“Sounds good,” I said, nodding my head. I turned and looked at Jenna, who was holding her hands out as if to catch me. “When do those damn contractions–” I gasped as my stomach clenched painfully, nearly driving me to my knees. Jenna held one of my arms with a vice-like grip, and she steadied me while I regained my composure. “I guess they’re gonna start now.”
Jenna looked up at Ray. “If we’re doing this, it has to be now.”
He nodded. “Alright, let’s go. Quinten, get on Jenna’s other side and help Alanna get going. I’m not sure how far we’ll get with her contractions working against us, but we have to try. I’ll shift and meet you out back. Go!” he said, disappearing back into the living room as Dennis shouted something I didn’t catch.
Jenna and Quinten each grabbed an arm. “Alanna, can you try and keep count between your contractions while we get you out of here? I need to know how far apart they are. We still don’t know how these babies will affect your labor, but this will give me a rough estimate of how things will go.”
“What about Darren and Jax?” I asked as we reached the door. “Darren isn’t much of a fighter, and Jax is in no condition to fight right now,” I said, worried about the two of them. “Are we leaving them here to die?”
“We’ll be fine. Just go,” Jax said. “Darren will keep me safe.”
“Quinten? See if you can’t pick her up and carry her. It’ll make things move a little faster, and she’ll probably be in less pain if she doesn’t have to walk. Not to mention she can save more energy for when it comes time to push. I’ll get my bag, and then we can go,” Jenna said as she disappeared into the living room.
Quinten scooped me up into his arms, and I rested my head on his shoulder. “I can’t believe this is finally happening,” I said as he rushed out of the bedroom after Jenna. She met us at the back door, which Quinten kicked down effortlessly. “Where’s Ray? I don’t see him.”
“Stop worrying so much; I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” Quinten said quietly. The majority of his attention was focused on our surroundings. It was nearly morning, and it was starting to get light out, but there were still plenty of places for Roger or our other enemies to hide. When a shadow moved to our left, Jenna jumped in front of Quinten, and I tried to forget that she wouldn’t be much help in a fight.
She relaxed as a large black wolf ran towards us. Ray sidled up next to Jenna, rubbing her leg with his head in an affectionate gesture, before darting off into the trees. Jenna and Quinten followed them, always keeping an eye out for any sign of danger. As we reached the trees, I heard the sounds of wolves and vampires engaged in battle with one another, and I winced.
“We don’t have much of a head start,” I said, trying to focus again on my breathing. I was counting in my head like Jenna had asked me to, but I wasn’t sure how accurate my timing was.
“It’s better than nothing,” Jenna said, making sure to stick close to us, just like Ray. Our defense party was pretty pitiful, but I chose not to dwell on that too much. I had more pressing matters to think about, like the painful contractions that twisted my gut and sent shooting stabs of pain throughout my entire body.
A branch snapped to our left, and a figured dressed all in black jumped out as us before Quinten could brace himself. The attacker slammed into Quinten’s side, and I fell from his hold, tumbling into the dirt with a cry of pain. Jenna crouched beside me, checking to make sure nothing was broken as Ray and Quinten circled the mystery attacker. When I looked up through a curtain of dirty, sweat-soaked hair, my heart stopped.
Elias punched Quinten across the face, sending him down into the dirt. A booted foot connected with Quinten’s chin, sending bloody spit flying as Quinten dropped to his back in the dirt, leaving him open for attack. Before Elias could finish Quinten off, Ray charged into the clearing, fangs flashing in a vicious snarl. He threw himself at Elias, making sure to keep his attention away from Quinten and us.
I bit my lip to keep from screaming in pain as the most violent contraction yet wracked my body. Jenna squeezed my hand. “Just breathe, honey. That’s all you have to do right now. In, out. In, out. In, out. Just focus.” Her words had a soothing affect, and I tried to focus on them instead of the constant pain I felt in my sides, back, and lower stomach.
Ray yelped in pain, and Jenna and I both looked up to see him lying on his side in the dirt while Quinten and Elias grappled with one another. I would have thought having only one hand would severely hamper Elias, but that didn’t appear to be the case. If anything, it made Elias a better fighter by forcing him to rely more on his timing and years of experience.
“Honey, you’re doing so well,” Jenna said, trying to recapture my attention. “Don’t worry about the two of them, alright? Eli is outnumbered and outmatched. He doesn’t stand a chance. What I need you to do is just breathe, and work your way through these contractions. In a little bit, you’ll have two precious little babies to hold.”
“How long is this going to take?” I asked through clenched teeth. I was trying not to focus on the pain, or on the fact that both Quinten and Ray were fighting a nearly one thousand year old vampire that was intent on slaughtering not only me, but my children as well.
“Accelerated labor is one of the many perks of being a werewolf. Plus you happen to have a higher pain tolerance than humans. This is going to a piece of cake, alright? It should be over soon. Trust me,” she said, shifting until she was between my legs. She let go of my hand to spread them as she pushed up my nightgown a bit. “It’s almost time for you to push. Just keep breathing.”
Jenna’s head ducked between my legs, and I tried not to feel self-conscious with her face so close to my body. The pounding in my side was getting worse and worse with each passing moment, and right now it felt like I was being kicked in the ribs by a horse. Pain radiated down my lower back, causing me to cry out in pain. It felt like my back was trying to split open along my spine. Everything felt tight and unbearable, and I was left with an intense urge to push. I wanted these babies to be out of me now!
My arms trembled and sweat broke out over my face. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I swallowed rapidly until that feeling passed. Every contraction was like the most intense cramp I had ever felt multiplied by a hundred. Each one brought fresh tears to my eyes, and I desperately wished I had Quinten’s hand to hold until it was all over. As it was, all I had to help me through the pain was Jenna’s quiet reassurances, which weren’t doing me a whole lot of good at the moment.
“Look out!” Jenna screamed.
I looked up just in time to see a massive, dull brown wolf slam into Ray, cracking a rib and sending him rolling across the clearing. Ray scrambled to his feet as Roger turned his attention on us. When he saw me lying in the dirt, obviously in labor, he licked his lips, much like I’d seen wild animals do right before the kill.
Jenna turned her body, positioning herself between me and Roger. I was incredibly proud of her bravery, but I knew it wouldn’t do much good. She had to stay human to help me deliver, but she would have to shift if she wanted to even be a nuisance to Roger. Either way, she was probably going to die, and there was nothing I could to stop it.
“Alanna, just keep pushing,” she ordered without taking her eyes off of Roger.
Ray charged, and Roger took a few giant steps back, giving the two of us some breathing room. They tackled one another, falling to the ground nearby. A clawed foot lashed out, nearly clipping Jenna in the head. She ducked to avoid having her face mauled, and the two wolves got back to their feet as another bolt of agony shot down my side. I arched my back and screamed as my side burned.
“Alanna, I need you to hang on. It’s time to push. Honey, push for me. Can you do that?” She had been mostly calm throughout this whole ordeal, but now the urgency in her words frightened me. With both Roger and Eli in the woods fighting against us and not against each other, we didn’t have long before the two of us became sitting ducks.
Following her i
nstructions, I leaned up against a tree and dug my hands into the dirt, readying myself to push. At her signal, I clenched my jaw until it creaked, and I pushed with everything I had. I had expected the act of pushing to be just as painful as the contractions, but I was surprised to find that it was almost a relief after such constant, burning pain. It almost felt like a weight was being lifted from my chest and I could finally breathe again.
I gasped for air while Jenna checked our progress. Quinten cursed, and I saw him go down into the dirt with a knife in his right side. It looked like it might have missed anything vital, but I couldn’t be sure from this angle. I watched in horror as Elias advanced on Quinten. Ray was locked in battle with Roger, and Jenna was helping me give birth. There was nobody that could save Quinten from the knife in Eli’s hand.
As Eli knelt beside a gasping Quinten, I screamed his name. “Quinten!”
Eli looked up at me for just a second, pausing his assault to study me. His lips curved up into a vicious smile, and he grabbed a fistful of Quinten’s bloody shirt. Shifting the knife in his hands, his eyes never left mine as he brought back his hand, preparing to stab Quinten through the heart.
“Murderer!”
Eli’s head snapped up as Maria threw herself at him, tackling him away from Quinten. The two old vampires rolled into the dirt, but Maria was the first to regain her footing. In her hands she held a thick wooden stick that looked to have been sharpened to a point, probably to use specifically against Eli. “You’re the reason Violet is dead!” she shrieked, throwing herself at him once again.
Before Eli could even get to his feet, Maria was on him, driving the sharpened stake through his heart. It burst with a wet popping sound, and blood began to spurt from his chest, coating his clothes and the ground around him with the dark red liquid. Slowly, his face and body began to turn gray, and it shriveled up like a prune. It all happened so fast that Eli only had time for one agonized scream, before he slumped forward, and moved no more.
For a minute, nobody in the clearing moved. We all watched Maria with apprehension, wondering what she would do next. She still held the bloody stake in her hands, and her chest heaved violently with each sharp intake of breath. When she turned to face me, I saw her face was streaked with red-tinged tears. Her eyes looked flat and full of grief that she hadn’t even come to terms with yet. “Violet’s gone…” Her eyes hardened. “And you’re the reason she’s dead. You couldn’t keep your whoring legs closed, so Violet had to fight to keep you alive!”
“Maria, that’s not true!” Quinten said, stepping in between Maria and us. Ray and Roger resumed their fighting, and I spared them a quick glance. Ray seemed in worse condition than Roger, but both of them had fur matted with blood, and they were both limping and struggling to get the upper hand. “Think about it. Who’s the one that forced this war to happen? Who’s the one that took Violet’s mate from her? Who’s the one that made her so angry that she would fight for any cause as long as it gave her a chance for revenge?”
Maria stopped, and her crazed eyes went wide with sudden realization. “Roger Mason…” Her eyes flashed red as they narrowed, and with a wild hiss, she threw herself on Roger’s back, helping to give Ray the upper hand. She stabbed Roger in the back several times with her wooden stake, and he struggled to buck her off while trying to keep Ray at arm’s length. Roger rolled to his back, pinning Maria to the dirt beneath him. When he got to his feet, I saw that his weight had rammed the stake right through Maria’s chest, and that the stake was too thick to have missed her heart.
The scream of horror caught in my throat as Jenna ordered me to push again. Thankfully pushing gave me something to focus on besides the startled look on Maria’s face as her heart burst and she began to turn gray. Jenna purposely put herself between me and the horrible sight, quietly urging me to do nothing but breathe and push, breathe and push. I tried to do as she said, but I couldn’t keep from watching as Quinten and Ray ganged up on Roger. Hopefully now that they outnumbered him and Roger was seriously wounded, he wouldn’t stand much of a chance.
“Alanna, give me one more big push, alright?”
I bit my lip until it bled, and I gave it everything I had. Finally, the pressure lessened, and something began to cry. Once again, the woods were nearly silent. Nobody made a sound except for the small, bloody boy in Jenna’s hands. She smiled as she used a corner of her shirt to wipe the blood away from his face. “He’s beautiful, Alanna,” she said, looking up at me. “Oh, he looks so perfect!” She held him with one hand while she cut the umbilical cord and clipped it off to keep it from bleeding.
Roger’s eyes fixed on the boy currently nestled in Jenna’s arms, but he didn’t move. I wasn’t sure if he even could. Jenna turned him so I could get a better look at him, and he peered up at me with eyes as dark a brown as Quinten’s. His features were red and a little squished, but he was still the most beautiful thing I had ever set eyes on, and I felt my heart begin to race as Jenna handed him over to me. He settled perfectly into my arms, nuzzling his face against my chest.
Roger took a tentative step forward, completely entranced by the baby. His eyes narrowed, and he snarled. Before he could take a second step, Ray tackled him from the side, rolling Roger over onto his back. Quick as a snake, Ray darted in and clamped his jaws tightly around Roger’s throat. He yanked up, tearing out Roger’s throat. Blood spurted from the wound in a dark arc, coating Ray in warm, sticky blood as Roger gasped for air as he choked to death on his own blood.
We all watched him for a minute, until he finally stopped moving. When we were sure he was dead, Quinten ran over to my side and crouched down beside me. Our eyes met, and I handed over his son without a word. Quinten cradled him carefully in his arms as Ray limped over, looking down at his grandson over Quinten’s shoulder.
“Alanna, don’t forget, we’ve got one more baby to deliver,” Jenna said, startling me. I had been so caught up watching Quinten stare at his son with such reverence that I’d almost forgotten there was still one more baby. “Don’t worry though. This one will come much easier. Just give me a big push, and we’ll get this over with.”
“Then we can all go home,” Quinten said, smiling at me.
He turned so he was sitting beside me, and he shifted Benjamin until he was tucked securely in one arm. He gripped my hand with his free one, giving me silent permission to squeeze his hand as hard as I needed to. Most of the pain was gone though, and pushing was much easier the second time around. A few deep breaths and three large pushes later and there was more crying as Jenna cut off Brianna’s umbilical cord.
She handed my daughter over to me, and Quinten leaned down and pressed his forehead against mine. “They’re perfect,” he said breathlessly, almost as if he couldn’t believe our good luck. “They’re perfect, and so are you. Everything is just so perfect.”
“Roger and Elias are both gone,” I said quietly. “So are Ilene and Carmen. And the Council will be on our side once they see how beautiful and perfect these babies are. For the first time in months, we have nobody out to get us. We have a chance to finally start our lives together.” That realization brought tears of joy to my eyes, and I held my daughter closer.
We can give these babies a good home, and a good life. They’ll never have to live in fear…
Quinten nuzzled his nose against my neck. “This nightmare is finally over, and we can go home, Alanna.”
Epilogue
I was sure that today would be a total disaster. I was sure that some unforeseen problem would ruin the happiest day of my life. I was sure that some small, overlooked detail would make this event unfortunate for all involved. I had already double-checked everything with Jenna three times, and I was starting to worry about annoying anyone, but Jenna assured me that all brides-to-be were anxious and quick to worry on their special day. It was second nature for all women.
Jenna had just put the finishing touches on my hair, and I still hadn’t been allowed to look at myself in the mirror yet.
Every time she refused to let me look at my reflection, I was sure that it was because something had gone drastically wrong. Did she ruin my hair? Did she smudge my makeup? Was my dress somehow torn or stained? Why won’t she let me look at myself yet?
“Quit fidgeting. We’ll get done sooner if you just sit still,” Jenna chastised gently.
“Listen to Jenna,” Darren said, leaning forward. He was sitting on my other side in a black suit and tie, standard dress for a wedding. “Even though you can’t see yourself, I can. And let me assure you; you look absolutely beautiful. Flawless, really.”
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. In the six months since our fight with Roger and Elias, Darren had changed. He had become older and wiser, and he seemed to have a slightly less cheerful outlook on life. But for the most part, he was still the same Darren I first met in Roger’s dungeons. He just had more life experience than he had had a few long months ago.
“Really?” I asked. I hated the somewhat whiny tone to my voice, and I hated that I had to be constantly reassured today, but I couldn’t help it. This was the day that Quinten and I had been waiting to arrive for so long; it would just devastate me if something horrible happened to ruin it.
“You look beautiful,” Jenna said lightly. She would know all about beauty. She was wearing a green and white striped knee-length dress with a long, flowing train. The dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. A cluster of green and white fabric flowers was pinned to the chest, just below her collarbone. The train was held in place by another cluster of green and white flowers at the small of her back. It didn’t exactly look like a bridesmaid dress, but it was beautiful and it brought out the green in Jenna’s eyes.
“Now stop worrying about it and let me just finish this last little bit.” Jenna pinned a stray strand of hair into place, and tugged my dress one final time. “There. You can look now.”
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