by Dawn Steele
“I guess I have to.” He jumps grudgingly into the depression and sniffs her out. “I don’t think it’s broken.”
“Well, I still can’t walk.”
Jeff shifts back to his human form. Naked, he is a muscular beast. Terry has never been too comfortable being around naked men, or being naked among men – especially one she detests. She doesn’t want to shift back. For him to carry her in her naked human form would be too disturbing.
“Damn. Now we’ll be delayed,” he hisses.
He scoops her up in his arms. She goes limp, not wanting him to drop her. Her wolf heart is beating very fast, and she hopes he will not sense her ruse. He climbs out of the ditch with her in tow, cursing and muttering.
She cringes from him. She supposes, in her wolf form, she must weigh less than she does in her human form.
Come on, Jake! Where are you?
18
“Jake, I can’t hold on any longer,” Cassie pants. “The baby’s coming! I can feel its head pressing down.”
OK, now he’s panicking. They are still on the road. They are flanked by woods.
He does the only thing he knows. He veers the car to the side of the road and brakes sharply. He turns behind. Cassie is lying down on the backseat with her legs up. Her breaths are coming out harshly.
“I’ll call an ambulance,” he says.
“No time!”
Shit, shit, shit!
He vaults out of the driver’s door and opens the back passenger one.
“Cassie, I’m going to carry you out to the woods. You OK with this?”
For answer, Cassie whimpers and nods, blinking back the tears in her eyes.
Jake lifts her out of the car carefully. “Hold on.”
He runs to the trees, finds a clearing of sorts, and sets her down by a large, shady tree. Cassie sinks into the ground and spreads her legs wide.
“It’s definitely coming!” she cries.
She wrenches off her panties, and he helps her wriggle them off. What does he do? He doesn’t know the first thing about delivering a baby.
“It’s gonna be OK,” he says, even though he hasn’t a rat’s clue how this is going to turn out. “Is this your first one?”
“Yes. But I’ve read all about it. You have to guard the perineum from tearing . . . to guard against the baby’s head from coming out and looking up too fast. That is called crowning.”
“How do I do that?”
Don’t, don’t panic now, he warns himself.
He can see the baby’s dark head at her entrance. It’s so tiny! He is seized with further panic at the thought of this tiny creature being delivered at his hands. What if something goes wrong?
Cassie throws her head back and lets out a scream.
Guard it! goes his first instinct.
The baby’s head is damp, and he holds it down so that it would not crown too fast and tear her perineum. He thanks God she is a shifter and more flexible in general than most human women.
The next couple of moments are excruciating for both of them. But once the baby’s head is out, the rest of the body follows suit in a gush of fluid, to Jake’s relief. He now holds in his hands a tiny, squirming shifter baby. Tears of joy sting his eyes, even if the baby is not his own.
Cassie is openly crying with happiness. There are no words between either of them. Jake hands the baby over to Cassie and watches her hold the newborn shifter boy to her chest.
Suddenly, everything he has been fighting for in his career seems to pale in comparison with what just happened. He sits on the ground, his legs splayed in physical and mental exhaustion, as he watches Cassie put her baby to the teat.
She looks up, and her eyes are shining.
“Thank you, Jake Savage,” she whispers.
No, thank you, he thinks.
Everything has suddenly become very clear to him.
*
The Two Towers is a rock formation which resembles two spires which jut out of the beach like two pointing fingers. Peter and Martha are standing there to greet Jeff as he hauls Terry to the finish line.
Both Peter and Martha are immediately concerned.
“Did something happen?” Martha cries. “Is she hurt?”
“She fell.” Jeff lays Terry down on the sand. “But she’ll be OK, I reckon.”
Not wanting to be naked in front of this crowd, Terry still refuses to shift.
“Did we win?” Jeff demands as Martha tends to Terry.
“Yes. Congratulations, on two accounts.” Peter seizes Jeff’s hand and pumps it. “I just received a call from Jake a few seconds ago. Your wife went into labor and Jake helped deliver your baby. You have a newborn son.”
Jeff freezes. “Oh my God.”
Oh my God is right, Terry thinks. Her mind is in too much of a whirlwind to register the news. Cassie delivered! And Jake helped! And both Jake and she lost the contest. Which means that Jake will not be getting the job.
Her heart sinks.
“Is she OK?” Jeff asks. “Is my son OK?”
“Yes, they both are. Jake and your wife are now on the way to Finnegan Bay County General. We’d best be on our way there too, especially with Terry needing treatment as well.”
Embarrassment be damned. Terry shifts back to her human form. No way the Finnegan Bay County General doctors are going to let her be carried in when she is in her wolf form. They would just direct her to the vet.
But poor, poor Jake. What is he going to do without a job now?
19
There is a joyous reunion of sorts at the Finnegan’s Bay Country General Hospital, which is larger than it has a right to be. Everyone is there to coo over the new baby, who is none the worse for the wear despite being premature.
Still, the infant is put under the Neonatal intensive care unit for close observation. The group from the weekend retreat is gathered outside this ICU, looking in on the babies behind the glass. The babies are all put in little cots and tucked in with white blankets, except for those with ultraviolet lamps shining in upon their jaundiced bodies. Doctors and nurses in caps and gowns bustle inside.
Jeff is speaking to Dr. Kumar outside.
The doctor says to Jeff, “You’re lucky in a way he is a shifter. Shifters are tough. You have good genes.”
“I know. Thank you for all your help, doctor. My wife and I really appreciate it.” Jeff turns to Jake, who is elevating Terry’s bandaged leg with the stirrup of the wheelchair she is seated upon.
Jake looks up.
Jeff clears his throat. He is clearly ill at ease.
“I guess I should say thank you, Savage,” Jeff finally says.
“I guess you should,” Jake quips.
Jeff does not offer his hand, and nor does Jake, but they both acknowledge they have come to a truce.
Peter comes up to them. “I’m sorry, Jake. Under shifter council rules, even though there mitigating circumstances, Jeff has won fair and square.”
Jake nods. He stands up, meeting Peter squarely in the eyes.
“You are right. Jeff won fair and square. Maybe our ancestors had it right. The test does weed out the liars from the truth-mongers. It’s time to come clean now.”
The rest of the people crowd in, avidly listening. Their expressions are curious and expectant. Mika actually unplugs her earphones. So she can really hear what is going on after all, Jake thinks with amusement. Ethel’s face is cautious.
Jake takes a deep breath. Terry cringes in her wheelchair. Her leg is bandaged at the ankle, where she has sustained a sprain – all for the sake of his ambition. And he is deeply ashamed of it.
He holds up his hand with the fake wedding ring.
“I am not married to this woman here. I lied to all of you.”
Murmurs all around.
“I lied to you, Peter, because I wanted the job so bad and I thought I had to be married to get ahead of Jeff and Mariko. Terry here is my neighbor and friend – ”
He pauses on the word.
“ – if she would allow me to call her that. These past two days have made me see a lot of things differently. And I would like to make a clean breast of it.”
He looks at Terry, who is smiling at him. Her eyes are so warm and understanding that a pang seizes his chest.
Peter holds out his hand, and Jake shakes it.
“For the record,” Peter says, “I knew about it all long.”
It is Jake’s turn to gape.
Peter smiles benignly, as does Martha. “I make it a policy to do background checks on all my potential employees before I let them into my house. You are not the only one who has . . . shall we say it, stretched the truth before. Did you think me so unprofessional that I would let a little thing such as you being married determine your employment with my company?”
Jake looks abashed.
“Young man, you’re smart and ambitious and probably as hardworking as your neighbor claims you are. But you’re still young, and I need someone with more experience. However, I was curious enough to see what you had to invite you here this weekend. This weekend was more a test of your moral character – ”
He swings round to Jeff and Mariko.
“ – not your physical prowess at competition.”
“But I still won, right?” Jeff asks, suddenly uncertain.
“Yes, you did. And I am going to offer you the job because you are ruthless, super-ambitious, and you’ll do anything to get the job done. You also have the experience I require for this role.”
Even though Jake already knows the outcome, something in his heart still wrenches painfully. Well, now he has to join the ranks of the jobless. So this weekend was a total loss then, where his career is concerned.
He feels a warm hand tugging his. He looks down at Terry. She is smiling, and he smiles back.
No.
Not a loss at all.
And he is about to discover what that is all about.
20
Although she is going to be out for three weeks due to her bad sprain, Terry is on cloud nine.
They have both gone back home. And because Jake insists on taking care of her every whim and fancy due to her being off her feet, she feels like a pampered princess.
“You need a cushion?” he would ask her.
“No, I’m fine, Jake. I can walk around.”
The doctors have let her go home with crutches, but Jake insists on waiting on her anyway. To her surprise, he is quite a good cook. He can whip up a mean pasta and Thai salad, and sometimes he calls in Chinese takeaway and pizza.
They are both living in their separate apartments, of course. Thanks to what Jake paid her, she has enough rent for a few months, at least.
“So what are you going to do now?” she asks him.
He grins. “I’m going to start my own advertising firm.”
“Seriously?” She is amazed at his ambition.
“Seriously. It’s going to be difficult, and I’m going to be a one-man advertising show for a while, but I’m going to survive. I’m going to take every job that comes along. I figured I come up with the really great ideas anyway, so why should other people take the credit, right?”
She laughs. “At least you’re still modest.”
He takes hold of her hands, and a funny feeling comes over her. His eyes are very green and beautiful. A choke comes up her throat. I mustn’t betray myself.
“When Cassie’s baby was born, I realized that I was missing out on everything life was about. I’m going to start my own advertising company, but I’m not going to kill myself over it, you know? I have realized . . . ”
She suddenly realizes he is trembling. This must be a very difficult and pivotal moment for him.
“ . . . that I have found my mate . . . and she is right here, in front of me. If she will have me. I don’t know if you feel what I’m feeling, Terry, and I know it’s almost impossible that two people will feel exactly the same way . . . ”
“Jake.”
“What?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
She seizes him by the lapels of his shirt and presses her lips against his. He is surprised, but he quickly eases into the kiss. Their mouths heat up, and soon, their tongues touch, dart and explore.
“Cone here,” she whispers when they come up for air.
“Can you . . . ?” He indicates her leg.
“You’ll have to carry me.”
“You know, I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”
Laughing, he scoops her up in his arms and carries her to her bedroom, a place he has become fairly intimate with in the course of looking after her. He sets her down on the bed and proceeds to strip his clothes off. She has seen him naked before, of course, but she still revels in the sight of his toned pecs, muscular torso and gleaming skin. His hair falls softly over his face and shoulders as he leans over her.
Her heart is beating very hard. She can hear its sonorous ba-dup, ba-dup, ba-dup inside her hollow chest. She wonders if he can hear it too.
“Do you want me to take your clothes off or do you want to keep them on? Because I’m going to make love to you either way,” he says.
She loves the way he said ‘make love’. As if this act they will take part in is something much more than primal fucking. ‘Mate’, he called her. In the old shifter meaning of the word, it stands for ‘permanency’ and ‘fidelity’ and ‘eternity’. However many wild oats a shifter has sowed, when they find their mate, they mate for life.
“Take off my clothes,” she demands. “All of them.”
He eagerly complies. He is very careful when he slides her panties off her legs, especially the bandaged ankle – a part of her body he has carefully helped her bathe and wrap up every day for the past seven days since they left the hospital. He has never seen her fully naked before because he was not around when she shifted.
His eyes now light up as he takes in every inch of her body.
“Oh my God,” he says in a hoarse voice, “you are more beautiful than I imagined. I used to have dreams about how your body will look like every time.”
“You did?” Her skin is flushing at his compliment. There is no more invigorating feeling than being told you are beautiful by the man you are fated to be with, she thinks.
“Yes. And I still have them every night.”
He bends his head and places his mouth on her right nipple. He sucks with force, and she feels a pull in her vagina each time his cheeks hollow. Her pussy is very wet now, and there is the hollowness of need within her. Of wanting to be filled.
“Ohhhh, Jake, I don’t think I can wait much longer,” she moans.
“Then let our first time be shifter style, shall we?”
A thrill of desire goes through her body when she hears that.
“I’m going to turn you around, OK? I’m not going to hurt your ankle,” he says.
She doesn’t care if he does at this stage. All she knows is that her pussy is clenching with the need to be filled by him.
He flips her over as gently as he can manage. Then he parts her thighs.
“You ready?” he says in a husky tone.
“Yes.”
He is going to do it raw with her, she knows, because they are mates now. Just like shifters do. Besides, she is not in heat. When she has her heat, her body will be primed for seeding. But not now. It will be safe.
“OK. I warned you,” he says teasingly.
She braces herself.
His cock nudges her pussy, and her entire groin twitches.
“Don’t wait!” she pants, clawing at the sheets. “Shove it into me!”
His hands grip the back of her thighs, and he shoves his cock into her with an energy she has not felt from Burt or anyone else. She lets out a loud keen of pleasure. His weight presses onto her back as he begins to pump in and out of her. Her tunnel contracts against his hot, hard flesh. She can hear the slap slap slap of his hips against her buttocks.
He punctuates every pummel with a grunt, and she soon joins him with
moans of her own. She can feel his hands creeping up her body, stroking the sides of her breasts. His breath is hot in her ear.
“My mate,” he whispers in it.
“My mate,” she affirms.
“I have to warn you. This is a lasting relationship. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”
“I don’t want to get rid of you. This is forever.”
She means it. She fully understands it now with both her human and shifter selves.
His teeth graze against her neck and he lifts her hair. He bites her gently on the neck to hold her in place in the traditional shifter mating ritual. This will mark his first claiming of her. Sometimes, she wishes they wouldn’t be quite so civilized. She rather likes this aspect of shifter ritualistic lovemaking.
As they both ascend towards their climaxes, she hears him whisper: “I love you.”
And all is right in her world.
Dear Reader, thank you so much for reading this story.
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