Page 176 of The Wolves of Forest Grove

JARED

The pain radiated down my spine and ricocheted through my entire body.

It rose and crested, forcing me to hunch down and grip the edge of the counter to catch my breath.

Like a wave, it broke, white spray blotting out my vision before the clenching ache subsided, leveling out into an even roar of discomfort.

“What the fuck…” I muttered breathily, clenching my stomach.

My phone pinged loudly, yanking me out of my daze. Shakily, I reached for it in my pocket, thumbing the screen to see a single text message glowing in the shadowy kitchen.

Layla: It’s time.

No.

It couldn’t be time yet.

Allie wasn’t due for another two weeks.

I nearly tripped over my own feet running up the stairs to check our bedroom, bursting through the door to find it entirely vacant. The bedsheets rumpled. A wet stain on the carpet next to Allie’s side of the bed.

I’d just gotten home from wrapping up a big order at the quarry. Clay must have still been at the pub. Allie had to be at Hazel’s cabin. That was where we’d planned to do the delivery.

My pulse spiked, pushing adrenaline through my veins and awakening my wolf.

Were they ready? Did we have everything?

Layla had thrown herself into learning everything there was to learn about midwifery and how to care for a shifter in childbirth. Hazel was a seasoned vet, too, having delivered several babes in her time. Everything was going to be fine.

Totally fucking fine.

Right?

I gripped twin fistfuls of my hair, trying to think clearly. Was there anything I was supposed to grab before I headed over there? I was sure there was something but…

Shit.

I sloppily swiped at my phone, punching Clay in the contact list. It rang twice before he answered.

“I’m already on my way,” he growled down the line, his voice garbled with the presence of his wolf. “Give me five minutes.”

The line went dead before I could even get a word in.

Another message flashed across the screen, this time from Vivian.

Vivian: Where the fuck are you? Patrol says you passed through fifteen minutes ago. Get your ass over here. Now.

My throat felt near closing, but I didn’t hesitate another second, rushing down the stairs and out into the chill of the early spring night.

Sweat dripped from my hairline, and I winced, doubling over halfway to Hazel’s cabin as another wave of pain gripped me, making every muscle in my back rock solid as I gasped to breathe through it.

Contractions, I realized. Allie was having contractions, and I was sharing in her pain.

Cool fingers curled around my arm, and I flinched, ripping away from the helping hand.

“Jare?” came a familiar voice, and I blinked through the wetness stinging my eyes to find a lick of dark hair and Seth’s concerned face. “Layla just sent me to look for you, man. You okay? You look like fucking shit.”

I coughed, tasting the tang of bile at the back of my throat as I let him help me straighten. “I can feel it,” I gritted out. “Hazel was right.”

Seth’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t think you’d feel it that much.”

I groaned, rushing forward once I had my footing. The sound of Clay’s wolf howling in the distance chased Seth and me across the camp.

The lights were bright in all the windows, and I sensed her inside. Her fear. Her anguish.

Stupid. I shouldn’t have taken the shift at the quarry. Not this close to the day. I should’ve been here.

I shouldered through the door, my eyes locking on her across the room. Allie schooled her face the moment I entered, slapping her lips shut to breathe heavily through her nose. Locking down her fear.

Didn’t she know that she didn’t have to hide from us anymore?

“Allie,” I breathed, crossing the floor to where she was lying at the center of Hazel’s bed over several layers of thick blankets and sterilized surgical pads.

“You,” Layla barked, glaring at Seth while she dipped a cloth in a large basin of cool water. “Out. There’s already too many people in here.”

He took one look at Allie, gave an apologetic, if a little pained, smile and saw himself out.

“Hey,” I said, unable to dislodge the lump from my throat as I took her hand in mine and pressed it to my lips.

“Hey,” she replied, trying on a smile.

Layla shoved the basin at me, sloshing icy water over my feet and the floor. “Here. Try to keep her comfortable, would you? I have to get some more things ready.”

I nodded, setting to the task of wiping down Allie’s brow with the damp cloth. She shivered gratefully as I glided the cloth down to her neck, leaning into my touch.

“Where’s Clay?”

“Here.”

He stood in the doorway, steaming lightly from the exertion of his run, his muscles bunched with tension and eyes dark with the same emotion I was feeling.

My jaw clenched as a silent moment passed between me and my best friend. We hadn’t spoken about it, but I knew he was thinking the same thing I was ever since we found out Allie was having twins.

Hazel was clever to keep it from us. She didn’t say a word until both the babies’ heartbeats were strong enough for us to be able to discern that there were two beating within her womb.

And by that stage, the chances of vanishing twin syndrome occurring were so low that Allie only kind of flipped out.

But the chance of Allie not surviving the birth, however low, was an ever present fear since the beginning. Her mother hadn’t survived Allie’s birth. What if…

“It’s too soon,” Clay grunted, his nostrils flaring as he keenly took in every inch of the room, as though in search of an enemy or at the very least, something he could punch.

“He’s right,” I agreed, gulping as I dipped the cloth back into the water and let Allie snatch it from my hand to wring over her bare chest with a sigh. “Isn’t that too early, what if—”

“There’s nothing to be done about it now,” Hazel interrupted, readying the table with supplies and clean cloths. “Besides, two weeks early isn’t so bad. Not for twins.”

Allie grunted, her hand gripping my forearm as another wave of muscle spasming pain rocked us both.

Clay doubled over across the room, growling.

When Allie finally let go, yellow bruises colored my flesh, and she winced apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Break it if you want,” I offered. “I don’t care.”

She barked a laugh, growing more serious as Layla draped a thin sheet over her swollen belly and helped her get her knees upright. “How long?” she asked, breathless.

Layla peered beneath the sheet, swiping her arm over her brow. “Um...I’m not sure. Looks like five centimeters. It’s happening too fast.”

Clay swayed unsteadily on his feet, blinking rapidly as he braced his hands on his knees. “What does that mean?” he demanded.

“It means we need to be ready for anything.”

“I’m back, got the ice,” Viv called, barging in and nearly tripping over Clay’s hunched form in the entry.

Ice cubes scattered to the hardwood, and she cursed, thrusting the bucket of ice at me so she could help Clay.

“What are these for?”

Allie stuffed her hand into the bucket and popped two into her mouth, moaning as they began to melt.

Guess that’s what.

“Hey,” Viv said, snapping her fingers in front of Clay’s reddened face. “Hey, snap out of it.”

He knocked her hands away as she tried to help him unfurl back to his full height.

“Clay?” Allie said around a mouthful of ice. “Is he okay?”

“Am I okay?” he hissed. “Christ, babe.”

“Okay, come here you big idiot,” Viv ordered, finally getting a hold on him. “Come get some air.”

“Wait,” Allie blurted, looking after Clay with a pained expression on her face as Layla took another measurement beneath the sheet.

Vivian shoved Clay through the door and spun around with a wink. “Don’t worry,” she assured my mate. “I’ll bring him right back. Promise.”

My stomach twisted uneasily as Layla gave me a meaningful look from between Allie’s legs. It was happening too fast. Layla’s already pale complexion turned an almost sickly white as she swallowed hard, rising to whisper something to Hazel that I didn’t catch.

What the fuck was happening?

I set to stroking Allie’s hair back from her flushed cheeks, the repetitive motion calming us both. I could still hear her heart beating strong in her chest. Feel the life flowing through her. Through the mate bond. She was strong. The strongest woman I’d ever known. She would get through this.

She was going to be an incredible mother.

She had to make it through this.

I didn’t know if I could do it without her.

“Your nerves are giving my nerves hives,” she muttered, stuffing more ice cubes into her mouth as she gave me an angry side-eye.

My throat went dry, and I tried to get a handle on myself, trying to be the calm eye of her storm. Trying to be the solidity she needed when all around us was chaos.

Hazel nodded to Layla and lifted a tray from beneath the table. A metal tray with a whole bunch of scissor looking things and scalpels and…

“What the hell is that for?”

Hazel shot daggers at me from across the room, and you’d almost think she could see again from the accuracy of her stare. It was clear she wasn’t going to answer me, but I felt Allie stiffen beside me when she noticed the tray.

Outside, I could hear the roar of Vivian shouting at Clay.

Telling him that Allie needed him to keep his cool.

That he wasn’t allowed to fall apart. That Allie was going to be fine, but that if he missed the birth of his own children, Allie would kill him, and then he would be the one that wasn’t fine.

“Fuck!” Allie shouted as another contraction hardened her belly and raced across my lower back like the swipe of a red hot blade.

I gritted my teeth, trying not to bend to it. Trying to be strong for her.

If what Hazel said was true, what we could feel was only a taste of the pain Allie was feeling. The echo of it. I had no right to be a wreck when she was handling this like a champ.

Baring her teeth through the pain and then sagging to catch her breath when it was over. Even managing a tiny smile in my direction.