Chapter 8
Drake paced around his kitchen like a caged dragon. He was ready to crawl out of his skin and shift into his animal form. His mate was uncomfortable upstairs so he’d come down to get her chicken broth like she’d asked. Now he was just waiting on it to finish warming up—and resisting the urge to just blast the damn microwave with his fire. Because that would do no one any good. And Victoria would have to wait even longer for her broth if he did.
“Everything will be okay,” his father said from the doorway of the kitchen, his presence normally steady and reassuring. But at the moment nothing mattered but getting back upstairs to his mate.
Victoria had been restless all night—hell, the last couple months. At least she and the baby were fine.
“I know,” he said tiredly. He couldn’t ever remember being this tired but his brain hurt right now. He’d been working on a surprise for Victoria and trying to keep it a secret. And because he couldn’t do anything to ease his perfect mate’s pain, the closer she got to giving birth, the more he let his fear creep inside. He’d spent fifteen hundred years in Hell, first as a scared little boy then as a savage beast. He was only ever truly afraid when it came to his mate. Now, deep down, he was worried he’d lose her. Lose their child. Lose everything that mattered.
He felt her pain even before he heard her cry out.
“Drake!”
He didn’t remember moving, didn’t remember anything until he was crouched next to their bed, holding her hand as she cried out in pain.
“Contractions!” she rasped out.
“But—”
“No buts! He’s—” She let out another cry of pain and then Greer was there, taking over.
“Oh, this little guy is coming now,” Greer said, in straight healer mode. “I think you’re skipping the full labor experience. I can’t sense any distress. I just sense that he is coming out right now.”
She continued talking, but Drake tuned everything out as he held his mate’s hand. Greer was saying something as she got between Victoria’s legs, her tone soothing. He heard random words about how the baby had decided to come so quickly, and how this was good since Victoria had been pregnant so long.
Then for some reason Drake couldn’t hear anything. All his focus was on his mate’s face as it scrunched in pain.
She was fierce and determined, his beautiful, tough mate. Her fingers dug into his palm as she let out another cry of pain.
“Almost there,” Greer murmured.
Wait, what? Drake looked at his clan’s healer. “He’s coming now?”
“Yep. This guy is not waiting… Take three short breaths, then push, Victoria.”
“Okay.”
Drake wiped her brow as she started pushing, wishing he could take away all her pain, all this agony. Gods above, females were definitely the stronger sex. “I’m right here with you, sweetheart.”
“I know…arghh.” She cried out again as Greer let out a pleased sound.
“You’re so close. Keep pushing.”
“You’ve got this,” Drake said, feeling utterly useless. Words were useless. Her pain should be his.
“You did it,” Greer murmured, cradling a tiny little baby covered in…a lot of stuff. “He’s a healthy baby boy.”
The urge to hold his baby was strong, but he took Victoria’s hand in his and brought it to his mouth. “You are my perfect, fierce warrior.”
Victoria pushed out a breath even as she shoved back a lock of her dark, damp hair. He cupped her face as she looked at Greer and said, “When can I hold him?”
“Give me just a second to clean him up.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Drake was vaguely aware that Greer was doing something. Shifter births were a hell of a lot different than human ones. Victoria’s body would already be healing itself at rapid speeds, but it still must have hurt. He was glad her labor had been so short. It was a blessing, considering how long her pregnancy had been.
“Drake…” Victoria’s vivid green eyes glazed over as she slumped back against the pillows, her entire body going lax.
“Shit! Take him now.” Greer started barking out orders before she shoved Drake back. “I need to get her next door,” she snapped out at…Rhea. Where had she even come from?
That was when he realized there were a handful of his clanmates in their huge bedroom. And next door meant the room they had prepared for their baby’s birth. It was where Victoria was supposed to have given birth but everything had happened so quickly.
“I can’t get a pulse,” Greer said, bending over Victoria.
No pulse? What was happening? No. No. Noooooooo.
Drake’s beast took over at those words. He would not lose Victoria. He’d raze the entire planet before he allowed that to happen. His dragon clawed at him, wild and angry in a way he’d never experienced before. He tried to hold him back, to contain him, was barely retaining control.
“Get him out of here!” Greer screamed as Drake found himself tackled by his father and brother. Where had they even come from?
His father slammed a fist across his face so hard his bones rattled, and for a moment darkness engulfed him. When he opened his eyes, he was in his backyard, flat on his back, on a pile of snow.
“Why am I out here?” Drake demanded, his voice more beast than man.
His father and brother stood over him, their expressions grim, and that was when he realized his clothes were partially shredded as if he’d tried to shift then stopped. He didn’t remember attempting to shift, but he also didn’t remember much of what had happened after he’d heard Greer say she couldn’t get a pulse.
“You can’t be near Victoria or your baby in this state.”
“Victoria—”
“She’s alive,” Conall said.
Yeah, he knew that. Because if Victoria had died he would have died as well. His wonderful mate was too young to die. She deserved a long, full life and his child deserved both his parents.
His father crouched down next to him, his silvery-gray eyes sparking with far too many emotions. “You nearly lost control upstairs. You started to shift and I could see the wildness in your eyes. I will only let you return upstairs if you think you have control of your dragon.”
Drake shoved to his feet and his father stood, going toe-to-toe with him. They’d never sparred with each other, never really even argued. Now, he wanted to punch his father, to run his father over for trying to keep him from Victoria. “If you think you can keep me away from my mate—”
“Enough!” Conall snapped out, his tone pure Alpha. “You love Victoria and if you don’t control yourself, you could hurt her or your baby. I know you don’t want that. I know your dragon doesn’t want that. So get it together before you go upstairs. You’re not going to put them in danger willingly. If you go upstairs knowing you can’t control yourself, you are not the dragon I thought you were.”
Shame filled him because his brother was right. Jaw clenched tight, Drake simply nodded. He didn’t trust his voice to work. After a few deep breaths, he said, “I’m okay now. Tell me what’s going on.” Because he needed to get to Victoria now. He wasn’t even sure what had happened to their baby or who had him.
His father glanced at Conall once, nodded, then turned back to Drake. “Victoria is in your guest room. Greer has her attached to the EKG machine and is monitoring her vitals. She’s also monitoring her through their healer link. There’s no other way to say this. Victoria flatlined. Her heart stopped beating and she is now in what Greer believes is a temporary coma. She doesn’t completely understand what happened, but the baby came so fast, causing a shock to Victoria’s system. Victoria’s heart stopped, Greer kick-started it with her healer’s powers and now all your mate’s vitals are good. She just needs to wake up.”
Drake swallowed hard, ignoring the sensation of a dagger sliding into his heart. “The baby?” he rasped out.
“Mom is holding him and is in the room with Victoria so they’re close together. He’s completely healthy,” Conall said.
Drake nodded once again, managing to get himself under control. “Okay. Okay,” he repeated to himself, trying to force more words out. “I want to see them now.”
They flanked him on the way inside, with Conall going first and his father heading up the rear as they all stalked in, single file. Drake knew exactly what they were doing. In case he lost his shit again, they would bring him down as a cohesive unit. Even though he was grateful for their presence, grateful that they’d stopped him from shifting and wreaking havoc and potentially hurting his own clanmates, he only cared about getting to his mate. He desperately needed to see that she was okay with his own eyes.
More than that, he needed her to wake up. She was the only thing that mattered.