Rawling was panting, and Jack and I held him up so he could push. There was no color to his cheeks, but I kept repeating the mantra: The baby was almost here. Almost here.
“Shoulders. Come on, Rawling.” My mate’s eyes were rolling back in his head as he gave one more push. “You have a daughter.”
Oh, oh, oh. We’d made a baby girl before we mated and she was here.
“She’s a little early, but her color’s good and she’s crying. Phelan, I need you and Jack to dry your daughter and wrap her in a blanket.”
I was supposed to do what? No, this was a time to hold my mate and welcome our daughter to the world.
“Phelan.”
Okay, yes. Mrs. Ardilla handed our daughter to me while she attended to my mate. Rawling and I had created this tiny life, and I was overwhelmed with awe and love and absolute wonder.
I kissed the tiny squirming bundle and held her close to my mate so he could press his lips to her skin. He put a hand on her head and whispered, “I love you,” but his eyes closed and his head slumped to the side as he moaned.
I wanted to do what Mrs. Ardilla had instructed, which was something to do with wrapping our daughter in a blanket, but Rawling needed me. There was no color in his cheeks. Gods, he was pale and he was sweating profusely.
I brushed the damp hair from his brow and told him he was my hero and I was head over heels in love with our daughter. But instead of relief and joy, a metallic scent of blood permeated the air.
“What’s going on?”
“He’s losing a lot of blood.” Mrs. Ardilla pressed down hard on my mate’s belly. “And he doesn’t have a beast to help him recover.”
While Jack wrapped the baby in a blanket, the door opened and a man I didn’t know strode in.
“Professor Barclay.” His no-nonsense tone told me he was in charge and increased my confidence that all would be well. He put on gowns and a mask which had the opposite effect, and I had to tamp down my fear.
Before the door closed, I caught sight of my parents and hordes of students gathered outside the door. But after giving them a weak smile, I held Rawling’s hand and begged him to open his eyes.
“Fix him, please. You have to do something.”
“Your mate is hemorrhaging.”
EIGHTEEN
PHELAN
Everything happened so fast.
“What’s going on?”
“His body isn’t responding, and we’re trying to stem the flow of blood. We’re giving medication to make his body contract and we’re compressing, but he’s losing too much blood.”
What? What? There was blood everywhere, and it was seeping into the edges of my vision. I blinked and it was still there. My heart was running a sprint that never reached the finish line, and my wolf was so agitated he wanted to shift and tend to our mate himself because Rawling’s life force was drifting away.
No, you’re mistaken. Rawling isn’t leaving me or our daughter.
But even though I wasn’t thinking clearly, I had enough sense to tell him to stay where he was because Rawling needed medical supervision. And I refused to have those negative thoughts put into the universe. My mate was the strongest person I’d ever met.
Mrs. Ardilla tried to get me out of the room, but now my wolf could help me. I brought him into the forefront of my gaze, andshe backed off. The baby cried, and I took our little one from Jack. I held her close and told her she’d be in Daddy’s arms soon.
“His pressure’s dropping.”
Rawling needed me because he would sense me and my beast’s presence and then he’d be okay. I repeated that in my head, though I was torn between keeping the baby close and being with my mate. Reluctantly, I handed her to Jack who rocked our daughter and whispered that she was so loved by her dads.
“You have to stay, Rawling.” I choked back the sobs. “You don’t get to leave me.” I kissed his cheek, and he groaned.
There was so much happening, and I was clutching Rawling’s limp hand. There were bags of fluid, warmed blankets, IVs, a pile of towels, and an oxygen mask.
