by Hall, K R
“I love you, Alana. You have made me happier than you could ever imagine,” Victor said as he leaned in for their first kiss as husband and wife.
“I love you, too,” Alana whispered.
Having Victor near her filled her heart with peace, love, and passion. He embodied all that she desired in a man. He was one that was always doting and respectful of her. She could envision the kind of husband and father he would be and joy crashed over her.
Chapter 30
Alana was so close to her delivery date, they decided to skip a traditional honeymoon. They spent the weekend in their master suite. Nicolae brought up meals, leaving them on a tray outside the door after a brief knock.
“What are you doing?” Alana asked.
“I'm watching you sleep. You’re beautiful.”
“You want to make love all the time, huh?” Alana teased.
“You don’t think it’s wrong, do you?”
“I think it’s wonderful,” Alana said.
“I know we were meant to be together. The strands of our lives are woven together and neither the world nor time can tear them apart,” Victor said before taking her mouth.
~ ~ ~
Victor and Alana were laying on the couch, watching movies and relaxing. She had no signs of labor, besides some cramps and she wasn’t worried about it. They felt Inima would come when she was ready.
Alana had to pee badly and she got up and walked through the dining room, heading to the bathroom when she felt like something was going to pop. She took another step, and…
“Umm, Victor! I think my water broke,” Alana said.
She continued to waddle to the bathroom. He looked at her like she had two heads because he felt she should have been freaking out, but Alana was calm.
“Nicolae, call for doctor Audra,” Victor yelled. “Alana’s water broke.”
Victor helped Alana walk around to the delivery room. Doctor Audra came in and checked on Alana.
“Your water definitely broke and you’re dilated four centimeters,” Audra said.
Audra hooked a fetal monitor around Alana. The monitor showed that the contractions were coming every ten minutes. Alana tried to call her mom to let her know, but her hands were shaking too much and she kept misdialing. Victor took her cellphone from her and called her mother, then he called his parents.
“Someone is eating chocolate, tell them to stop! The smell is making me nauseous,” Alana complained.
“I will go find out who it is,” Nicolae offered.
As another contraction hit her, Alana squeezed Victor’s hand tighter, but he didn’t complain.
Audra calmly checked the dilation. “It looks like your daughter is coming faster than I thought she would, but you’re not quite ready.”
“What about my epidural? You said I could have an epidural,” Alana said.
“Sorry, it’s too soon. You’re not dilated to a six yet,” Audra said before walking out of the room.
Alana started to hold her breath during the contractions. Victor kept reminding her to breathe like they had learned in birthing class.
When Alana dilated to six centimeters Audra prepped Alana for her epidural. She sat up and leaned against Victor, the pain was so intense that she couldn’t get comfortable. Audra got the epidural in place when Alana had the sudden urge to push.
“I think I have to push.”
“Hold on Alana, I have to get this in.” Once the epidural was in place, Audra checked her. She saw Alana had gone from six to ten centimeters in a matter of minutes.
“It’s time to push. Victor, stand behind Alana and hold her up to help with the pushing. Alana, push and hold for a count of ten.”
After pushing for the third time, the baby was crowning and ready to slide out.
Victor gasped and went pale when Audra tugged his daughter out. She was quiet. Tears in her eyes, Audra took the small baby into the next room as the other doctors worked with Alana. Audra prayed to the gods that the baby would be okay.
She finally let out her first little cry and Audra’s heart melted. Slowly, the baby began to improve, taking better breaths and moving her limbs. When she turned the baby over, Audra frowned at the mark that she saw on the baby’s head. Looking closer, she saw that it was a circle that made the hair coming out of it turn white.
What the hell? She thought and rolled the fragile little girl back over. The small bundle was staring at her. Audra smiled and leaned down and kissed the baby’s head. Thankfully, it looked like everything had turned out okay. She weighed eight pounds, four ounces and was twenty-one inches long. Audra wrapped the girl in a pink fluffy blanket and carried her back into the room. Victor was sitting by his mate, holding her hand as they waited for Audra to bring their baby in.
Audra walked over to Victor. She placed a hand on his shoulder and drew his attention away from his mate. Gently, she put the baby in his arms.
“Meet Miss Inima Marinescu. Isn’t she beautiful?” Audra asked.
“What?” Victor said confused. “Oh, yes, she is.”
It was like a light bulb had gone off in the man’s head and he looked around. Victor had been so consumed with thoughts of his mate that he had forgotten she had given him the gift of a beautiful baby girl. He was nodding as if in a daze. The tiny bundle looked even smaller in her father’s arms.
Audra went to check on Alana. Her birthing wounds had almost completely healed and her belly was shrinking back to her pre-pregnancy size. Her new healing powers were doing their job. She would be stronger and faster when she fully woke up.
Alana cried when she took her little girl into her arms and kissed her small head. Victor and Alana spent the next few hours showing off Inima to both sets of her grandparents.
Epilogue
“A year ago, exactly on this same night, we were assembled here in this very room. With hopefulness in my heart, I told you from the beginning that Alana was my mate. Cast back your minds. There we were, gathered together, cheerful and celebrating Alana’s twentieth birthday. Today, we are celebrating the first baby girl born in my father’s side of the family in over a thousand years,” Victor said, beaming.
THE END
A note from KR Hall
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About the Author
K R Hall
Hi there! I’m Karen Hall.
I’m a New Englander by birth. I grew up along both the east coast and west coast as my father was in the military. After my eight years in the military, I moved to Colorado in 1992.
I married the love of my life and soul mate Tom in the early 2000s. I live with my husband and two chihuahua mix fur babies. Our children are all grown and on their own.
I’m addicted to dark and milk chocolate, iced tea, and Cherry Coke Zero. I’m a romantic at heart who loves books with a happy ending, characters who aren’t perfect with room to grow, and a good mystery you can’t solve quickly. I’m living my dream as an author. I wish there were a faster way to put all the stories in my head down on paper.
I’m a Paranormal Romance author, encompassing contemporary romances and Mysteries.
Karen’s books
Black Bears of Independence: Corbin
https://books2read.com/u/3GYKoa
A clan of black bear shifters has settl
ed into the old ghost town of Independence, CO, and opened the Independence Dude Ranch.
Alpha Corbin Hurst has wished for his fated mate since he and his clan began work in Independence three years ago. Long days and longer nights have him dreaming of their future together.
After a rough breakup and swearing off men, Eloise Freimont books a visit to the dude ranch. She meant to focus on her life and getting herself together, not on sex-on-a-stick Corbin Hurst.
A stalker and a mysterious man stand in the way of lovers born to be together.
The world around them declares war on fate and pushes hard against the pair. Now, they and the pack have to take a stand for more than just love; the town itself needs protecting, and they’re the only ones that can do it.
Black Bears of Independence: Cade
https://books2read.com/u/3R1JgL
Beta of the Black Bears of Independence Clan Cade Norton met his True Mate at his best friend and Alpha Corbin Hurst’s mating ceremony to Eloise Freimont. They had an amazing night of hot steamy lovemaking, but when he woke the next morning, Gracie was gone. Cade won’t chase after Gracie. After two months, Cade’s bear is demanding he go after their mate.
Gracie Jefferies has one big case to finish with her job as an FBI agent, she doesn’t have time for her True Mate, so after a fantastic night, she fled back to Aspen, Colorado. Gracie’s red mountain lion is demanding they go back and claim their mate.
When Gracie’s big case goes wrong, her life is in danger. How can Cade keep Gracie safe?
The mysterious someone that’s spying on the Black Bears of Independence Clan is no longer satisfied with sabotage. He has stepped up his game, and shifters are getting hurt. What does this person want with the Molybdenum?
Black Bears of Independence: Jase
https://books2read.com/u/bQRDBE
Jase Stewart is the Omega of the Black Bear of Independence Clan in Colorado. Being the Omega, he could feel every emotion from his pack. They fell on Jase’s shoulders with a heavy still silence that never went away. He needed to take it all in and try to fix everything.
Jase’s appetite for women is legendary. He rarely turned down the offer of no-strings-attached sex, especially when his partner was so good at it. Are the rumors true?
Libby Hoffman accepted her role as a Seer through the Oracle of the goddess Isis. After years of being held captive by the San Francisco wolf pack who abused her powers, Libby escaped with her sanity barely intact. Looking for a place to hide, Libby stumbled upon a bear shifter that took pity on her and brought her to his friend Benjamin Hurst and the Hurst family clan in Estes Park, Colorado.
Jase is strongly attracted to Libby, but he doesn’t scent her as his mate. Libby masks her scent to keep herself safe. Why the big secret?
War has come to the Black Bears of Independence. Pickens and his militia pushed the Black Bears clan too far. Pickens and his militia didn’t think they’d fight. They were wrong. Dead wrong.
Black Bears of Independence: Benjamin
https://books2read.com/u/bMp5rB
Benjamin Hurst grew up knowing his older brother Corbin would be the alpha of their family clan. An injury in an accident (that also took his mother’s life) left him with a limp. So, it came as a huge surprise when his brother stated he was going to make his own clan, leaving Ben as alpha of the Hurst Family clan in Estes Park, CO.
Sabrina Bryant stopped shifting after a traumatic incident when she was ten. She only wishes she could remember what it was so she could shift. Sabrina never seemed to be good enough for her father, and after two failed relationships, she knew he was right in saying she was worthless and that no one would want her. Her father arranged a mating with Benjamin for political reasons.
Benjamin and Sabrina learned that she is the last hope to defeat Pickens and his army. They and their clan will fight side by side with the Independence clan.
Black Bears of Independence: Dylan and Caleb
https://books2read.com/u/3nWG26
It has been a little over two years since the war with Pickens and his mercenary army. Their clan and the Black Bears of Independence lost many friends and family. The shifters have been slowly rebuilding their lives.
Dylan Birnbaum is a legendary Sphinx shifter and Beta of the Hurst Family clan in Estes Park, Colorado. His mate, Caleb Richburg, is a black bear shifter. Together they have overcome many of life’s challenges.
Dylan finds himself raising his biological daughter after his best friend, to whom he donated sperm, dies in a horrible car crash. Caleb is hurt that Dylan never told him about donating his sperm. Will this bring them closer together or tear them apart?
The Ladies Man
https://books2read.com/u/38ME8Z
Arthur Johnson’s college graduation should have been the start of something great. But when his celebration, which includes proposing to his girlfriend, ends with him discovering her in the arms of another man, he swears never to open his heart to a woman again.
Despite his vow to avoid women, he takes a job as a handyman for an all-female boarding house. After only a few months, Arthur decides can’t live in a house full of women anymore; as he is about to walk out, in walks a girl right out of his dreams. Evelyn (Evie) Van Voorhies, a shy brunette with whiskey eyes.
Evelyn dreams of being a Rockette. She’s a great dancer, but when she is in front of an audience, she becomes a klutz. Arthur reads up on everything about the Rockettes and dancing and so he can help Evie practice.
Working closely together, Arthur falls in love. Evelyn fights her attraction. Her mother gave up her dreams when she married her father after she found out she was pregnant. Some Rockettes are married and have kids. Now, if only he could convince Evie that she could still be a Rockette and have a relationship with him.
Corbin Manor
https://books2read.com/u/bx8wqd
You are cordially invited to dinner...and a murder!
Corbin Manor was built in the early 1900s; it has been the silent witness to so much life, the good and bad. The legend of Corbin Manor is that it has been haunted by at least a dozen occupants who have died inside the house.
Earlier in the evening, there had been an elegant dinner party hosted by the new owner of Corbin Manor, Miss Joanna Hart. The dinner guests were most notably all women.
A woman has been murdered while visiting Corbin Manor.
It’s up to detective Michael Jon Donahue, his assistant detective Oscar Masters, and his psychic assistant Bianca Vandenberg to find her killer before the murderer strikes again.
Strigoi Redemption
https://books2read.com/u/bzoXaE
If you knew deep within your soul that there was only one person in the world meant just for you, the only person who could make you happy, what would you give up? How long would you search for them? How many centuries? And if you ever did find them, then what? Could you ever let them go? Wouldn’t you grab onto them with both arms... and never... never let them go?
To be born a strigoi, you must be the seventh son in an all-male family. A strigoi can transform into an animal, turn invisible, have tremendous strength, accelerated speed, and the preference to drain the blood of its victims. Though they are like vampires, strigoi are not vampires and are much older. Victor Marinescu, in Moldavia, Romania, is the seventh son of a seventh son. Therefore, he is born strigoi.
The fates finally answered his prayers after these long six hundred and thirteen years. Victor has found his mate.
He has done things in his life that he’s not proud of. There’s not a day goes by Victor doesn’t feel regret. He has to live with that. He feels the need to redeem himself before he can claim his mate, Alana.
Not everyone is happy for Victor and Alana. They are trying to destroy them.
Adventures of Shirley Holmes and Janie Watson
Case of the Missing Children (book 1)
https://books2read.com/u/bP9EJY
Shirley Holmes and Janie Watson have been best friends since high
school, and now they own a detective agency together.
The Holmes and Watson Detective Agency has a reputation for finding lost pets and finding people who skip out on the local bail bondsman. The girls wish for something more exciting, something they can skin their teeth into.
Brock Melbourne has moved to Vienna, Virginia, after losing his wife and children in a tragic fire six months ago.
Eight-year-old twins Lennox and Layla Goldwyn are missing. Landon and Ruby Goldwyn turn to Shirley and Janie when they think the police are not looking hard enough.
Be careful what you wish for.
Coming Soon
Fate Will Always Win
https://books2read.com/u/mglww7
When he was ten, Nathaniel Thibault’s family was killed in a fiery car crash when moving to a new pack in San Diego, CA. As no one knew he survived, no one came to claim him, and he was sent to live in a foster home in Fallbrook, CA.
Two years later, Tracie Lowe entered his foster home after she was taken into state custody after her mother died of a drug overdose. No one knew who her father was. Nathaniel knows she is his fated mate, but he doesn’t tell her. He thinks that at twelve, Tracie is too young to understand mates. As she enters her teen years and begins dating, he sabotages every relationship.
During their senior year in high school, they pledge to marry each other if they are not married by the time they turn 28. Tracie has lousy luck with dating but doesn’t know that Nathaniel is sabotaging her dates. She runs off to LA to become famous. Tracie is twenty-three, and after five years of failures in relationships and work, she moves back to Fallbrook.