“She’ll be strong like you,” he says, unable to take his eyes off her. “She has to be, because she will have a strong mother to raise her.”
“And she’ll have all of you too,” I say.
I can feel the collective sigh that covers our thoughts at my words. The boys don’t say anything as we sit there in the stillness. Sadness permeates the night around us, mingling with the joy of the birth of our children.
“Sabrina,” Marlowe says with sorrow in his voice when the silence is finally broken. “We aren’t going to win against Remus and his pack. We aren’t going to be here to—”
“Stop,” I say without even looking back at him. “These pups need you, all of you. I need you. I don
’t care what we’re up against, you can’t lose.”
“Let’s not talk about it now,” Rory says. “Let’s just enjoy this time with our new little family.”
I have to agree with him. That’s the true miracle of the night. Rory and I agreeing on something twice.
We sit together under the moon and listen to the cooing sounds of our babies as they drift off to sleep in our arms. I look at the baby that’s sleeping against my chest now, handed to me with great reluctance by Marlowe. Marlowe’s hand is still draped over mine, unable to let go of his son completely, not even for a moment.
In my arms, his eyes are closed and his eyelids are twitching as if he’s having a very vibrant dream. His little lips form into a smile every so often and he his nose crinkles up as if he smells something on the air.
This is my whole world right here nestled within this patch of trees. It’s everything that I have ever wanted, and I have to find a way to hold on to it.
Eventually, I drift off to sleep too. Together, under the nearly full light of the moon, our small and tender family rests. We are still all tangled together and this time, we have precious cargo between us.
When I hear a rustling in the woods, I open my eyes to see that the boys must have heard it too. They are all already awake and alert.
What fools we’ve been.
No matter the stress or suddenness of the birth, we never should have allowed our guards to come down, not even for a second. The cover of trees and darkness isn’t enough to protect us from Remus and his pack.
I’ve not been a mother for more than a few hours, and already I’ve failed at protecting my babies.
Rory and Kaleb hand the other two pups back to me and I cradle all three of them in my lap, trying to coax them to stay quiet as their little eyes begin to open. I’m preparing my body to run—all while knowing how impossible that is in the first place—only to be overwhelmingly relieved when I see that it is only Romulus in the woods coming toward us.
“I got worried,” he says to Rory once he spots the boys. “You’ve been gone all night and when morning came and you still weren’t home, I—”
Romulus stops in his tracks as soon as he sees the mess of the forest floor—with me in the center of it.
He stands there, open mouthed and unable to speak for a long moment. I think I can see the morning light reflect of the wetness in his eyes.
That moment of tenderness doesn’t last long, though his eyes still shine as he gives each of his sons a hug and pat on the back. And then, just like had happened last night after a brief moment of peaceful tenderness, reality reemerges with its ugliness and Romulus reminds us that we have to go.
I don’t want to leave. I want to stay right here on this little patch of forest floor, surrounded by my mates with my pups in my arms, until everything passes by and leaves us alone.
But I know that can’t happen.
Rory and Marlowe each take a baby and I hand the little one in my arms to Romulus to hold. Kaleb helps me up and I’m surprised to find that I’m not nearly as weak or sore as I had expected to be, thought I still don’t complain when he insists on scooping me up in his arms to carry me.
In fact, I feel more like myself than I have felt since before becoming pregnant.
Another miracle of being a shifter, I suppose—even if I’m only partway there. I suppose wolves in the wild can’t afford to lie around for days as they recover, not when there are always predators lurking just out of sight.
We walk back to the house and I can tell that everyone is very much on edge and on guard. The forest is quiet and still though. As much as I feared before, the threat from Remus is not yet here.
Yet. That’s the key.
As soon as we get inside of the house, Lydia and Vivian come running to see that we are okay, and both start to immediately fawn over the pups as soon as they see what’s happened. Romulus hands the grandson he carried back to Kaleb as soon as he’s set me down beside the fire, and the three boys sit down on the couch next to me, looking like a trio of proud dads. Each one is absolutely smitten with their sons and daughter.
“You look so well,” Lydia says as she hugs me. “If I’d known, I would have called the doctor.” She holds me tight for a moment longer, and I think for a second that she’s holding back tears. Her face presses close to mine, and I feel wetness on her cheeks. “I don’t know what we would have done if we lost you. I can’t tell you how glad I am that everything went so smoothly.”