Branches of the Willow 3 (19 page)

“Only because Sophia’s spell failed, and I escaped. You earned your place in the Locks. You had a choice.” I nodded my head, and Mikael pulled the lever. We listened as she screamed on the way down, until the depth of the building swallowed her up along with her screams. “Let’s secure the place, and get the hell out of here. We still have an hour drive to get to Avery’s lands to drop Nicholi and Brian off.”

We had originally planned on taking them to Avery’s the following day, but the two men were excited to go take their place in a pack structure again, and Avery’s place was only an hour from the Locks, the two of them tagged along for the ride. We made them wait outside with the other guards as we took care of the prisoners.

An hour later we were pulling up to Avery’s and I was tired of sitting in a car. My cell phone rang as we pulled up to the main road of the little town that the Daniels Clan inhabited. “Hello?” I answered.

“Jess, how long before you’re going to be back here?” It was Ashley and she sounded a bit frantic.

“It’s going to take us two hours by car to get back, why?”

“You might want to get started then. We have a baby on the way over here. I figured you would want to be here for the action. It’s not every day a new pup is birthed, and well, you know this one has complications.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed into the phone. “We’ll do what we can.”

“Can I help you?” Avery’s tall, blond, no-nonsense daughter greeted us. When she saw it was Mikael behind the wheel of the car, she plastered on a mega-watt smile, and changed her attitude. “Oh, hi! I didn’t realize they were sending you. Did you finally get tired of the great white wolf playing damsel in distress?” Mikael quirked up his eyebrow in question, and tried miserably to contain the smirk that started at the corner of his mouth.

“Where is your father?” I questioned without bothering to duck down so she could see who was speaking.

“I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t come on our lands and order our people around. And you really don’t order me…” She had squatted a bit to be able to look me in the eye as she reamed me out for my disrespect. She ended up biting her tongue and the rest of her diatribe the minute she saw who was seated next to Mikael.

“You were saying?” I questioned.

“Mee-oow!” Nicholi snickered from the back and extended his fingers out in front of him like claws. “Please, don’t stop. I love a good cat fight, especially between two beautiful creatures such as yourselves.”

“Shut up!” I snapped at him.

“Big mistake.” Tessa growled at him at the same time.

“Well, now the world can end. The two of you found common ground. An equal loathing of Nicholi. How will we ever deal with all the peace?” Mikael teased as he slid his hand over to my leg. I attempted to glare at him, but I ended up laughing instead, because he was just too damn adorable to ignore.

“Whatever…” I finally managed. “We really need to see your dad, now. We have a pup being born back home, and mom doesn’t want him.”

Disgust crept into Tessa’s face. “That’s a damn shame. He’s a bit tied up with my sister’s problems at the moment. I can slide these guys over to the guards and get them settled until Avery can meet with them.”

“I’m sure my father already sent word, but they were instrumental in helping us recently. Smart ass there even did the world a favor by ridding it of John Freedman.”

“Oh?” Tessa bent down to look in the back of the car again, reappraising the man with the shit-eating grin. “Too bad about that ego he’s lugging around.” She commented deadpan.

“That’s the damn truth.” I agreed.

She opened the back door, and stood out of the way, allowing for the men to get out, and stretch. Nicholi didn’t miss a beat. He put a little extra effort into his stretching, allowing for a healthy amount of his abs to peek out from beneath his shirt as it rode up with the movement of his arms.

If he thought Tessa Daniels was going to be an easy mark, he had another thing coming. That girl was tough as nails, and didn’t take shit from anyone. She glanced in his direction, and feigned aloofness on the spot. “Grab your bags and follow me.” She spun on her heel, and started walking off without waiting for the men. “It was good seeing you again, Mikael.” She called out over her shoulder, then added, “Jess,” at the end like it was a chore to include me.

Mikael waved at her, and laughed. “Man, she really doesn’t like you.”

“Whatever, let’s get back. I’m so damn tired. Is it bad that I am praying to every God ever known to man right now that Tatianna has the quickest labor in the history of labors?”

“Funny, I was just thinking the same thing. I could use a nap.” Mikael topped that sentiment off with a yawn as we took off, heading back home.

BIRTH

When we got back to the pack, I was immediately swept into the makeshift birthing suite the women had made in the meeting hall. My mother and Ashley were there, coaching Tatianna on. Evan was there, because Tatianna was, unfortunately, one of the women who didn’t understand a lot of English. He was translating, but he was so out of his element that it was almost comical seeing him there. “Oh, thank God. Mikael can switch places with me.” He said to me.

“No can do. Mikael had to go have a conversation with my father. You’re stuck.” I laughed as Evan raked his hand across his clean-shaven jaw.

“This is not my life right now.” He mumbled, but his attitude changed a bit when Natalia came back into the room with a cool compress to put on Natalia’s head.

She smiled slyly at him, and winked. “You can go now, big baby. I can translate fairly well.” Her accent was thick, but her words were understandable. Evan leaned over and kissed her on her cheek. “Thank you!” He managed to get out, before he accidentally caught a peek of Tatianna’s spread legs. “Oh God! I did not just see that.” He whispered. I laughed, and pushed him toward the door.

“Men!” My mother howled in between her laughter.

“Where is Sierra?” Ashley asked. As if on cue, Sierra burst into the room with some fresh blankets and towels.

“Sorry, they weren’t quite dry, and I had to run them through again. I didn’t think the baby would appreciate a damp blanket.”

Tatianna screamed out, shouting what I was sure were obscenities in another language. My thoughts were confirmed when Natalia looked at me, eyes large, “no need to translate that.” Ashley moved Sierra out of the away, and stuck her gloved hand down between the woman’s legs, and her other hand was up on the Tatianna’s belly. “Okay, we’re ready here, she’s fully dilated, and her water’s just broken. I’m going to need a little room. Natalia, tell her with the next contraction, or wave of pain, she is going to push forward with all her might.”

Natalia repeated the instructions in Romanian, and went to Tatianna’s side to hold her hand. As another contraction hit the woman, she pushed her upper torso forward, screaming the whole time, and from the look on Natalia’s face, she had quite the grip too. From my vantage point, I could see what was going on in the woman’s nether region, and as she began to push for the fourth time, I saw the top of a hairy head peek out. “The baby’s crowning.” Ashley called out. “That’s it. Tell her to keep it up.” Ashley looked worried for a minute as Tatianna relaxed back down, and then she looked up at Natalia. “Tell her to get ready to push once more, but be prepared to stop immediately if I say so.”

Natalia nodded her understanding, and then relayed the translation. “Okay, push.” I watched as Natalia helped the exhausted Tatatianna surge forward once more, but then there was a gush of red. The baby came forward a little more, head popping free, but something didn’t seem right. There was too much blood. “Quickly, one more time. Push.” Ashley stepped into the way, so I no longer had a view of what was happening. I don’t think I’ve ever been more thankful in my life. I’m not sure how much more time had passed, because my ears were ringing, and I felt dangerously like I was going to pass out. Odd, because a little blood had never bothered me before. Then again, I didn’t have to worry about that being me on the cot a few months from now before. Now, it was all I could think about.

Then I heard it, that sweet, shrill cry of a baby who finally got air to its lungs. “It’s a boy!” My mother called out. Tatianna dropped her had back onto the cot, and refused to look at the squalling child.

“Eileen, I’m going to need you and Sierra to take care of the baby, I need to help Tatianna out here for a minute.” Ashley sounded calm. I’m sure to everyone else, that was a good thing, but it alerted me that something wasn’t quite right.

“Ash?” I called out.

“Oh, good, you’re still here.” Ashley waved me forward. “I’m going to pop a few stitches in place real quick, but then I need you to make her shift. You can do that right?”

I shook my head, yes. “I’ve never actually forced a shift on anyone before.”

“Well, I need you to make this count.” She glanced up at me quickly before going back to what she was doing. Ashley, not joking around, was a force to be reckoned with. I had everyone clear the room, and get the baby out. A wounded wolf could strike out at anyone, and I didn’t want to take the chances of that happening. “Okay, now.” Ashley called out to me, as she quickly stepped back out of the way.

“Shift.” I called out to her, putting power behind the word. At first nothing happened. Then I remembered, “shit, she doesn’t speak English.” Ashley ran to the door, and thankfully Natalia was still close by, and so was Evan.

“Quick, what’s the word for shift in Romanian?”

“Schimbare.” Evan and Natalia offered in unison. I heard them, so I didn’t have to wait for Ashley to relay the word.

“Schimbare.” I commanded her with all the power I could possibly throw into the word, and before my eyes the woman morphed from human to wolf in a beautifully seamless display of magic. There before me was a russet color wolf with dark brown spots across half her back. She was a bit skittish, and I wish I had picked up more Romanian from being around the De’Lune brothers, but I hadn’t. “Shhh,” I began talking to her. “It’s okay.” Tatianna’s wolf bared her teeth, and looked ready to bolt or do damage. I did the only thing I knew to, and commanded her to shift back. “Schimbare.”

With that one word and the power behind it, the wolf again shifted in a fluid transition to the form of a woman. “Okay, let me check her out now.” Ashley muscled her way by me, and put her nursing degree to good use. “Perfect, it sealed everything up nicely. She should actually be able to carry another baby down the road if she finds a mate.” Ashley called out to me over her shoulder.

“Perfect.” I said as I took another step back. “Ash, do you need me for anything else?”

“No, sweetie. Can you send Sierra and Natalia back in though? Maybe tell your mom to stand by with the baby too, in case she’s changed her mind.”

“No baby.” Tatianna whispered. Apparently she understood enough.

“I’ll let them all know.”

~*~

Over the next two weeks, Mikael and I kept mostly to ourselves, trying to relax a bit, before the bottom dropped out again. Maybe, it was just me thinking like that, but I’d come to equate happiness with impending doom. This was exactly why I had wanted to get that degree in psychology. I wanted to help out all the other freaked out werewolves, who had issues like I did. Our life was one filled with amazingly magical abilities, and a lifespan most humans would kill to possess, but it wasn’t without its down sides too. Just like humans, we could be cruel to one another.

“I think we should go check on Sierra and the baby today. She’s growing quite attached to him.” I smiled thinking about how amazing it would have been to see Jack there, holding a baby with Sierra. It was something they had both wanted, and sacrificed in order to be with one another. For her, because the accident left her with little choice; and for him because he couldn’t live without her. I had envied that kind of love.

“I will take you over there, if you want to go.” Mikael had walked up, and wrapped his arms around me until his hands came to rest on the middle of my belly. I wonder if people envied mine and Mikael’s love the way I used to wish for Jack and Sierra’s. I leaned back into his chest, and looked up at the blissful smile on Mikael’s face. It didn’t matter then, if anyone wanted a love like ours. The truth was, I couldn’t live without it now. I couldn’t live without him, and soon we were going to have a little extra person to added to the mix. That was the truly incredible part.

“Can I admit something to you, and not have you laugh at me?”

“No promises, but I’ll try.”

“After seeing what Tatianna went through, I’m scared to death to have this baby.” I shivered a little under the weight of the admission.

“You’re not alone there. I can’t wait to hold him one day, but I worry about losing you in the process.”

“Her.” I said with absolute confidence.

“What? You’re so confident?”

“Yes, because that’s the way with the white wolves.” I turned in his arms to face him then. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give you a boy.”

“That’s okay, Jess.” He smiled down at me, and nipped at my nose the way he always did. “I have you, and a daughter of yours will be an absolute treasure.”

My heart melted. “Ours,” I corrected him. “Daughter of ours.”

“You are so very right.” He leaned in again, and this time instead of playful nip to the nose, Mikael kissed me. At first, it was a gentle brushing of his lips to mine, a caressing of his hand down my back, and then before I knew it he was lifting me up and carrying me up the stairs to our room.

~*~

It was a few hours later when I was getting dressed that Sierra called me. She was a little panicked about the baby, and a conversation she had with Tatianna. At first, I thought maybe Tatianna had come to her senses and wanted the baby back, but it didn’t sound like that was the case. I convinced Mikael we needed to go over to the pack lands and check on everyone, after all. It was what I had planned to do earlier in the day, before he distracted me with his gorgeous, hard body.

“You’re staring.” Mikael grinned as he said it.