Page 32 of The Brave (Black Arrowhead #6)

“ I need you to push!” Milly called out from behind me.

“I can’t. I can’t do this anymore.” My hands gripped the headboard and I sobbed, the pressure unbearable. Exhaustion overwhelmed me to the point where my thighs were shaking.

“Joy, sweetheart.” Hope wiped my forehead with a wet cloth. “You can do this. I k now it hurts, but soon all that pain will be gone. Be brave.”

Milly encouraged me to try different positions when labor began, and being the wolf that I was, getting on my knees and using the headboard as my anchor felt the most natural. But now my muscles trembled, and I couldn’t hold myself this way anymore with my knees sinking into the mattress.

The only ones in the room were Milly and Hope. Everyone else had been ordered to stay outside. I couldn’t bear the thought of Atticus seeing me like this.

“Help me. I need to turn over,” I whined.

Hope gripped my arm and assisted me, but sitting felt worse, so I stood and clutched her for support.

Milly laid another towel on the floor before turning a chair around in front of them. “Try squatting. Gravity helps move things along. Make sure you’re only pushing with the contractions. Let your body tell you what to do, and make sure you don’t hold your breath. Remember what I said about your breathing.”

Hope helped me get into position as I squatted on the floor, my hands gripping the back of the chair. This felt easier, and suddenly the pressure was unbearable with the next contraction. My growl turned into a feral scream.

“It’s crowning!” Milly announced with her hand between my legs. “Big push. You can do it. We’re almost there.”

Another scream ripped from my lungs. “It burns!”

“One more big push!”

Tears ran down my cheeks. I could feel that life between my legs, and I wanted the labor to end. I wanted more than anything to hold my baby in my arms and be over all this pain.

Hope stroked my back. “You can do this. We’re almost done. Give it all you’ve got!”

With everything I had in me, I pushed so hard that I became dizzy. There was so much pressure—so much burning.

“Here it comes!” Milly announced. “I’ve got the head. Give me a small push.”

Relief came fast as soon as the baby was out.

“There we go!” she announced.

I laughed in disbelief that I’d somehow survived the ordeal. But something else happened in that split second—and two deliveries happened at once.

The baby began crying when Milly cleaned the mouth and nasal passages.

Something snapped inside me—a connection severed. My vision blurred, and all the sounds muffled until I went completely deaf. I gripped the chair, my heart skipping around in my chest.

“I’m dizzy,” I mumbled before collapsing onto the floor.

“Milly!” Hope shrieked.

“Take the baby.”

Hope clutched the wrapped-up infant while Milly turned me over.

“Joy? Joy!” Milly pressed her fingers to my neck and then straightened my body out. “Alpha! Get in here!”

I watched in confusion as she turned me onto my back. Tak burst into the room, and his gleeful smile turned into a shocked grimace when he saw her pumping my chest.

I’m not in my body. What’s happening to me? Please no!

The pack filed in, their eyes wide as they stared at Milly while she continued chest compressions.

Salem rushed past them, assessed the situation, and ran out, knocking Lakota over in the process.

“You can’t leave me!” I shouted at him, but my complaints fell on deaf ears.

Kneeling beside my body, I touched my chest as if that might pull my spirit back inside.

Atticus was there. “Let me help.”

“Your blood can’t restart a heart,” she snapped.

I cried invisible tears.

Salem burst into the room with something in his hand and sat on the other side of my unconscious body. “Move her gown. Hurry!”

While Milly continued compressions, Tak reached behind my neck and untied the gown. He gave it a yank and pulled it down to my waist, and I was suddenly embarrassed to be on display in my final moments. I didn’t want to be remembered this way.

After sticking two patches to my chest and side, Salem shouted, “Clear!”

Milly leaned away as he delivered the shock.

“It didn’t work,” Atticus said, the desperation in his voice cutting through me like a knife. He crouched at my feet with his hands over his mouth.

Milly continued chest compressions.

“Please, please!” I cried, looking up at my pack. “I’m not ready to die.”

Melody clutched Lakota. “This can’t be happening.”

Archer cursed under his breath while consoling Cecilia, who—unable to watch—buried her face in his chest.

Virgil patted Archer’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Clear!”

The device administered another shock of electricity.

Virgil swung his eyes up to mine. “It’s gonna be fine.”

A whooshing sensation came over me, like sliding down a dark tunnel. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my body and staring up at the ceiling.

Tak gripped my arm. “Joy, you need to shift.”

“No!” Milly swung into view. “Don’t shift. You haven’t delivered the placenta, and it might kill your wolf—especially since we don’t know what just happened. Do you consent to Vampire blood? It’s the fastest way to heal whatever’s going on inside you.”

I looked up at Atticus, who had crawled beside me. Never in a million years would I have imagined myself saying yes, but I had too much to live for. “Yes.”

As quickly as the words left my mouth, Atticus bit his wrist and held it to my lips. To my surprise, his blood only vaguely tasted like actual blood. Thousands of years of life awakened every cell in my being, and the pain instantaneously vanished as my body healed. He drew the gown over my chest and hovered so close that all I could see were his beautiful black eyes.

“Stay with me,” he whispered before pulling his wrist away. He licked the wound to heal it. “How do you feel, my love?”

“Better than I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”

Sighs of relief and chuckles overlapped.

“All right. Show’s over,” Milly announced. “Everyone clear out so we can finish up here.”

Atticus kissed my cheek. “I won’t leave your side again, even at your behest.”

“I want to see my baby. Where’s my baby?” When I struggled to sit up, Atticus scooted behind me and let me lean against him.

Hope knelt with the baby wrapped in a sweet little blanket with ducklings on it.

“What is it?” I asked.

She shook her head, her cheeks tearstained. “I don’t know.”

Milly transferred the crying baby into my arms. “Take a look, mama.”

As soon as the tiny infant entered my arms, my soul felt like a compass pointing north. My vision blurred as hot tears spilled down my cheeks. “You are so beautiful.” I’d never known until that moment that it was possible to love anyone at first sight. I pulled the blanket open and glanced down. “My baby girl. Oh, Atticus. We have a little girl. Look at her.”

Hope wiped away her tears.

“My sweet baby girl.” Drawing in her scent, I kissed her soft cheeks as her cries died down. “I’m going to make your life so much better than mine. I promise I’ll never leave you again, little angel.”

Hope leaned over me. “She’s so precious.”

The baby wrapped her tiny fingers around my thumb and held on tight. Atticus rested his head on my shoulder and stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. When I peered up at him, he had tears shining in his eyes.

“This is your father,” I said to her. “And I’m your mommy.”

Thirty minutes later, we finished the delivery process. Milly checked the baby over while Hope gathered the dirty towels off the floor. After cleaning myself with clean towels, I changed into a nightgown. The Vampire blood had given me energy—enough that I could have jumped in the shower. But I was still processing what had happened and didn’t want to leave my baby for one minute.

“Will the Vampire blood affect the baby if I breastfeed?” I asked Milly.

“If anything, it’ll make her feel better for a day or two,” she said truthfully. “I’ll take these bags out and burn them.”

“Why not just throw them away?”

“You’re in wolf territory. The last thing you want is nosy neighbors sniffing blood on your property. The plastic mattress cover was a smart idea. Towels can be replaced, but a good mattress isn’t cheap.”

We had removed the dirty sheets and plastic covering from the mattress and put fresh linens down. Lying against a stack of pillows, I held my baby on my chest, skin to skin. She was so warm and precious, and I couldn’t get enough of touching her silky hair and ruddy cheeks.

“She has your hair color,” Atticus said from the spot to my left. “Maybe even your eyes.”

“It wouldn’t matter if she’d been born with black hair. She’s mine, and she’s beautiful.” I kissed the top of her head. “Can you open the box on the floor? It’s on my side.”

Atticus jumped to his feet and smiled at me as he rounded the bed. He looked so proud. The way he admired the baby when he held her in his arms was all the assurance I needed that he would love her unconditionally.

After lifting the lid off the box, he set it on the edge of the bed. “Did you make these?”

“Only the blanket and booties.”

He twirled a little grey hat around his finger. “And this?”

“I bought it.”

“The wolf ears are a nice touch.”

“Help me.”

His brow furrowed when I set the baby between my legs. “I’ll have my assistant order diapers. These are too big.”

I giggled when her feet stretched up.

Atticus slipped the tiny booties on and pulled the little string that tightened them. Then he tucked the cuff over the strings and wrapped her in a green knit blanket. As soon as he put the wolf hat on her head, we both smiled.

“Someone looks adorable,” he cooed.

Hearing the way he spoke to her melted my heart.

Atticus bent over and pressed a lasting kiss to my lips. His forehead touched mine, reminding me that it wasn’t just me who’d almost lost everything.

While nursing the baby, I repositioned myself. “There’s something I need to tell you. I think I know why my heart stopped.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Milly suggested a number of things could have caused the medical emergency. Stress, blood pressure?—”

“But none of those reasons apply. When I delivered, something else came out of me.”

He dipped his chin. “What?”

“One of my wolves. I felt her spirit leave my body as soon as the baby was born. Atticus, I think Gypsy’s inside her now. How is that possible? Babies have their own spirit wolves.”

He took my hand. “Their leader was playing God, and his intention was to weaken genes—perhaps even nullify gifts. He might have found a way for a Shifter to give birth to a human. If he could spread that like a virus, it would exterminate your kind.”

“But she’s not human.”

“Maybe she was at conception.”

When the baby unlatched from my nipple, I placed her in her father’s arms and pulled my robe closed. “Do you think my wolf has been inside her since the beginning?”

“That would explain why she was shifting in the womb. We’ll never know. Maybe your wolf sensed from the very beginning that your baby needed her, so she fused their spirits together. Your wolf is mature and would be naturally protective. All we can do is speculate. You said it was Gypsy. She’s the strong one, right?”

“Uh-huh. Bess is the submissive wolf.”

“Hmm.” He patted the baby’s back as if he’d been doing it all his life. “That makes sense. The strong one knew the baby needed her more. You’re a mother now. There’s no fiercer warrior, so she knew it was okay to leave.” After my little one let out a tiny burp, he returned her to my arms. “Should I call the pack in, or do you want more time alone?”

“I would be highly surprised if their ears weren’t pressed against the door.” I smothered a laugh. “Invite them in.”

Candles flickered in the room since it was early evening. It was surreal to think only an hour ago, I was suffering the worst pain. Now I felt like I could run a marathon. This day had gone from the worst to the best day of my life, and I had a newfound appreciation for each moment.

The pack quietly filtered into the room and surrounded the bed. Their jubilant expressions turned to tears.

Melody scanned everyone’s faces and laughed. “Looks like nobody wins the bet, including Krys.”

“It’s just dust,” he grumped.

Tak approached first and kissed my cheek. Still hovering, he said, “Don’t ever scare me like that again.” He tilted his head and smiled. “So you’re the one we’ve been waiting for. Come see your alpha.”

“It’s a girl,” I informed everyone. “And… I don’t have two wolves anymore.”

Holding the baby against his chest, Tak snapped his head in my direction. “Say that again?”

“My wolves split apart during the delivery. One of them is inside her.”

“So she has two?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No. At least I don’t think so. My wolf wouldn’t have left me if she had one of her own. I think the experiments made her that way, and one of my wolves decided to guard her. That’s why my heart stopped. It happened the moment I felt my wolf leave me. Maybe I wasn’t meant to die; it was just a side effect of her detaching from my soul.”

When he patted her back, she burped loudly, making a few packmates chuckle. “Special indeed. The spirits were watching over you. They know.” He gently placed her back in my arms before shifting. Tak’s large black wolf sniffed the baby, then raised his head and howled. Catcher joined him in a harmonious chorus of celebration.

I gasped when the baby trembled. Her body shook as if she were having a seizure.

In a blink, she shifted into a little wolf. After stepping out of her diaper, she stumbled across the bed with her knit wolf hat covering her face.

Mercy cupped her cheeks. “Holy mackerel! I see it, but I don’t believe it.”

“Look at that pretty white fur,” Lakota remarked.

Archer gingerly removed the hat from her head before tossing it on the bed. “Her left ear is black.”

My baby yipped at him, and I was happy to see everyone’s pleased reactions. No one looked at her like she was a monster. All I saw were smiles. Instead of a newborn wolf, she looked about a month old already. When I gazed into her eyes, it was like seeing an old friend.

“Hi, Gypsy.”

She howled along with the alpha.

“She’s adorable!” Cecilia exclaimed.

Atticus sat to my left again. While the pack admired the pup, who faltered on unsteady legs, he leaned in close. “And you were worried your family wouldn’t accept her. See how much love you bring to this world? Your daughter is an extension of that love.”

“ Our daughter.” I leaned against him and kissed his ear. “Our daughter.”

“Careful,” Milly warned while entering the room. “She’s not a pet. If you pick her up, hold her securely in case she shifts again. A baby doesn’t have control over her animal.”

When my daughter’s wolf wagged her tail, it made me giggle. “Why is she much bigger than when she was inside me?”

Milly checked my blood pressure again. “The gestation period for wolves is shorter. Shifting inside of you might have sped things up.”

“Will her wolf always be that size?”

After a minute staring at the blood pressure machine, she removed the cuff. “I doubt she’ll mature until your child does. I’ve seen a few Shifters who went through their first change at thirteen, and because of it, their wolves weren’t fully grown. Their growth rate slowed down to match the child’s.”

When Archer tried to snatch the hat, the pup barked at him and bit down on it with her little teeth. She was going to be fierce one day.

The little wolf flipped onto her side and then shifted back to human form.

“Holy shit! Look at that,” Archer exclaimed. “Her belly button healed.”

Hope gave him an admonishing look. “No cursing around the baby.”

Virgil put his arm around Krys. “If that’s the case, I guess you’ll be living outside from now on.”

Everyone leaned in to get a closer look at the newborn. The baby wailed, and I wondered if she was tickled by a food craving she wouldn’t be able to satisfy for a few years.

While Hope put the diaper and clothes back on my little one, everyone introduced themselves to the new packmate. Once she was swaddled up with her hat warming her head, the baby finally settled down. She didn’t understand all the noise and different people.

Salem sat next to me and touched my shoulder. “Have you chosen a name?”

You could have heard a pin drop.

I smiled at the loving way Hope showed her to the pack. “Violet. I’ve always loved that name since I was a little girl. Violet Rain.”

Everyone steered their attention to Atticus.

“I’ll be taking his name too,” I informed them.

“Hello, Violet.” Montana cradled her in his arms. “Come see your favorite uncle.”

Virgil wandered over to the side of the bed and put his hands on his hips. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if he tried. “That’s an epic name. You know why?”

When he broke out singing “Purple Rain” by Prince, I realized she would be hearing that from her Uncle Virgil for a very long time.

“Maybe it’s not too late to change it,” I said jokingly to Atticus.

“Violet suits her. A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

“Come see Aunt Mel.” Melody reached out her arms and kidnapped her from Montana. “I’m going to name a clothing line after you.”

“Can I have a name?”

We turned to acknowledge the slip of a girl standing in the doorway to my right. Her wide eyes were locked on me instead of the commotion around the bed.

I didn’t know what to say.

Atticus sat forward. “Come here, child.”

The girl padded around the room while hugging her middle. Someone had lent her clothes—probably Melody by the looks of the leggings and oversized T-shirt. Before reaching Atticus, she stopped next to Krys.

Atticus swung his legs over the left side of the bed and looked at her for a spell. “Would you like to choose your own name? Many ancients like me have claimed our own names.”

“Can you make me remember my name?”

“No, little one. I can’t. Your memories may never be recovered. Those who captured you are dead.”

She looked up at Krys. “Can you give me a name?”

“Jesus, kid. I don’t know anything about naming a girl.” Krys shook his head, seemingly embarrassed that she was stuck to him like superglue. “You wouldn’t want anything I’d give you anyhow.”

Tears brimmed in her eyes, and when her chin quivered, she hustled toward the door.

Milly, who was sitting at the table near the door, slapped her hand on the table and caught the girl’s attention. “How old are you?”

The girl froze in her tracks. “Fourteen.”

“You got amnesia?” Milly studied her before looking at Tak’s wolf. “Bring her in sometime this week, assuming she’ll still be here. The girl’s malnourished.”

When the teen edged her way to the door, I couldn’t bear to see the sullen look on her face. “Wait. Everyone should have a name, but what if you don’t like what I give you?”

“I don’t really care. I’m just tired of everyone calling me the girl .”

“Come closer.”

Salem moved out of the way.

I straightened up and admired her features. The sloped nose on her narrow face was adorable, and her dark eyebrows made her honey-colored eyes seem brighter. Her black hair was short and messy, similar to the way Robyn styled hers, but I had a feeling—judging by the blunt, uneven cut—that it was chopped off against her will. When she worried her bottom lip, I noticed her two front teeth were slightly longer than the ones next to them.

While I pondered a name, I realized names had nothing to do with looks or personality—only a feeling. Like the moment when I saw my baby and knew she was Violet.

I took her hand and squeezed it. “What about Cleo? It’s short for Cleopatra, one of the greatest leaders in history.”

“An intelligent leader who was hailed the queen of kings,” Atticus added.

She tugged on her earlobe. “Cleo?”

“She looks like a Cleo,” someone whispered.

When I noticed the direction of her gaze, I asked, “Would you like to hold the baby, Cleo?”

Hope collected the baby from Montana and instructed Cleo to sit down first. When Cleo held my daughter, she bent down and touched noses with the baby. “Hey, little wolfy. I like your hat.” Then she whispered, “You’re so lucky.” Cleo twisted around and let me take the baby. “Thanks for the name.”

Hope put her arm around the girl. “Why don’t we get you something to eat? You’ve been sleeping all day, and I bet you’re starving. Come with me.”

“I’m fine,” she said as they drifted toward the door. “I’d rather go back to my room.”

Bear cleared his throat. “Speaking of eating, I’ve got toasted walnuts and salami waiting for you.”

Gypsy’s craving was always salami, but now it was just Bess inside me. “It’s walnuts now. Only walnuts.”

He winked and puffed out his chest, leading me to believe he’d done something special with preparing those walnuts. “Just say the word when you’re ready to shift.”

After kissing Violet’s chubby little cheeks, I stood and rounded the bed to hand her off to Atticus. He cradled her in his arms and rocked her.

It occurred to me that my two wolves knew each other in spirit but not in flesh. When the baby shifted around my wolf, it would be the first time the sisters met. It made me wonder whether Gypsy had forgotten her life with me and had the intellect of a newborn.

It didn’t matter. She would always protect my baby like she had protected me. I didn’t need her anymore.

Lakota headed to the door. “Let’s give them time alone so Milly doesn’t have to reattach someone’s face. Joy’s wolf hasn’t met us yet, and you guys know the ritual.”

I turned my attention to Atticus. “Maybe you should leave too.”

He canted his head at Violet. “Your mother worries too much. I’m not going anywhere. I’m never leaving your side, little angel.”

Excited to shift for the first time in months, I called to my inner wolf, who was excitedly waiting to meet her baby.