Page 132 of Alpha Heat

“This is good,” he said, nodding and withdrawing. “The tissue is pliable. His omega glands are—”

Another violent bang from Caleb’s wing interrupted him, along with a suffering scream and a wail. Then another crash, another bang, cries of pain, and a desperate shout for help. Urho’s heart was shredded.

Jason met Urho’s eye, and he swallowed hard. “Where’s the village doctor?”

“I don’t know.” Urho wiped his shaking hand on a towel and closed his eyes, trying to take a steadying breath. “Hopefully soon.”

Jason stared at him, pale and scared.

“Vale’s doing well,” Urho assured him.

“But what about Caleb?” Jason whispered.

Urho groaned just as Vale screeched and hunched. His body tightened all over as he squirmed against some intense internal sensation. When the contraction had passed, Urho knelt again to check Vale’s progress.

The beta servant he’d left in the hallway outside Caleb’s room appeared in Vale’s open doorway. “He’s trying to get out! I think he’s going to hurt himself!”

Urho considered the syringe he’d prepared for Jason. All evidence showed that the relaxer did little to stop the pain of heat, but it did calm a panicked omega enough for them to take an alpha cock or, at a higher dose, prevent them from running. Still the thought of drugging Caleb, of leaving him to suffer in helpless, stoned silence was abhorrent.

“Help me!” Caleb screamed, the words echoed around the massive house. “Help!”

Urho’s heart rent even more at the pain in his lover’s omega’s voice.

“For wolf-god’s sake, help him!” Vale shouted suddenly, nearly kicking Urho in the face where he knelt with his fingers in Vale’s ass. He withdrew them quickly as Vale spun around, glaring at him. “He’s hurting. He’ssuffering. Go in there and help him.”

“No!” Jason exclaimed, grabbing Vale by the shoulders. His face was almost as flushed as Vale’s was from straining. “We need him here. If something goes wro—” He bit off his words and added, “Vale, I can’t deliver this baby. It’s too risky. Urho stays with us until a doctor or our baby arrives.”

“A doctor’s coming,” Urho said to Vale, standing up so as not to be kicked in the face again. He tried to sound as confident as he possibly could. “He should be here soon.”

Vale looked like he was going to argue, but then he groaned and held his stomach. He strained, eyes bulging as another contraction gripped his body. His face grew purple with effort, and he clenched the back of the chair with white knuckles.

“That’s it,” Urho said. “Just breathe.”

Vale sucked in a breath, and his body clenched. He screamed.

A matching, wrenching scream echoed through the halls and the still-open door. Caleb’s cries grew louder and louder as Vale’s labor intensified. Urho’s mind spun. If he left now to help Caleb and something went wrong with the birth, if the other doctor botched the job—assuming the other doctor even showed—he’d never forgive himself.

But if Caleb was left to suffer, he’d never forgive himself for that either. And neither would Xan, much less Caleb himself.

“Dr. Chase,” Ren said from the doorway, a terror-filled expression not giving Urho hope for good news. Ren held a hand in front of his eyes as though to protect himself against the sight of Vale’s nakedness.

Jason snarled protectively, but Urho put a hand on his chest and Jason calmed down, turning his attention back to Vale, who was rocking through another contraction.

Ren said, “I got a hold of Dr. Bainson in the village and he can’t make it. He’s actually delivering another omega right now. He suggested I call Dr. Snid, an alpha doctor on the outskirts of town, but according to his omega, he’s gone into the city to help with the flu epidemic.”

“Fuck,” Urho muttered.

“Sir, Mr. Janus is seizing now. His fever has gone too high for his body to hold. The cook is trying to cool him with cold water, but he’s not responding.”

Urho tore into his medical bag, found a bottle of medication he kept on hand for such horrific situations, and passed it to Ren along with a needle and another empty hypodermic. “One syringeful now. If he doesn’t calm, then another in eight minutes.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your job but—”

Another cry from Caleb’s room rattled them all, and then Vale shouted as well, his body clenching as he bent over the chair he’d had his foot on. He groaned, gritting his teeth, and started to push. His asshole bulged and Urho swore he saw the start of the babe’s head.

“Wolf-god!” Ren exclaimed in horror. He grabbed the medicine from Urho’s hand and rushed away to administer the medication to Janus.

Adrenaline flooded Urho’s body, leaving him rushing with a giddy, razor-sharp focus as he knelt to the floor again to spread Vale’s ass cheeks wider.

“Is the baby coming?” Jason asked, rubbing Vale’s straining back and bending low to look. “Oh, wolf-god, is that his head?”