Page 34

The evening settled like a shawl around the shoulders of the sanctuary, with the chirr of crickets and the slow hush of wind through the trees.

Inside their cabin, Natalie and Mason moved through familiar rhythms. The small table near the window had been set with two bowls of venison stew, hearty and rich, seasoned with rosemary and cracked pepper.

Mason poured cider into mismatched mugs while Natalie adjusted the cushions on the wooden bench where she liked to sit, her back cradled against the window frame.

The lights above the table glowed soft and amber, casting their little world in warmth. Through the window, the sky was darkening, the first stars winking into view.

“I think this might be the quietest day we’ve had in months,” Mason said, easing into his chair across from her.

Natalie smiled and cradled her bowl between her hands. “Don’t jinx it.”

He grinned. “You don’t believe in jinxes.”

“Not usually,” she said, pausing to spoon up the stew. “But I’ve been pregnant long enough to respect the laws of irony.”

He laughed, and she watched him, heart tight and full. His laugh had changed over the past few months, looser, warmer. Like he’d shed something heavy. And maybe she had too.

She looked down at her belly, which rose beneath the cotton of her dress like a quiet moon. The baby had been quiet today. Peaceful. Still.

She brushed a hand across the curve. “I think they like the sound of your voice.”

Mason reached out and pressed his palm gently to her stomach, the way he always did now, like it was prayer. “I’m going to love them so much it hurts.”

“You already do,” she said softly.

They ate in silence for a while, the kind that only comes from shared understanding and the closeness of two people who no longer needed to fill every space with words.

The wind picked up outside, rattling the porch lantern. In the distance, a wolf howled once, long and low, a sound more solemn than sorrowful.

Natalie finished her stew and leaned back with a small sigh. “We should write vows,” she murmured.

Mason looked up. “Now?”

“Not this minute,” she said with a small smile. “But soon. Before we forget what this feels like.”

“What does it feel like?”

She tilted her head. “Like everything’s exactly where it should be.”

He reached for her hand. “It is.”

And just then, two loud raps then the door flew open. Olivia and Davey burst into the cabin, wind-tousled and breathless. Olivia’s cheeks were flushed, and Davey’s eyes were wide with urgency.

“We just got a call,” Olivia said quickly. “There’s a hiker up near Elk Run trail who spotted what looks like an injured wolf, high up on the slope, just beyond the fence line. ”

Mason was already on his feet. “How bad?”

“Not sure,” Davey said. “But they said it’s not moving. Could be a snare, maybe a break.”

Natalie sat up straighter, her brow furrowed. “Do we have anyone else out there?”

“No,” Olivia said. “Everyone’s off duty or at home. We’re the closest.”

Mason grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, his voice calm but firm. “Let’s go. We’ll take the truck up the lower trail and hike the rest.”

“I’ll prep the med kit,” Davey said, already turning for the door.

Olivia followed, her voice trailing instructions.

Natalie stood too, pushing herself up with both hands, intending to follow them into the hallway to offer guidance.

But halfway across the room, she stopped.

Her eyes widened. She reached for the edge of the table.

And then she doubled over. A small, sharp gasp escaped her lips.

Mason turned immediately. “Natalie?”

She straightened slowly, but her hands pressed hard against her belly, and her breath was short, shallow.

“I…” she tried to speak, but another wave rolled through her, this one deeper. Lower. Like a tide coming in fast and unrelenting.

All three of them had frozen.

Olivia moved first. She crossed to Natalie in two strides, her hands steady. “Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe.”

Natalie’s eyes met hers, wide and glassy. Then they flicked to Mason.

His face had gone pale. “Natalie?—?”

She gripped the back of a chair as another pang rippled through her .

Then she looked at all of them, Olivia, Mason, Davey, and smiled in disbelief.

“I think the baby’s coming.”

For a moment, the world stood impossibly still.

Natalie’s voice, soft but unflinching, hung in the air.

Then, the moment shattered into motion. Mason moved first, his instincts catching up with his heart.

He was at Natalie’s side in an instant, a hand cradling her lower back, the other gripping hers as if he could tether her to steadiness.

“Okay,” he breathed, voice too calm for the thunder behind his ribs. “Okay, Nat. We’re going to the hospital. Now.”

Davey spun toward the door, already moving. “I’ll bring the truck around!” he shouted, his voice trailing behind him like smoke as he disappeared into the dark.

Natalie tried to stand, one hand braced on the edge of the table, the other cradling the taut, trembling swell of her belly. She looked up at Mason with wide, storm-lit eyes.

“It’s coming,” she whispered. “Finally… but I’m scared.”

Mason crouched before her, pressing his forehead gently to hers. “It’s going to be okay, don’t be scared. You and the baby are going to be okay.”

But the stillness that had filled the cabin with warmth only minutes before had now thickened into something else. Olivia hadn’t moved.

Mason turned to her, his voice taut. “You’ll come with us?”

But Olivia didn’t answer right away. Her cane rested against the wall behind her. Her eyes, usually filled with quick, practical fire, were locked on the window beyond the cabin, on the dark ridgeline, where the trees folded into shadow and wind whispered secrets only the wild understood.

“I can’t,” she said at last, her voice gentle but resolute.

The air in the room shifted .

Mason blinked. “What do you mean you can’t? It’s starting. You… Natalie needs you.”

“There’s an injured wolf,” she said, her hands steady even as something inside the room fractured. “High up, just past the fence line. If it’s caught in a snare, it won’t survive the night.”

“Olivia.” Mason’s voice was sharp now, edged with disbelief and something close to hurt. “Natalie’s in labor.”

“And she has you,” Olivia said, looking at him fully now, her eyes fierce with quiet conviction. “She has you, and she has Davey. But that animal? It has no one else.”

Mason stared at her, struggling to piece together the two truths in front of him. Natalie in labor, his child on the way… and Olivia, who’d always listened to the earth before anything else, slipping into the woods with nothing but her will and her worn pack.

Olivia turned to Natalie then, who had managed to sit, breathing through another wave of pain.

“I want you there,” Natalie whispered. “I want you with me.”

“I know,” Olivia said softly, crouching beside her.

“But this… this is who I am. This is my heartbeat. If I didn’t go, I’d lose something I can’t explain.

And you…” she touched Natalie’s cheek, tears glistening in her eyes, “you’ll have everything you need.

You’re strong. And Mason… he’ll never leave your side. ”

A long silence passed between them, punctuated only by the whistle of wind around the cabin walls.

Then Natalie reached for Olivia’s hand. “I understand. Now go but promise me you’ll be careful.”

Olivia squeezed it. “Always.”

A moment later, she was out the door, wrapped in her long coat, pack over her shoulder, headlamp slung around her neck.

She disappeared into the blackened edge of the trail like she belonged to it, the scent of cedar and dusk rising to meet her.

Natalie leaned back against the wall, gripping Mason’s hand as another contraction hit.

Mason helped her stand, pressing a kiss to her temple. “I’ve got you,” he whispered. “I swear.”

The cabin door burst open again as Davey appeared. “Truck’s running. Let’s go!”

They wrapped Natalie in a thick blanket, helped her out into the night.

The wind caught at her dress, wrapped around her belly like a warning.

The stars had come out, bright and sharp, scattered across the sky like shattered glass.

Mason helped her into the truck, sliding in beside her, one hand clasping hers, the other braced on her back as she breathed in short, sharp bursts.

Davey climbed into the driver’s seat, his jaw set, hands steady. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“Drive safe,” Mason said, glancing at Natalie’s face. “But drive fast.”

As the truck roared down the gravel road, the sanctuary disappeared behind them, swallowed by darkness and moonlight.

Inside, Natalie gripped Mason’s hand and closed her eyes, feeling her body rise like a wave and crash again.

Her thoughts blurred with each pulse of pain, but one image held in her mind: Olivia’s back retreating into the forest, walking straight toward danger without fear, because that was who she was.

“She’ll be okay,” Mason whispered again, though he wasn’t sure if he was saying it for Natalie, or for himself.

The truck curved through the pines, headlights slicing through shadow, wheels skimming corners. In the rearview mirror, the night stretched on endlessly. The world had split in two.

One road led to new life. The other, into the trees, toward silence. Toward something none of them could yet see.