Page 218 of His Fated Luna

Rose nodded happily up at me, her eyes shining brightly.

"It means light. She's our light in the darkness," Rose explained.

My heart constricted and I let my fingers skim across her jaw before lifting her face slightly as Ibent down to kiss her. It wasn’t at all done with the intention to arouse. It was done to seek comfort; to give solace to one another. Because both of us were so afraid of what the future held for us. We’d been through so much together. Would the universe throw us another heartbreak? Or was this just another bump in the road in the journey of our life together? That's what was so bittersweet about all of this. Neither of us knew. And it made us savor each moment even more.

“Bite me. Please.” Rose pulled away and begged against my lips, her breath hot against my face.

Despite the fact that it took a considerable amount of effort on my part, I was able to summon the change from my wolf. Because this was what Rose wanted. And if it gave her the comfort she needed, I’d do it.

My canines elongated and I swiped my tongue over her permanent bite marks. Rose gasped in delight when my tonguetickled her neck. A thin reedy voice in the back of my mind said this might be the last time I was going to bite her.But I pushed it aside determinedly, enjoying the moment with my mate. My canines broke skin, sucking at the small drop of blood that seeped out of her newly opened wound, Ilet my saliva and wolf venom seep into her neck so that she smelled like me.

After I was done, Rose kept her eyes closed and held her head there for a good while. She was thanking me and telling me she loved me more than anything else in this entire world, except for Elena of course. I grinned into her neck at that comment, pulling back when Rose let her hand drop from behind my head. She kissed me on the lips which had traces of her own blood.Rose drew back with a wrinkled nose.

“That’s kind of gross,” she stated. “I didn’t know you taste my blood when you bite me.”

“I don’t mind and it’s only if I’m a little sloppy when I do it.” I said with a twitch of my lips before I kissed her fresh bite mark briefly. “Come on, Princess. Let’s do this.”

For some reason, Ifelt oddly better. More confident that everything would be OK. At that moment, I realized it was Rose. She was pumping her own optimism into me.

It wasn’t until we reached the clinic that Rose finally began to feel nervous. She told me that she wasn’t nervous about dying. She was pretty sure her werewolf abilities would kick in. Dr. Danvers was just being cautious like any doctor would. But what was really setting her on edge was the impending experience of delivery. She asked me many times what if she couldn’t do it? She spoke out about her fear on how muchlabor pain could hurt and how epidural injections didn’t work on werewolves. C-sections were equally as painful, if not worse!

I was so glad I followed Tony’s advice to be there for my mate.

“You’ll do great.” The words sounded confident, the exact opposite of what I felt.

Tony had been right. Rose was going to need me the most right now. I had to give her confidence when hers wavered.

Rose held onto my hand as they set up the drip to induce her. They were going to try for a vaginal delivery via induction. If it failed, they’d operate. A few hours later Rose told me she felt like she was going to pass out and I was sure my hand was broken in several different places from the way Rose clutched it with every contraction. But what was my hand in comparison to her?

“Rose, come on,” the nurse coaxed. “You can do it. You’re doing so well.”

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” Rose stated weakly. “I have been up all night…couldn’t sleep.” Her voice was breathless from pain. “I’m so tired now! AHHHHHHH!” She screamed when another contraction hit.

I grit my teeth as she squeezed down on my hand.

When the contraction passed, she murmured faintly, “I want to sleep.”

“You can sleep soon,” soothed the nurse.

Rose screamed again. I heard a few cracks in my hand. For a girl whose werewolf was repressed, she had a lot of strength in her.

“They're getting longer and closer together.” The nurse looked around gleefully. She shot a look up at me. “She’s doing wonderful! No complications so far! We’re almost ready!”

The nurse mind-linked Dr. Danvers who strode in about ten minutes later.

“This is great! Rose, no excessive bleeding during labor, it means your body just may have healed itself.”

I noticed the way her eyes flitted to me momentarily before another contraction hit her and she screamed. This one was much longer.

“We’re not out of the danger zone yet. Let’s hope it’s all smooth sailing after delivery too.” Dr. Danvers words held a tone ofwary optimism. The elderly doctor looked up at me expectantly. “Would you like to catch the baby?”

Just as I was tempted to step forward, Rose suddenly gripped my hand tighter and another scream tore through her. I felt my fingers fracture. This super-human strength was definitely her wolf.

“I think I’ll stay where I am,” Ireplied quickly, hoarsely, while trying to ride the pain of my hand breaking.

I could sense that Rose needed me here, by her side, because she probably needed to keep murdering my hand. To be fair, the pain she was probably feeling was a thousand times worse.

“OK, Rose...” Dr. Danvers began, “when the next contraction comes in, I need you to push as hard as you can. If we do this right, she’ll be out soon.”