Page 179 of Bred

ROWAN

Iranasfastas I could, hitting the porch of our little cabin and slamming my shoulder into the door. I spun, frantically searching for the healer, but not seeing her anywhere. She was supposed to be right behind me!

“Beta Tiff?” I yelled, panicked. “TIFF!”

“Right here, you beast. Calm down.” The middle-aged woman hustled over the hill, huffing and sweating. I raced back and picked her up. “I told you back at the infirmary. I don’t need to be carried!” She smacked me in the face with her bag, but I ignored her.

Once inside the cabin, I set the beta on her feet and made my way to the spare room—the pup’s room. Lily sat in the center of her nest, cradling her big belly. She groaned and moaned, rocking forward onto her hands and knees. Her mother sat behind her, rubbing her back and humming softly.

“She’s here! The midwife’s here!” I said far too loudly. Charis smiled sweetly and gestured for me to speak softer.

Tiff sat down in front of Lily and slowly opened her bag. I wanted to scream at her for moving so slow. “Can I get you to sit as straight up as you can, sweetie? I just need to check on the progress of your pup.”

I settled next to my mate, helping her to lean back against her mother. Lily’s swollen belly seemed to tighten and squeeze, the pup eager to come into this world. It was such an amazing and odd sight.

The midwife placed a hand between Lily’s legs, causing my mate to whine in discomfort.

“You’re doing so good, baby,” Charis whispered, smoothing Lily’s hair away from her face. “So good, my sweet pup.”

I felt useless.

The adrenaline pumping through my body was insatiable. My wolf wanted to kill a bear, swim across the ocean, and split the center of the earth. Something other than just sitting and watching my mate writhe in agony while doing fucking nothing.

“Oh, yes,” Beta Tiff nodded. She removed her hand, and I jerked, my senses overflowing at the blood on her fingers. “Calm down, alpha.” Tiff wiped the mess off. She placed her hands on her knees and leaned toward me with a stern glare. “Birthing pups is hard. Your omega will be in a lot of pain, and there will be a bit of blood. You will not turn into an uncaged beast in this room. Do you understand?”

My wolf bristled at her tone, but I nodded, unwilling to say or do anything that might put Lily at risk. I needed this midwife focused entirely on my mate. Not me.

Lily let out a sharp whine that melted into a long groan. She squeezed my hand as I willed her to pour every drop of pain coursing through her body into me.

“I know, sweetie. I know.” Charis reached over and patted my arm. “Rowan, move here. Take my spot.”

She shifted, allowing me to slip behind my mate. Lily rolled forward onto her hands and knees again, rocking and grunting. Charis grabbed my hands and placed them on Lily’s lower back, forcing me to squeeze her tense muscles.

I rubbed and caressed and massaged every damn place I could reach. Gauging all of Lily’s sounds and movements, I applied more pressure when needed and jumped back when she snapped at me for touching her too much. The whole process was exhausting and awful, and I couldn’t help but wonder why any intelligent wolf would ever choose to do this more than once. And the pup wasn’t even here yet!

The day wore on, and night quickly fell. My wolf wallowed within me, unable to take the sight of our omega in so much pain. Watching her sweet face, flushed and puffy, etched with agony and tears. It was the most horrible thing I had ever endured.

But then, just before dawn, the most amazing thing happened.

“That’s it,” Tiff whispered, helping Lily into a deep squat.

I sat just behind her, my hands hovering near her hips, too scared to actually touch her. I had been snapped at far too many times for being too close. Then for not being close enough. Then too close again. I waited patiently for Lily to tell me what to do.

“I see a head!” Charis squealed, angling herself down to see under her daughter.

“Yeah?” I wanted to yell how excited I was the pup had a head, but thankfully I just laughed, too fucking excited to get any other words out.

“That’s it, Lily. One more good push.”

Lily let out a guttural growl, then a sharp yip. She bared down and her whole body shook hard.

Beta Tiff jumped into action, reaching for the baby’s head. I leaned back to see what she was doing. She unwrapped a bloody cord from around the pup’s neck, then nodded at me. “You’re going to help her lay back here in a second, alpha.”

I nodded, ready for my next orders.

“Lily,” Tiff said, “with the next sharp pain, I want you to push very hard. Just once more. That’s it.”

There was a horrible moment of silence as we all stared at my exhausted mate. She kept her head down, breathing steady, rocking gently on her feet.