“We’re going to get married after the baby comes.”
“When do I get to meet this… What’s his name?” her father said.
“His name is Lucien and you can meet him at the wedding.”
“That long?” her mother said.
“Considering I haven’t seen you guys in over a year, I don’t think it’s that long. Anyway, the wedding will be at the farm, and of course you’re invited if you want to come.”
Avery was on fire now, making things up left and right. With how strange her life was, it didn’t seem to matter. All she wanted was to not disappoint her parents right here and now.
“I’m sending out the invitation soon.”
“Well, I’m happy to hear that, deer,” her mother said. “Take care of yourself. And don’t be a stranger. You know you can call me anytime.”
“You can call me, too, Mom. You know my number.”
Her parents said their awkward little goodbyes and trotted off back into the market. As far as her interactions with her parents had gone over the last several years, that had been a good one. She counted it as a victory, no matter how much she’d had to lie to make it into one.
The day after the market, she sat in the sonogram chair with her shirt lifted up over her rounding belly. The technician squirted cold, slippery fluid over her stomach and rubbed the little sonogram wand into her side. Instantly, Avery could hear the rapid beat of her baby’s heart filling the air.
Avery rose her hands to her face as she felt tears threaten to spill from her eyes. She covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes closed, listening.
“See right here, that’s the heart,” the technician said. “It’s quite robust. Your baby looks great. Better than great. I can tell he’s a strong one.”
“It’s a boy?” she said, lowering her hands from her mouth. A boy. Like Lucien.
“Yes, it’s a boy. Congratulations,” the technician said.
Now she knew how to prepare the nursery. She couldn’t wait to go shopping. She headed over to the baby store right after her doctor’s appointment. Pulling out the credit card she used only in case of emergencies, Avery bought everything she needed for a fully stocked, fully functioning nursery. A crib. A changing table. A glider with a gliding stool. A fluffy rug and decorations for the walls. She also bought clothes. Onesies. Fuzzy footed pajamas. A tiny skull cap. Mittens for its tiny hands. And toys. Rattles, teething rings, plushies.
As she was shopping, she felt like a normal expectant mom, like all the girls on the Internet forums. She wasn’t some crazy girl who’d been impregnated by a phantom. She wasn’t alone and single. She wasn’t living in a cursed house on land bought with money cursed by her family. She was just a normal pregnant lady buying things for her baby’s nursery.
When the clerk brought it all out to her car for her and she climbed behind the wheel, her heart was singing, looking forward to the future. It felt beyond good to turn the key in the ignition and head home with her haul.
The next day, after all the farm chores were done, Avery put together the nursery. Standing in the finished room, looking at her handiwork, she felt more confident than she had before. There was something about preparing for the baby that made her feel like she could handle it, no matter what.
Over the coming months, Lucien visited during the full moon. They made love and slept together, tangled in each other’s arms. As often as Avery would ask him questions about where he went or when he was returning, he would avoid them with vagaries or by changing the subject. He assured her, again and again, that he would be there for her after the baby was born.
Every morning after he left, she would awaken to find another part of her barn had been repaired. By the time her belly was fully rounded and she had a hard time seeing her toes, the barn was completely repaired and fresh straw was strewn across the ground. She could keep livestock in here or store equipment for her farm. The magical barn added so much to her land’s value and utility, she stopped questioning how it was done.
All she could think was that someday, Lucien would return and then finally they would be together forever.
11
The months wore on and Avery sent out fake wedding invitations to her family as the pumpkins were ripening with orange luster under the late summer sunlight. Part of her got a sick little thrill out of messing with them. But she also realized that if her faith in Lucien was misplaced, she would look even more flaky in their eyes.
One night, as the autumn rains filled the creek almost to overflowing, Avery stood in her window, hoping her chickens were all right. They’d been laying well all summer and had become her prized possessions. It was dark outside and the light of the full moon was hidden behind the storm clouds. Avery knew she should get her sleep, as hard as that was at nine months pregnant.
The baby would come any day now, and she’d been mentally preparing herself for that day. Her doctor had arranged for her to deliver in the small clinic in her town. Avery had already met with the woman a few times.
Since the farmer’s market had slowed down, and she was as pregnant as could be, she’d stopped going to Portland every weekend. Now, she waited for Lucien to arrive. Tonight was the full moon, and surely he would be here.
Even as she waited, he did not arrive. Finally, well after midnight, she got into her nightgown and slipped under the blankets. The wind howled outside her old windows, reminding her of the howl of a wolf.
A loud crash jolted her to full alert and she pulled her heavy body out of bed. What the hell was going on outside? She pulled on her raincoat and rubber boots and hurried outside.
In the driving rain, she could see that a large tree limb had fallen into the chicken coop. Her chickens had hopped out of the wire and were running about the muddy yard in a frantic state. Avery’s heart lurched and she ran after them, trying to coax them to safety. She ran to the barn door and opened it before running back around the frightened chickens and herding them toward the open door.
When she finally had the hens safely in the newly restored barn, she closed the door. They’d be safe in there for now. When she trudged up the front steps of her house and made it inside, she felt a sharp twinge in her stomach.
All at once, a flood of liquid flew down between her legs and pooled on the linoleum floor of her kitchen. Avery dropped the mug she was holding and it shattered at her feet. She clutched her stomach as the next wave of pain gripped her body. She sat down in her chair and started doing the breathing exercises she’d learned at birthing class.
This was the real deal. Not a false alarm. She had to get to the hospital because the baby was coming, now. Where was Lucien? Why hadn’t he arrived? He always visited her during the full moon. What was keeping him? Was he all right?
She pulled herself out of the chair and waddled gingerly through the house and outside. Wet on the inside and out, she sat in the front seat of her truck and turned the key in the ignition. Her truck gave a strangled chug and then went flat. She tried again but to no avail. Her car would not start.
Another contraction hit her, feeling like it might rip her in two. She cried out and grabbed her stomach. She breathed through the pain, and when it subsided, she gripped the handle on the truck door. Pushing herself back out into the storm, she pulled her hood up over her head and waddled back inside her house.
Almost in a panic and overcome by pain, Avery picked the phone up off the receiver in the kitchen and dialed. There was another loud crack outside and she was swallowed by darkness.
Shit.
A tree must have fallen over the power line. Now she had no electricity, no cell reception, and no way of contacting the outside world. After a horrible contraction gripped her stomach, she opened the cabinet where she kept her emergency supplies. She lit candles and a kerosene lamp that she took into her bedroom. She would be having this baby alone, like it or not. She didn’t have a choice.
Margaret’s words played over in her mind. No matter what happened, the baby would be f
ine. She had to believe that the woman’s words were true. Otherwise, she would completely freak out and lose it. That wouldn’t help either of them now.
Wet and cold from the cold air seeping through the old windows, Avery pulled off her clothing and got under the blankets of her bed. Every few minutes, the contractions would come and rack her mind and body with white-hot madness. When her front door clicked open and closed and the sounds of boots walking across her floor echoed through the house, Avery thought she was hallucinating.
Lucien stood above her, naked to the waist, wearing a pair of shorts and rain boots.
“Nice outfit,” she said breathlessly.
“It’s all I could find,” he said. “You’re in labor.”
“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth.
He sat beside her on the bed and took her arm, leaning in to kiss her forehead gently. “Why aren’t you in the hospital? Why is it so dark and cold in here?” he asked her in a whisper.
“Car won’t start. Electricity out,” she groaned.
“Don’t worry. I’m here now.”
He kissed her forehead again and stood, going to the fireplace in her bedroom. He threw in some logs and had a fire going in a matter of a few minutes. Warmth and light radiated from the fireplace, making Avery feel safer than she had before.
He sat beside her and held her hand through the contractions. The painful moments stretched together until she knew the baby was going to come soon. Lucien had warmed the room hot enough that sweat was trickling down her face from heat and exertion.
“I’m going to have to push soon,” she said, panting.
“Soon?”
“Now,” she cried.
He helped her push back the blankets and she spread her legs. He’d found sterile scissors and bandages among her emergency supplies and had them ready with hot water in a stainless steel bowl.
Avery watched his eyes focus between her legs through the haze of pain and sweat. He held her ankle and looked up at her with a determined expression.
“When the next one comes, push as hard as you can,” he said.
She panted, looking at him for guidance, so happy she didn’t have to go through it alone.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, breathless before the next contraction hit. She screamed and pushed.
“Good job. I can see the head, Avery. Just wait, wait a little longer to push.”
She panted wildly, wanting to push more than anything in the world. She needed to push the baby out and see his beautiful face. Lucien was here and all would be well in the end.
“Don’t push, Avery. Stop,” he growled
“I can’t stop.”
“Wait.”
She pulled herself back, waiting for the next contraction. The pain ripped her body to pieces, and she cried loud, the sound of the storm drowning it out.
“Push now!” he cried, holding onto her, guiding her like a light in the storm.
She bared down as hard as she could, pushing out her creation. She could feel him slide through her, into Lucien’s waiting arms. Everything went still as Lucien focused on the baby. She leaned forward, weak but aware. The child wasn’t breathing. Lucien held the baby, rubbing his back vigorously. Their eyes met and Avery reached for her child. She’d delivered goats on Valerie’s farm.
She lifted the baby upside down and smacked his bottom. A loud cry echoed through the room. Lucien helped her right the baby and laid him gently on Avery’s chest. She laid back, holding her baby in her arms.
His face looked so like Lucien’s. His blue eyes and her dark skin. She smiled at her lover, gripping his hand. Their creation rested snuggly in her arms, against her breast, alive and ready to take on the world.
“Everything will be all right now,” she said, wrapping her baby in a blanket.
“I have come to stay, my love. The curse is broken.”
“What has changed?”
“The child. My child has been born.”
“Lucien, my darling, please tell me what happened here.”
“Let’s get you settled first.”
Lucien made the bed with fresh linens and helped Avery get clean and comfortable before he fixed them both a cup of tea. He sat on a chair beside the bed and began his tale.
“My family used to own this land many years ago. It was going to be mine. But I was also supposed to become the alpha of my pack, after my father.”
“Your pack?”
“My wolf shifter pack.”
“You’re a werewolf?”
“No. I’m a shifter. From the time I was a young pup, I could shift at will. That was until one day my father cursed me.”
“He cursed you? Why? How?”
“It was because of love,” he said, before lifting his tea cup to his lips.
His eyes were cast down and away. He still wore the wet shorts he had arrived in, but was now wearing one of Avery’s largest t-shirts, one she wore to bed, and it was tight across his broad chest and muscled arms. To add to the look, the shirt he’d chosen had a series of pink flowers flowing across the white cotton.
“Love?” she asked, curious if he’d been in love before. She’d felt something that could have been called loved before, but nothing like what she felt for Lucien. Nothing so deep, so full, so complete. She reached out to touch his knee, offering him her warmth.
“Or lack thereof. I wanted to love my mate. I wanted her to be my true match, my fated mate.”
“That’s lovely,” she said, rocking the baby. His little mouth found its way to her breast and he began to suck vigorously, drawing out her milk.
“But it wasn’t lovely to my father. He wanted me to produce an heir for the pack before I took my place as Alpha. He demanded I do my duty. But I refused to mate with any other than my fated. I knew the difference between a fated union and a random one. The latter was full of misery. In addition to that, I knew my fated was out there. If I just waited for her, for you, I knew it would be more wondrous than I could even imagine.”
“What happened?”
“My father wouldn’t allow me to wait. He punished me for disobedience and cursed me. Until I produced an heir for the family, I would remain in wolf form and would only be able to shift into human form one night each month, on the full moon. Then they moved away. The entire pack. All of our farms went up for sale. But this place, this place remained cursed as I was, for it was to be my farm one day. Over the years, I watched the property and watched out for my fated. I searched for her, one night a month. But she never arrived. Until you came.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before.”
“I couldn’t. It was part of the curse. I could never reveal my identity. Only my first name. I could never tell you I was a wolf. I could never tell you why I disappeared and did not return.”
“I waited for you,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“I knew from the moment we met that we were destined to be together. I’ve always known. Even when I thought maybe I was losing my mind. I had faith. What we shared, what I felt, it was the truest thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“The first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were her. That day in the woods when you were picking mushrooms. I saw you kneeling beside a tree trunk from between the thin branches of the underbrush. My whole body seemed to go electric with energy. I stalked you through the forest until we made eye contact. I thought I might shift then and there, but alas, I did not. From that moment forward, I knew that you were mine. I had to wait until the full moon, but then I came to you.”
“I thought that night was a dream.”
“I know. That is part of the curse’s magic. Because you cannot know if I am a man or a beast. You cannot know who I am. I could only come to you that way.”
“It all makes sense now. But what about the barn? How did that happen? Was it you?”
“On my one night as a man, I was given one supernatural act. Perhaps a side effect my father never intended. I
’d learned about it over the years and had used it for many different things. But during the time I was with you, I used it to fix the barn, piece by piece.”
“How did you know that I wanted to fix the barn?” Avery asked, her baby sleeping in her arms.
“Because that was the project I intended to do first, as soon as I inherited the farm.”
“And now you have. For us both.”
“Yes, my beloved. Now we can be together on our land.”
“What about your family? Your dad sounds like a dick.”
“My pack left years ago, right after the curse. That was how much they wanted to shame me. But now that I am free, my debt is paid. Now I am Alpha. I can claim what is rightfully mine. I have the magic of an Alpha. Just like my father.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, feeling nervous.
“It means no one can hurt us. And I can build my own pack for my son. A pack where children are never forced to do what they don’t want to do.”
"I know exactly what that feels like. My parents are the same way.”
“They tried to force you into things you did not want?”
“Yeah. Pretty much. I’d wanted to be a farmer as long as I could remember. Went to school. Did internships. The whole shebang. I never thought I’d get my own farm so young until my dad’s mom died and left me a good chunk of money. My family never supported my career choice. When I decided to use the money to buy this place and start a farm, they were outraged. They insisted I was wasting the money. My brother still won’t talk to me without being an ass. Things are a little better with my parents, though.”
Once the baby had fallen asleep, Lucien helped Avery place him in a little cradle that nestled beside the bed. He climbed in beside Avery and they watched their baby sleeping. The radiant glow of love and connection sizzled and sparked between them. She was sore and tired but had never felt so alive and in love. They laid on their backs and held hands, staring at the ceiling.
“I told my parents we’re getting married in the spring,” she said, reluctantly.