Three’s a Clan (25 page)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Rick

I pulled against the restraints. It was a good thing they had me pinned. “I changed my mind. Bring her back.” I watched Jake cut his vein and release it into his sister’s mouth.

She had taken blood from other donors. As a full vampire, I knew she needed more than even Trevor and I could provide her, but I never watched when it came from a live vein. I wanted her to take only from us. That was what we could expect from this transformation. That is if it turned out the same way for us as it had my daughter.

I would have looked for her, but I couldn’t turn from my mate. The witch that stood over her smelled different. Amber had said that she was going into town a lot more than the others in the coven. We hoped that it had been her different location that made the odor different, but it was something else.

Then my son-in-law came toward me with a bleeding arm.

I turned my head. “Trevor first. I want to make sure you take care of both of them fully. We will take the chances with me.”

“Rick—”

“Stuff it, Trevor. Suck the nice hybrid’s blood. I’ll see you on the other side.” I looked up at the ceiling. There was nothing I could do. My wolf was tearing at the inside of me. He understood he wasn’t being replaced or expelled, but the restraints were not his style. Mine either.

Then I heard the scream. Shelly was screaming. The table rocked at the force with which I yanked my attention to the side. Her small body thrashed, and the witch who had once been compelled cut her deep again. She began whispering and sprinkled something over her, and Shelly’s body stilled. I was able to breathe, but the air hurt my throat. I didn’t want to breathe while she bled.

Trevor coughed on the other side of me. The sound was wet, as the quantity of blood he was swallowing didn’t go well with his prone position. Then my Beta’s body began to bow.

I’m sure that the howl that came from my mouth was loud enough to shatter glass. At least we were below ground level. No windows, and more sound proofed. I wouldn’t forgive my daughter for what she did next. Amber’s blood poured down my open mouth. I tried to push her away, but being restrained, all it did was rock the table.

I shook my head and she grabbed me by the temples to stop me and hold her arm over my mouth.

“My mate is drained. This was the plan. Drink. If you cause this to spill, I will bleed more. I know what I’m doing. Drink.”

I realized the only one in this room that rivaled Shelly in stubbornness was feeding me. I drank, and my body began to tighten. It was not the same sensation as a change. I was filling up. It was as if someone was inflating me. My power as Alpha surged. It wasn’t about restraint, and my wolf fighting back. This was power that came from Amber. My daughter was a badass. Pride was the last emotion I felt before the pain took over.

Then I burned. I felt ready to explode until the double-sided blade the witch wielded sank into my skin. First one arm, then the other. She split me from shoulder to wrist. The blood flowed from me, and I felt the powerful elixir that had come from my daughter fill me. It was taking hold. I was turning.

Then the powder sprinkled over me. The witch’s words were silenced to my ears by the pounding of my heart. The organ was ready to pop with everything being done to it. I panted as what felt like lead filled my lungs. They hardened. Everything in me was being reinvented. Whatever the witch put over me had me feeling like I was knocked upside the head by a brick wall. I didn’t want to pass out.

They might have been doing this for my benefit, but I didn’t want to go under. No. Then I realized I didn’t have the choice. They had planned this. I opened my mouth to scream, but my breath left me. Amber stood with her arm around her bulging belly. The blood I had taken was washed clean from her. She had a blood bag in her mouth, but the sudden stiffening of her belly had her doubled over and unable to hang on. The blood bag slapped on the floor with a disgusting wet sound.

I was slipping unconscious knowing I would miss the birth of my grandchild. What if I never woke up? With the last of the strength I had, I reached for the short-haired witch. I got hold of her scarf and used my fingers to pull her closer bit by bit.

“If it’s her or me, you make sure she is the one that lives. Understand?”

Kari pulled the scarf from my fingers gently. Then she rolled up her sleeve. There were track marks on her arm. She slit her skin open near the wrist.

“You will all survive. It’s as it was meant to be. Still yourself. Your hosts would be ill-prepared were you to tip this table. I sure wouldn’t be able to lift you.”

Kari’s blood slipped down my throat. My eyes popped open, and I realized why she smelled different. The taste of her amplified the scent. There was cancer in her blood stream. She couldn’t be strong enough for this, but all of a sudden, her voice wasn’t in my ear. It echoed in my head, and the last of the strength left me.

“My secrets are my own. I am feeding you, because of all those here, you are the one who understands this best. Trust me. Your granddaughter will be born. You will see her. You will lift her high in the sunshine and hunt with her in the woods when the time comes. Take care of your body. Let the rest of us worry about what goes on outside it. You are strong. Push the transition through.”

Then the darkness won. I put my faith in a dying witch that she knew what she was talking about.

My heart stopped.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Trevor

Waking up from a transition was one hell of a hangover. We had all talked with Amber. We were prepared for the different sensations, the different feeling that air would have in our lungs. We were prepared for a thicker, stronger skin to cover our body. We were ready for the thirst.

I wasn’t ready to wake up and hear screaming. I was coming out of a haze that I had no ability to rush along. I heard the shouting. I heard the screams. I smelled the blood. What I knew by scent was that it was Amber’s. Amber was bleeding. Amber was screaming.

The baby. Gods no. Not the baby.

I forced my eyes open, but the light was just too bright. My lids slammed shut for self-preservation. I was no longer tied down. I tried to get up, but rolled off the table instead. Luckily, the table held steady and resisted toppling over on me.

I could hear her. I could smell her, and I could sense her. I began to crawl along the cement floors. My skin didn’t even scrape. I dragged my legs. The jeans I wore scuffed through and my bare knees took the beating. My body was coming back to me, and I squinted to see.

Handling births was something I had done before I was with the Paulson Pack. We had a predominantly male Pack, and there hadn’t been many pups born. I didn’t have access to a miasma of memories, but as I focused my eyes and saw the baby crown, I remembered enough to know that that was not a head.

The baby was breach.

I would have taken a breath but I didn’t need one, and I didn’t want to smell any more of the girl that was like a daughter to me bleeding out. I steeled what was inside me, and commanded my muscles to work. I commanded the blood to flood to where I needed it. My hands regained sensation and I made myself sit back. The shouts around me settled as they came to realize I wasn’t going to fall over and crush the poor woman giving birth on a cement floor.

“Amber, you can do this. But you are going to have to try and relax.” I had to take in more air to use my vocal chords, and as the scent of the baby’s blood mingled with hers, I really wish I didn’t have to but, “I am going to have to turn the baby. It is going to hurt.”

I touched her knee, and Amber’s hand slammed down on mine. Her eyes blazed with a glow that was both gold and silver. Her stars burned bright, her resolve even more so. Her nails sank into my skin.

“If you can’t save us both, you save her. Do you understand?”

“Amber, we can do this—”

But she wouldn’t let me do that. She wouldn’t be placated.

“Her…over…me. Promise.” Amber panted the words and then her voice broke as the baby pushed forward.

I went to work. I wouldn’t lose a life tonight. I wouldn’t lose anyone I loved again. I could do this.

“Amber, you have to stop pushing. You are tearing.” She wouldn’t relax. “Amber, if you bleed out, it is just as stressful for your child.”

That got her attention. The panting slowed, but we weren’t out of the woods yet. There were people all around me, but I didn’t know who had the skills to help. I opened my mouth to try and talk, and realized I had forgotten to breathe, and had to take a second to inhale so that I had something to vibrate against my vocal chords.

I didn’t have time to adjust. Dammit. This was all about time. There
was
one advantage. I could hear the baby better than ever before. I concentrated on that tiny fluttering heartbeat, and any issues I had were moot. I was saving this child and I was saving its mother.

“Amber, I am going to have to push the baby back up.” I didn’t hear a response from the woman I felt was a daughter to me, but her body was beginning to shake. More than a simple shiver, Amber’s body was convulsing wildly on the floor.

“She’s losing too much blood.” Before I could enact a plan, Annabelle brought out a bag of blood out and an IV kit.

“There are some benefits to a bleeding facility being located here. It is high time these instruments were used to save a life rather than destroy them.” Annabelle looked to Jake and Craig. “Hold her down. The doctor needs to work, and so do I. Hold her firm.”

Jake hesitated. Then the convulsions caused Amber’s head to smack the floor and another smattering of blood joined the horrible scene. He held her then. His grip locked firm. There was no room for a gentle stroking of his thumb, or a caress of his hands. He had to help her live first. Time for affection would be later. Right now, we were in a battle against her body.

I just hoped we would have the opportunity to repair it.

Chapter Forty

Rick

I was back in time. Lily had just harvested the green beans. I was excited for her to use her special spice mix that would coat them so well. She had the bowl waiting by the fire and heat made the earthy smell penetrate everywhere. My clothes reeked of it, and just walking around doing chores had my hunger spiking.

Then I heard her scream. Her scream. No. Not Lily’s scream. Amber’s. Amber was screaming.

Then I wasn’t with Lily. That time was done. I was Richard Paulson now. I had a Pack. I had a mate.

I had…to get someone to turn off the lights. The world was a wash of white. Then Amber screamed again. I realized I wasn’t breathing, and the instinctual inhalation brought the scent of my daughter’s blood across my senses. A lot of her blood. Far too much.

Pain and sluggish transition be damned. I erupted from the table. There were no buckles to hold me back any longer, and I lunged toward her sound. I had to stop as I neared the puddle of her blood that was slowly creeping my way. She was thrashing as her mate and her Beta held her to the ground. The witch was squeezing one blood bag into Amber’s arm, while the slit vein dripped into her mouth.

Amber’s scream was gurgled until she swallowed on instinct. Trevor was between her legs, and then the realization of what was occurring erupted pain inside my chest. The baby. My grandchild was in danger. Amber was surrounded and I took another step to try and do something, but a small voice stopped me.

“You should wait. Trust your Beta. It’s a critical point. Help me gather towels and water, you’re faster than me, and we need to be ready to care for the child.” Kari’s voice was weak. Her eyes appeared to have sunken further since she’d fed me.

It might have been selfish, but I wondered if I would have any ill effects from her blood. Instead, I got a flash.

An image of a tiny baby that resembled Amber as an infant was wrapped in a men’s button up shirt. The child squirmed and then looked up at me. Its eyes were Amber’s, too. The starburst in my daughter’s gaze was mirrored in the impossible infant.

“What happened?”

“I am fading. My power must have bled with my red blood cells. Now go. You stole my vision. You know the babe will make it. You get water first. It’s heavier. I will gather some towels.” Kari swayed, but she pushed herself forward.

My daughter wasn’t the only woman I was worried about, but as Amber’s gurgled cries filled the air, I didn’t have time to split my purpose. I went for water.

Chapter Forty-One

Shelly

I felt my heart beat on its own. It was a strange thing to tell it to stop and not have it obey. I couldn’t help it. There was pain around me. At first I was sure it was my own, but when I took stock of my body, there was nothing wrong.

I had the sudden urge to head outside. I needed the fresh air because it smelled bad in here. It smelled like death was close. I couldn’t ignore the illness even with all the blood.

The smell of death increased and then I heard Kari. “It’s time to wake up, Shelly. You are needed.”

Kari was dying. Why hadn’t I smelled it before? Because I hadn’t tried to figure it out? Or was it because I didn’t have the epic sense of smell I did now?

All of a sudden, I wasn’t alone in my body. Holy crap, I had a wolf. And she was pissed at me for staying asleep so long. She also wasn’t going to wait for me to use my human eyes. My body wasn’t up and running on full power. So my wolf decided that a change of tactic was in order.

The pain of the first bone snapping was sharp. I had endured pain before, and a broken bone wasn’t high up on that scale. I had broken a bone in my hand when I’d punched Amber in the nose. This was no small finger. The first crack caused a chain reaction that progressed through my body like dominos falling. Every bone shifted and crunched and my skin—which was usually as strong as armor—split with the amount of hair that sprung forth.

When I looked again, I was nearer to the ground. Pressed to the stone floor, my hands and knees had been replaced with light tan paws.

Then there was someone in front of me. Someone with a lot of water bottles. A quick snort to take in the air told me exactly who it was. Richard dropped the various water bottles and a giant soup pot filled to the brim on the floor. A bit of the water splashed out. I was thirsty.

I went forward and licked up the water on the floor before I was able to stop myself. I was really dehydrated.

“Shelly, you have to get this under control right now. Amber is having the baby. I have to help. I have to…do something.” Rick turned toward the smell of blood behind me.

In the corner a body shook. Trevor was between a pair of spread legs and blood was everywhere. Blood ran from her body. Blood drenched Trevor’s arms, and blood dripped from a witch’s vein into the horrible drowning cries from Amber.

They weren’t being hard enough. Her baby wouldn’t come without force. My wolf knew what to do. I had to add pressure to her stomach. It was either that or rip her skin open, and if I tried that in this form, everyone would assume I was eating her unborn spawn.

Rick looked into my eyes. He pressed his authority forward. I snorted my amusement. I make my own authority. Always have.

“I hope you have this under control, Shell. I can’t babysit right now.” As assured as he could make himself, he went back to moving the water toward the gorefest.

I walked around him and approached from the side Jake occupied. My brother was far more family than anyone who had raised me. I owed him everything. Letting his mate die was not acceptable. I approached her stomach.

“What is she doing? Stop her!” Mary’s words slammed against me, and I felt the wolfy witch invade my mind.

“Back off, Barbie. We are trying to save her life.”

You know what they say about assuming? It makes an ass out of you and me. I have been an ass long enough. It was high time I started working toward something that was about more than myself or my Family. Amber was important to not only her Clan, but to everyone who would someday follow in her footsteps. And I kind of liked her too.

Miasma would split. Word would spread. There were options beyond the traditional ways. Amber was the one to lead us. Now we just had to get the little critter out.

The convulsions intensified. We needed to do it fast. The miasma still worked in wolf form. Great. I was hoping for a bit of a reprieve. Beggars can’t be choosers.

Without normal vocal chords, I pushed back along the same path that Mary had forged into my mind. Were the situation different, I would have enjoyed watching the shock form on the little newbie’s face. Surprises should be old hat for her, you’d think. But no, all of her shock showed up in her expression like a blinking neon sign. Then she proved she was useful and spoke for me.

“We need to put pressure on the top of her stomach and help push the baby out. That’s what Shelly wants to do.” Her voice was almost lost among the screaming.

“If we push right now, Amber is likely to tear more than a little skin.” Doc was turning that little critter with everything he had. The baby was strong stock to withstand the stress. Its heart rate stayed steady.

“Shelly is going to push while you stretch her. She says that anything that tears can be repaired. The baby dying would kill…dammit, Shelly, is it really necessary to call her names. Fuck you, bitch! I can interpret however I damn well please, and I am doing it with you.” Mary leaned over the belly and spread her hands over the area of Amber’s rock hard stomach closest to her ribs.

I reared back and stood on my hind legs. I came down with force and the blood the witch was trying to feed Amber erupted from her mouth as the most horrible scream…was immediately followed by the sweetest. The baby.

“It’s a girl.” Jake’s awe echoed all of ours.

Then it became obvious that we wouldn’t get that sweet moment. Doc cleaned off the baby with the towels, then threw them to start soaking up the blood on the floor. “She’s going to be fine. The little one’s eyes and color are good we just need…” Doc grabbed a button down men’s shirt that was on top of the pile of rags. No baby clothes in here, but my mate wrapped her in the best we had. Then he handed the bundle off to Jake.

I had never seen my brother cry before. Ever. He was stoic in the most literal sense of the word. I saw twin streaks down his cheeks. One for the joy at his daughter’s life, and one for fear for his mate’s.

“Doc…” His voice cracked and my entire body ached at the pain.

The shift back wasn’t easy, but I needed to be able to talk. The naked thing would have to be worked with. Jake wasn’t paying attention to me, but I spoke anyway. “You take care of that baby, because Amber knowing you are doing that will make her concentrate on her own battle.” Heads turned to me.

I joined Craig in holding down the woman that had to live as Trevor went to work. It took far too long for the bleeding to stop, and none of us were sure she hadn’t been thrown into a stroke due to the severity of her seizures. The afterbirth was difficult to deliver, and it took quite a bit of suture work to get the blood to finally stop. Thank the gods the witches had been living here. We had some first aid material that would never have been found in a house filled with vampires or werewolves.

“Wrap yourself up for me. I don’t need to see that.” Mary handed me a towel and I tied a knot with the ends under my armpit to hold the rag in place. I was surprised we had any left that didn’t need wrung out or disposed of in a biohazard bag.

Looking around the room, a part of me wondered if anything non-lifechanging happened inside these walls. Transformation, life, pain and—I turned to Kari—and even more death was coming.

Amber was moved into the main house. Doc was tending to the baby, and Jake was washing Amber’s skin off hoping that his touch would help bring her back to consciousness. Rick was standing out back.

“Sorry your transition had to be such a bitch.” Mary was looking at me. Were it anyone else, I would have assumed she was sizing me up for some kind of fight, but being that it was Mary, she was either reading my aura or some other weird crap we didn’t have time for.

“Spit it out, Mary. I’d really like to go into the house now, and this stare-down shit is getting on my wolf’s nerves.” I stopped short after I said that, but yeah…it was my wolf. The things you do for love.

“When you were a wolf, I read your thoughts.” She obviously wanted me to say something.

“Are you expecting me to explain your witch stuff to you?” I waited for an answer, but she just pursed her lips and kept staring. Then I felt a poke at my conscious mind.
We have a mind reader, folks
. “I can feel when you do that, and so can anyone else you try it on. You might be able to get away with it in a human mind and have them dismiss it as déjà vu or some crap humans make up, but supernatural beings will understand and try and kill you.”

Mary took a step back as I started toward the exit.

“Can I hurt someone when I do that?” Her voice was worried.

“Glad to know you care about everyone else but me since you poked around in my head with no reservations.” At least she had the common courtesy to look down. “You understand this stuff, kid. It’s all about intent. If you intend to just relay a message or read a thought that can’t be said, that’s what you will do. If you intend to drop someone in their tracks and make abstract art with their squishy head goo…you have power, Mary. It’s all up to you how you use it.”

She finally let me walk away, and I made it outside for some fresh air.

It was when I entered the gardens that I realized I was the one who was not so fresh at this point. I would have headed directly for the nearest hot shower, but a tall tense back called to me. Rick was in the garden at the end of the stone path that led from the room we had just gone through hell in. He was standing guard.

I wasn’t really feeling the need for chivalry. “You should go somewhere you can be useful.”

“I am very useful making sure you have control of your wolf enough to not go eating the neighbor’s cat.” He talked tough, but I could tell by his stance that the fact I was walking out on two legs instead of four had him breathing easier.

“I am the epitome of control. At least as far as my body goes.” Or so I thought, until I got closer to him.

Rick had showered. He had put on clean clothes, and the scent he was throwing my way nearly doubled me over in orgasm. Seriously. What the fuck was going on?

My neck started to burn. The matemark he had given me pulsed with new life. This was what we had been missing. The scent of his arousal hit my nose next. He was more pungent. He was more alive. I was more alive. Only problem was, the other third of our lives wasn’t here.

“We need to get you cleaned up.” Rick grabbed my hand and then stopped. He stilled in a way I had never known him to do before. He didn’t breathe, and he didn’t blink. Then he shook himself and realized what he was doing. “That will take a while to get used to. But this…” He pulled me into his arms. “This reminds me that it was all worth it.”

I know I couldn’t have smelled right. I was dirty, I was covered in blood, but under his talented tongue I was washed clean. We didn’t breathe. We let our bodies warm, and even without our sense of smell, the mating pheromones pounded against us. There was more we needed to do, and one more player in the game that needed to participate.

As if our prelude to hot monkey sex called him, Trevor appeared. I held my eyes open and looked at him over Rick’s shoulder. I licked down Rick’s neck and watched the lust flare in my other mate’s eyes.

Trevor was hard. He was holding his body back, but part of him would not be contained any longer. Mating pheromones filled the entire garden, and suddenly I knew that we would never make it into the house. The sound of the water feature was the only thing that entered my consciousness. Time for a shower, and I knew just the men to do the scrubbing.

“Come on.” I said the words while grabbing Rick’s hand, but kept my eyes on Trevor. Both men followed me. I saw Trevor’s nose twitch and a slight grimace go across his face before he turned off the air flow to his sense of smell.

Their eyes lit up when we reached the water feature. There was no need for Mary’s mind tricks in this group. They had minds that flowed into the gutter right alongside mine. The water feature was a large glass-tiled wall. The blue and green pebbles caught the brief waterfall that cascaded down from a short ledge about seven feet off the ground. I dropped the towel, and the heartbeats of my mates began to pound.

We had been together, but now wasn’t the same. Not only were we completing the bond my new wolf demanded, but we were celebrating. A new baby was alive and thriving. Amber was stable—not conscious, but stable. We were all worried about her. Yes, even me. I needed someone who understood where I was. Although I got there from the opposite direction, Amber and I were standing as freaks of nature.

I realized I hadn’t looked in a mirror yet. I took a step and then another into the small pool of water at the base of the glass wall. The pump whirred against my foot. I looked at the water and wished it was a smooth surface. There was no way I would get a good look at myself this way. I thought of running into the house to investigate what had happened to me. I doubted I had changed much. Rick and Trevor didn’t even flinch when they had seen me after everything settled down. Then again, they hadn’t flinched when I was a wolf either.

“Here.” Trevor reached beneath my feet and pulled the pump from the water.

The ripples began to settle and I couldn’t breathe as I began to see my new self. I was right. Not
much
had changed, but with my new eyes, the details told a different story. My hair was still blonde, but it was fuller. I leaned down and looked at my eyes. I felt for the wolf and when she pushed forward, I was riveted as the image I saw became bathed in gold light. My matemarks were vibrant against my slightly less pale skin.

I opened my mouth to tell them that I needed to get to a mirror, but then Trevor kicked the pump back under the surface. Their hands were on me, and my skin began to erupt with desire.

Broad flat palms pressed against my stomach and my womb contracted as if they were already inside me. They pushed me into the blessedly heated water. My back pressed to the glass tiles in the feature, and the liquid began to slide over my head and down my body. Even though the water was warm, it wasn’t anywhere near as hot as I was. The difference in temperature had my nipples peaking. They poked through the cascade of liquid and they called for a touch. They got a kiss instead.