Balance (3 page)

                The
next morning passed slowly until Kai came home from checking in with some of
the Portland wolves.

                “How’s
everything in Portland?” I asked, eager for gossip from anywhere off of the
mountain.              

                “Portland
pack is good, they confirmed the blood banks were burned down and that vampire
club activity has lessened. Either the vampires are becoming wary of our
attacks or they have gone into hiding.”

                A
sigh escaped my lips.

                Kai
looked me in the eyes. “I see an opportunity, with so many of Alek’s kind
without blood ...”

                I
squinted, sifting through the mate bond until I got his meaning. “We have to
ask the militia. They’ve given so much to us already.”

                “I
know,” Kai stated. “Barn meeting in fifteen minutes.” He crossed the room in a
few quick strides and was out the door again.

*

               
I stood in the barn with Max and Alek as Earl
walked in slowly with Kai, Alexa, and another militia member. He was tall and
muscular, his head was buzzed clean, and he had an American flag tattoo on his
forearm.

                Kai
introduced everyone to Alek. “This is Alek. He’s a vampire and he’s here to
help us. He’s given us very valuable and distressing information that we need
to talk about.”

                Earl
kept his eyes on Alek, sizing him up.

                “I’m
Earl, leader of the Pacific North Militia, this is Todd, my second.”

                I
grinned at Earl. He was showing us that his militia was his pack. He was Alpha
and Todd was second. I really liked him.

                Todd
saluted us. “Senior Chief Todd Renault, United States Navy.”

                Did
Max just roll his eyes? I had to suppress a smile.

                “Good
to have you, Chief. Let’s get down to business,” Kai told them. “We have a
situation. Most vampires are a part of Layla’s North American vampire clan.
They import heroin and kill humans for sport. But a small percentage, like
Alek, either drink blood from willing donors or from a blood bank.”

                Earl
and Todd shared a look I couldn’t interpret.

                Alek
took over. “Layla burned those blood banks to the ground recently and now we
have all of those vampires without their source of food. They will be weak and
suggestible. They might even join up with Layla again, if it means they can have
a food source.”

                Earl
gave a low whistle. “How many of your kind are there?”

                Alek
looked uncomfortable with sharing numbers. “About ten thousand across the
United States that I know of.”

                Earl’s
face was lined with worry. “That’s a lot of vampires to feed.”

                Alek
laughed. “That’s nothing compared to Layla’s clan. If we can supply these
vampires with donor blood, they will do whatever we want as repayment.”

                Kai
looked eager. “Wouldn’t hurt to have ten thousand vampires on our side.”

                Alexa
interjected, “The human media is all over us now. We need to be careful about
publically siding with vampires. Even if they appear nice.”

                Kai
nodded. “Agreed. We will do it in secret.”

                Earl
nodded. “I will hold a vote with my people.”

                Kai
thanked him and he left.

                “You
gonna let us vote?” Max asked Kai with a smile.

                Kai
smirked at his friend. “Nope, we’re doing it.” He placed a hand on Max’s
shoulder.

                Max
threw his hands up. “Great, bon appétit for the blood suckers.”

                Alek
glared at Max. “If it makes you feel any better, we much rather human blood. Werewolf
blood tastes like dog.” Then Alek turned on his heels and left the barn.

                I
stifled a laugh. “Max, you hurt his feelings.”

                Max
shrugged. “He’s a vampire, Aurora.”

                Kai
growled softly. “He’s my guest.” Kai left to go after Alek and Alexa went to
check in on Emma, leaving me alone with Max.

                Max
rolled his eyes. “I could tell you stories of Kai back in the day. He hated
vampires. This new Kai is weird.”

                I
chuckled. “Be nice.”  

                After
leaving Max at the barn, I decided to go back home and take a nap. Being pretty
much held captive on the mountain, had left me with zero entertainment options.
I was bored as hell. Pulling Luna into our bed, I knew Kai would yell at me
later for it. He hated her scent on our sheets. Oh well. Luna’s deep purr
rattled against my chest and helped me drift into a peaceful sleep.

                ‘Wake
up! Get to Emma’s. It’s happening. She’s in labor. Coming fast.’
Kai’s voice slammed into my sleeping state and
jarred me awake.

                I
leapt out of bed and whacked my leg on the corner of a chair piled with
laundry. “Oww!” I cried out while wriggling into clothes and then took off
running out the front door, nearly plowing Max over.

                “Emma’s
in labor!” I screamed as Max watched me zoom by.

                “Good
luck!” Max screamed after me.

                ‘Is
she okay? The baby?’
I asked Kai, my
feet pounded the forest floor as I ran faster than ever before.

                ‘Baby’s
fine, she’s fine. Diya says all is going well other than she is dilating very
fast,’
Kai informed me calmly.

                I
flew across her lawn with vampire speed, a gift Kai and I shared. After throwing
open the door, I ran back to the guest room, which was set up as a birthing
room. Emma hadn’t set foot in the master bedroom since Devon died.

                Resting
inside the door frame, I let my breathing settle from the run and surveyed the
scene. Diya was wearing green scrubs and white gloves. She was tinkering with a
baby warming bed and setting out towels.

                Emma
was sitting on a birthing ball, holding Kai’s hand, face scrunching in pain.

                Crossing
the room in two big strides, I stopped in front of her and got on my knees.

                “I’m
here. How are you?” I asked, still panting.

                Emma
let go of Kai and grabbed my hand. “It hurts like hell. The baby keeps shifting
forms.”

                Damn,
I couldn’t imagine a baby in my belly shifting from werewolf to human. It
sounded awful but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Instead, I started the
rhythmic breathing Diya had taught me.

                “Okay,
okay, we got this,” I told her calmly.

                I
rubbed small circles in her lower back and she moaned. “This sucks, I wish
Devon were here.”

                Kai
and I met each other’s eyes and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep
from crying. I wish he was here, too.

                “Why
would you want him here? He would have passed out on the floor by now. We would
have needed to hire a nurse just to tend to him,” I joked.

                Emma
laughed. “I love you, Aurora. You’re a good friend,” she said and then starting
screaming in pain.

                I
didn’t like that she was saying things like it was a goodbye. Diya reached over
and attached some electrodes to Emma’s belly. Then I helped move her onto the
bed so Diya could check her cervix.

                “Wow,
Emma, I’ve never seen labor progress this quickly. This baby wants out. The
constant shifting from werewolf to human is making your uterus have more
intense contractions that are changing your cervix.”

                I
raised my hand. “English, please?”

                Diya
smiled. “She is dilated to ten and the baby is coming. Time to push.”

                Oh,
shit. Kai backed up against the wall, out of the way, as I helped Diya get Emma’s
feet into the stirrups. She was pale, sweaty, and grimacing.

                “Can’t
we give her anything? Vicodin? A martini?” I asked.

                Emma
laughed but it turned into a scream with the next contraction.

                I
grabbed Emma’s left leg as Diya grabbed her right.

                “Push!”
Diya screamed.

                Emma
flexed her belly and pushed, screaming.

                After
about thirty seconds she lay back panting, exhausted. Sweat beaded on her face
and her chest was heaving with great effort.

                Diya
checked things out between Emma’s legs and then silently pulled a tray out from
under the bed. On it were a bunch of surgical tools. My eyes widened.

                Diya
put out her hands to reassure me and glanced at the contraction monitor.
“Another contraction is coming, Emma.”

                “I’m
too tired. I can’t do this,” she said.

                I
noticed her color was paler, her eyelids were closing so I gently grabbed her
face. “Look at me,” I commanded.

                Her
green eyes popped open and held my gaze longer than ever before. Devon’s death
had changed something within her, within her wolf. I had a strong suspicion she
wasn’t a submissive anymore. “You can do this. You’re the strongest woman I
know. You have been through a lot and it’s made you stronger. You got this,
Emma.”

                She
lost her mate, carried their unborn child. She was the strongest damn person in
my life right now. Determination settled into her features as she held my gaze
for longer than a submissive should be able to and I knew she could do this.

                “Okay,
Emma, push!” Diya yelled.

                Emma
pushed, her face turning red, a werewolf growl ripping from her throat. Then, all
of a sudden, a tiny pink baby flew out into Diya outstretched arms.

                Oh
my God! I laughed and cried at the same time. It was incredible! Even though
you expect a baby to come out, it’s different when it actually happens. It’s really
a shock. It was amazing. A strong cry came from the baby’s mouth.

                “It’s
a girl,” Diya said.

                Emma
burst into tears. Her tears turned to laughter as she reached out and held her
daughter. Leaning over Emma’s chest, I stroked the baby’s head. She was so
small, so perfect. Oh, my God. I wanted one. Like now.

                I
met Kai’s eyes from across the room.
‘I want a baby,’
I told him with one
hundred percent certainty.

                Shock
registered on his face, then he grinned.

                “Shit!”
Diya screamed and blood poured out from between Emma’s legs and dripped to the
floor. Emma’s eyes fluttered as she fainted and I quickly reached out to grab
the baby as Emma’s arms went slack. Kai took the baby from me as I stood there
in shock.

                “The
placenta detached and ripped her uterus with it. No, no, no!” Diya screamed, trying
to shove gauze between Emma’s legs.

                I
was warned about the dangers of werewolf birth. It was like a human delivering
a baby in the 1700s. The surgical interventions around today for humans didn’t
work on the fast healing werewolf. I began to panic.

                Diya’s
frantic eyes met mine. “I can’t fix this. Aurora, I can’t fix this!”

                Mist
leaked from my pores, saturating the room as the baby began to cry. “Kai, get
the baby out of here,” I roared in a voice that scared me. It was only half
human and it oozed with dominance. Kai looked frightened but listened and left
the room. Emma was a limp figure draped over the bed. My best friend. No!

                I
held my hands in front of me and sifted through every healing lesson Gretchen
had ever taught me. Hovering my hands over Emma’s belly, I whispered, “Heal.” I
imagined a tear inside of her body. I had been studying the anatomy book
Gretchen had given me and I imagined the uterus stitching itself together. The
pink tissue fusing together. I refused to look at the massive amount of blood
on the floor.

                Diya
gasped in shock. “The bleeding stopped.”

                I
continued to hold my hands out, breathing deeply, imagining all of the female
organs in Emma’s body as healed. Sending mist to aid in fast healing. I opened
my eyes. Emma was limp on the bed, skin white as the sheet that she rested on.

                Diya
put two fingers to Emma’s neck and whimpered. “Too much blood lost. Oh God. I’m
so sorry.”