“I can’t deal with this right now, okay? I’m in labor and my hormones are all over the place and I just don’t want to think about it at the moment.”
“I’m sorry, of course.”
Brushing a kiss on her forehead, he continued to walk with her in comfortable silence for a while until she finally slumped down the wall and announced she was done.
Andreas quickly helped her back into the room and onto the bed.
Kari looked up at the full room and gritted her teeth through a contraction. “Not that a queen wouldn’t give her life for the Pack or anything, but I really don’t want to have a pelvic exam with ten people in the room.”
The non-approved Pack members left quickly, quietly shutting the door after they’d gone.
Kari cried out as Elaine did the check. “Let’s go. It’s time to push. Andreas, hold her leg up. Sean, get the other one,” Elaine ordered.
Kari looked at Perri and Jade and held her hands out to them.
It was a full team effort as Kari pushed. She put her all into it and bore down, pushed so hard she saw stars, and felt her son or daughter being born. “Oh!” she said as she saw the baby being pulled out and wrapped up in a blanket.
“This is your daughter!” Elaine said, placing the bundle on Kari’s stomach.
Weeping tears of joy and relief, Kari pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. Andreas looked totally amazed as he leaned over and kissed mother and baby. “This is Helene, don’t you think?” he asked and she nodded.
“Okay, your son is coming. Let’s get pushing.”
And in seven more minutes, she had both babies, healthy and strong, cradled on her chest.
“Tomas Jack Phinney and Helene Jade Phinney, meet your family,” Kari said and Andreas mouthed thank you.
“Tomas Jack?” Tomas said. “You named him after me?”
“And me?” Jack asked, pushing to get closer.
“Yes. It was Andreas’s idea,” she said, smiling at him and then Jade. Helene was Andreas’s grandmother’s name. There were no women on Kari’s side that she felt close enough to to name her child after. She felt a slice of sadness at that and then it was replaced by a wave of tenderness and relief. Knowing that her children would have the big family she’d always wanted was a great gift. Tomas and Helene would always be loved. They’d never doubt that they were wanted and cherished. That would be her greatest gift to them.
Chapter Thirteen
A month after the babies were born, the time came to change Emma and Jack and bring them into the Pack. Andreas bit Jack first and once he’d stabilized and rested a bit with Anna watching over him, it was Emma’s turn.
As the time to change Emma arrived, Sean still hadn’t made up his mind as to who would do it. He’d argued with Andreas that he should be the one to bite her but Andreas felt it would be better to have someone else do it.
“Sean, can you honestly sit here and tell me that you’ll be able to rip into her flesh and cause enough pain and trauma to facilitate the change?”
“It should be me! She’s the one who has to suffer. What kind of man am I if I leave it to someone else because it’ll be hard?”
“Honey, Andreas is right. Let someone else do it. You’ve seen transformations before. Don’t do that to yourself. Emma has to suffer regardless of who does it, but you don’t have to add any more misery to the situation,” Jade said softly.
“I’ll do it, Sean. It would be an honor to change Emma. That way Laurent and Andreas can hold you while you hold Emma,” Phillip said.
Sean took a deep breath and looked to Emma. “All right. Is that okay with you, hon?”
She nodded. “Just do it already. The longer we wait, the more nervous I become.”
Elaine and Ellen stood at the ready. “Okay, Emma. We’re right here. You know that we have to wait for several minutes to allow your body to go into trauma, but we’ll catch you and we won’t let you go,” Elaine assured her and Emma, pale-faced and trembling, nodded.
“I love you, Em,” Sean said as he kissed her softly.
“I love you too.”
They removed her shirt and Phillip changed and padded over to where they’d situated Emma on a low gurney. He gave a soft whine, knowing what he’d have to do.
Sean held both of Emma’s hands. Andreas held Sean around the waist and gently took his brother’s hands back. “Sean, let me hold your hands. You’ll want to save her. Your wolf will take over. If you’re free, you could hurt Phillip. Maybe even Emma too.”
Laurent took one of Emma’s hands, standing close to Andreas just in case he was needed to help with Sean, and Kari took the other. Phillip lunged suddenly and nausea roiled through Kari when she heard him tear into Emma’s flesh, rending her stomach open.
Emma writhed and screamed and Sean put his forehead to hers, struggling against Andreas to get his hands free to stop Phillip. Tears of terror and fury fell from his wild eyes. His wolf was fighting to rise and Kari spoke gently to both of them, trying to keep them calm. Phillip pulled away and changed back, and Jade helped him clean up. Elaine stood at the ready, and they all watched as Emma lost consciousness and her vitals went crazy.
Anguished, Sean waited as Elaine and Ellen monitored the machines that Emma was attached to. Andreas kept his hold on his brother and spoke softly into his ear. Holding her breath, Kari watched the two of them, moved by the love they had for each other. Finally, a sigh of relief burst from Sean when Elaine and Ellen sprang into action and began to stabilize Emma.
Afterward they cleaned her up and put her next door to Jack’s room. Sean lay next to her, careful not to jar her injuries.
“I wish I could have been with you when you were changed,” Andreas said quietly, the emotion clear in his voice.
Kari turned to him and looked up into his face. She put her hand to his cheek, reassuring both of them they were real. “Mistakes were made, Andreas. Why dwell on that now?”
“Knowing you were in that hospital room and being unable to hold you, to comfort you...” His voice broke for a moment. “Not being able to see with my own eyes that you were safe, it tore me apart, Kari. I was terrified you’d hate me forever.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, imagining life without Andreas, without the Pack, and touched an emptiness that she hadn’t felt since she’d accepted her new life. Because there were no words eloquent enough to convey what he meant to her, she simply put her cheek above his heart and listened to the reassuring beat of his heart. “I love you, Andreas.”
Chapter Fourteen
The quarterly Gathering was upon the Pack as they all worked through their new roles and responsibilities. In the months leading up to it, there had been a few more threats by phone and the two-on-two guard situation remained in force.
Sean and Emma had married in a human ceremony and were living in one of the cabins while their house was being built on the other side of the lake. Their practice was new but already doing quite well.
The lodge was bustling. They had a full house, Emma had announced that she was pregnant at lunchtime and Sean looked very happy and content. Jade buzzed around, giddy to be a grandmother again. Anna agreed to stay back with Gregory, Laurent and Ryan to watch the twins while Kari and Andreas went on the run. Kari hadn’t wanted to leave them at all but as Alpha it was her duty to be there. Additionally, it was the first run since Emma and Jack’s transformation so they were running as a newly expanded Pack.
Later that day Perri and Kari were in the nursery, playing with the twins. “Does this make you feel bad?” Kari asked softly.
“You mean, all of the babies all of a sudden?” She shrugged. “I thought I’d be okay with it, you know, but it’s hard. We could adopt. But a human child raised by werewolves is a complicated thing. Either we’d have to change him or her later, in their teens, or face their death as we lived three times as long. A parent shouldn’t live decades longer than a child. That reality alone makes werewolves adopting human children too painful for most
of us. Plus a non-werewolf child in this Pack, where all the children are werewolves—it would make a kid feel left out.”
“Tell me to shut up if you want, I know that advice is easy for me to give and all, but have you talked to a fertility specialist? They can do so much these days. I know that there’s a shifter fertility doctor in San Francisco. Elaine was talking about her the other day.”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I want to, but part of me is afraid. I don’t want to get my hopes up. Is it worth all of the money and hassle? For something that may or may not work?”
“I don’t know, Perri. Only you can answer that one. We’ll support you in whatever way we can. If it’s something that you really want, though, it seems to me that it’s worth a try to at least talk to someone.”
A knock sounded on the door and Luna popped her head in. She’d apologized for the incident at Kari’s birthday, swearing she hadn’t meant any harm, but Kari didn’t trust her and neither did Phillip, who came into the room and picked up Tom, nuzzling his belly and garnering a sweet giggle in response. Skye pushed past and scooped up Hellie and gave her a cuddle.
“You guys! I swear, I have to duke it out to get time with my own babies,” she teased and got up from the floor, folding away the play mats. “Hi, Luna, how are you?” she asked, trying not to sound hostile.
“Oh good. They’re growing so fast!” she said, looking at the twins, and Phillip turned away from her slightly, taking Tom out of her reach. “Well, now Andreas has his legacy. He must be relieved.”
“Relieved?” Kari said and she could feel the hair on her arms prickle as Perri’s hostility toward Luna rose.
“Oh you know, when an Alpha mates, getting a son is so important. It’s your job, you know, to breed a son. You’ve proved your worth now,” she said flippantly.
“Luna, watch how you speak,” Skye growled and Helene gave a startled cry. She wasn’t used to her number-two fan sounding hostile in her presence. He murmured endearments to her and she calmed down.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. God, can’t anyone say anything around here anymore? You know, being offended so easily isn’t really a good thing,” she said to Kari.
Kari walked forward until she was nearly touching Luna and raised an eyebrow. “You know, Luna, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to bait me. But I know that’s not the case because I’d have to take your challenge and we both know how that would end.” Voice low, her power rolled over her skin onto Luna.
Henry and Andreas walked down the hallway and stopped, feeling the exchange. Since Kari had given birth, she’d acquired a lot more power. The electricity of it filled the hallway.
“Reine, I meant nothing untoward, I swear,” Luna stammered.
“So you keep saying. Which I find sort of puzzling. Understand this, Luna—you’ll be very sorry if I am actually offended, so thank your lucky stars I don’t offend easily,” Kari said, growling. Luna went to her knees, forehead on the floor in submission. “Get out of my sight,” Kari said and Luna backed up, then got to her feet and went downstairs.
“What was that all about?” Andreas asked Kari.
“Luna oversteps herself, again,” Skye answered, only in a little singsong voice so as not to scare Hellie.
Henry went to his knees and rubbed his face on Kari’s legs. “I am sorry, reine. I don’t know why she does it. She’s jealous.”
“Henry, you need to see to your Mate. She’ll end up challenged if this continues.” Andreas dismissed him without comment on what he’d said.
He stalked into the nursery with that look in his eye and backed Kari through the connecting door into their room. “Skye, Ryan, Perri, can you watch the twins for a bit? Get Laurent and Devon up here to help if you want,” he growled over his shoulder before shutting their door gently but firmly behind himself.
Her pulse fluttered as she felt her pussy bloom and heat at his perusal.
“God, you’re so sexy when you do that.” He pulled his shirt off over his head. “I need to see you naked right now.” In one swift movement, he stood there gloriously naked and hard, his pants down and off.
“Why don’t you make me?” Kari challenged, raising an eyebrow. She kept her voice down, knowing how many people were in the other room. The need to be quiet was something new and exciting.
He growled again and lunged at her, catching her quite easily with a wicked chuckle. “Hmm, now that I have you, let’s set about the making.”
A few quick yanks and tugs and her clothes were gone and she found herself turned and bent over the bed, feet on the floor. His fingers tested her and found her ready. “Hmm, a little making already I see.” She grinned into the mattress even as she blushed.
Nudging her ankles wider, he guided the head of his cock to her and pressed himself inside in a breathtaking movement. She moaned, feeling him, being filled by him that way flipped her switch like nothing else. Although he had plenty other things in his bag of tricks, she liked being taken by him.
He sighed, satisfied. “I needed that. I came up the stairs and felt your power like a wall in the hallway, it went straight to my cock. You’re so fucking sexy when you’re dominant like that.”
“Oh yeah?” She pressed herself back onto him, meeting his thrust. “Seems to me you like being dominant even more.”
Reaching around, he found a nipple and teased with rolls and tugs of clever fingers while the other hand slid down, finding her clit.
“Well, sure, little wolf. Because there’s nothing hotter than making an Alpha bitch heel.”
She stiffened and he laughed.
“You’re tough shit all day. You run this Pack and they all look up to you. But when I close that bedroom door and look at you and you melt? Oh, little wolf, it’s so fucking hot it makes me feel like exploding right then and there.”
Mollified, she relaxed a bit. “Alpha bitch, hmpf! You’re lucky...that’s it, god, that feels good...you’re lucky I like you in dominant mode.”
“Indeed. Now I have work to do, so let’s get to it.” He thrust deep into her body and her whimper of pleasure shot through his cock.
He did indeed love it when she submitted to him. Loved to enter her from behind and control her movements, holding her just so. Then, looking down at the long, pale line of her spine, at the gentle flare of her hips, he watched his cock disappear into her body and come out again. His cock was covered in her honey. He made her so hot. His words made her cunt weep and that made his wolf want to howl up in triumph.
At the same time a deep gentleness settled into him. As always, amazed by the way she harbored him. Her body took him back over and over. She arched, wanting more. He gave it to her.
His hands stroked over her skin, the hair on his arms rising from the electric power still clinging to her. The power of her Alpha, cloaking her in warm energy. Nearly sticky, the warmth of it clung to him, drew him to her.
Reaching around, he palmed her nipples, loving the soft sound of delight she made. Rolling and tugging on them, his clever fingers drew her higher and higher. He knew she was nearing that peak. Knew she’d be restless and seeking more sensation.
She writhed against him as he continued to stroke into her. One palm slid down her stomach, found the wet, swollen folds of her pussy and slid through them. Pulling her honey up from where they were joined, he began to tease her slippery little clit.
A sound much like a squeal came from her and he chuckled as he continued to torture her.
In retaliation, she squeezed her inner muscles around him several times, making him groan. “Damn, I love when you do that. But I’m not ready to come yet.”
Pulling out, he flipped her over and moved her onto the bed.
“Hey! What about that whole making thing?”
He crawled up over her, taking her arms and moving them above her head. “Oh, I’m working on it. On my schedule.” Disappearing over the side of the bed a moment, he returned with a pair of her panties dangling f
rom his fingers. Eyebrow raised, he wrapped the silk and lace around her wrists and hooked the material over one of the decorative pegs in the headboard.
She tried to move but couldn’t. “Oh.”
A slow, wicked grin slid over his lips and her lips parted without sound as heat pulsed through her. The look on his face as he devoured her with his eyes, his very large presence above her, having her hands bound—she’d never felt so controlled before. The man did it so well. He dripped with dark sexuality.
“Oh indeed, little wolf. I mean to have my wicked way with you. I find I like you all trussed up and bound for my pleasure. Perhaps the next time we’re in Seattle we need to stop at Babeland for some toys so we don’t ruin all your pretty panties.” All of this was said in a low, quiet voice that somehow seemed even sexier for its restraint.
His fingertips traced over the skin of her arms on his way down to her nipples. Ribbons of sensation rode her flesh in the wake of his touch. He sat astride her but she couldn’t reach his cock even when she strained to touch him with her lips. The weight of it teased her as it lay heavy on her stomach. The wiry hairs on the inside of his thighs pressed into her sides.
Wiggling and squirming, she continued to try and get more contact with his hands, with his cock. He looked at her with a smirk. “Ah, ah, ah. No. This is my show. I’m doing the making. You tossed out the challenge. You should remember to be careful what you wish for.”
Sliding down her body with his own, he dragged his cock, wet at the tip, down her belly and thigh. Those fingertips found her nipples at long last, slowly tracing circles around them.
“Please,” she gasped in a harsh whisper.
“I do so love it when you beg me.” Bending, he kissed the tip of each nipple and then nipped first one and then the other with his teeth. “But you have such a fine and varied vocabulary. I think I need you to be specific. Because whatever can you mean? Please make you a sandwich? Please get a gallon of milk at the grocery store?”