Swallowing His Pride (21 page)

“I’ll come help. Four eyes are better than two, right?”

Lynn’s face registered her shock at Samantha’s offer. “Are you insane? Hasn’t it occurred to you that they’re probably coming after
you
since you’re carrying their leader’s child? Sam, if they had their hands on you, I don’t think there’s anything Dylan wouldn’t give or do to get you back.”

It was that very thing that scared Sam the most.

Another shot blasted outside, and Lynn went to her bag, removing her gun and tucking the extra clip into her back pocket, before heading to the door. “Don’t you dare even poke your head out, Samantha. I’m locking this door, and you better not open it for any reason unless it’s one of us.”

Too frightened to even speak, she nodded and watched as her best friend in the whole world stepped out the door and into who knew what in an effort to keep her safe.

It was then Samantha began to pray. Surely, the universe wouldn’t be so cruel as to give her the man of her dreams and a chance at a happy life, only to rip everyone she cared about away from her.

A loud bang nearly had her wetting herself. Then Sam heard a very distinct, “Take that you furry bastard!” It sounded as if Lynn was actually enjoying herself.

Sam hoped Dylan, Liam and Jag didn’t take any offense at Lynn’s remark. Not that it was the last one shouted nor was it the nicest. At least, Sam knew Lynn was all right as long as she kept running her mouth.

Another gunshot rang out, and Dylan swung his head, expecting to find a second shooter. To his surprise, it was Lynn. She used the cave entrance as her cover and had managed to hit the shifter who’d been firing a rifle, before taking aim on the massive bear closing in on Liam as he battled a puma.

Luckily, it looked as if there was only one rogue with a gun, because all the others were in their animal forms. With the bullet he found embedded in a tree trunk being silver, Dylan knew these men were there to kill, not kidnap, and his blood began to boil.

Dylan had no idea who’d taught the Lynn to shoot, but right now, he couldn’t be more grateful. Having her on their side, with the other gunman down for the count, managed to swing the odds into their favor.

When he’d arrived at Samantha’s home to find three shifters squaring off with his brother, he’d gone a bit nuts and barreled into the open, his men coming out of the trees, as well. The intruders there taken care of, Liam and Dylan had headed straight for the hills. Since Jag was absent, there was no doubt he’d taken the women to his home. While Dylan didn’t know exactly where Jag’s home was, he did know the general area.

Being the Prime of the pride, he’d had a census of sorts so that every shifter could be accounted for in the event of an emergency. There were many places to hide out there, even some cave systems that wove through the hills and deep underground. The only downside? People got lost in those damn caves all the time.

They’d arrived just in time to find Jag facing off with a puma and mountain lion. Unfortunately, he was in his human form. Shifting would have left him vulnerable until the transformation was complete, but being mauled in his current shape would be a harsh death.

Roaring, Dylan had managed to gain their attention, giving Jag the opportunity to duck behind the truck and shift. Unfortunately, there were others spread out around them, no doubt looking for the women. Now, one of those women was shooting them right in their
furry asses
.

When the dust had settled and all the attackers had been accounted for, Dylan shifted and ran for Lynn.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, but if we’re all clear, we need to get Sam to Dr. Lewis. She’s in labor,” Lynn answered.

“Where is she?”

“Locked in the cave. I told her not to open the door unless it was one of us.”

Liam stormed into the cave, bitching up a storm regarding Lynn’s, “Blatant disregard for male egos.”

They were at the door now, and Dylan banged until the frame rattled, adrenaline still flowing through his system. If he wasn’t able to see Samantha soon, he wasn’t sure what might happen. One thing was for certain, his lion wouldn’t wait for long.

It only took thirty minutes of nerve-racking noise before pounding started at the door, but in that half hour the contractions she’d been having had doubled in strength. Because of that, it took her a few minutes to get to the door. When she got there, she heard voices on the other side, Lynn’s carrying above the others.

“Get over it!” she shouted. “Ooh, a girl helped cover your ass while you mauled some other big fucking cats. Bet you didn’t mind when I nailed the fucking bear barreling down on you, did ya,
darlin
’?”

“Both of you cut it out!” He was here! She’d know Dylan’s voice anywhere. “Lynn said Samantha’s in labor. We need to get her to the clinic. Preferably before she delivers!”

Wow. Dylan sounded really on edge. Samantha fumbled with the damn locks, her hands shaking like crazy. When she finally managed to open it, he charged in, wrapping her in his arms.

“Sam,” he whispered. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”

“Aside from the labor pains, I’m fine. How about you? Did any of you guys get injured?”

All she could see were some scratches that were already healing. In fact, they looked totally fine for the most part. Well, except they were naked. That was something she was trying to get accustomed to, because she had a feeling it wouldn’t be anything they could change.
Lynn, bless her heart, did her best to keep her eyes up, but Sam caught her taking a quick peek at Jag’s ass when he walked farther into the cave, calling, “I’ll grab us all some pants.”

“Come sit down, sweetheart,” Dylan urged as he and Liam took in Jag’s home.

“It’s really something, huh?” Samantha said.

“I always thought he just wandered about in his animal form,” Liam admitted. “I never imagined he lived out here like some sort of nomad.”

“It’s a great place though, and it’s perfect for him. Just think about it, he’ll never have to worry about being taken by surprise because anyone who tried could only come at him from one direction,” Dylan mused.

Samantha hissed as a particularly nasty contraction gripped her, and Lynn was by her side in a second. “Breathe through it, Sam.”

“It’s getting worse, Lynn,” she panted.

“We need to move out guys. She was already dilated three centimeters last I checked, and that was a while ago. I need to talk to that doc of yours and see what meds she can have that won’t do anything crazy to the baby.”

“Our bodies burn up any kind of medication really quick,” Liam announced. When Lynn gave him a disbelieving look, he shrugged. “We have really high metabolisms.”

Jag sauntered back in to the room and threw a wad of fabric to the other two men. A pair of sweats smacked Liam in the face, and Lynn laughed. “Put those on, playboy. You don’t want to ride in with your ass shining to the world.”

“You’re a really good shot, Lynn,” Jag stated when he came to stand next to her. “Thank you. I appreciate the courage it took to put yourself at risk to help us.”

“Courage? She stood behind the stone entrance to your cave,” Liam pointed out.

“She’s also human and, therefore, doesn’t have our healing abilities. If she had taken a bullet from their shooter, she could have been killed. As it was, that bastard grazed me twice.”

At that bit of news, Samantha watched Lynn do a fast visual assessment of Jag from top to bottom. Like the others, there were some scratches and scrapes that were already healing, but nothing serious.

“Okay, we’re going now,” Dylan called.

“Somebody has to get the truck. Jag took it somewhere to throw them off our trail,” Lynn said.

She was right.
Great
, Sam thought,
at this rate I’ll be popping this kid out on Jag’s rug
.

“No worries,” Liam chimed in. “He didn’t make it far because they’d already followed you guys. It’s parked just around the hill where they ambushed him.”

“
Ambushed?
” Sam asked.

“Seems they thought, with you guys neatly cornered, they’d get rid of your guard first. They never saw me and Dylan coming.” He threw a glance at Jag. “You’re not the only one with stealth skills.”

“Then get a move on!” Lynn ordered.

Soon, once again, Samantha found herself bouncing around in the front seat of the truck, this time with Dylan driving and Lynn by her side, timing her contractions. Liam and Jag were in the back, holding on lest they be thrown out on a few of the more prominent dips they hit on the way.

“Hold on. We’re almost there. Just a few more—shit!” Dylan’s outburst was punctuated by the impact of a large mountain lion ramming into the truck.

Samantha gasped as Jag leapt from the bed, shifting mid-flight, and tackled the other animal as it prepared to launch itself again. “Stop! We can’t leave Jag.”

“We can’t stay either,” Liam called. “There could be more and I need to make sure you and Dylan make it back to the clinic. I’ll come straight back as soon as we have the three of you secured.”

Sam faced Lynn, who was still turned in her seat, hand against the window as she watched the vicious fight between the cats while they drove away. “He’ll be okay, Lynn. Dylan said he was one of the Pride’s best fighters.”

“Yeah, but against how many?”

And there was a damned good question. Just how many of these intruders were there?

Chapter Ten

As it would turn out, Samantha didn’t have much time to worry about what was going on outside after they got her to the clinic. Her water broke as soon as she stepped from the truck and when they got her on the table she was found to be fully dilated and ready to begin pushing.

The pain was intense, but when Dr. Lewis informed Lynn that she could give Samantha whatever she needed, her friend immediately went in search of meds. Whatever she’d given Sam was enough to take the edge off and allowed Samantha to put everything she had into delivering her child.

“One more push, Sam!” Lynn called out. “I can see the head, and there’s a good bit of hair, too.”

“As bad as my heartburn was, there should be,” Sam groused.

Bearing down one more time, she felt the pressure release as her child slid from her body into the arms of her best friend. “It’s a boy!”

Glancing to the side, Sam saw how Dylan beamed at the squalling baby. “A boy,” he whispered, looking back at her. “He’s so tiny.” There were tears in his eyes, and Samantha found herself falling in love with him all over again. He would be such a wonderful father.

“Elijah North,” she proclaimed. It was a good name, strong just like his father, and one that would serve him well in life.

Dr. Lewis finished his check of little Eli and brought him over to Samantha. Despite being two weeks early, he was already filled out with the cutest little chubby cheeks she’d ever seen. There was a thick cap of light brown hair streaked with copper on his head, and when he opened his eyes, they were the same amazing gold as his father’s.

“He’s perfect, Prima. Prime, you have a very sturdy boy there. He’ll no doubt grow into a powerful man and a good leader, like you.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Dylan looked down to Samantha. “Once you’ve recovered a bit, I want to take you to the resort so you can rest more comfortably. I have a room we can use there.”

She was all for not staying at the clinic. Nothing against the shifters milling about, though they did keep finding random reasons to poke their heads in, causing Dylan to growl. Obviously, they were curious about her, and she had been expecting that. It was just the thought of staying in a hospital, something she’d always hated, that made Dylan’s offer of a hotel room so appealing. “Sounds wonderful. I’m beyond exhausted after today, so I can only imagine you are, too.”

He smiled down at her, eyes shining, “Sweetheart, I’m on cloud nine right now. I’ve got the love of my life safe by my side, and you’ve just given me a healthy son to boot. You’re just lucky I’m not roaring the news to the whole Pride.”

“Roar away. I can’t tell you how scared I was when I heard all that fighting outside the cave. When I heard your voice on the other side of that door, I couldn’t get it opened fast enough.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t promise that I won’t fight again. It’s part of who and what I am. I’ll always protect what’s mine, but you and our son are my number one priority, and nothing will take me away from you.”

As Samantha took in her new family, she prayed that Dylan could keep that promise, because if he ever left her—no, she refused to go there. They were together now, and it was what she would focus on. No amount of what-ifs would dampen the joy of this moment for her.

* * * *

Samantha sat in the wheelchair the clinic had allowed them to take, since she was still too sore to walk, and held their son while Dylan pushed them through the resort and into the elevator. Many of the shifters in the community had come out to meet her and extend their blessing to the newest little member of the Pride. Everyone had been so nice to her that Samantha was having a hard time believing some of them could be opposed to humans, but Dylan assured her most of them were fine with his choice in mate.

It would seem the ones who opposed were generally not members in Prides, Clans or Packs, but drifters like the ones who’d come for her.

As she stifled a small yawn, Dylan announced, “I’ll be taking your Prima to rest now. She’s had a very trying day, but we thank you for coming out.”

“Yes, it was so nice to meet you all,” Samantha added.

Dylan wheeled her to the elevators, giving the top of her head a kiss as he backed them inside. The doors were closing when Liam jumped on.

“Hey, guys! I wanted to sneak a peek at my new nephew before you turned in for the,” he glanced at his watch. “Morning.”

Samantha adjusted the blanket they’d wrapped Eli in and presented him to his uncle Liam. “He’s in a milk coma right now,” she joked. “The boy can really pack it away.”

In fact, she’d not only breast fed him, but then had to immediately follow that up with a bottle of formula. It seemed that high, shifter metabolism meant their son would eat like a teenager from day one.