Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 15: Return to Tall Pines

Stubborn, determined, and heavily pregnant Kylie perseveres through her insistence to visit all the Tall Pines allies save one. They plan to make their last stop at Hidden Moon to visit Alpha Clayton and attend his mating ceremony later in the month. Though the ceremony is genuine and Alpha Clayton does intend to officially mate with Evelyn Rivers at that time, it will also serve as a cover to provide a reason for the allies to gather so near to Black Moon territory.

In the meantime, Mirabella has insisted that Kylie park herself somewhere safe and stationary to prepare for Margot’s arrival as she can sense that it will happen within the next few days. Not wanting to endure the trip home to Spirit Moon or take herself too far away from her responsibilities, Kylie has convinced Adam to bring her back to Tall Pines to stay with her family. Dr. Kosh and her parents have already been notified to join them there.

As their car pulls up the long drive leading to the Tall Pines packhouse, Kylie notices some of her family coming out onto the porch to greet them. She spots her grandmother, and it hits her for the first time that she is no longer known as Luna April here. Now there’s Luna Elizabeth. Both Elizabeths wait with her grandmother on the porch, though Betsy charges toward her as soon as the car is parked.

“Kylie!” she hollers out, rushing to her daughter’s side to snake an arm around the back of her and help support her weight as she walks. Betsy is surprised at how large the baby belly is now.

“Mom, I can walk,” Kylie insists, secretly loving that her mother is being so protective and helpful.

Adam follows behind chuckling at their interaction, always glad to see the way his love lights up when she’s with her family.

“Good to see you, Betsy,” he greets her. 

“And you, Adam,” she returns with a slight turn of her head to look at him walking behind her. “You look tired.”

“Of course they’re tired,” April chimes in once they have made their way to the porch. “He’s had this girl running ragged all over creation.”

“No, he’s been trying to convince me to abandon my mission and just stay in one place and put my feet up,” Kylie argues with a laugh. “Like that was going to happen.”

“Well, hopefully you will listen to him now,” Beth joins their conversation, holding her arms out to hug Kylie. “Welcome back to Tall Pines, sister. I intend to force you to plop yourself in a recliner and not get up until that baby comes. You’ll be waited on hand and foot, I assure you, and we’ll make sure you don’t get bored.”

“At this point, that sounds amazing,” Kylie readily agrees. “Things changed a couple days ago. Now I’m feeling it.”

“Looks like the baby dropped,” April remarks as she examines her granddaughter. “Yeah, you’ll be feeling it. How’s your back?”

“It’s a little angry, but I’ve had worse,” Kylie answers her honestly, remembering the pain she endured daily only a few short months before.

“Let’s get her inside and settled, ladies,” Betsy suggests, not liking how uncomfortable Kylie looks as she stands with them, regardless of how she’s trying to make light of it.

Kylie is led to the common room where there is indeed a large recliner ready for her to sit in. Once she has her feet up, her mother starts fussing with accent pillows trying to make her more comfortable, until finally she is all settled and content. Adam pulls up a chair right next to hers and realizes that Tian doesn’t seem to have followed them in, so it’s just him and a room full of she-wolves cooing over Kylie and her baby belly.

It only takes him a few moments to grow suspicious that something more is going on. Kylie’s mother and grandmother were very specific about where they wanted Adam and Kylie to sit, which is facing away from the rest of the house. He noticed that Beth disappeared at one point without saying anything, and that Betsy is making a point of keeping Kylie distracted talking about their trip.

He turns and looks behind them when he hears several footsteps approaching softly and notices that Beth is coming back with several other women trailing behind her carrying gift bags, balloons, and one is even holding a cake. He realizes it’s a surprise baby shower, and suspects that Tian somehow knew to stay clear of it.

“Yeah, it is kind of early, but Dr. Kosh assured us when we had that scan that Margot is just developing quickly. It might have something to do with all the other differences between me and other she-wolves,” Kylie tells her mother in response to a question she asked.

The other women make their way over to the far side of the common room where Kylie is seated, interrupting the ongoing conversation.

Beth shouts, “Surprise!” once Kylie notices them, and giggles when she sees the shock on her face.

“We thought that since you haven’t even taken the time to have a proper baby shower before now, we’d give you one,” Betsy explains, holding Kylie’s hand.

“Wow, this is too much,” Kylie says softly, feeling a bit emotional about the thoughtfulness of the gesture. She fights the tears she feels coming on and smiles joyfully. “Thank you, guys. This has definitely not been a typical way to spend a pregnancy and it is nice to just focus on something normal for once.”

“Should I leave?” Adam stands and asks uncertainly, wondering if the women want to be left alone to have an all-girl party.

“No, it’s your baby too. You’re welcome to stay, though we won’t force you,” April teases.

“Tian is outside with my dad and Jonah sparring, if you’d rather,” Kylie offers, knowing that he enjoys that, but hoping that he will stay. With the baby so close to delivery, she has found herself wanting to be his permanent attachment the past few days.

“Tempting, but I’d rather be here,” Adam decides, leaning over to place a kiss on her cheek before sitting back in his place beside her.

“Aww, too sweet,” one of the women who came in with Beth says after watching the exchange between the expecting couple. “I’m Nina, a good friend of Luna Elizabeth, and the mate of Beta Peter,” she introduces herself, holding her hand out first to Kylie and then to Adam. “So nice to meet you, and congratulations!”

Nina and Beth take charge of the gathering and lead the other women in playing some silly games. Though Kylie rolls her eyes and acts as though she thinks it is all too ridiculous, Adam can tell she is enjoying herself with how she is all smiles and giggles, relaxed and having fun in her playful way that he has been seeing too little of recently. He even joins in and plays some of the games with her, relishing the way her eyes sparkle as she watches him make a fool of himself just for her.

“I’m not sure. The baby’s nursery is set up at Kylie’s mother’s house,” Adam explains to one of the girls who had asked him about their nursery theme. The fact that they never had a chance to prepare for their child’s arrival like parents normally would still bothers him, but before he can lament about that Kylie interrupts him.

“You said it!” she exclaims, pointing her finger at the diaper pin on his shirt. “That’s mine now.”

She holds her hand out for him to hand over his pin, as per the rules of their ongoing game. Anyone who catches someone else saying “baby” or “pup” can claim the other’s pin.

He chuckles, realizing his error, and appreciating how competitive his mate can be sometimes.

“Just you, your mom, and your grandmother still left in the game now. Must be a trait of the women in your family,” he remarks.

“Too bad. I was rooting for you, babe. You never stood a chance, though,” she teases as she adds his pin to the collection already on her shirt.

Beth brings out the cake sliced and served on little pink plates, delivering two to Kylie and Adam so that Kylie doesn’t have to move. Adam is impressed at how these women have thought of everything that could possibly inspire Kylie to want to get out of her seat and jump up to take care of it before she even asks. He’s been trying to get her to slow down for weeks and mostly failing.

“It’s actually uncomfortable to walk now is why,” Kylie whispers her answer to his thoughts. “Fingers crossed that Margot hurries up.”

“Hopefully not before Dr. Kosh gets here and has a chance to check you over,” Adam reminds her.

He still hasn’t adjusted to hearing his mother’s name so frequently. It both thrills and saddens him every time.

“You’ll feel differently once you’re holding her namesake in your arms,” Kylie predicts hopefully, answering his unspoken thought again.

“I’m obviously doing a poor job of keeping my rambling thoughts to myself today,” Adam remarks with a chuckle.

“You’re nervous, anxious, excited, tired, pretty much everything all at once. It makes for a distracted mind. It doesn’t bother me, though. I like having this access to you. You’re usually pretty guarded.”

“Not to keep you out,” he assures her, taking her hand. “It’s just that I know you already have a lot on your plate. You don’t need to add everything in my head to that.”

“Which is fair, but I really don’t mind when we’re just sitting together like this. I think it brings us closer.”

“I don’t disagree, and I’m not complaining, but while we’re on the topic I suppose it’s the appropriate place to point out that you don’t really let me in anymore, either.”

She brings their joined hands to her lips to kiss his, then presses his hand to her cheek to soak in the reassuring tingling sensation.

“It’s because of how I consciously control my mind to keep not only my thoughts but also my emotions and moods in check. I’ll let you in next time we go someplace remote. Tian’s, maybe.”

“That makes sense, and I figured as much. Don’t worry about it. As long as I can still feel my link to you, I’m good. I’m glad you learned to control it so well.”

“Me too. Even I’m impressed at how much that has changed. These days, when I lose control, I don’t lose control of my mind anymore. I lose control of my body. That telekinesis thing. Tian promised to help me with it once Margot is born. It’s too risky without Dorian while she’s still in there.”

“Time for presents?” Beth cuts in, taking their empty plates from them. “I hope you say yes, but no pressure. I’m just super excited for you to see all the stuff people brought for you. We grabbed a few things to show you from those of us here at the party, but there’s more in the dining hall.”

“How much more? Can’t it all just be brought here?” Kylie wonders, feeling comfortable and not wanting to move.

“Well, I feel like you should at least see it, even if you choose to open most of it later. People from all over have brought and sent gifts for you guys and your baby. Not just for the baby shower, but pretty much ever since you guys left here the last time. We set them aside and then when we knew you’d be coming I hired a decorator to arrange them for you. It’s a sight to see,” Beth gushes, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Oh gosh, Beth,” Kylie responds, feeling both honored and amused. “You really went all out!”

Beth takes her into the dining hall and Adam and all the rest of the party guests follow behind. Kylie has her eyes closed, as directed, so when Beth has her positioned and tells her to open her eyes, the first thing she sees is an impressive tower of gifts. As she looks over it more carefully, she realizes it’s the tower of a castle and the rest of the gifts make up the front of the castle, and there’s another shorter tower on its other side.

“Oh wow,” she breathes, both impressed and touched. “I can’t help it, but my first thought is where in the heck we’re going to keep all this stuff,” she laughs. “We don’t even know for sure where we will be living!”

“Well, you can keep it all here for now, or send some of it with your mom for the baby,” Beth suggests. “I honestly don’t even know what a lot of it is. We’ll help you sort through it, though.”

“She’ll never admit it, but she’s in pain,” Adam announces, concerned at what he can sense through their mate bond. “I’d like to get her back to that chair now.”

“Pain where?” April asks as she steps up next to her granddaughter, just as concerned.

“My back. It’s been coming and going for a little bit, it’s just a little worse now,” Kylie admits.

“As in coming and going over weeks or over hours?” April presses for more detail.

“The last couple hours,” Kylie tells her. “Why? Isn’t that normal?” She’s concerned now because her grandmother looks worried.

“Just to be safe, let’s get her to the pack doctor,” April suggests. “It could be back labor.”

“That’s a thing?” Kylie asks, chuckling nervously.

“It is, and it was what happened to me with your mother,” April tells her, smiling warmly and rubbing Kylie’s back comfortingly, taking her by the arm to urge her to start moving in the direction of the clinic. “It wasn’t how I expected labor to start, either, and it can be a painful way for it to happen. I would just personally feel better if a doctor is monitoring you.”

“Same here,” Adam adds gruffly, letting Kylie lean on him so he can support some of her weight.

Kylie sends Tian a mind-link to alert him of what is happening, and he quickly responds, I’m already on the way.

She finds it reassuring that both Adam and Tian seem to be able to sense whenever she is in distress.

At the clinic, she is quickly ushered back into a room and set up with some machines to monitor oxygen levels, contractions, and the baby’s heartbeat.

Tian rushes in just as the doctor is checking Kylie’s cervix. An urge to snap the doctor’s neck rushes over him, but he knows that if Adam is somehow able to control himself, then he can as well. He joins Adam, standing behind where he sits in a chair by Kylie’s bedside and clasps his shoulder comfortingly.

“Well, Miss Logan, you’re not going anywhere,” the doctor concludes. “Your grandmother is correct that labor has started. Contractions are coming a bit more regularly now, and you’re dilated to three.”

“My water hasn’t even broken yet,” Kylie argues futilely.

“It doesn’t matter. I imagine it will soon, and in the meantime, I’d feel better if you were here and we were ready,” the doctor gently insists.

“I’m with him,” Adam agrees with the doctor whose name he can’t even remember. He silently hopes that Dr. Kosh is close enough to get here in time.

I need Dr. Kosh, Kylie tells Tian over mind-link.

I’m on it, Tian responds.

He pulls out his phone to text Alpha Marcus, who neither Kylie nor Adam are aware is the person driving Dr. Kosh to Tall Pines. His arrival is meant to be a surprise.

ETA? He requests, relieved when the young Alpha responds moments later to let him know that they are about two hours away.

Give me an exact location. I’m coming for the doctor.

Kylie leans her cheek on Adam’s hand joined to hers again, sighing. Then she watches as Tian suddenly disappears, not caring who is around when he does it.

“Oh!” April exclaims. She is not as accustomed to vampires as the others in the room – Adam, Betsy, and Kylie – and it caught her off guard. “Why did he go?” she wonders.

“To get Dr. Kosh,” Kylie responds.

Adam chuckles, amused that his wish will be fulfilled so soon, but his smile turns to a frown of worry as he watches and feels his mate in pain.

“Oh! Ouch!” Kylie yells out a little louder than she intended, grinding her teeth together as she pushes through another wave of pain. “Well, that’s getting a bit more intense. There was a little more front action that time.”

“Would you believe I have never done this before?” Betsy admits to the room, feeling agitated, anxious, and insecure. Not only does she hate seeing her daughter in pain, but she feels ill-equipped to help her because she has never experienced this.

“I feel a bit rusty myself,” Adam shares in an attempt to console her a bit.

“Kylie just needs you to be here. She doesn’t need you to do anything other than that,” April tells her, wrapping an arm around the other woman reassuringly. “Same to you, Adam. And Kylie, soon that is going to get a lot worse, and you’re going to need to breathe through it. Your instinct seems to be to clamp up and hold your breath, but that won’t help you or the baby. Next time, we’ll breathe through it together to practice, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, thanks,” Kylie smiles at her grandmother appreciatively.

April moves to the other side of Kylie, opposite Adam, and takes her free hand. “We’re here for you, baby girl.”

Tian returns with Dr. Kosh, arriving just down the hall from Kylie’s room. He directs the doctor where to go and heads into the house to raid his stash of blood rations, just in case. A short trip shouldn’t exhaust him too terribly, but he wants to be as well-off as he can be to endure what Kylie is about to go through.

Dr. Kosh finds a sink down the hall where she washes her hands and fixes herself as best as she can, then heads to the room Tian indicated.

She bursts through the door, smiling and excited. “Okay, Kylie. I’m here. Are we ready to have a baby?”