~ Chapter 29 ~
“Whose idea was this?” Stracey yelled. “I want to go to a hospital where they have drugs. Preferably ones that knock me out until this is all over!”
Chasity heard her friend as she entered their cabin, Jinx trying his best to calm his mate.
“Baby, you agreed to have a home birth, here with the Pack.” He cajoled, but his voice was high-pitched and full of worry.
“It’s too much, Jinx!” Stracey groaned loudly. “I can’t take this much longer and why can’t I use my magic? Tell me, Feera, why?”
Feera replied calmly, her voice the only one that seemed to be in control as Cam and Chastity walked toward the bedroom. “Because that’s not a good idea with a Shifter birth, Stracey. We’ve gone over this, multiple times. Now lie still so I can examine you.”
Chastity turned to Cam. “Think you should stay out here.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “I’ll go find the whisky.”
Chastity knocked on the door. “It’s just me, Stracey. Do you want me to come in, or shall I go and come back later?”
Stracey squealed immediately, her voice high, shrill and tinged with panic. “Get in here, now!”
As soon as she entered her friend held her hand out, her ebony hair sticking to her forehead. “Where have you been? I’m scared, Chastity. This is taking too long and I want to go to a hospital, with real doctors and drugs and . . .”
She rushed over, taking her hand and sitting on the edge of the bed as Jinx paced back and forth as Feera’s head and arms were between Stracey’s wide open legs. “I’m here now, honey, just try and relax. Tell me how long you’ve been in labor for?”
Jinx answered, his face held no color, his eyes bloodshot and filled with terror. “Hours. She started last night and Feera’s been here since midnight.”
Chastity scowled at him. “And why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“I didn’t want to wake you. Didn’t see the point in all of us losing sleep.” He shrugged. “These things take ages the first time . . . don’t they?”
Feera snorted angrily but remained silent otherwise as Chastity shook her head at Jinx. “And don’t you think that Stracey might have needed my support? Just me being here could possibly have helped her? Damn, Jinx, you can be dumb at times. Go find Cam and get Stracey some ice-chips and get Feera and me something cool to drink. Now, please.”
“At last!” Stracey’s hand slapped the bed. “The voice of reason. Move that ass of yours, Jinx.”
Jinx looked at Stracey, his face like a deer caught in headlights before he shot from the room like a bullet. Chastity turned back to her friend. “Now, how’s this going? Feera?”
“She’s almost ready to push.” Feera sat back on the end of the bed. “Stracey, this is going to be a lot of work. He’s a big boy.”
“A boy?” Chastity clapped her hands. “You never told me it was a boy.”
“I haven’t told Jinx yet.” Stracey smirked. “I wanted it to be a surprise. Only Feera knows.”
“I’m good at keeping secrets.” Feera winked.
“There’s something else.” Stracey grabbed Chastity’s hand tightly. “I can feel him, Chas, I can feel him. He’s got some magic but he’s mostly Shifter. Our son is mostly Wolf.”
Chastity knew how much of a relief this was to her friend. She’d been torturing herself about this very thing since she’d found out she was pregnant. Even though Jinx didn’t care whether their child was Shifter or not, Stracey had convinced herself that he did, and had worried herself sick about it.
“He doesn’t care, sweetie, you know that.”
“He says that, but he’s Beta, Chastity. What Beta wants a son that’s not a Wolf?” Stracey’s faced twisted with pain as another contraction hit, her mouth clenching shut and her hand clamping Chastity’s so hard that her knuckles ground together.
“It’s all right. I’m here, honey.” Chastity soothed her.
Stracey glared down at Feera. “I need to push, like now! I can’t stop it.”
“Then do it, Stracey. Push.”
And so it began. The road to bring her child into the world.
After that first long contraction both Chastity and Feera agreed they had to move her. Lying flat on her back wasn’t the ideal position for her, not when she was fighting to give birth to a large boy from her petite frame.
“Jinx! Get in here, we need you.”
Running through the door he slid to a halt, terror on his face and sloshing ice-chips everywhere. “What? What is it?”
“We need you to help us move Stracey. She needs to be in a better position to push.”
Stracey gave him a small smile. “I have to get our son out, Jinx. He’s going to be a big strong Shifter but I’m kind of small so I need your help.”
Jinx staggered. Actually staggered as Stracey’s words sank in. Chastity jumped toward him, snatching the ice-chips with one hand and his elbow with the other, as he stared shell-shocked at his mate.
Finally, he found his voice, thick and heavy with emotion as he strode toward her. “A son?”
“Yes, it’s a boy and he’s . . .” she stopped as another contraction hit. “Shit!”
“Push!” Feera urged, Jinx rushing to hold Stracey in his arms.
“I’ve got you, babe, I’ve got you!”
Grunting and groaning, Stracey pushed with all her might, and when it was over, Jinx wiped her brow with a damp cloth Chastity handed to him. “So,” he started again. “A boy? We’re having a son?”
“Yes,” Stracey breathed heavily, her face red with exertion. “And he’s a Wolf, Jinx, with just a little magic thrown in for good measure.”
“Hell, you know I don’t care what he is. I’ll love him no matter what.” Jinx kissed the tip of her nose. “I just want him healthy.”
“If we don’t get him out of me I’m gonna strangle the little so-and-so.” Stracey huffed.
“Right, let’s move her now before she has another contraction.” Feera ordered.
Chastity helped, positioning her friend and Jinx so he supported her in an upright position, taking all her weight. “That’s it, you need to hold her, Jinx. She doesn’t have the strength to do it all.”
“I’ve got her. Don’t worry about that.” Jinx said firmly, his eyes locked on Stracey’s. “Let’s bring our boy home.”
“Yes,” Stracey smiled for a second before her face morphed into a mask of pain. “Oh hell!”
“Push!” Feera ordered, on her knees behind Stracey, ready to help the newest addition to the Pack into the world.
She could hear Cam pacing in the cabin, and he asked her several times via their link how things were going, but he never left. He stayed for moral support, for all of them. His Alpha power was all around them, calming Jinx and, she thought, even Stracey.
It was more than an hour later, with Stracey soaked in sweat, that Feera finally said those magic words that all women in labor yearn to hear: “I see the head! One more push, Stracey.”
Chastity urged her friend on, with words, with a touch, and with her own pure Alpha energy flowing from her toward her friend. Stracey strained, Jinx’s encouragement was heartwarming and full of love. His eyes filling with tears as he supported her, his words causing Chastity’s throat to close with emotion as Feera let out a whoop of glee so loud that Chastity jumped with fright.
“He’s here! Finally, your son is here!”
Jinx sat back on the edge of the bed, taking Stracey with him onto his lap, both of them looking down at the babe in the Healer’s hands. She held him up reverently toward his parents. “It’s my honor to present you with your son and the newest member to our Pack.”
Chastity’s eyes overflowed, tears dripping down her cheeks as Stracey’s arms opened to take her child, eyes wide with wonder. “He’s so beautiful.”
Jinx’s arms looped around her, touching the baby’s head, mesmerized. “He’s so damn big! How did he fit in there?”
Cam’s laughter came through the door. “Try fitting three in there! Hey, can I come in now?”
Feera pulled down a sheet, ensuring Stracey was suitably covered up. “For a few minutes only, Alpha. I’m not quite finished here.”
“Fine.” Cam strode in, beaming wildly as he looked down at the trio. “What a picture. I’ve never seen you look so beautiful, Stracey, and that’s a fine strong lad you’ve got in your arms. Congratulations to you both.”
“Thank you, Cam.” Stracey sniffled. “I’m all emotional. I don’t know what’s come over me.”
“Cam,” Jinx looked at Stracey, raising an eyebrow and something passed between them. She nodded so he carried on, his face beaming as he held a tiny hand in his. “Let me introduce our son, Sinclair Jenkins.”
Chastity joined Cam, his face shocked for a second before turning into a wide grin. “Really? You’re calling him after me?”
“Of course,” Jinx answered. “But he’ll not be called Sin! That’s a definite no no! And I’ll be adding in a middle name in case he wants to use it. I just haven’t thought of one . . . yet.”
Chastity looped her arm around Cam’s waist. “That’s a grand name, a good strong one for a good strong son.”
“Aye, it is.” Jinx beamed proudly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like some time alone with my family.”
“Of course.” Cam reached down, running his hand carefully over the child in his mother’s arms. “He’s a braw bairn. I’ll see you soon.”
“Thank you, Chastity.” Stracey gave her a sleepy smile. “I’ll see you in, oh, about a week when I’ve had a sleep.”
“If you need anything you know where I am.” Chastity laughed, pulling Cam out of the room. “Come on, let’s get back to our own kids. I’ve suddenly got the urge to give them all a cuddle. Maybe we can have a family movie night, all of us together.”
“Aye, that sounds perfect, Chastity, just perfect. We should make the most of it now, before we’ve got our own wee bundle and sleepless nights.”
“Hey,” Chastity poked him in the ribs as they left the cabin.
“I didn’t mean that, darling.” Cam stopped pulling her into his arms, kissing her briefly before gazing into her eyes with such love that it made her knees weak and her stomach clench with desire. “I love you so damn much, Mo runsa, you know that. But I need you to know that it’s more than that. I need you. More than life itself, I need you by my side. I couldn’t go on without you. My life started when I found you all those years ago. I was a shell of a man before that. You brought me back from the brink and I can’t begin to thank you for that and for being you. The amazing woman, mother, and Alpha that you are. I fucking adore you, Chastity.”
Her heart ached with his words. Her mouth was dry and her soul cried with the intensity of his feelings. But, she had to set him straight. “Cam, you can’t say that. You can’t. We have children. If something happened to me . . . no matter what, you have to go on. They’d need you. Our kids would need you. You can’t just give up, so please don’t say that. All the other stuff, I get. I do. Because I feel most of it too, but that . . . no. You can’t. Although I’d feel as if my heart had been torn from my chest if something happened to you, I’d have to carry on . . . for them. When you become a parent it’s no longer about just us . . . that’s taken from you the moment a child is born. I need to know that if anything happened to me that my babies would be all right. I have to know that.”
Cam’s jaw clenched. An inner battle going on before her very eyes. She could see it, sense it, and she could do nothing but witness it. She couldn’t help him with this. It was his fight and his alone.
He took a deep breath in, dropping his forehead to hers. “You’re right. As always. I don’t know how I’d do it, Chastity. Without you there with me . . . but somehow, for you, for them, I’d find a way. I promise I’d find a way.”
“As I’d have to.” She reached up, her fingers trailing his face. “You’re my everything, Cam. Always have been and always will be.”
“Damn, Chas, I’m hard as steel.” Cam nipped her lip. “Can we forego movie night and go straight to bed?”
Her thighs clenched tight with desire for her man, her love, her Alpha. Smiling up at him with a cheeky glint in her eye she quipped. “No, but we can have a quick half hour before movie night!”
His eyes darkened with lust, his hips grinding against her as his voice thickened with his desire. “Half hour isn’t enough but it’ll keep me going until later, and then I’ll show you just how much I love you, A ghrá geal.”
“I look forward to that.” She gasped as he snatched her hand and they ran, both as desperate as the other to reach home and the sanctity of their bedroom.