Chapter 33

Chapter Thirty-Three

Nathan

Tipping my head, I studied the house. It took a while to get it all done to Runa’s specifications, but it was finally finished. Thank the spirits for that, since winter was brutal in Runa’s little cottage. Waking up in the middle of the night to add more logs to the hearth got annoying after a while.

The cottage stayed where it was. I suggested Runa keep it for doing spells and stuff so the baby wouldn’t get into her things. Martha liked the idea, and Runa accepted it without much grumbling. She may have mentioned making me sleep out there if I bothered her, but I was pretty sure that was just because it was a rough day for me and I wouldn’t leave her alone.

I got cleared by Beckett’s team pretty quickly, with a referral for rehabilitation. Since I wasn’t willing to leave Runa for that long, a local professional came out to see me instead. Ethan was familiar with the guy and told me to brace myself, but I didn’t complain. I was being given the chance to get better. I’d do what I had to in order to be good enough for Runa and my cub.

After Finch’s unit was disbanded, I sat down with Aiden to talk about the inconsistencies in the way broken shifters were dealt with. Finch always told me there was no room in the budget to help shifters who needed rehab, which meant it came out of pocket for most of them. I didn’t like that. It was hard enough trying to fix your connection to your animal without worrying about things like how you were going to pay for it all. Aiden agreed with me and offered to help me open a shifter rehab center on the edge of his territory. He couldn’t allow it too close to his mate, which I understood since I didn’t want unstable shifters near Runa either, but it meant a lot that he was willing to help. And with my old unit volunteering to act as enforcers and watch over the facility, and the psychologist who helped me agreeing to offer his time, we started work on a non profit rehab center for shifters where they could reconnect with their animals and focus on getting better. Even Dad volunteered to help. With his unflappable nature, he wouldn’t flinch when unstable shifters snapped at him. He was a good person to provide a steady presence for them.

I did make sure he wouldn’t be offering any of them weed, though.

Martha and Laurie decided to stick around and work full time at the rehab center once it was finished. They said the spirits guided them here for a reason and they could do more good here than going back home. They weren’t happy about the winters up here, but Malcolm made sure the heating at the rehab center was top notch so they’d stay warm, which they appreciated.

Dad clapped my shoulder, grinning at the house. “Looks good, huh? And just in time too.”

I huffed out a laugh. “No kidding.”

Runa was due any day now. She’d been busy preparing for our cub’s arrival, and Link built her a cradle from scratch as a thanks for helping Rhea and their daughter during the birth. I hadn’t noticed him that night, too focused on Runa, so it stunned me to see someone from my earlier days in the military living so close by. He’d been lucky and got out before the enforcement units could look his way, but it was nice to have that connection without all the hurt feelings like I had with my old unit. I was still working on accepting their apologies. Runa said it was fine for me to take my time.

The rest of the crew brought gifts as well, from blankets to clothes, until we were almost drowning in baby things. Runa was still a little standoffish with the crew, but she was spending more time with them and accepted the gifts gracefully after Liv pointed out that they were nice enough not to force her to have a baby shower.

“Where’s Runa?” Dad asked as we moved to clean up the rest of the tools.

“Meeting with Aiden.”

That was a whole other mountain to climb. Runa’s and Aiden’s relationship was still awkward, and they didn’t interact often, but with a little encouragement from Dad and Andrew, they started working on their communication. They wouldn’t ever be friends, but Runa actually started using his name instead of calling him the great beast, and when she needed something, she no longer stubbornly refused to ask him for help. Not that she did it often.

“About what?”

I shrugged. “Does she ever tell you what you want to know?”

Dad snorted, but Runa’s voice cut through the clearing before he could reply. “I tell you plenty. For your information, I was letting Aiden know our expectations for after the baby comes. Your tiger won’t allow the groups to come en masse.”

True. While I was working hard to get better and be less paranoid, it hadn’t gone away. I was still overprotective and sometimes my mind ran away with me. It might always be that way, but we found it could be avoided if I was clear about my boundaries beforehand and I had time to prepare myself mentally for whatever we had to do.

She bumped my hip as she joined us, resting against me as I pulled her against my chest and into my arms. “All done?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Dad and I moved the bed into our room. We’ll need more furniture but it’s ready for us to move in.”

She drew in a breath, eyeing the house. “Good timing. My contractions started this morning.”

Whipping my head around, I gaped at her. “W-What?”

She smiled softly at me, that hint of mischievousness in her eyes. “Your cub is coming, Nathan. It’s time to go to the water.”

Runa

In all my years helping women birth babies, I’d never experienced the pain myself. Even knowing that it would be the worst pain I’d ever felt didn’t prepare me for it. The only reason I wasn’t screaming was because I didn’t want to set Nathan off. Seeing me in pain was difficult for him, and I could tell his control was hanging by a thread.

“Deep breaths,” Martha coached, kneeling beside me. I was on my hands and knees, following my body’s instincts to rock through the contractions. She kept her hand on my back, offering me consistent support, but didn’t take the pain away. I needed it to better understand what my body was telling me.

Doing as she asked, I sucked in a deep breath, gritting my teeth as another contraction tore through me.

“I need to push,” I growled.

She nodded, pulling my hair out of my face. “Follow your instincts. We’re ready for him.”

While my magic was nowhere near healed, I gained back enough while sleeping beside Nathan each night to where I could check on my baby’s development. Our son was thriving, and Martha crowed about being right about his sex for weeks after I finally admitted it. The salt thing was still an old wives’ tale.

Nathan kneeled beside me as I started to push, sending me his energy and love. It helped keep my head clear through the pain, and when the panic came as we neared the end, he kissed my temple and murmured encouragement in my ear until the ring of fire passed and our baby was born.

Laurie put the babe in my arms, wrapping us both in a thick blanket. It was a little too cold for us to be in the water, which was why I was only in partially, but I felt like I needed to be close to the water spirit during my birth, so we agreed to keep me on the banks and move me closer to the fire once the baby was born.

While I took a few deep breaths, just feeling my baby in my arms, a whisper on the wind caught my attention. I sucked in a breath, startled and looked down at the babe.

“What is it?” Nathan asked, concerned.

Accepting the blanket Laurie offered, I wrapped him up and held him close so his cries stopped and he finally opened his eyes. My mouth fell open.

“Runa?”

“I know now what was missing when dragons failed to reproduce,” I murmured, staring down at my son.

“What are you talking about?”

Most shifters didn’t have their first shift until they were just over a year old. But there was no question as to what my son would be. His pupils were elongated and the color a bright and brilliant blue. Just like his grandfather’s.

Laurie let out an awed breath beside me. “So this is why the fates drew you together.”

I stepped closer to Nathan when I felt his tiger pushing at his skin. Settling the baby in his arms, I murmured, “Nathan. Meet your son. The firstborn dragon.”