The Fifth Moon's Lovers (The Fifth Moon's Tales Book 3)

by Monica La Porta

  Mama. Come. Need you.

  Her baby called her. His voice, getting stronger with each word, acted as a beacon, pulling Mirella away from the meadow and back into her body.

  The pain was unbearable.

  Strong, her son urged her as the peaceful meadow called her back, promising an end to so much suffering.

  For you, until my last breath. Mirella was at the end of her endurance, but she reached inside, evoking the calm and quiet of the meadow. Without losing herself to it, she drew strength from that place, calling along the little wolf that helped anchor her energies. Grounded once again to the present, sounds and smells intruded in her bubble, making her aware of people around her bed.

  “Valentine—” she thought she said, but she couldn’t hear her voice, only a low whine that prompted the puppy in her head to respond in kind.

  Soothing hands massaged her temple.

  “Push, Mirella—” Mama Bee’s voice broke through the barrier of pain. “Push, now!”

  Out, her baby said.

  Mirella sent one last prayer to the Goddess, then channeled all her being into one final act.

  I love you, Valentine. I love you, Baby.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The wolf heard his pup’s distressed cry, and a moment later, Mama Bee repeated, “One more time, Mirella!”

  The midwife had sent everyone out but the wolf. Unable to shift back, Valentine was going crazy, but commanded his wolf to stop pacing for Mama Bee’s sake, and made it stand sentinel by the bed.

  “Again.” Mama Bee had her hands between Mirella’s legs, and the frown on her face terrified Valentine and agitated his wolf.

  “You can do it, Mirella. You are almost there.” Mama Bee had kept talking for the last hour, trying to maintain a connection with Mirella who had not said a single word back. “One last push—”

  After a long moment of silence, Mirella cried as Mama Bee said, “You did it!”

  A baby’s wail filled the room.

  “You’ve done well.” The midwife placed the baby against Mirella’s chest, but Mirella didn’t move, her arm dangling from the bed.

  The wolf nudged her fingers and found them cold.

  Choking back a sob, Mama Bee turned her head to wipe a tear, then swathed the baby with a blanket and lowered the small bundle to the wolf’s muzzle. “This is your son, Valentine.” She opened the blanket slightly, and the most beautiful baby came into view.

  Through his wolf’s eyes, Valentine looked at the baby and cried. His son was perfect, with a full head of auburn locks, and bright green eyes. He was Mirella’s spitting image. The wolf gently licked the baby’s hand, and the baby cooed in response.

  Mama. Help, the baby spoke. Wolf. Help.

  Mirella’s feeble intake of breath drew both Mama Bee’s and the wolf’s attention back to the bed. The wolf raised his front paws to the frame and lowered his big head to Mirella’s face. Whining, the beast sniffed her, then jumped on the bed and lay against her to warm her still body. His tongue cleaned her tears with long strokes.

  Valentine wanted to be the one giving Mirella the last comfort, not his wolf.

  Dada, help! Mama, wolf! His son was inconsolable.

  Let me out, Valentine begged his wolf, but the beast didn’t acknowledge him. Instead, it adjusted against Mirella’s body, its ear close to her failing heart. Please, let me cradle her in my arms one last time.

  Caged inside the wolf’s mental dimension, Valentine screamed and punched against invisible walls. Sorrow cleaved him apart as the last beats of Mirella’s heart resonated in the empty chamber imprisoning him.

  Thump.

  Thump.

  Thump—

  Several seconds passed. The painful silence stretched into a minute. Valentine’s heart stopped with hers. Life drained out of him as images of his beautiful Mirella played in his mind.

  Mirella softly smiling after he made love to her. Mirella laughing when Valentine swatted Gabriel’s hand away—the vampire had offered to escort her to dinner. Mirella posing for him in the art studio. Mirella caressing her growing belly—

  Thump—

  Her final heartbeat interrupted the silence like a death knell.

  The wolf moved abruptly, positioning its head above Mirella’s throat as its nostrils flared.

  Wolf. Help! the baby triumphantly exclaimed, confusing Valentine.

  The beast opened its maw, then—amidst Mama Bee’s screams—closed it around Mirella’s shoulder, sinking its fangs deeply into her flesh, sharing with her half of its wolf essence. Exhausted, the wolf licked the wound, closing the gash with its regenerative saliva. Then it slowly let itself down to the floor, where it lay, gulping shallow breaths. The wounds from the silver bullets bled anew, marring the dark fur with a rusty tinge that spread to the floor. Before the wolf lost consciousness, it forced its body to expel the bullets.

  When Dragon and Gabriel burst into the room, they found the wolf collapsed amidst a pool of blood.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  As if attached to a gigantic string, Valentine was catapulted out of the wolf’s dimension and thrown back into his reality without warning. The shifting was brutal because he was wounded where the wolf had been shot and not yet fully healed, but Valentine’s mind was on Mirella, and he refused to faint once he was finally back in his body.

  Gathering all his strength, he pushed himself up, only to collapse against the bed when his legs gave up under him.

  Dragon and Gabriel immediately flanked Valentine to hoist him on his feet, then they helped him climb into the bed so that he could lie next to Mirella.

  “Kitten—” Valentine whispered to her mouth, before laying a soft kiss on her lips. “Bring him to me,” he said to Mama Bee, who rocked the baby while silently crying in the corner but moved at once at his request.

  “Here is your baby boy.” The midwife leaned down and deposited the bundle between Mirella and Valentine.

  The baby cooed, then turned his curly head to Mirella’s chest, nudging impatiently at the sheet protecting his mother’s modesty. Mama Bee must have covered Mirella while Valentine was in the throes of the shifting.

  “Is she—” Gabriel didn’t finish his sentence, but both he and Dragon averted their eyes when Valentine lowered the sheet to free Mirella’s breast to the baby.

  Valentine didn’t know what he was doing. Still more beast than man, he let his animal instincts guide his actions because he couldn’t let himself think of what his wolf had done. He kept hope buried deep inside his heart and refused to entertain any dark thoughts. His emotions couldn’t come close to the surface. If they did, he feared he would fall into despair and lose his sanity, and that could not be allowed.

  This little being he and Mirella had created needed his father, and Valentine would never fail him.

  His son sought his mother’s nipple with his little mouth. Valentine gently cradled his head, helping his son to latch onto Mirella’s body. Soon, the baby fed, making loud, gulping noises.

  Mama Bee, who stood by the bed, gasped, her hand flying to her chest.

  Dragon asked, “How is that possible?”

  “Valentine?” Gabriel looked at the baby, then at Valentine.

  Valentine heard them, but was mesmerized by the sight of his son falling asleep after feeding, still seeking his mother’s warmth. With one arm encircling both, he shielded the baby by inclining his body to create a cocoon around him.

  “The wolf bit her.” Mama Bee pointed at the red mark on Mirella’s shoulder that was healing as she spoke, the edges flattening and becoming pink. “It did something to her—”

  Mirella was alive.

  When her mortal life had been expiring, and her heart produced its last beat, Valentine’s wolf gave her a transfusion of its essence, half of itself alongside his blood. Valentine’s mind reeled at the implications of such an act, but he couldn’t speak of it yet. Bits and pieces from his father’s diary came back to him. Isolated sentences combined with pass
ages from some of the books he checked out at the Brotherhood Library, and a theory started to take shape.

  “I found evidence that a few blessed brides survived their pregnancies and were able to breastfeed their newborns, but those mothers died within the week.” Marcellus had highlighted this note with two lines under the words, and a few days later he wrote in his diary: “Knowing that Sophia had a full month before the birthing date, I left her, looking for those answers I needed… I had already informed the High Priest and the medicus that I would stay with her… I was on the other side of the station, reading those useless books when Sophia’s water broke. A riot had started in the morning hours, and all the passageways between the library and our quarters were in lockdown. By the time I forced my way through, it was too late…”

  Although his father had planned to be present when Sophia was due, her labor started when he was away. Marcellus’s intention was to defy society rules and traditions and assist his son’s birth, only when his bride’s labor started, he was detained on the other side of the station and she died before he could reach her.

  One thought kept coming back to Valentine. Once married, blessed brides didn’t live with their spouses. The custom had started on Sidera Prime, where they spent their pregnancies inside the Vestal House, under the care of the High Priest and the medicus. Before reading his father’s diary, he hadn’t realized that Marcellus too had defied customs by taking Sophia away from the Vestal House on the space station to live with him.

  High Priests and medici supervised the birth—

  “Valentine—” Mirella whispered, interrupting Valentine’s meanderings.

  His heart exploding in his chest, Valentine cried as he kissed her now warm lips, taking care not to disturb the precious bundle nested between them.

  Dragon, Gabriel, and Mama Bee silently walked out of the bedroom and stood sentinel outside.

  Chapter Thirty

  Valentine’s tears soaked the sheet covering Mirella, her hair, her face, in between her breasts, and anywhere he kissed her, but she didn’t mind.

  “I love you, kitten,” he said, his powerful body shaken by sobs.

  “I’m here.” Her voice was hoarse. “Love you.” She was still too weak but raised her hand to his head, now resting on her chest.

  Between them, their little miracle made the most adorable gurgle, and Valentine leaned away to let her see him, but she couldn’t command her upper body to move. With the utmost care, Valentine placed the baby against her chest, then moved behind her and hoisted her up until they were sitting, supporting her with his body.

  “He’s so beautiful.” Tears of joy swelled in her eyes.

  “He looks like you.” Valentine kissed her cheek then lowered his head against her shoulder.

  “Look at that head full of hair.” She couldn’t help but smile when the baby rooted his perfect little hands against her skin, then turned his head toward her breast and opened his mouth. “I think he’s still hungry.”

  Valentine’s arms sneaked around her waist, helping her support the baby as he latched onto her nipple and started suckling. When their son fed for the first time, Mirella was barely conscious. In fact, it had been him that woke her from her deep slumber and brought her back.

  The baby was soon sated, and his head lolled to the side. Mirella’s eyes felt heavy, and she too sagged against Valentine.

  “Rest, kitten.” Valentine rearranged his position and brought the three of them back to the bed, spooning Mirella who now cradled the baby. “I’ll guard over your sleep.” He then whispered sweet nothings to her and their son, and she relaxed into his strong embrace, lulled by his deep voice.

  When Mirella woke the second time, her son was already greedily gulping milk from her engorged breast as Valentine spoke words of encouragement to the baby. She leaned her head against his shoulder, and he tilted his to leave a kiss on her temple.

  “How do you feel?” He whispered his question while his hands massaged her arms, his fingers tracing circles against her skin.

  “Better.” To show him she wasn’t saying it to reassure him, Mirella raised their son to her face for a kiss to his button of a nose. Then she tried to move across the narrow bed, but there wasn’t enough space to maneuver.

  “Let me take you to our bed.” Valentine chuckled, swinging his legs to the side and pushing himself up as he carried both Mirella and the baby.

  “It’s so nice to hear you laugh,” she said, infected by his joy.

  “It’s nice to see you smile.” He leaned to brush her lips. With his easy stride, he crossed the bedroom and brought her to their large bed, then gently lowered her to the silk coverlet and sat in front of her, bumping her forehead with his. “I thought I would never see you smile again—” His voice broke.

  “I’m here.” She lowered the baby to the mattress, then hugged Valentine. “I’m not leaving you.”

  He took her in his arms, then covered her in kisses, whispering to her how much he loved her. They remained embraced until their son wailed loudly, his face becoming a dark shade of red.

  “How much does a werewolf baby eat?” Mirella asked, then realized her son wasn’t hungry but needed to be changed.

  Before she could try to leave the bed, Valentine took the baby in his arms. “I’ll do it.” He disappeared into the bathroom where a changing station had been installed only a few days before. A few minutes later, he reentered the bedroom with their sleeping baby cradled in the nook of his elbow. “Are you hungry?” he asked her.

  Mirella didn’t remember the last time she had eaten and nodded.

  Valentine ordered a meal, then joined her on the bed. With his free hand, he traced the contour of the mark on her shoulder. “Do you remember what happened?”

  “I’m not sure.” She placed her hand on his. “The baby was scared, but your wolf never left and talked to us. When it bit me, I felt at peace, and a few moments later, a she-wolf appeared. My wolf.” She smiled. “I have a wolf, like you and the baby. It’s beautiful, with silvery-white fur and blue eyes. Its image was blurry at first, but it’s getting clearer and more lifelike.”

  As she talked, their baby moved, and the image of three wolves entered Mirella’s mind. Valentine’s and Mirella’s licked the small pup that soon moved closer to the mother to be fed.

  “Am I a werewolf now?” Mirella asked.

  “It would seem so.” Valentine caressed the baby, then looked back at her. “The truth has been in front of me the whole time.”

  “What truth?”

  Someone knocked at the door, and Valentine leaned to kiss her nose. “Our food is here. I’ll tell you everything later.”

  Soon after the servant wheeled the food cart inside the room, a second knock announced Mama Bee.

  “How do you feel, child?” the midwife asked Mirella from the door.

  “I’m getting better by the minute.” After waking the second time, Mirella’s strength had been coming back rather fast. Coincidentally, the she-wolf’s presence became stronger as Mirella’s health improved.

  “You do look well,” Mama Bee said, then added, “Would it be okay to let your sisters and your lady’s maid in? They have been worried—”

  Before Valentine would object, Mirella hurried to say, “Of course. Give me a minute to make myself presentable, then let them in.”

  She and Valentine barely had time to don some clothes before the bedroom was filled with visitors. Vera, Lucilla, and Crea entered the room in a whirlwind of tears, sobs, and eventually laughter when they saw Mirella holding the baby in her arms.

  “Oh, sis—” Vera said, holding out her hands toward the baby. “He’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen!”

  Mirella placed her son in her sister’s arms, and Vera couldn’t help but cry while rocking the bundle.

  “He’s so small,” she said, barely able to talk.

  “May I hold him too?” Lucilla asked, her voice trembling as well.

  “Of course.” Mirella smiled, ges
turing for Vera to pass the baby to her sister.

  Lucilla was rendered mute by her nephew’s beauty, and she cradled him for a few moments.

  “Would you like to hold him too?” Mirella asked Crea, who had kept at the edge of the familial group.

  Her lady’s maid gulped down her answer and nodded instead, opening her arms to welcome the bundle. “He’s perfect,” she said. Her eyes widened when the baby yawned and stirred in her embrace, then bumped his little head against her chest. “Is he hungry?” she asked as the baby tried to latch onto her bodice.

  “It would seem so.” Mirella took her son back and unbuttoned the maternity corset Valentine had ordered for her.

  Even though he knew her fate was doomed, her husband still thought to ask Genevieve Lafrette for a full maternity wardrobe. Mirella couldn’t even fathom the anguish he must have endured shielding her from the truth, trying to make her live her pregnancy as best he could, filling her days with love, spoiling her with all his attentions.

  Her son’s angry wail made her smile, and she fed him. She realized that the baby had stopped talking to her telepathically at birth, but from his demanding ways she was sure they would understand him just fine.

  “Mom and Dad are on their way,” Lucilla said.

  “Mom was in hysterics, and Dad was trying to calm her when I talked to them,” Vera added, and the room exploded in a communal laugh.

  Gabriel and Dragon were admitted in soon after Mirella stopped feeding the baby, and bright eyes could be seen all over again around the room.

  Chapter Thirty-One