Charlene Hartnady - Stolen by the Alpha Wolf 3# (Determined Theft)

by Unknown

  “You will wait until it is your turn. We are here to birth my son.” Ward also stood and started pacing.

  “I will take her number and”—there was a long pause—“if the opportunity should present itself…if she should offer to…”

  Ward snarled. “If you so much as lay a paw on her, I will cut off your dick and make you eat it. Do you understand me?” He sighed, gritting his teeth for a few beats. “I understand your frustration. Look,” he paused. “Take her number. Once it is your turn to take a female, you can come back.”

  Rushe nodded, but she noticed how his jaw clenched and his hands fisted at his sides. “My wolf is responding to her. It is not something that can be helped.”

  “We don’t fucking need this. Are you sure?” Ward let go of her while taking a step in Rushe’s direction.

  Rushe nodded, looking pained.

  Ward cursed under his breath. “You will need to control the urge. I want the human’s full attention on my female and that means that your cock stays in your pants. Your job is to guard the perimeter and to keep our future heir safe. Am I clear?”

  Rushe nodded, turning to Stephany. “I am sorry if I came across as selfish. I’m pretty sure that that human female is my future mate.” Then he grinned. “It makes sense that my beast would end up choosing my female. He is extremely strong and willful.”

  “You should stay as far away from the human as possible. The urge to mark her with your scent will become difficult to control the longer you spend time with her.” Ward hooked his fingers in his front pockets. “Once you have rutted her, your urges to take her as a mate will increase even more.”

  Rushe nodded. “I will stay away from her…for now.” The male moved to the far side of the room just as Becky came back in carrying a large brown paper bag.

  “You won’t believe the bullshit story that I had to tell to get this stuff.” The bag crinkled in the human’s hands.

  “What are the risks you mentioned earlier?” Ward growled before Becky could sit.

  “Ward.” Stephany reached out and clasped his hand. “Please remember that Becky is trying to help us.”

  Ward turned to glance her way, his eyes softening as they landed on hers. He nodded once, turning to face Becky again. “I’m sorry, I am worried about my female and our son. I apologize if I seem rude.”

  “Could be a girl,” Becky said.

  Ward threw the human a tight smile. “I am worried for our baby. I may sound angry or rude, but know that it is fear. Please tell me about these risks.”

  “Childbirth is a risk, full freaking stop, but the hospital is five minutes down the road if need be. How far along are you?”

  Rushe cleared his throat. “Excuse me…Becky,” the male’s gaze heated as the human swivelled her seat to face him. “Is there a back exit to this building?”

  “Yeah, sure. Just take the middle door”—she pointed to an exit behind Rushe—“go down the hall and it leads to the back.”

  The big male winked, throwing her a half smile. “Thank you.” His voice had dropped about a hundred octaves.

  “Anytime, tiger.” The human’s cheeks were inflamed.

  Rushe frowned. “I’m not a tiger, I’m a wolf. Just as big, just as bad only…we do this thing with our dicks when we—”

  “That’ll be all,” Ward growled.

  “Drives females wild,” Rushe quickly added. He winked at Becky, then turned and took a step towards the exit.

  “You’ll have to show me sometime.” The human giggled while doing the hair flick thing again.

  “Of that, you can be sure.” Rushe growled over his shoulder as he walked from the room.

  When Stephany looked back at Becky, her cheeks had turned an even darker shade of red. “I’m so sorry.” She bit her lip for a few beats. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I might be a raging flirt, but I’m normally highly professional in the work place. It’s just…” She looked confused for a few seconds “Never mind, I’m over it.”

  “It’s not your fault. Please explain how this will work,” Ward requested.

  “I need to know how far along you are first?”

  “I am ten weeks,” Stephany said.

  Becky frowned.

  “It is normal for pups to be born between ten and twelve weeks.” Ward kept his eyes fixed on the human.

  Becky nodded. “I see. I want to check your cervix…” Stephany felt her brow crease just as Ward frowned. Becky paused, looking at each of them in turn. “Before a woman goes into labor, the opening to her womb gets thinner. This opening is called a cervix. I will check yours”—Becky looked Stephany in the eyes—“hopefully the process will have already started. If so, then all we really have to do is speed it along.” The human licked her lips. “That’s what this stuff is for.” She looked down at the bag in her hands. “I just wish I could perform a scan. Take a look at what’s going on in there.”

  Stephany shook her head. “We have tried to use that machine on vampire females before. It is the one humans use to look into their stomachs to see the growing baby with, right?”

  Becky nodded.

  “They don’t work on us. You would not see anything.”

  “I will check you manually then. I would like to first try the non-evasive method for inducing labor though.” She rummaged in the packet, pulling out a tube. “I will perform what’s called a membrane sweep.”

  “A what?” Ward clasped Stephany tighter.

  “I’ll separate the sac that the baby is in and your cervix…um…womb opening from one another. It won’t hurt.” She locked eyes with Stephany again before continuing to address them both. “This does sometimes help to bring labor on. I’ll also put some gel high up in your vaginal passage to help with cervical dilation.” She paused, “We need your womb opening to thin and to start to open, this will help make the baby come.”

  “How long will it take?” Ward kept his eyes on Becky.

  The human shrugged. “Could be as little as a half an hour or it may not happen at all. It’s hard to tell. We will need to give it six hours before we move on to the more evasive techniques though.”

  “What techniques would those be?” Stephany could feel Ward tensing up.

  “We attach a drip with a chemical called oxytocin, which is also known to stimulate labor.”

  “What is a drip?” Stephany could tell that Ward was working hard to keep it together.

  Becky smiled. “I’m sorry. I’ll show you.” She removed a bag of clear liquid with a closed see-through package. Inside the package was a sharp metal object. “I attach the needle to the drip and insert the needle into your arm so that the medicine goes directly into your vein.”

  “I thought I explained that silver will kill my baby.”

  Becky frowned. “I’ll double check, but I’m pretty sure the needle is stainless steel so don’t worry.”

  Stephany shook her head. “My body will heal around the needle. It will not work.”

  “Alrighty…” Becky chewed on her lip for a few seconds. “I would have to attempt to break your water manually then.”

  “I would probably just heal and again, if you use silver, it will harm my child.”

  Becky puffed out a small amount of air. “We will have to attempt it, if ripening the cervix fails.”

  Ward shook his head. “Is there any way that we could attempt it now? I don’t want to try something that might harm Stephany or the baby, but please understand that this is urgent.”

  “I will check Stephany’s womb opening first. It would need to be ripe in order to rupture the membrane. I’m not going to do anything that would put either of them at risk.”

  Ward growled. “I don’t want that either.”

  The human smiled. “I can see that you care for Stephany greatly.” Becky touched Stephany’s knee as she turned to face her. “It is important that you know that induced labor can be very painful, particularly if the membranes are ruptured artificially. Your contractions will come quickly.
You won’t have time to slowly adjust one step at a time.”

  A wave of fear washed over her, but she pushed it down. “I will do anything that I need to in order to have this baby. I can only hope that he isn’t too big already.”

  “You’re not that big, Steph. I’ve definitely seen women get much bigger.”

  “Look at my hips.” To emphasize her point, Stephany put her hands on either side of herself.

  Becky’s face took on a concerned look. “You are tiny.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I had quite a bit of experience with births when I did my residency in the emergency room.” The human clutched Stephany’s hand. “I will do everything in my power to ensure that you birth a healthy baby.”

  Stephany nodded, biting down on her lip. “Thank you.”

  “Good. Let’s get started. I suggest that we go through to my rooms.” She pointed to a doorway on her right.

  Ward kept his arm clutched possessively around her. “Stay outside the door.” He glanced Tyler’s way. The male nodded once before moving into position. He squeezed her hip and gave her a reassuring smile. It was easy to see the worry in his beautiful green eyes.

  Becky handed her a neatly folded gown as they entered the spacious room. There was a bed on the far wall as well as a desk and some chairs. There was also various strange looking healer equipment set up around the room. “I’ll give you a few minutes to change.” Becky smiled. “You can lie on the bed when you are done.” She covered the bed in what looked like a very large paper towel and left.

  Stephany quickly changed, handing her clothes to Ward who folded everything neatly before placing them on a chair in the corner. He helped her onto the bed, which thankfully had an incline so she didn’t have to try and lie flat on her back, which was seriously uncomfortable in her current state.

  When he tried to move away, she grabbed his hand. “Please stay with me. I need you.” Her voice broke a little, so she took a deep breath to try and calm her turbulent emotions.

  His eyes locked with hers, burning with such sincerity. “They would have to drag me away.”

  A little whimper escaped. “Don’t say that.”

  “No one saw us. As long as we stay holed up in here, we’ll be safe.” He caressed her jaw with the pad of his thumb. “Don’t worry about a thing. I’m right here. Concentrate on birthing a healthy son for us.”

  “What if my womb opening is not even close to being ripe? What if—”

  He cut her off, threading his fingers into her hair. “Stop with the what-ifs. Positive thoughts…we agreed, remember?”

  She nodded, trying to smile. Trying hard to be brave, if not for herself then for their unborn son.

  Ward slanted his mouth across hers, a gentle brush of the lips. “We’ll get through this together.” It was as if her son was agreeing with his father, because he chose that exact moment to give a squirm and a kick. She smiled as Ward pulled away while putting a hand to her belly.

  “Are you ready for me?” Becky leaned her head around the door.

  Stephany nodded. “We are.” She looked Ward in the eye, feeling a lot better.

  “Let’s get to it then.” She walked to a box on her desk and pulled out and put on a pair of latex gloves. “This will be a little uncomfortable. It shouldn’t hurt though. She reached into the paper bag and pulled out a tube, squeezing some clear gel onto her right hand. Using the other hand, she coated her fingers liberally. “A little KY for lubrication.”

  Ward frowned, he took ahold of Stephany’s hand.

  “Please open your legs for me.” Becky said while leaning in between her thighs as she splayed them. “Try and relax.” The human said as she pushed two fingers into her opening. She tried to fight her natural reaction to tense up and failed. Becky stopped, waiting a few seconds while Stephany forced herself to calm down.

  “Here goes.” Becky pushed in deeper, it even felt like part of the female’s hand was now inside her. She had to work to keep from moving away from the evasive touch. Stephany concentrated on breathing in and out instead. She could feel how Becky moved her hand from side to side. The human’s brow was creased in concentration, her eyes locked on the far wall. “Okay, take a deep breath for me.” As Stephany did as the female asked, the human gave a deep plunge with her fingers. There was a quick twinge of pain that abated almost immediately. Becky nodded, pulling her hand out. The relief was instant. “There is some ripening.” The female removed the gloves, the fingertips on the right one were smeared with blood.

  Ward squeezed her hand.

  Becky removed another tube from the bag. “Now I’m going to apply the gel that will, hopefully, further ripen your…womb opening. Let’s give that some time and I’ll attempt to break your water.”

  “I take it that the news is good?” Ward’s chest expanded and contracted, his hold on her hand becoming almost painful.

  “It’s really good. Stephany’s cervix has naturally started to soften.” She shrugged. “It’s hard to say how long it would’ve taken if left up to nature, anything from a few hours to a few days. We need to cross our fingers that the gel speeds this up.”

  “Crossing our fingers is a sign that brings luck?” Ward looked down at the hand not interlaced with hers. He crossed two of his fingers.

  “It’s not literal, Ward. All it means is that we need to stay open minded and only think positive thoughts.” Becky winked at Ward, her blond curls bouncing as she walked back to the bed.

  “I told you.” Ward turned his intense gaze on her. “Even the healer agrees that staying positive will help.”

  Stephany smiled back. “I know. I’m really happy that he was planning on coming soon on his own.”

  Becky slapped on another pair of gloves. “Not you too, Stephany. You might be pregnant with a girl. You’re starting to sound just like Tanya. I know these non-human alpha boys like their heirs, but it’s getting a bit ridiculous.”

  What Becky didn’t know was that she was definitely having a boy based on Ward’s genetics being dominant. They were different species after all. She couldn’t disclose that to Becky though. That the shifters mated with humans was not something they wanted to be common knowledge.

  “We’ll see.” Stephany shrugged. “I don’t mind either way, just as long as the baby is healthy.” And he would be. They were here risking being caught to ensure his healthy birth. Ward was right, she would only think positive thoughts from here on out.

  Becky smiled. “I really hope that Tanya has a sweet little girl and that it’s Zane’s. Then again, he would probably dote on his daughter’s every wish just like he does Tanya’s.” She sighed heavily. “My bestie is one lucky girl.”

  “Yeah, she sure has the kings wrapped around her little toe.”

  Becky giggled, ending in a snort. “I think you mean finger, honey. The saying is…wrapped around her little finger.” She squirted some more gel onto her newly gloved hand. “How is Ross doing? Has he managed to convince Zane and Brant to sign that damned petition yet?”

  Stephany opened her legs as Becky moved in at the base of the bed. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been paying much attention to the goings on at the castle, but I can tell you that they will not sign the petition. They do not want interspecies relationships.” She paused for a few beats, choosing her words carefully. “When it comes to humans and vampires, I have to agree with them.”

  Becky scrunched up her face. “It’s that whole bloodlust thing isn’t it? I told you, I wouldn’t let him drink from me. Eeww!”

  Stephany had to smile. “That’s what you say now. You will sing a different tune while he is…” She felt her cheeks heat, “Never mind.” Stephany locked eyes with the human. “Trust me, stay away from the vampire males. There is risk involved. Now on the other hand, a wolf shifter might be just what you need.”

  Becky glanced in the direction of where the back of the building would be before looking back between Stephany’s legs. “A little wider honey.” Stephany obliged. “That’s it.”

/>   Stephany couldn’t help but to flinch as the other female’s hand made contact with her skin. “This won’t hurt a bit.” She worked her fingers inside, going slow and pausing whenever Stephany tensed. “Mmmm…” She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, “I have to say that wolf shifters are seriously hot, but my pussy kind of had its heart set on some vampire dick.”

  Ward choked, he coughed and sputtered for a bit before managing to get himself under control again.

  “Look,” Stephany paused. “Suit yourself, but I’m telling you that it’s not going to happen between you and Ross. So you can either pine away while using your battery operated phallic symbol, or you can have a real skin and bone male.”

  “Heck, when you put it like that.” The human sighed, pulling her hand free. There was no blood this time. She removed the gloves and threw them away.

  “What is a battery operated phallic symbol?” Ward squeezed her hand, there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.

  “Um…” Stephany chewed on her lower lip for a few beats. “It’s a fake male part used to help human females when they are not able to rut.” She took a deep breath. “They have batteries inside of them and vibrate.”

  Ward shook his head while grinning. “I’m sorry I asked.”

  “Don’t you dare judge!” The little human’s hands flew to her hips. “My vibrator is always there for me and is guaranteed to please. I’ve only had a few lovers in my life and they’ve all been shitty in the sack.”

  “Shitty in the sack?” Stephany frowned.

  Ward smiled. “They were useless when it came to rutting.”

  “Oh!” Stephany nodded.

  “I would still be waiting for my first freaking orgasm if I didn’t take care of things myself.” Becky smoothed out her white coat, taking a step towards them. “Enough about my non-existent sex life. I want you to rest.” She looked Stephany in the eye. “First time labor is normally longer. You’re looking at, at least ten hours unless…” She raised her eyebrows. “Do things work differently with vampires? Is there something I should know?”