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16

RHODES

I had been on the road for almost four days, not stopping except in a few motels to crash in the evenings, and only then because it was too cold to sleep in the old SUV I had inherited from my dad.

Wrapping my hands around the steering wheel, I grimaced.

The only gift he had ever given me.

Unless you counted that shot of whiskey he handed me on my thirteenth birthday.

I had driven east for a while, and then I cut north. Each day I stopped along a stretch of road, parking off to the side and shifting. Running had been my escape, my wolf keeping us running until we were both exhausted at night.

I ran several hours a day, the cold air helping to clear my head, the time with my wolf helping to center me.

But every time my paws touched the earth, every time I fell into bed at night, something was missing. Some one was missing.

Larkin .

Fuck, I missed her.

Glancing at the clock on the dash, I knew I was going to be pushing it on time if I wanted to be back at midnight.

Larkin’s birthday party was supposed to start at eight, an annual tradition with her family and friends. At this rate, and with a new wave of snow starting to fall, I wouldn’t make it before eleven.

As long as I got to kiss her when this year rolled into the next, that was all that mattered.

One thing the last four days had definitely helped drive into my brain was that the empty house I had grown up in wasn’t my home. Larkin was. My friends were. The people who always had my back.

By now Dad would be in a box, a fragmented mess of ashes, but Dad had been fragmented and gone for a long time before now.

Maybe now he would find some actual peace.

Maybe we both would.

I turned the corner and almost missed the small compact that had slid off the side of the road, the flashers barely noticeable through the heavy curtain of snow.

I eased the truck onto the side of the road, throwing it in park and turning on my own flashers. I was about to reach in the glove box for a flashlight when a fist slammed against the passenger side window.

Wide, frantic gray eyes stared in at me, the man wildly gesturing to me.

I reached over, manually rolling down the window.

“Thank God,” he said in a rush, his breath puffing out in white clouds as he breathed hard. “You gotta help us. Please. My wife. The car spun out. We have no cell reception. My wife .”

I was already getting out of the car. “Is your wife okay? Are you okay?” I dug my phone out of my pocket and checked. I didn’t have cell service either.

I slid down the embankment towards the car, the man hot on my heels. I could hear the strangled groans and screams of a woman inside it. The fading light from the interior of the car only gave me a shadowed view of the woman in the backseat.

I yanked open the door and froze.

The man nudged me aside. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I got us help. Let’s get you into the car and to the hospital.”

The woman gasped, clutching her very pregnant stomach, sweat slicking her hair down to her head. She shook her head violently.

“Can’t. Baby’s coming.” She hissed out another breath, ending on a moan.

“No, no, no,” the man argued, shaking his head. “We have to get you to the hospital. You can’t have the baby here .”

Her blue eyes flashed at him, clear despite the pain. “David, it’s happening. Now . My contractions are only a few minutes apart and getting stronger. The baby is coming now .”

David still seemed to be in shock. “But... you can’t.”

Her eyes went to me. “Do you have a phone?”

“No service,” I replied helplessly. “I’m Rhodes.”

“Connie,” she said through gritted teeth. “Rhodes, if you would be so kind as to slap my husband for me, maybe that will wake him up enough to help deliver his child?”

I grinned at her, leaning into the car. “This backseat is small. My SUV is bigger. You’d have more room?” If I folded the seats down, she would have a lot more space to... have a baby.

I winced at the thought.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

I sniffed the air on instinct, catching their scents, noting the subtle difference from normals.

“What pack are you from?” I asked.

David seemed to suddenly remember he was part of this conversation. “Corday,” he replied, reaching into the car and helping his wife slide out. Her feet barely touched the snow before he had her lifted in his arms.

“There’s blankets in the trunk and some bottled water—can you grab them?” he called over his shoulder.

I quickly gathered the supplies, following them up the slippery hill.

David already had Connie in the back of the truck. I opened the back door and laid the back seats flat so she had more room, dropping the blankets and water into the truck before going to the driver’s side and getting in.

David met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Keep heading down this road. The pack is about fifteen minutes away.”

Connie groaned as another contraction hit. “We’re not gonna make it.”

“We’ll try,” David told her firmly, taking her hand in his and leaning between the two front seats, guiding me as I pulled back onto the road.

“You from around here?” Connie asked on a gasp.

“Um, not exactly. Passing through on my way home to Blackwater,” I answered, trying to focus on the road that was becoming harder to see. No wonder their little car had gone off the road. I was in four-wheel drive and still having issues.

“Blackwater, huh? I hear that’s a nice town,” she said in a rushed breath.

“The talking helps distract her from the pain,” David told me.

“Nothing distracts me from the pain,” Connie retorted, but I heard the smile in her voice. “I just figure we should know the guy saving our asses. What are you doing out here?”

“I took a trip to clear my mind. My dad, um, died a few days ago.”

“Crap, I’m sorry,” Connie muttered, crying out again suddenly.

“Another contraction?” I asked, looking back at them and wondering if this much pain and gasping was normal.

No wonder there was a fertility issue amongst packs—what woman would willingly go through this pain multiple times?

“She’s fine,” David said, softly coaching her to remember to breathe.

Connie exhaled loudly. “Shit, that was a bad one.”

“Are they supposed to be that bad?” I asked, worried.

“Yeah, from what I hear. At least this was fast. I only went into labor a few hours ago, so we thought we would have time to get home to the midwife,” she explained, her breathing heavy and labored. “Usually labor lasts longer, though. Sometimes more than a day, but this guy can’t wait to make an appearance.”

I really should’ve paid more attention in health class.

“Turn right up ahead,” David told me as Connie cried out again.

“They’re getting closer together,” she hissed when she caught her breath.

“I know, honey. We’re almost there,” he promised her.

God, I hoped he was right.

“So, Rhodes,” she said again, her voice slightly weaker than before, “you still in school?”

“Uh, yeah.” I glanced back at them. “I go to Granite Peak Academy.”

“The school was set up by a group of packs, right? I hear it’s great.” Connie smiled at David. “Maybe this little guy will go there one day.”

“If that’s what you want,” David told her, smiling softly down at her.

They were completely in love. This kid would have two parents who absolutely loved him and each other.

“Girlfriend?” Connie asked after another contraction.

The thought of Larkin was like a punch in a gut and stepping into sunshine all at once. God, I missed her.

“Yeah,” I replied after a minute, swallowing down my emotions. “Her name is Larkin. She’s my... she’s everything.”

David chuckled. “Yeah. I know how that goes. Just wait—a few years from now maybe you’ll break down on the side of the road when she’s in labor, too.”

The idea of Larkin being pregnant didn’t terrify me the way I expected it would.

Or should.

The idea of being a dad, especially with Larkin next to me, felt... right.

But no way in hell would I have Larkin’s pregnant ass out on these roads.

“Next left,” David called.

I took the turn slowly so we wouldn’t slide, grateful as hell when I saw lights at the end of the road. I made it to the entrance, rolling down my window when I saw the men standing guard at a front gate.

Since females had started disappearing it seemed like more and more packs had started patrolling their borders and using guarded entrances to pack lands.

I rolled my window down and David leaned forward.

“Owen! Hey!”

“David? That you?” The guard leaned into the open window, his eyes flicking to me warily.

“Our car broke down. Connie’s in labor.”

As if on cue, Connie cried out again.

Owen’s eyes went huge and he waved us through. “I’ll radio the med center and let them know you’re coming!”

A few more turns down small, unpaved roads, and I was pulling up in front of a crudely constructed house. A man and woman rushed out, throwing open the doors.

“Rhodes, thank you,” David called, climbing out of the back and lifting a groaning Connie into his arms. “I owe you.”

“Thank you!” Connie cried out, eyes squeezed shut against the pain. She offered a limp wave over her mate’s shoulder as he carried her to the medical clinic.

The doors of the truck slammed shut and I was left in sudden, stark silence. Giving myself a mental shake, I checked the clock again.

Shit. I would definitely be pushing it to make it before midnight now.

Putting the SUV back in drive I headed out of the compound, rolling through the guard station and turning back onto the main road, praying I would make it in time.