeat.
“Hey, My queen is as sexy as ever and she’s just keeping our baby fed. More to cuddle and she suits
the curves.” Cesar appears amid them and motions for them all to back out as he catches Colton’s
glare and my wide-eyed look of panic from our position on the bed. Their invasion is loud and not
exactly welcome mid contraction.
“Sorry, couldn’t stop these two freight trains fighting to get in.” Cesar apologizes in his usual calm and
dad tone, and Jasper releases Carmen to walk past her as he comes to my side.
“Hey sis. You look like it hurts a lot. We’ll be outside and close if you need us, we just all wanted to see
you. We’re excited and worried and I’m sorry about those two. You know how they are.” He brushes a
gentle finger over my face and gives Colton’s a quick smile that translates to ‘you’re doing good’.
These two are firm brothers nowadays. So much so that Matteo has been a little jealous with the
bromance and Radar’s new position as Colton’s father figure. He feels left out.
“It does. It’s worse than I thought it would be.”
“Hang in there. Midwife is on her way, she was delaing with some early pains from a half term femme.
The pack is all waking up and eagerly pacing their homes for the arrival of their Princessa’s.”
“I’m scared.” I whisper back at him, a tear collecting in the corner of my eye, and we sigh in unison.
Once again more bearable and able to communicate in between the highs of this labor.
“You’ll be fine. We wolves very rarely lose pups in childbirth, and you are strong. Stronger than most.
Colton is right here, and your two crazy femme sisters won’t leave the room. Varro will hightail it here to
see his prized girl producing his much-awaited grandkids. You have nothing to worry about except how
to be a mom very soon.”
“I know. That’s when I’ll really be scared.” I smile weakly, trying for humor, the pain once again
subsiding to a bearable ache of nothing and relaxing my body.
In the past weeks Varro has come here every single week without fail. Showering me with affection and
gifts and getting to know all those around me like a real father would. It was hard at first to see past
what he is, and how terrifying he looks, but now even some of the pack children have started to come
out to meet him upon arrival, calling him Uncle Varro. The enemy who became family and our world is
completely different to what it was some months ago.
I can admit that I have love for him, and our relationship grows with every meeting. I never thought I
would ever see the day I willingly called him father or dad, but I do, and I miss him when I don’t see
him.
“Won’t be long before it’s you.” I prod him in the cheek knowing fine well he has convinced Carmen to
start trying for a family already. Since they marked, they have been an inseparable smitten couple and
he seems to know how to handle the fire that is Carmen so well. She’s healing and growing as a
person. Letting love in warmed her up and made her less defensive around some of us. Although
Jasper is the only one who gets to experience all her softness and she can still be bristly with Meadow,
even though they love one another on some level.
Now the war is over a lot of Lychan have decided to try for pups and settle into our new peaceful life
with real hope for a bright future. I feel like the twins are the beginning of the Santo pack stepping into a
new life.
“Yeah. Hopefully soon, it’s not like we aren’t trying. Meadow beat us to it and Carmen just can’t forgive
her for that.” Jasper laughs at the ongoing rivalry between the two, that’s so obviously skin deep.
Pain hits again, severe and knocks my breath away, clutching at the bed covers and rocketed back to
that place of misery. Colton shoos Jasper out of the way so he can come and take my hands and this
time tries to breathe with me to guide me through it.
“These are fast, I don’t think we have long to wait to meet our daughters. Midwife just got here. Try and
stay calm baby.” He croons and softly kisses my forehead, grazing lips gently over my head and then
my lips.
“I just want it to be over.” I exhale in a breathless whoosh, clinging to him and close my eyes once more
to try and find the way through what I know is only going to get worse.
“I’m here, everyone except Mom and Daddy, out. You don’t need to be in here unless I call you. We
have babies to deliver.” Marda the most experienced midwife of the Santo back sweeps in with
authority and reassurance and despite not being able to respond to her, my heart calms a little knowing
she is here.
She has delivered hundreds of pups over the years, she ever delivered me. I can relax into her care
and know that I’m in safe hands and she will help me through this whatever way it needs to be done.
“I know these babies are a little different, but don’t worry. Whatever they throw at us we can handle it.
You’re not our first mix breed birth under my watch.
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