Ryder and Knox both paled and took a step back from the mostly naked wife of the House of Li’Vhram. “Katherine,” Knox said, his voice unsteady. “He’ll kill us for…” his voice trailed off.
Naomi narrowed her gaze and stared straight at Knox. “Don’t you dare leave me, either of you,” she said, flipping her gaze between Knox and Ryder. “You protect my babies—aahhhhhhh—I’ll kill you if you don’t.” She punctuated her sentence with a scream in the middle that made both men take a deep gulp of air.
Katherine gave her mate a long hard look. “Take her right hand. Penny move to behind her head and try to keep her cool with the water. Ryder, take her left hand. I’m going to need you two to each grab a leg and help her bear down.” Katherine directed the men into place. The very pale, very quiet men. “Dawn, be ready with the sterile blankets. There should be enough in the bag behind me.”
Dawn leapt into action.
“Tara, can you check on my dad and then help me. I need you to focus on listening to the babies.”
“Yep!” Tara hurried across the room to check on Harrison and returned a few moments later. She had a stethoscope in her hands and slithered to Naomi’s side and placed the end of it on Naomi’s pregnant belly.
“Naomi,” Katherine spoke again, wiping dripping sweat from her brow with her shoulder.
They were all sweating now. Being this close to Naomi was like standing in a steam room set to high. Dawn’s clothes were drenched. Her hair was plastered to her neck. She could do this. As long as baby lizards didn’t come out of Naomi’s belly, everything was going to be okay. She could do this.
“Naomi, look at me. I can see the first baby’s head. I need you to push, honey. Guys, hold her legs.”
The men tentatively each slipped a hand around Naomi’s thigh, trying not to actually look at her naked legs and below.
“You two need to get over yourselves,” Naomi hissed. “You help me have these babies! Now! Get them ouuuuuuut!” She yanked on their hands and pulled herself up off the pillows. To their credit the guys rose to the occasion and held her still.
“You can do this, Naomi,” Knox said. “Push.”
“I can’t. It hurts,” she yelled back in his face.
Another blast of super-heated air radiated out from Naomi, blanketing all of them with a fresh layer of sweat.
“Oh, yes, you can!” Penny shouted from behind Naomi’s head. “Now you push those babies out right now or Col’s going to climb down here and tear all of us to shreds for your incompetence.”
“Bitch!” Naomi shouted back.
Penny laughed. “Whatever you need to think, girl. Now push.”
“Baby is coming. One more push, Naomi. Come on!”
Dawn watched, unable to breathe, unable to speak.
The baby emerged from the birth canal. A head. And then shoulders. And then body. And suddenly there was a crying real live baby in Katherine’s hands.
The woman acted like she’d done this before. She clamped the cord. Cut. And turned around, meeting Dawn’s gaze. “Blanket, Dawn,” she said with a smile. “We’ve got a girl.”
Everything started turning again.
Time unfroze. She could hear Naomi screaming at Knox and Ryder again.
Dawn ripped the package off the white blanket and reached for the infant, taking her from Katherine’s arms. She wrapped her up and couldn’t help the single tear that trailed down her cheek.
It was a baby.
A perfectly pink little girl with a button nose and dark hair like her mama.
The baby wailed a little and Dawn jiggled her up and down in her arms. “You’re good, little one. You’re good. Your mama is a little busy, but you’ll get to see her soon.”
“Alright, let’s do this again, mama!” Katherine said, turning back to Naomi. “You’ve got a beautiful little girl. Let’s meet the rest, shall we?”
Naomi sobbed and nodded her head. She looked up at Dawn.
Dawn leaned forward, holding the baby up so Naomi could see her daughter’s perfect pink little face. “She’s good,” Dawn said. “She can’t wait to meet you and the rest of her siblings.”
Naomi’s face contorted as another contraction hit.
“Let’s do this,” Penny said, wiping Naomi’s brow.
An extra hard explosion shook the ceiling behind Dawn, but she didn’t dare look. They needed those babies to deliver and she wasn’t going to be the one to distract Naomi.
Please let it hold. Please.
The building shook again, and Katherine snuck a quick peek behind her. Dawn’s gaze followed. Ava was standing near the ladder, watching the hatch. Dawn hadn’t even noticed that Ava was missing.
“Ava, you’re catching the next one,” Katherine said. “Get your butt over here.”
Ava nodded, moving away from the hatch and joining the rest of the group.
Three hours later, two more babies had been born. By the end, Tara, Dawn, and Penny each had one in their arms. Naomi was passed out underneath a couple of blankets and Katherine was checking over her dad. Ava was still pacing the room, watching the hatch.
Knox and Ryder were sitting next to each other against the wall of the bunker closest to the hatch. The explosions had dissipated, but both wolves said it wasn’t safe to try and open the hatch. The smell of fire and explosives was too strong. Katherine told them they all just needed to sit and wait.
They had three newborns. They couldn’t risk the fire or the people outside getting into the bunker. It’d held strong. They needed to just stay put for now.
18
Tor
The whole place was on fire. The whole building. Chunks were missing from the side. Huge holes had been blasted in the concrete bricks. The whole town was starting to gather. The volunteer fire department was on the scene. Neighbors were lining the road staring at the burning building. The bastards that were responsible were standing with them.
Nonchalantly chatting with the townspeople about what a tragedy this was.
Dawn was inside. Everyone had been inside.
They were all…
He couldn’t think it. They couldn’t be gone.
He wasn’t bonded to Dawn yet, but he would know if she was dead. He would’ve felt it.
Owen’s bear wasn’t on the scene losing his shit and tearing apart everything in sight. That was a good sign.
Unless Owen was dead.
Kann wasn’t here either and Penny had been inside.
Nope. They couldn’t all be dead.
They just couldn’t. They’d gotten out.
His tiger twitched his tail impatiently. They were crouched in the brush behind the community center. No one could see them in the dark. The volunteer fire truck had already run out of water. They were digging now, creating a fire line to help prevent the fire on the building from jumping to the nearby patches of forest around the building. Soon they would discover him.
He shifted and stepped out of the trees.
Connie came running from a crowd! “Tor! Have you seen Katherine?”
He swallowed down his nerves. Connie flew toward him and hugged him quickly. “I’m so glad to see you. I can’t find any of you. Do you know where everyone is?”
Tor watched the crowd carefully. He recognized the guy he’d bitten, the one who’d attacked Dawn in the parking lot of the bar. He and several others were slowly working their way through the crowd and disappearing into the dark.
“We were hunting them,” Tor said, keeping his voice low. He took her hand and walked with her quickly around the corner of the building, closer to the people watching the MCC burn and crumble. Each brick and piece of metal that fell made his stomach twist. “You haven’t seen anyone at the bar?”
“No. That was the first place I checked.”
Several black SUV’s pulled away from the scene and Tor felt his body shake, his rage barely contained. His phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket.
Owen: Three in woods dead. Col in bad shape, but heal
ing. We are headed toward MCC. Why is there smoke in the air?
Shit.
“Our females were in the MCC, Connie. They were inside it. We left them there with Ryder and Knox.”
“Oh, God!” Connie said, her voice barely audible.
“The others are about to be here. Col is about to be here. He’s going to lose his shit when he sees this fire. Where could they be?”
“How do you…how—” She couldn’t finish the questions.
“Col would be a dragon already if Naomi was dead. He would be flying above us burning the whole town as punishment.”
“Oh,” Connie said, the single word was little more than a squeak.
“They have to be somewhere. Where’s Matthew?”
She pointed up the road. “He was in the front parking lot. He’s the one that called everyone. But no one can find him. His squad car’s empty.”
Dalmeck.
“You think he went in there, don’t you? He was helping to guard your people.”
Tor nodded, staring at the inferno blazing like a bonfire against the night sky. Matthew was the type of person who would’ve walked into a fire to try and save anyone. And he’d known who was in there—five women and three men.
“We told them to stay. The building was strong and defendable. We told them to stay,” Tor said, his body trembling with fear and anger and frustration and grief and other swirling emotions he couldn’t name.
“Can you feel her? Have you done your bite-y thing yet?”
“No,” Tor said running his hands over his face and through his hair. He hadn’t bonded to Dawn yet. He could feel her every so often, but he couldn’t focus in on her. Not like he would’ve been able to if he’d claimed her.
His phone buzzed again.
Owen: Where are you? What the hell happened to the MCC?
Tor: I’m on the other side of the road with Connie. Matthew is missing. Can you feel your mate?
Tor waited, his heart silent in his chest. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He just needed hope that Dawn was in fact alive, because if Tara was, they likely all were.
Nothing. No text.
“Where’s your truck?” Tor said, turning to Connie.
“This way, just a bit down the road. I wanted to make sure I was far enough away in case they decided to fly over the fire and douse it with chemicals.”
“Can they do that?”
Connie nodded. “Karl was headed to the airport. He should be up and running soon, maybe another twenty minutes. He took a couple of guys with him to help load the plane with the tanks. He said he had extra in the storage at the airport.”
Why wasn’t the bear answering? Tor typed another message.
Tor: Head down the road toward the airport. Meet at Connie’s truck.
Owen: We’re there. Bring Connie. Yes, I can feel Tara.
His heart started beating again, finally. The damn bear had taken his sweet time to answer.
“They’re at your truck.”
Connie started to run, but Tor caught her arm. He shook his head slowly. “Don’t draw attention to yourself.” He scanned the crowd again. He didn’t know who he was looking for, but there were still two more black SUV’s parked just up the road. Hollister’s son had way more people in town than anyone had realized.
Shouts came from down near the building. The word body made Tor’s stomach crawl up into his mouth and just sit there, waiting to choke him.
He and Connie turned back toward the building and waited.
The volunteer firefighters were pulling someone from the edge of the front of the building. The part they’d gotten the fire to die off from with their limited supply of water.
“It’s Matthew Hatcher,” someone called out from up the road, passing along the information until the whole crowd watching knew.
Connie sobbed and wiped tears from her cheeks. “He was such a sweet man. I really liked him.” She turned and leaned against Tor’s chest. Tor wrapped his arms around her and hugged.
“He was a good man,” Tor said, agreeing. “I’m so sorry for your friend.” He’d gotten to know Matthew over the last few months. Knox and Ryder had been helping him adjust to being a wolf. The young deputy had been doing really well, considering everything he’d been thrown into and told to keep a secret.
“I’m going to walk you back to your truck. I have to talk to Owen and the others. We have to figure out where our people are.”
He turned Connie and put an arm around her shoulders, so she could lean against him as they walked up the street toward her truck.
“You’re sure they got out?”
“Owen said he could feel Tara.”
“And there’s no vengeful dragon in the sky.”
“Very true.”
A few minutes later they were at Connie’s truck. Tor looked around for a second before he caught their scent. They were all standing a few yards off in the trees.
He pulled Connie along, helping her navigate through brush in the dark so she didn’t trip on anything.
Col was standing, leaning heavily on Owen. But he was standing, and he had more color in his face than he’d had when he’d ordered Tor to go.
Kann and Saul were right beside them, fidgeting from one foot to the other and clenching their fists. They were waiting for a word. One command to let them hunt down the bastards who’d started the fire. Who’d tried to murder their people. Their mates.
Tor was actually surprised how calm Owen was on the outside. It was likely all a façade for Connie though. Gazes connected and Tor could feel the anger and rage. It matched his own. He’d toned it down so Connie and anyone else watching wouldn’t see the magick in his eyes. But these four burned bright, their golden eyes stood out in the dark like flames.
“They are still there,” Owen said, keeping his voice low. “They are in the MCC.”
“What?” Connie asked. “How?”
Owen shook his head. “I don’t know. I just know she’s there.”
Tor looked at Kann.
Kann nodded in agreement. “I can feel Penny. She’s right there.”
“The place is in flames. The roof has collapsed. There’s nothing left. They can’t be there.” Connie pulled away from Tor and took a deep breath. “Your magick shit is wrong.”
“It is not wrong, little one,” Col said, taking a deep breath and standing straighter. “There is something there under that fire. Something protecting them.”
Col’s words soothed the worry in Tor’s heart. If the others were safe. Dawn was too. He had to believe that. He had to believe they were all together.
“For now, there is other work to be done.”
“Other work? What other work. They are trapped under that fire or dead and you’re just going to leave?” Her voice continued to rise with each word. “You can’t just leave them.” Tor caught her around the waist to keep her from shouting right in their Vraka’s face.
“Connie. Stop,” Tor said, yanking her back.
Col shoved away from Owen, straightened to his full height and let the flames in his eyes show even brighter. Heat rippled from the dragon shifter like an open oven. “My mate is safe. I can feel her heartbeat as if it were my own. She is strong. If she’s not coming out from under that fire right this minute, then she has good reason. You do not get to order me to do anything. I am Prince of the House of Li’Vhram. You should not even know the word Reylean.”
Connie shrunk back against Tor’s chest.
“You. Will. Be. Silent.” Col punctuated each word like a blow with a club, knocking her confidence unconscious.
Connie was shaking in Tor’s arms when the dragon shifter turned away from her and walked down the street back toward the MCC. Owen, Kann, and Saul followed.
Tor released Connie and moved to follow. He paused and looked back at the woman who hadn’t meant any harm. No one but Naomi got to talk to Col like an equal.
“If we don’t eliminate the threat. There’s no reason for them to come
out. Don’t you see. If they are safe after an attack like this,” he said, waving his hand at the burning building, “they should stay there until we get the ones who did this.”
“How can you be so sure? I don’t get it. They could be dying and you’re wasting time going after Hollister’s men instead of saving them. Can you feel Dawn?”
Tor shook his head. “We aren’t bonded yet. I get slight feelings every so often, but nothing like what is shared between a bonded pair. If the others say their mates are safe, I have to trust that Dawn is also safe.”
“But the fire—”
He shook his head and turned away, hurrying to catch up with the other warriors.
His tiger pressed hard. Tor’s fangs descended and his chest rumbled with an angry growl. The other men sounded a similar growl, but the rattle in Col’s chest was the loudest.
Col ducked off the main road and back into the trees, moving easier and smoother with each step he took. The power and strength the dragon was generating to heal such a massive wound so quickly was unbelievable. Although, a blast like the one Col absorbed would’ve killed anyone else instantly. Though Col’s dragon was fireproof, the impact and explosion of the small missile had been devastating.
Ding. Ding.
Everyone stopped and stared at Owen. The bear shifter pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“It’s Tara. Harrison and Ryder shot. Safe for now. Under the MCC in a bunker. No signal.” The men released a collective sigh of relief almost in tandem. “This text says it’s from over an hour ago.”
“So, they probably aren’t getting our texts either,” Kann said.
“Probably not,” Tor answered. “It doesn’t say if they’re alive? Just that they were shot?”
Owen nodded. “That’s the only text so far. Poor Ava,” he said, his tone deep and pained. “I hope he’s doing okay. Maybe more will come through later.”
Everyone checked their phone just to be sure.
Katherine
“One went through,” Tara whisper-screamed, rocking the baby boy bundle in her arms and holding up her phone. “They at least know we are down here and not dead.”
All's Were That Ends Were: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 6) Page 15