Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 17: The Newest Alpha

An intense jolt of pain clenches Kylie’s abdomen and she screams out, tightening her vice grip on Adam’s hand.

“Okay, Kylie, push now!” Dr. Kosh directs her for the third time. Once the contraction relaxes, she instructs Kylie to do the same. “Okay, good. We’re almost there.”

Kylie catches her breath for just a moment, feeling completely exhausted but knowing she needs to do that again at least one more time. Just as she is thinking that, the next contraction hits and the urge to push has never felt stronger.

“Okay, push! One more!” Dr. Kosh guides her.

Kylie gives it everything she’s got, praying that Margot makes it all the way out this time. She feels an intense pressure down below, and then it releases somewhat as she feels something heavy slide out of her. The flurry of activity at her feet tells her that she finally succeeded, and she exhales in relief and settles back into the pillows, fighting the urge to just close her eyes and fade away.

As Margot’s shrill newborn cries fill the room, Adam releases Kylie’s hand to make his way to where a nurse is holding Margot. He is immediately replaced by Tian who steps in to take hold of Kylie’s hand and rub her arm reassuringly.

“We need you to cut the cord, Dad,” another nurse tells Adam, handing him a pair of medical-grade scissors and guiding him through the process.

Kylie can see the joy and happy tears on her mate’s face and feel his euphoria through their bond and it helps keep her present in the moment instead of drifting away like her exhausted body wants to do. She grins at him and watches in amusement as he stays right with the nurses as they weigh and check Margot over, not sparing them even an inch of space while they are handling his daughter.

She looks up at Tian, who smiles back at her and leans down to kiss her sweaty forehead.

“You did it, Kylie,” he congratulates her softly. “There’s your daughter right over there.”

Marc steps around the other side of her bed and crouches down so his face is at eye level with her. He looks a bit teary-eyed as well.

“I can’t believe my bestie just birthed my sister,” he tries for a playful tone, but the emotion in his voice betrays him. “That’s the coolest thing I’ve witnessed, other than the four times Britney birthed my own children. It was a close fifth, though.”

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Kylie answers, reaching over to rub his arm appreciatively.

Adam makes his way back over to her bedside, Tian stepping out of the way so he can sit beside her and gently hand her their precious bundle wrapped in a soft pink blanket. She immediately unwraps her, opening the blanket to get a glimpse of the tiny, wrinkled, red-faced pup. She’s still a bit messy and her thick black hair is plastered to her head, but she is the most perfect baby Kylie has ever seen.

“She’s almost ten pounds,” Adam informs her, his fatherly pride already shining through. It’s such a relief to see his daughter born big, strong, and healthy.

Kylie pulls the front of her hospital gown away to expose a breast and lays Margot across her bare skin, soaking in the contact with her daughter. Margot seems to respond to the closeness with her mother, quieting her fussing and turning her attention to rooting around for her first meal. After Kylie helps her latch on, she sighs with contentment and leans her head on Adam.

“I think I’ll leave you guys to it,” Marc says softly, making his way around to hug his father before leaving the room.

Dr. Kosh cleared the room of most of Kylie’s visitors prior to delivery, leaving only Adam, Tian, and Marc at Kylie’s request. Marc joins the others where they wait down the hall, updating them about Margot and Kylie. Betsy and Nate are anxious to get back to see them but have to wait for Dr. Kosh to give the all-clear after she finishes with the less exciting afterbirth delivery and clean-up.

Kylie soldiers through the fatigue for as long as she can, allowing everyone a chance to pop in and see Margot and congratulate them. Finally, Adam can sense that she has had enough and shoos everyone out so Kylie can eat, rest, and heal. She is moved to a fresh room with plenty of space so that Adam and Tian can set up cots to stay with her and Margot for the night. It’s unnecessary for them to stay, considering how quickly a werewolf mother heals after delivery, but Adam insists.

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After the witch leaves his office, Alpha Preston sits quietly, lost in thought. He has never cared about Abby or her offspring, other than when he realized he might have an Alpha daughter, but only because of the threat that such a thing poses to him. He has wanted offspring for the purpose of continuing his family’s legacy, but at the same time, every month that Summer has reported back that she is still not pregnant, his immediate reaction is always to exhale in relief. He is not the fatherly type, and he knows it.

On the other hand, his people grow restless, wondering when their Alpha will finally produce an heir and renew the strength of their pack. He recognizes the irony of finding himself in the same position that Alpha Mitchell was in when he tried desperately to find his daughters mates, considering that it was Preston’s very own true mate who went on to produce the heir that relieved the aging Alpha of his burden, thereby creating the majority of the problems Preston now faces. It is even more disquieting to learn that he does, in fact, have a child, and it’s a female. Not only that, but the girl suffers from the very delusions of grandeur that have always afflicted his brother.

She’s no better suited to run his pack than Patrick, but the difference is that she seems to be able to charm others into believing that she is. He’s not ignorant, nor deaf or blind. He hears the rumors and the whisperings about the Alpha female with special powers who has been making her way through his region, charming entire packs to support their Alphas in following her. Though no one speaks it out loud or tells it to him directly, he knows who they unite against. He knows there are those willing to violate tradition to support her claim to his lands and his people. He knows it is most likely her his enemies will send to stand against him, and it is her that he has been preparing for.

But now the witch tells him that he is to be a grandfather, and this news has his wolf stirring in ways he is unfamiliar with. Stirrings he hasn’t felt since he met her mother and was unable to resist the temptation to have her. After all, it is a wolf’s instinct to want to continue his family line and produce young to care for and protect.

Preston fights back these urges, telling himself it is something else, something darker. He assures himself that it is only to get a better sense of the threat he faces that he so badly desires to see the girl and her squalling, red-faced infant. It is to catch a glimpse of the people she surrounds herself with, and to learn the true strength of her aura. It is necessary to see her, for his very survival may depend on it.

When Beta Jameson finally joins him in his office, he listens to his oldest friend and Alpha tell what the witch has revealed and offers the advice that inspires him to action.

“Perhaps it would be worth the trip, if only to try to reason with the girl and her brother,” he suggests. “We could approach them from a place of desiring peace and offer to settle the matter without violence, and perhaps even reach a treaty of some sort. If she is what everyone says, she should not scoff at the chance to spare lives and reach an amicable agreement that benefits everyone.”

“That’s brilliant, Jamey. Then we show everybody we’re not the villains they make us out to be, and we get a chance to see a bit of what we’re up against.”

“And the proud grand pappy can get a glimpse of his baby girl and grand pup,” Jameson teases him, mimicking an old man’s voice and movements.

“Quiet with that nonsense. I couldn’t care less about the girl,” Preston argues.

“Yeah, well, I’ve heard that before, the last time we traveled to Tall Pines. Just don’t kidnap anybody this time, okay?”

Preston only grunts his displeasure at the jab his friend takes at him, turning his attention to planning which warriors and enforcers to bring with them to Tall Pines and making arrangements for pack security while they are away.

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Over the next few days, Margot becomes the most popular girl at Tall Pines, being visited by most of the pack and many long-distance friends and family. Even Aunt Alex and Melissa drive up together to visit, and for the first time that she can remember, Kylie genuinely enjoys Melissa’s company and appreciates the advice and mom tips she offers. Perhaps most surprisingly, some of the allied Alphas from the nearer packs come to admire the newest Alpha female and even bring their mates this time.

After the mandatory five days of rest, as per Dr. Kosh’s orders, Kylie is itching to get back to training and working out. She is desperate to work with Tian to learn to control her telekinesis ability and feels like it would also be a shame to pass over the opportunity to spar with so many other Alphas while they’re right under the same roof.

The morning of the fifth day, she reluctantly hands Margot to Betsy, torn between her conflicting urges to work her body and stay close to her daughter, considering that soon she will have to be separated from her. She follows Tian outside to the training grounds, where Adam is already warming up with Jonah and some of the other Alphas. Tian leads her to an open area that no one is using where he has set up various objects on the ground to serve as targets for her power, covered loosely with a tarp to obscure them.

“I regret to inform you that the key to controlling this ability is awareness,” Tian begins to instruct her. “You’re going to have to learn to quickly scan an area and make note of everything around you, holding it in mind so that you can remain fully aware of your surroundings at all times. Eventually, you’ll get to a point where you can hone the ability to be able to direct it where you wish to use it and suppress it when you don’t. As you practice and refine your skill, you will also find that it grows in power. You will soon be able to manipulate increasingly larger masses, but of course, the bigger the targets, the greater the control you will need.”

“I went over some of this with Dorian, although what you’re saying about awareness of my surroundings makes sense. I think that’s where I’m going wrong currently,” Kylie realizes. “I can lower the objects after they’re floating because I look around and figure out what and where they are. But I think what you’re saying is that if I already know the details of my surroundings, I can focus on not letting anything move in the first place if I don’t want to.”

“Precisely,” Tian confirms approvingly. “And that is what we will practice. Now, when I remove this tarp, I will give you ten seconds to observe what is under it. When I call time, I will ask you to turn around and then move a specific object based on its location. If you know what and where everything is and can picture it in your mind, it will be easy.”

He practices that with her for a while, eventually decreasing the amount of time she is given to observe the placement of objects to seven seconds and then five and three. She pretty quickly masters the skill, though he cautions her that it’s much easier the way he is doing it with her than it will be in a real setting. Eventually he wants to start practicing it with her in rooms she has never seen before, or by moving things around in rooms she is familiar with. He urges her to practice it everywhere she goes so that it becomes second nature to quickly become aware of her surroundings.

Once they’ve finished with that for the day, she wants to join the men with their training. They’re currently running laps around the track that spans the perimeter of the training grounds and running has always been her favorite physical activity and her specialty. She spots where Adam and Jonah are jogging side by side and dashes over to them, falling into step next to Jonah.

“Hey slowpoke,” she teases her brother. “Want to race?”

He turns to her with a grin, remembering when she and Marc used to race as kids and how he always tried to keep up with them but just wasn’t big enough yet.

“You’re on!” he agrees enthusiastically, looking around to find a suitable straightaway. Then it occurs to him that he’s the Alpha and can just call a halt to the laps everyone is running and give them a break while he and Kylie engage in a little sibling rivalry.

The other Alphas and warriors clear the track and head off to enjoy a short break while Adam helps set up their race. Once Kylie and Jonah are lined up and in position, he yells “Go!” and they take off. Kylie starts out slow, feeling a little stiff and out of practice, but it doesn’t take her long to catch up to her brother, whose mass seems to work against him when it comes to sprinting.

She hears a lot of the others cheering on either her or Jonah, which makes it feel like a real race. After a few seconds of keeping pace with Jonah, she decides to show him what she can really do, playfully mocking him as she speeds past. He yells after her in mock outrage, eventually giving up in a fit of laughter when he realizes he’ll never catch her.

She makes it to the boundary they agreed would serve as the halfway point, turning around to dash her way back to Adam. The cheers and celebrations are cut short, however, when Tian spots an unfamiliar group of people making their way toward them.

A feeling of dread and impending danger rushes over her, and she quickly mind-links Tian, I don’t know what is about to go down, but I would feel better if you were with Margot.

I’ll head there now, he sends back, disappearing from their gathering a moment later.

“Stop right there!” Jonah yells out to the strangers. “Identify yourself.”

Alpha Clayton steps up between Jonah and Kylie to explain, “There's no need. That’s Alpha Preston of Black Moon. How in the hell did he get past your guards without an alarm sounding?”