Kerry watched the steady rhythm play out on the machine. The beat of life. So strong and true. So healthy. So mocking. Joy and pain wrapped into one. Her son was healthy and alive but only as long as he stayed tucked in her womb.

“You okay?” Susan squeezed her hand.

She nodded, not sure she could trust her voice just then. Too many emotions were surging through her.

The nurse picked up her chart at the end of the bed and paged through it. She clicked on her pen and made a note. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “Pain under control?” She took another look at Kerry’s chart, before peering over the document at her.

“I’m fine, thank you.” That word again. It wasn’t fine. She wasn’t fine. This was as far from damn-well fine as it could get. A tear trickled down her cheek.

“Oh hun.” Susan sighed. Kerry knew that her sister was at a loss of what to do. How to make her feel better. The problem was, she couldn’t make this go away. She tried to smile through her tears.

It didn’t work too well, because the nurse went on. “I’m sorry. This must be hard. Have you tried your husband again?”

“My boyfriend. And yes,” Kerry nodded. “he’s stuck in meetings. His phone is off.” It was a feeble excuse, but it was all that she had to offer.

The nurse gave her a look of pity. “I’m sure he’ll contact you soon. In the meanwhile, you need to try to get some sleep. Let the drugs do their job.” She glanced at Susan.

“I’ll sit here as quiet as a mouse.” Her sister said.

Kerry nodded. She wanted to turn over onto her side but that wasn’t possible. It hurt too much to try to move. She closed her eyes instead. There was no way she could sleep. Forget it! Not with her baby in danger. More tears slid from her eyes, hot on her cheeks. She tried to hold them back, but it was only working up to a point.

She could hear the nurse doing something next to her. Putting something down with a light click and picking something up maybe. The door swished open. Probably a doctor or—

Susan’s hand tightened around hers before she let go.

“Kerry.” His rich baritone both soothed and brought out the fear in her. Every ‘what if’ question collected in her head. What if the labor didn’t stop? What if her son was born early? What if he…?

Kerry opened her eyes and sobbed. “You’re here.” The tears fell freely as she laid eyes on him.

“I’m so sorry I left you.” He rushed to her side and then hesitated. “I don’t know where to touch you.” Kerry knew what he would see. Her face was bruised on one side, her chin scraped open. She had a band around her stomach to monitor contractions and fetal heartrate and an IV inserted in her arm. Her hair was mussed and her eyes were swollen from crying.

“With a cracked rib and a multitude of hematomas, you should be worried. I can’t believe someone would do this to a pregnant woman.” The nurse tsked. “Was he after your purse?”

Kerry nodded, her gaze returning to Cadon. This wasn’t something she felt like discussing. “I should have ended him,” Cadon muttered under his breath. “Magnar was right. He might be an asshole but, in this, he was right.” He gathered up her hands in his.

“It’s not your fault.” Kerry sniffed.

“Um…” Susan cleared her throat.

Oops! Kerry had forgotten she was there.

“I’m going to grab myself something to eat. I’ll be in the waiting room if you need me.”

“Thank you.” Kerry said, her voice hitching.

“Any time sis.” Susan gave a nod of the head. “You call me if she needs me.” This time she spoke to Cadon.

“Yes, definitely.”

Susan nodded again and left.

“It is. I shouldn’t have left you.” Cadon shook his head. “My priorities were all wrong.” He shook his head, looking pained.

“You press that call button if you need anything.” The nurse motioned to the controller hanging on her bed.

“We will,” Cadon said, not taking his eyes off of Kerry. As soon as the door closed, he buried his face in her hands. “He could have killed you.”

“I’m okay. It’s just…it’s…” She pulled one of her hands away so that she could wipe her eyes. Tears fell in earnest, little sobbing noises fell from her lips. Pain welled in her and not from the injuries. Those were nothing.

“I’m so sorry.” When Cadon lifted his head, his eyes glinted and he was blinking hard. “So sorry this happened. So sorry I was gone.” He grit his teeth, blinking some more. “Is he, is…” Cadon put a hand on her belly. “Is the baby still…”

She nodded. “Yes, he’s still holding on.” Kerry sniffed. “I have something called partial placental abruption.”

Cadon frowned.

“The placenta is what feeds and gives the baby oxygen. It is attached to me and to him. Well, part of the placenta has pulled away. It probably happened when Jeff kicked me.”

Cadon let her go. He turned and growled. The sound low and menacing. He paced away, sucking in deep breaths. When he turned back to face her, his eyes were glowing a bright golden color. “I’m so angry right now. I want to shift. My beast wants control. It wants to kill that male.” His jaw tightened and his chest heaved. “It’s not the time though. I need to be here for both of you.” He walked back over to her and took her hand. “Go on.” He rubbed her skin with his thumb.

It felt good to see how much he cared. Helped soothe some of the pain. The blinding fear. “As long as the placenta doesn’t pull away any more, we should be fine. The problem is that I went into labor. The doctors aren’t sure why. Probably from the trauma, the stress…” she bit on her lower lip.

“It’s too soon.” Cadon swallowed thickly.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s too soon. They’re giving me something to try to stop it from happening. So far it seems to be working. They said I’m stable right now. It will be some time though before we’re out of danger. They’re giving me steroids to strengthen the baby’s lungs, but he needs to sit tight for a day or two or the drugs won’t work. Ideally, I need to try to keep him inside me for a week or two more. Like I have a choice in the matter. He would have a far higher chance of survival if that was the case though.”

“So, it’s a waiting game.”

She nodded. “In the meanwhile, they’ve told me not to stress.” She rolled her eyes. It was like telling a thirsty person not to drink. “I need to sleep, to eat something but it’s hard, you know?”

“Besides the stress, how are you feeling?” Cadon pushed some hair behind her ear.

“I’m okay, I guess. Physically…I’m sore but I’ll be fine. My baby though, he might not be okay, he might…” she made a sobbing noise. “I let my guard down. I…”

“It’s not your fault. If anyone is to blame, that person would be me for not keeping you safe.”

“Don’t say that. You’ve been wonderful. You never made any promises. You…”

“Maybe I should have…”

Had she heard right?

“Maybe I should have made a couple of very serious promises.” Cadon took back her hand. “Can I sit on the edge of your bed?”

Kerry nodded, watching as he did so, being careful not to hurt her. “You don’t have to say that. You’re just feeling guilty. It’s fine, I—”

“No, that’s not it. You’re very wrong on that one. This has nothing to do with guilt or pity or any other emotion you might think up.” His Adam’s apple worked. “I was mated. I had a female. We wanted a family very badly. It was at the time when the odd female became ill with clutch sickness. We took our chances and we were wrong.”

“You said you were compelled though?”

“Doesn’t lessen the guilt.” His eyes were stormy.

“She died?” Kerry whispered.

Cadon nodded. “Yes, she did. I tried to save her. I tried with everything I had. Gave it my all, but to no avail.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m sure there wasn’t anything you could do. You’re not a doctor or—”

“The Feral have powers of healing. Only, those powers don’t work on our own kind. It didn’t stop us from trying to save our loved ones however. It was like I was just as compelled to keep trying. Like a fool, I used up all of my power. I wasn’t the only one it happened to. Many males lost most or all of their powers trying to save loved ones.”

“I can believe it. I don’t know if I would be able to stop if someone I loved was dying. I would…I would try anything and give anything.” Her voice broke. She couldn’t help but think of the little one inside her holding on for dear life. She glanced at the monitor, reminding herself that his heart was still strong. He was fine! At least for now.

When she looked back at Cadon, he gave her a sad, half-smile. “So, my mate died and the thing is, we don’t mate again. As a species, if our mates pass on, even very young like mine did, we stay alone for the rest of our lives.”

“That’s awful.” Her heart beat faster. What was he saying though? What did this mean?

“We don’t feel anything for another. We don’t become aroused, we certainly don’t mount. We just don’t.” He widened his eyes.

What was he talking about? She made a snorting noise. “But…” She paused. “But…that would mean that you and I…it should not have been possible.”

“Exactly! It should not have been possible, but my hunger reawakened. I am only the second Feral this has happened to, but what is telling is that only two previously mated males have come into contact with humans. Myself and a male named Talon. Two for two…I think that means something.”

“Humans are responsible for this phenomenon.”

“Not only that. If more of our dormant males come into contact with humans, I’m sure we’ll see this happening more. Possibly even every time.”

“There’s a very good chance of it, I guess.”

“Magnar keeps referring to the Fallen king. His name is Ekon. Now our king, Leukos, was the second-born. We all used to serve Ekon up until eleven years ago.”

“Until he was sent away. You said he…Ekon that is…and the others ‒ guys like Magnar and Hagan ‒ did something bad. That’s why they were excommunicated?”

“Yes, they did.” Cadon nodded. “The queen died, leaving Ekon to spend the rest of his days alone and without heirs or any chance of them. According to our rules, the king must step down if he can’t produce heirs. Ekon refused.”

“Oh shoot! So that’s what went wrong?” It was all starting to make sense.

“Yes, Ekon refused because there were no more females. At that point most of them had died, the last remaining females were sick.” Cadon licked his lips. “He stated that the rule that he step down was obsolete, since Leukos could not have heirs either. Some of the males sided with him but most followed the rules of our species and swore fealty to Leukos, the new king. Ekon swore he would be back, that he would fight for his rightful place on the throne.”

“I see.” She pushed out a breath. “So that’s why Magnar had to rush back to speak with Ekon. There is a chance he could mate again and a chance the Fallen king could have heirs, which would mean—”

“War.” Cadon looked grave. “Leukos and Ekon have come to hate one another. They—”

“Wait a minute.” She frowned. “You shouldn’t be telling me all of this. You said the less I knew the better.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

Cadon smiled. “Before I fell totally and desperately in love with you. I know you said you didn’t want a relationship. That it was too soon, and I can’t blame you after a male like Jeff, but I’m in love with you. I’m in love with this baby as well.” His eyes shimmered and he blinked a few times. “You don’t have to say anything or…”

“I want to say something.” She huffed out a pent-up breath. “I’m so glad, because I feel the same way. I only realized after you left. I wasn’t sure you were coming back. I know it’s too soon and…”

“Too soon for humans but it’s taken an age for our species.” Cadon was smiling broadly. “I’m staying right here. I won’t leave your side. I’ll get you everything you need and …” He sucked in a deep breath. “Things will work out, they have to. Life can’t be that cruel a second time around.”

“I’m so scared.” Tears welled all over again.

“So am I. I’ve never been more afraid, but we have to stay strong. We have to stay positive.” He squeezed her hand.

“Yes. You’re right.” She sucked back her tears.

Cadon kissed the palm of her hand. “I’ll never leave you again. Both of you.” He put a hand on her stomach. “If Jeff tries to…” He ground his teeth. “You never have to worry about that male again.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“I’m here for you.”

“I’m glad, because I need you right now.” Her voice hitched.

“Only right now?” He smiled.

“Not just right now, silly.” She licked her lips. “I need you…for a much longer time than just right now.”

“Good, because you’re going to have a hard time getting rid of me.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “You should try to get some sleep, unless you want something to eat. I can try to rustle something up for you. Maybe a couple of pop tarts or some banana toast?”

“No, I am pretty tired. Just stay and hold my hand.”

Cadon nodded. “Let me pull up a chair. I think you’ll find I have amazing hand-holding skills.”

She nodded, a smile toying with the edges of her own lips.

“After you nap, I’m finding you something to eat. Pop tarts or toast…whatever your pregnant heart desires.”

Kerry whimpered in her sleep.

It was nothing. His female was fine. Within seconds her chest was rising and falling again in a relaxed fashion.

Cadon pushed out a breath, leaning back in his chair. Yes, she was going to be okay. He was just being paranoid…and with good reason.

Thankfully, her face became placid, completely relaxed. Kerry had fallen asleep within minutes of closing her eyes and had been sleeping soundly for three hours since. With each minute that passed, he relaxed more. He stopped grinding his teeth, he felt each of his muscles slowly release. He was able to start to breathe again.

Kerry sat up in the bed, eyes wide, hands grabbing at her belly. She groaned, the sound filled with pain.

“What is it? What?” Cadon jumped up from his chair, which fell back with a clang.

“It feels like a contraction.” Her face was twisted in pain. “I had them before. I—” She sucked in a deep breath. “Noooooo!” she groaned. “I think it is one. It must be…call someone.” She turned to the controller. “Push the red button!” she yelled. Hands still splayed on her stomach, which was impossibly small.

Cadon did as she said, putting his finger through the device with a crunch. “Help!” he shouted, seconds later when no one arrived. “Help us!” he yelled as he pushed open the door to the hallway.

The same female from earlier was running towards him, she burst through the door. “My female is in pain,” he growled. “Help her!”

The female put her hand on Kerry’s stomach, looking at one of the machines. “It’s a big one,” she announced. “Breathe, honey.”

“I don’t want to breathe!” Kerry wailed. “This shouldn’t be happening.”

“You need to breathe. In and out, and in and out.”

Kerry moaned while doing what the older female instructed.

“I already paged Doctor Jenkins, she’ll be here in a few minutes.” The female tried to reassure Kerry.

“This shouldn’t be happening. Why is this happening?” Kerry’s eyes were wide, her voice strained.

“Hang in there, sweetheart,” the female reassured. “Let’s wait and see what the doctor has to say before jumping to any conclusions.

Kerry nodded, her face still strained. She finally fell back, breathing heavily. Cadon stood by her side. “Yes, that’s good advice.” He put a hand on her shoulder.

The healer crashed through the door, her face was impassive but her eyes held concern. She was pulling rubber gloves onto her hands.

“A contraction?” she asked.

Kerry nodded, her eyes filled with tears. “It was the worst one I’ve had so far.” She chewed her lower lip, her breathing elevated. She was a ball of anxiety and he couldn’t blame her.

The older female nodded and gave a couple of figures he couldn’t understand. Cadon knew it was related to her birthing pains, as she pointed at the monitor that showed those.

The healer grabbed a file hanging on the end of Kerry’s bed and flipped through it. “You’re on the maximum dose of nifedipine.” At least that was what he thought he heard her say. “It’s only been,” she made a humming noise, “going on six hours since you had the steroids. Let’s hope this was—”

Kerry’s eyes widened and she gripped her belly. “It’s happening again! It…” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Okay.” The healer sucked in a deep breath. “It looks like you might have gone back into labor.”

“Do something,” Kerry groaned. “Please stop this.”

“Please.” Cadon held Kerry’s hand. “Why is this happening?” he tried not to shout. The healers were only doing their jobs.

“We don’t know,” the healer replied. “The fetal heartrate is normal. Your baby is doing well.”

“Except at this rate, I’m going to have him now!” Kerry yelled through clenched teeth. She was buckling over from the pain.

“Let me re-scan to check that the abruption hasn’t worsened.” The healer lifted Kerry’s gown and squirted some gel onto her. She used the same device she’d used before to see into Kerry’s stomach.

His female was still breathing heavily.

The healer was focusing on the machine, her hand moving an inch this way and an inch that way. She made a humming noise. “It looks the same. No bleeds. Everything looks fine.”

“Why then?” Cadon tried not to growl.

“Kerry has been through a major trauma. It was a severe shock to her system. I’ve seen expectant moms go through worse and no labor. I’ve also seen full-blown labor from much less. We can’t always predict these things. Nature is fickle.”

“What are you going to do?” Cadon growled this time. “There has to be something.”

The healer flinched.

“I’m sorry.” He put up a hand. “I know you’re trying, but…”

“It’s a stressful situation, I understand,” the healer said. “We’ve given you everything we can…” She turned back to Kerry before flipping through the chart some more. “At least when it comes to Tocolytics.” Again, one of those words he didn’t understand. “I don’t think it would work, but I can try progesterone?”

“Anything…please.” Kerry had started breathing heavily again. “It’s another one. Please just make it stop.”

“Help her!” Cadon snarled.

The healer threw a couple of orders at the older female who nodded and disappeared.

“This is a last-ditch effort. You need to understand that this baby is more than likely coming, no matter what we do.”

“No,” Kerry sobbed.

“I’m afraid so. I told you just this morning that he would be viable if he was born now.” She raised her brows and pushed out a breath. “Didn’t think he would be though. I’d like to check your cervical dilation.”

He didn’t know what that meant. The older female returned. She was holding a tray, which she offered to the healer. “Okay, let’s try the progesterone.” She picked up a device that had a needle and pulled some liquid into it. It was human medication. Then the healer pulled the blankets away and injected Kerry on the side of her ass.

Kerry was breathing heavily as she came down from another birthing pain. She didn’t even seem to notice what the healer had just done.

“Okay then,” the healer murmured. “Let’s do this while you’re between contractions. Open your legs.”

Kerry did as she said.

The healer lifted the sheet and moved between Kerry’s splayed thighs. “Deep breath.”

Kerry complied, wincing.

The healer stood up, removing the gloves and throwing them in a nearby bin. “You’re about a centimeter dilated, which isn’t too bad at this stage. I don’t want to give you false hope, but I’ve seen women stop dilating. I’ve seen labor stop entirely and a normal pregnancy ensue. It can happen. However, in your case, I doubt it very much. I think this baby is coming.”

“No.” Kerry shook her head. “Don’t say that.”

“We have to be realistic. I think the best we can hope for is that the labor is slow. Every hour will help develop your baby’s lungs.” She looked from Kerry to him and then back again. “I’m going to head out on my rounds, I’ll be back—”

“Don’t leave.” Cadon narrowed his eyes. “My female needs you.”

“I assure you, Mr…” she looked at him pointedly.

“Cadon, you can call me Cadon.”

“There is nothing I can do for Kerry right now. Hopefully the drugs work. We’re monitoring the contractions and more importantly, we’re monitoring the fetus to make sure he’s okay. We need to pray that the drugs work, otherwise, we need to wait until it’s time to deliver. I’ll check in frequently and Anne,” she gestured to the older female, “will be in even more often. You can use the call button as well.”

Kerry was breathing heavily, her face a mask of pain.

“Another one?” he asked.

She nodded, holding her belly in both hands.

“I broke the call thingy. I was panicking,” he said.

“You can shout, like you did before,” the female he now knew as Anne said, with a smile. “They heard you all the way in the next ward earlier.”

“I will inform neonatal that there is a pending emergency, but we won’t have them on alert just yet.” She patted Kerry’s arm.

Kerry nodded, huffing and puffing.

Cadon watched them leave. Anne turned at the door. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

He nodded, looking down at Kerry as soon as she moved off. “What can I do?”

Kerry shook her head. “Nothing.” She moaned.

He waited it out. Before too long, her breathing eased and she fell back against the pillows.

Cadon wasn’t sure what he should do. His first instinct was to leave. He wanted to fetch one of the others. Another male of his kind, one who still had power and was willing to use it. He suspected Leukos would not allow it though. The male was in full panic mode over all that was happening. He wasn’t thinking clearly. Given a day or two, things might be different…or worse, depending on what happened with Ekon. He ran a hand through his hair. Right now, Ekon, Leukos, all of them could go to hell. He only cared about his female and the baby.

His son.

He’d already come to love the baby just as much as if he was his own flesh and blood.

“What is it?” Kerry asked, you look like you are trying to make up your mind about something.

This female knew him well. “I’m trying to decide whether to make the trip to my home. To Feral territory.”

“You can’t leave me.” She sounded panicked. “You said you would stay.” Her voice sounded desperate, her face looked pale.

He gripped her hand, swallowing thickly. “I want to try to bring someone back. Worth, one of the others, I don’t care. Someone with power who is willing to expend some of it.”

“How long would—” Her eyes widened, and she grit her teeth. “It’s another one. I wish this would stop.”

He watched as she worked through it, feeling helpless as a newborn whelp.

She finally fell back, breathing heavily. “How long would you be gone?”

“Several hours.” Everything in him clenched at the thought of leaving her so long. Every cell inside him rebelled at the mere thought. “Between three and four, if all goes well.”

“Why if all goes well?”

“I have no idea how Ekon ‒ either king for that matter ‒ will react to this whole reawakening thing. They have always been a bit brash. They are very similar, being that they’re twins. Also, Leukos might not even allow me to take someone back, but I have to risk it.” It was his turn to sound desperate. “I don’t want to leave you though.”

“He might be born before you get back. I don’t know that you should risk it.”

“I think I must.” Unless…he had to try. “I will try to heal you myself first.”

“You said your power was gone. You said you used it all.”

“I did.” He nodded. “It’s worth a try though.”

Kerry nodded. “I can feel a tightening in my belly. It’s the start of another one.”

Cadon breathed in deeply, trying to center himself. Healing was easy. Pulling the power from within, never a problem. You just called on it and it was there, buzzing and bubbling beneath the surface. A well. Unfortunately, wells dried up. His had. He could feel nothing. Not a damned thing. Hence the breathing and the centering. He put his hands on her, deciding to focus on her stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed it to happen. Willed the healing to burst forth.

Nothing.

He tried several times. And then several more times. By now, she was in the middle of her pains, her face contorting. Cadon wished he could help her. He’d never wanted anything more, but sometimes wishing for something and getting it were not one and the same.

“It’s okay.” It was only when she clasped his forearm that he realized she was finished with the birthing pain and waiting on him.

His throat felt like it was closing. “I have to go,” he choked out the words. “I will bring someone back. I must at all cost. If I miss the birth, then he will put a healing hand on the baby.”

“Will it work?” A tear tracked down her cheek.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged, feeling his own eyes sting. “I hope so, but I can’t say for sure. We have to try though.”

She nodded. “Yes. I think so too.”

Cadon kissed her sweet lips. “I’ll be back.” He turned and walked from the room. Come hell or brimstone fires, he would make good on his promise. Let either of the kings try to stop him.