“The baby’s fine, Wolfe.”
He frowned. “I’m asking ifyouare okay, mate.”
I felt a rush of warmth. “I’m okay.” I reached up and kissed him softly. “I love you. I’m sorry you had to do that.
He pulled me closer, hugging me tight, his head burrowed into the crook of my neck.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you more.”
He drew back and watched me with a soft smile. “Not possible.”
We both heard the sigh, and a flicker of irritation sparked in Wolfe’s eyes. Smoothly, he got to his feet, carefully reaching down to help me stand.
“Shift,” he told me.
“She needs to feel the pain,” the druid spoke up.
“Shift,” Wolfe told me, his gaze steady as if the druid had never spoken.
I could have argued, but I saw the firm resolution in my husband’s gaze. I shifted smoothly, the ache easing in my limbs, and when I was in my human form again, I ignored the scowl the druid sent my way.
“Thank you,” Wolfe said simply. He stepped back, attention going to the druid. “When she needs to feel pain for a purpose, you have your way,ifRowen agrees. When she hasto feel pain simply so she canget the whole experience, she will shift and heal.” Wolfe looked back at me. “When she is carrying any of my children, she will seek comfort and health first.”
“I am her teacher?—”
“And I am her mate.” Wolfe’s tone left no room for argument. “And she is not one of your experiments, remember that.” He looked around the Heartwood. “How much damage?”
“To here? Not much,” the druid told him, and I fought back my smile at their sullenness. “The packlands, there are some that will need help to recover and regrow.”
“I think we all do,” Wolfe murmured. “It hasn’t even started yet.”
“You think they’ll come again?” I asked him, fear coiling in my belly.
“I would.” His eyes scanned the tree and the surrounding glade. “Do what you need,” he told the druid. “Bleed my wife again, and we’ll have words.”
“I was getting the power out,” the druid snapped.
Wolfe was suddenly in front of them, towering over them. “Do it again, without her consent, and I’ll bleed you dry. Do you understand me?”
The druid looked up at my mate, no fear in their stare. “She needs to learn what she must sacrifice to succeed.”
“That choice will be hers, not yours.” Wolfe held their stare for a moment longer until the druid turned their head away with a shake of their head. “You can be disappointed all you want, druid. I really don’t give a fuck.”
“I’m realizing that more and more each day,” the druid snarked at him. “You showed such promise.”
“Stop it,” I told them both. “I’m fine, Wolfe. The druid helped me, and they know me well enough to know how much I can endure.” I looked at the druid. “And he is your alpha and my husband, and I was in pain. Remember your compassion. I am his mate, and a pregnant one at that.”
The druid went to speak, and then closed their mouth with a sigh. “Rationality is in short supply when a man’s wife is pregnant.”
Wolfe rolled his eyes, kissed my forehead, and shifted into his wolf.
“Don’t let them bully you,”he told me.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“No. You best stay here. You still feel weak, and the druid will want you close toteachyou.”
