Claimed (18 page)

“Sinder, put me down!” she demanded.

Ugh, he was touching her wings. She hated it when people touched her wings. For some reason, they were far more sensitive than a male’s, and every touch felt highly erotic. The only person she allowed anywhere near her wings was Sorvar.

“No. You should know better, Tina. You are a medic. You should have known your laying would be different from a human birth.”

I’m coming to get you, Tina.

Between Sorvar and Sinder, she couldn’t tell who was more irritated with her.

Go to Medical handsome. I’m on my way there.

Do you need help, pavri?
Sorvar replied so fast Tina almost laughed. Almost.

Sinder is taking me. I’ll be fine.

She didn’t receive a response, but she could feel Sorvar’s shock.

The feeling of pressure deep inside rose sharply, making Tina grunt. Oh, that wasn’t good.

“Sinder,” she panted.

“What?”

“Shut up and run.”

He took off and Tina shrieked as another, fiercer contraction gripped her belly. He barrelled down corridor after corridor until he burst through the doors of Medical, a huffing and grunting Tina in his arms.

“Call Sorvar,” Sinder commanded the medic who stood gaping at them. “Bavric!”

Tina’s friend and fellow medic came flying out of his favourite Medical room at the sound of Sinder’s yell closely followed by Sedric. They took one look at her and Sedric disappeared back into the room.

Bavric hurried over and placed a warm hand on her distended belly just as another contraction hit. Tina groaned, pain radiating across her stomach and back and through the deepest parts of her.

“Contractions?” Bavric asked.

He didn’t sound that surprised, which ticked Tina off.

“Why didn’t you tell me there was a high likelihood I would have contractions?” she demanded between gasps.

“I didn’t want you to worry. Prince Sinder, please bring Tina in here.” With that he turned and walked back into his favourite Medical room.

Sorvar barrelled through the doors behind them and didn’t stop until he was snatching her out of Sinder’s arms. Tina wanted to argue and tell him she could walk. She wanted to demand Sorvar put her down, but another contraction shut her mouth.

Pavri, you should have told me you were ready to lay your eggs,
Sorvar chided her.

Tina groaned and huffed out breaths, clinging to him with everything she had.
I was going to once I got here, but everything happened so fast.

The second they walked through the door into Bavric’s room, she demanded, “Bavric, tell me you have something to give me for the pain.”

Bavric looked at her over the console he stood behind. “I’m sorry, Princess. I do not. As you are the first Human-Morgath mate we have had, we do not know how drugs and medications will react to your system while you are gravid. I do not want to risk you or the eggs.”

Oh, he had to be freaking kidding! No pain relief? Tina grunted, then moaned as another contraction gripped her. Sorvar chuckled, and she wanted to hit him, but he settled her on the birthing stool he’d made especially for her.

Tina looked at the three other males in the room and bit her lip. She couldn’t give birth with her dress about her knees, but if she lifted it, they would all be able to see everything. A surge of anger washed through her. Oh,
now
Sorvar was annoyed.

He completely ignored the presence of Sinder and stroked her hair back while Bavric ran a hand held scanner over her. Sorvar’s irritation was a hot ball in her chest.

“
Pavri,
you should have told me,” he said. “What if Sinder hadn’t been there to help you?”

Tina gasped as another contraction tightened her belly, her answer cut off as she tried not to cry out. Sorvar might be angry with her, but it didn’t stop him from continuing to stroke her hair with a gentle touch.

“Your blood pressure is stable, Tina, but your oxygenation is dropping.”

Bavric’s voice snapped Tina’s attention to him.

“You need to take longer, deeper breaths, but you’re almost completely dilated.” Bavric turned to Sinder. “My Prince, thank you for your assistance. Tina would not have made it without you. Would you like me to notify you when she has laid her eggs?”

As Crown Prince, Sinder demanded a lot of respect from the other males. Tina flatly refused to show the stuck up snob anything but the highest of disdain. Why wouldn’t he leave? She was here. She didn’t need his help anymore. He could just bugger off and go tell his daddy the useless human was about to lay her eggs.

“I’m not leaving,” he growled. “I have never seen a laying before, and I find myself fascinated by the process.”

Tina hissed at him.
Bullshit.
He just wanted to see if the little human could handle laying the eggs of a Morgath. Then he’d run back to Daddy and tell him all the gory details including how much pain Tina had suffered. Well she’d show him. Tina clenched her hands, her claws digging into her palms.

Sorvar wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against him, running his hands up and down her arms, trying to sooth her. Her wings pressed against him, and for the first time it didn’t feel erotic or pleasurable, it felt soothing, comforting, and settled her more than she could have imagined.

It’s all right, pavri. Just ignore him.

Tina slumped back against Sorvar, resting her head on his lower stomach. The temperature in the examination room was steadily rising, and sweat started to bead on her brow. Sedric had explained that the shock of cold air was harmful to the eggs, so the room had to be heated to just the right temperature so as not to stall the development of the babies, but it made for an uncomfortably warm room.

Another contraction hit, and Tina gripped the side of the wooden birthing stool, her claws sinking into the wood. Bavric ran the scanner over her again.

“One more, Tina,” he said.

A gentle hand brushed the sweaty hair off her face and Tina felt Sorvar’s love swell inside her. She sent everything she felt for him back, but it was waylaid by another contraction that was so strong she cried out.

Bavric and Sedric moved about her, laying padded cloths on the floor under her as she huffed out breaths, breathing through the end of the contraction. Sedric stood to her right with a soft cloth ready to take the first egg, and Bavric kneeled between her spread legs. Birthing was such an undignified thing. Tina hiked up her dress, the three males in front of her all watching. Definitely undignified.

A contraction gripped her, leaving her no time for thinking.
Don’t push. Don’t push.
A low groan of pain escaped with her harsh breath. Pushing was not good for the egg. Until it hit the air, the leathery shell was fragile, and the added pressure of pushing could rupture it. Another contraction and a keening cry later, Tina was staring down at the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Her egg was about the size of a small full term human baby and a pure stunning white that glistened in the bright light of the examination room. It wasn’t shaped like any egg Tina had ever seen before, but she didn’t care.

Overwhelming emotion swelled inside her and was joined by the welter of warmth Sorvar fed her through the bond they shared.

Sorvar, it’s so beautiful.

His hands clenched on her shoulders, love pouring through their bond.

Yes, pavri, and in three months, you will be able to hold our sons in your arms.

Sedric carefully took the egg from Bavric and wiped it over with the soft cloth before settling it into a cradle sitting on the examination bed. A room was set up next to the Medical suites to house the eggs. Temperature and light controlled, with perfect air circulation, it was the best environment for her babies to finish growing.

Another contraction took Tina by surprise. Oh, god. She’d thought she’d get a little rest between them, but obviously not. Her gaze clashed with Sinder’s as she huffed through the contraction.

Bastard, why did he have to be here? And why did he have to stand there like that? All angry and disdainful. She bared her teeth at him and growled low in her throat. She wanted to rip the weapon he had strapped to his thigh from its holster and shoot him with it.

He just stood stoically through it all, his arms crossed across his chest. Mostly, he watched the eggs come out, but occasionally he would look up at her. After the second time their gazes clashed, Tina turned away and concentrated on feeling Sorvar’s love.

When all three eggs were lined up in their little cradles on the examination bed, Bavric turned to Sedric and said, “Start the scan please, Prince Sedric. Tina has sustained some damage, and I will need the bed to treat her. Once the eggs are scanned and measured, we can move them to the incubation room.”

Tina slumped against Sorvar, exhausted, hurting, and ready for a nice long nap. Her mate, her gorgeous, tender mate stroked the damp hair off her brow and whispered words of love and pride through their bond.

She watched as the frame for the scanner lowered over the bed and started to scan the first of the eggs. The blue light of the scanner ran over the surface of the egg before moving on to the second, then the third.

Sedric made a noise that Tina could only describe as distress from behind the console.

“What?” Bavric barked.

“You need to come and look. I... there’s... two of the young...”

Sedric didn’t finish, but looked at her and Sorvar, and she could almost feel his pity from across the room.

Bavric was over at the console in seconds staring at the screen.

Tina tensed, ready to hear the worst. Her lower lip trembled until she bit it, but she couldn’t stop the fine tremble that started to shake her body as she pressed back into Sorvar. Oh, god. Something was wrong with two of the little ones. She felt Sorvar’s distress match her own, but underneath it all, she could feel a tiny kernel of hope from him that she clung to. If he could hope, then she could as well.

Bavric looked up from the console. “I’m sorry, Prince Sorvar, Tina. Two of the embryos have not developed as expected. You will need to decide if you want to incubate them to term or halt the process.”

Chapter Twelve

Tina stared at Bavric in shock. He was talking about killing her babies. That was what
halting the process
meant. Everything inside her froze as Sorvar’s hands tightened around her shoulders, his fingers digging in painfully.

So many emotions rolled through their bond. She couldn’t make sense of any of them. They were filling her up, and along with her own emotions, she felt like she was about to drown. Sorvar had no hope left. It had died with Bavric’s words, but for some reason, Tina didn’t want to give up. She couldn’t give up, at least not until she had seen the scans.

The slight pain from Sorvar’s fingers helped clear her head. She couldn’t lose it now. Her babies needed her. Tina pushed up from the stool, her legs shaking with effort. Good god, she felt weak. She was shaky and possibly a bit shocky, too.

“Tina, you should not be on your feet,” Sorvar said trying to press her back down.

She let out a huff. It looked like anger was going to be the emotion of the day. Well, if he needed to yell to deal with what was happening, she could cope with that. She felt a bit like yelling, too.

“I need to see,” she said shaking off his hands and, hobbling over to the console.

She gripped Sedric’s arm to steady herself and stared at the screen. The scanned images of the three eggs were lined up on the wide screen. Tina’s legs wobbled more than they already were as most of the tension drained out of her body.

It wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. All the parts of the eggs she’d learned about over the past three months were clearly visible in each egg. The yolk sacks were of a good size to support the continued growth of the babies, and a nice cushion of albumen supported the embryos and yolk sacks.

“Perhaps Bavric should perform some tests on the embryos to find the cause of the problem, or if you are not going to incubate them to term, he could study them to see what has caused the malformations,” Sinder said from the other side of the room.

Tina looked up from the screen of the console and settled her gaze on Sinder. A little flicker of heat started to burn in her chest, and it wasn’t from Sorvar, who was still standing behind the birthing stool. Sinder, the sneaky bastard was up to something. He hated her as much as his father did. Why would he suggest Bavric test and study her eggs?

Sorvar stared at his brother, and Tina felt his flicker of shock. She wasn’t shocked. She knew there had been an ulterior motive for Sinder being there, and it wasn’t just because he had never seen a laying before.

“What kind of tests could you perform, Bavric?” Tina asked quietly, still looking at Sinder.

Bavric’s wings rustled, a sign of his discomfort.

“I could take samples of the yolk and samples from the embryo. I can check the DNA for genetic mutation. I can run far more invasive scans to look at skeletal structure and organ development, but Tina... there is a reason we do not perform those kinds of tests on eggs.”

Tina didn’t take her eyes off Sinder as she asked, “And what would those reasons be, Bavric?”

She didn’t really need to ask. She had a very good idea what Bavric was going to say, but she wanted it verbalised and out in the open.

The medic cleared his throat, a rough gritty cough, before he replied, “Invasive testing and scanning of the embryo during incubation increases the likelihood of embryonic mortality by seventy-five percent. In the early days of the Morgath taking alien mates, every egg was tested, and we lost dozens of eggs to embryonic failure. We haven’t tested eggs in this way in more than fifty years,” he replied.

A low growl came from Sorvar, but Tina ignored him. Oh, Sinder was a bastard. Of epic proportions. She’d heard about the maternal instinct to protect the young, but she’d always thought humans had missed that gene. It was still far too common on Earth to hear of mothers hurting their own children. Now, she knew she was wrong.