The sweetness was going to kill me. When I first made the deal with the poachers, I thought I’d be making a plan within a couple of days, thwarting the evil and saving the day. Or rather I was hoping the goddess would help take care of all that, but it had been months now.
It was like every breath I took was the last one before everything would change. I’d hear a twig snap and wonder if it was them. I’d be called to the front at work and fear they were there.
I needed a plan. That day with the poachers I only managed to kick the danger down the road. That wasn’t going to do.
A knock at the door had my mate straightening up and calling for them to come in. It was Creven, asking for help with hanging a door.
“I’ll be back, omega mine. Love you.”
He gave me a quick kiss, shutting the door just as I returned his affection with an “I love you too.”
The milk hadn’t sat well with me. My stomach was hurting. I tried going for a walk, but it didn’t help. I tried going to sleep. It didn’t help. It just hurt more and more. Eventually, I gave up and went to the healer to see if they knew what was wrong.
“You’re just having a baby today. That’s all.” Those were not the words I’d been expecting to hear.
I didn’t know anything about unicorns giving birth, only about horses. No one did, as far as I knew. It had been so many years since there was a record of one. The healer and I both thought it was going to be just like a horse birth, both long and arduous. Did I mention long?
In my mind, there was no need to rush and get the midwife or my mate, and the healer agreed. The plan was for me to wait until he got back and then call the midwife, still giving us plenty of time. Only, by the time I walked in my door, the stomach pains had turned into me being barely able to stand up. Within minutes, my water broke. Contractions were hitting hard. I needed my mate.
But as I went to call out to him, my unicorn did the partial shift, the one he did when we’d mated. This baby was coming, and they were coming fast.
The door flew open, and Bryden came running in, hopping on one foot.
“Why are you hopping?” I tried to ask, but it came out as a grunt and a groan. Somehow, my mate still understood.
“My mark burns,” he said. “I knew you needed me.”
It wouldn’t be until later that I learned he had sensed my labor on the bottom of his foot long before he or I realized that was what it was. And as my pain got intense, so did his.
He helped me get my pants off and went for my shirt, but another contraction with a need to push slammed into me. I couldn’t wait for my shirt to come off. This baby was coming now.
I’d helped with multiple horse shifter deliveries, and they were all done on hands and knees, so that was what I did. I got on my hands and knees on the bed, my mate behind me, telling me what a good job I was doing and how much he loved me. He also said how much he wished the midwife was here.
Same. So very same.
The need to push overwhelmed me, the burning nearly too much to bear. But I could do this. I’d been through so much, this was nothing in the scheme of things.
A couple of minutes later, with a final push, our baby made its way out into the universe.
My mate held him, my partial shift still holding on, my unicorn seemingly unwilling to budge. “What do I do?” I tried to ask, no words coming out, just a neigh. Fabulous.
My unicorn pushed forward. He had things he wanted to communicate and do, but so far, he hadn’t given me a heads-up on any of it.
He lowered his head, and thankfully that was enough for my mate to understand that my unicorn wanted to touch our baby with our horn. Bryden brought him over, and my unicorn rested his horn across our baby’s middle.
And then, as quickly as my beast had forced the partial shift, he retreated. I was back to myself, and our sweet baby boy was in my arms.
Bryden and I had talked before about what to name our little one, and the one that kept popping up was Ira. As I looked down at him, I knew it was the right one.
“Ira,” I whispered. “You don’t know how much your fathers loves you.”
The loudness of my delivery must have sent someone for the midwife, and our quiet moment was interrupted. My mate and I told him the story as he cleaned up. He announced that our baby was perfect, but we didn’t need him to tell us that. We’d already known.
Being a new father was amazing, but I was realistic. If I stayed in Stoney River, the poachers were going to come here and anything I’d accomplished for my family and pack would be gone. I knew this, but I’d been too scared to leave those first few days. Now that Ira was safely here, it was time for me to fulfill my part of the deal.
With me gone, there would no longer be a target on the pack’s back. Was my plan foolproof? Not even close. But in all this time, I hadn’t come up with anything better.
I grabbed a piece of paper from the drawer and sat down with a pen. I didn’t want to “Dear John” my leaving, to have him find out once I was gone by reading this little piece of paper, but if I told him, he’d never let me go. He’d say he could protect me. He’d want to bring the pack in and let them know what was happening. Bryden didn’t…couldn’tunderstand how precious the pack was to me and that I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t do this. Never.
