Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

DANYAL

F or all the things I'd prepared myself to learn about Mari, her being a Wolf wasn't one of them. I had readied myself to accept that all manner of creatures existed in our world—and they still may. But it was oddly more shocking to me to find that Kor's half-cocked theory was right.

It had started with Misha. He'd come to me with a hypothesis that Wolves were only noticed by humans when they started to come into the world with Wolf eyes. He believed that before the world knew about them, they looked just like humans—until they manifested their shift. It made more sense than Wolves being a late evolutionary jump, but the idea that these Wolves still existed was a lot for me to handle.

Especially after everything we'd been through.

Especially after finding out the Wolf sent to retrieve me was Mikael. I had been wholly unprepared to see his face. Part of me had been expecting Talia, though I knew she'd never leave her child behind. Or even Theo and Francisco.

But Mikael had traversed two continents and had prepared himself to take down an entire compound with one of the most dangerous humans inside.

For me.

I couldn't quite process it. It was bad enough that in spite of the adrenaline coursing through me, and the fear knowing that Mari was going into labor, I still was ripped back to the memory of my one heat every time I blinked. And being able to smell him up close and in my space made me light-headed.

Luckily—or perhaps unluckily—Mari's labor began to progress faster than I expected. I had no idea what time it was, but the sky was pitch black as her pain began to increase. I was half-dozed wrapped in a blanket when I was shaken awake, and I could see her brother hovering over me.

"Her water broke," he said, then grimaced.

It only took a second for that scent to reach me—the pungent smell of impending life. He looked at me, half-panicked, like he expected me to know what the fuck I was doing, and I didn't have the heart to tell him I wasn't that kind of doctor. I had gotten more experience with trauma and general care since coming to Corland and being the only physician there, but I had spent my life studying things in a lab.

Not flesh and blood beings.

Pushing to my feet, I saw that Mikael was already awake, Mari's head in his lap. She was lying on her back with her legs up, and her face was red in the dim camping lantern one of the Alphas had set up.

"Mari," I told her quietly, drawing on my ancient, rusty knowledge, "I'm going to need to touch you and see where we're at."

She grit her teeth and nodded. "There's…pressure." She paused, then let out a long string of curses in Spanish, and I knew then the baby was coming.

"Okay," I said and fell to my knees. "Arturo, get as many of the blankets as you can find, and use that little pack to start heating water. Mikael," his name still tasted like ash and heartbreak on my tongue, and my heart ached when his gaze met mine, "get her into a squatting position."

"But," he started to argue, then shook his head and eased her up. It took effort, but eventually she was able to balance on her feet, her knees bent. She let out a low moan that stuttered into silence as another contraction gripped her.

I passed my hand between her legs and found blood, but not a worrying amount. She was pulsing amniotic fluid with each ripple of her muscles, and when I passed my hand by again, I could feel it. The crown of the head.

"The baby's coming," I told her.

She grimaced, her fangs extending, and she nodded as her eyes flashed blue. I realized I hadn't known until right then that she was a Beta. Not that it mattered. "I," she started, then her head lolled back against Mikael's shoulder as he held her upright.

His panicked gaze met mine. "What do I do?"

"Keep her steady," I told him. "This position will help."

Arturo appeared by my side, and together we arranged the blankets beneath her. His hands were trembling, and I grabbed his wrist, trying to send him a pulse of comfort as only Omegas could do.

"She's going to be okay."

He shuddered, then he nodded, but it was punctuated with a low warning growl, and it wasn't coming from him. I deliberately didn't look over at Mikael, but I did remove my hand from Arturo's wrist as I positioned myself between her legs.

"When the next contraction comes, bear down," I told her.

She nodded, and I heard a faint grunt as the next one hit. She did as I said, and it took only a single push before the head was free. The next was only seconds away, and then came the shoulders, and with the third, the baby was in my arms. There was the faintest cry as I eased the baby down, assessing that she was okay. She was slightly blue and underweight, but that was no surprise considering what Mari had been through.

Kasher had done this to her, but this child was a miracle.

She blinked in the dark, bright blue eyes that I knew could change as she aged. She might flash fierce yellow of her father—for all the strength she possessed having survived through all of this.

Shaking myself out of the moment, I could hear Mari weeping softly as the afterbirth followed, and I quickly got scissors from the med kit and severed the cord, tying it up as best I could. Arturo had his sister after that, and Mikael sat back with a stunned expression, staring at me like he wasn't sure this moment was real.

"I need towels and water," I told him.

He let out a sigh of relief, like maybe he needed to be given orders. He snapped to attention, then returned a few moments later with the supplies. It helped me just the same to keep busy, to wipe the birth off the baby, to swaddle her gently in the last clean blanket we had.

The cave smelled like blood and life and fear as I looked over at Mari. Her eyes were fixed on the child for a long moment, then she looked up at her brother and spoke in low Spanish, though I couldn't hope to understand. Her tone spoke volumes though—she was afraid, she was exhausted, she didn't know where to go from here.

I had no idea how we were going to manage a newborn while trying to hide from Kasher's men—assuming any of them survived or bothered to try and start a hunt for us. We were so out of touch with everyone, and I had no idea if Mikael had a way to reach anyone back in Corland.

"We're going to need supplies," Arturo said. "The baby's going to need more than a filthy blanket from the floor of a cave."

Mikael grunted softly as he sank to the ground and pressed his back to the wall. He was staring at me now—open and unashamed, and it made heat crawl up my neck. "You should go. You're the only one of us who could pass through the town unnoticed. I think there's a change of clothes somewhere in the bags."

I became profoundly aware that we were all covered in blood. My wound had almost entirely healed, but we were all filthy. Even Arturo, who managed to avoid most of the bloodshed, looked like he'd just come from battle. "There's also running water in the caves somewhere. Probably clean enough to bathe in."

Arturo stared down at his sister, then nodded and pushed himself to his feet. "I'll be back, mija. Will you be okay?"

She nodded and cuddled the baby closer to her chest before her gaze settled on me. "He's taken care of me this far. I trust him."

I could feel a pulse of disbelief coming from Arturo, but I didn't blame him. Mari had been missing for the gods only knew how long. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to have her back now. Hell, Zane had only been missing a few weeks, and I had been out of my mind with recklessness in hopes to bring him home.

I would never know what Arturo had gone through all this time.

"I'm going to walk with you to find the water," Mikael said as the other Alpha started toward the mouth of our little cave. He didn't wait for an agreement as he hopped to his feet, and Arturo awarded him a stiff nod before they both disappeared.

I listened to the sound of their feet fading as they began to explore, and only then did I sink back and let the pain of it all truly hit me. Mikael was here with me—he had come to find me, and yet, nothing had changed. He still looked at me as though I was nothing. Just another Omega to rescue.

I could only admit to myself—where no one else could hear—that when I saw his face, I believed he remembered. I believed he'd come for me because it was me who had gotten lost.

I felt like such a fool, and maybe even worse than that considering the situation we were in.

Shuffling along the floor, I settled myself down next to Mari and looked at the child in her arms. The baby had started to nurse and was now asleep with her little round mouth loosely over her mother's nipple.

I tried to find Kor in her, but she was wrinkly and small—barely anything at all.

I knew he would love her, though, if he ever got to meet her.

"I can hear you thinking," she said, a slight grin on her face.

I let out a small sigh and shrugged. "It's a lot. And I keep thinking about her—" I stopped, not quite sure I should say father. After all, neither Mari nor my Alpha had any say in the matter of this child, and it had always felt cruel to bring new life into the world amidst chaos and war. "About Kor."

Mari hummed and stroked her fingers over the baby's tuft of black hair. "Will he want her?"

I wished I had an answer for that, but I didn't. "He's the Head Alpha of our resistance." And there was more, though I wasn't sure I was brave enough to say it. But she deserved the truth. "His mate is a human. Sort of."

Her face dropped into a scowl. "One of that monster's experiments?"

I wasn't sure I should tell her that Misha was Kasher's son after all this, though it felt wrong to lie. "He was. He survived what Kasher did. He presents as an Omega, but he's not a shifter."

She let out a bitter laugh, loud enough it startled the baby, and she bounced her gently until the little thing dropped back off. "It's what that bastard wanted, isn't it?"

I swallowed thickly and made my decision. "More so. Because it was his son."

Mari's gaze shot up. "Alexei?"

I shook my head. "No, not him. Not as far as I know. He had a younger son."

Her tongue dragged over her lip, then she nodded. "Ivan told me about him. He wouldn't speak about Misha very much. I… He couldn't live with his guilt." Her eyes closed, and she let out a shuddering breath. "He was the only reason I survived."

"He changed for you," I said, only realizing it then.

She was quiet a long time, and then her words came on the edge of a breath. "He changed for Arturo. That's where his love for me came."

I jolted, not quite sure how to feel about it. "When…"

"Years ago. Years before Kasher came for me. It was why Kasher knew where to look for us. He never had the evidence. Ivan never told him the truth, but he suspected." She shrugged. "I think he always knew what his father was doing was wrong, but he wasn't brave enough to stand up to him for a long time."

Bitterness rose in the back of my throat, and I wanted to scream and rail against it because a human shouldn't have to love a Wolf in order to stop killing them. And yet, I also knew sometimes that's what it had to take. "I wonder if he survived."

"He was promised," she said. "My brother sent a message to me that Ivan would be spared, and Kasher would be delivered to some of the Wolves. I'm not sure Arturo will ever forgive him for what he did, but…" She trailed off and stared down at the face of her baby. "I think he may have come close to earning his second chance."

Mari let out a short breath that started to even out, and it wasn't long before she was asleep with the baby lying on her chest. Delilah, I remembered suddenly. Mari had told me she wanted to name the baby Delilah.

I watched her for a while, searching for signs of Kor in her. Maybe Kasher was wrong. Maybe he'd lied, but then again, maybe he hadn't. After all, this baby had presented as a Wolf with her flaring blue eyes. And the man was a sadist enough that he wouldn't have needed to invent ways to force my cooperation. He knew I would have done it to save her, regardless of who the baby belonged to.

I started to drift myself, but I snapped back to attention when I heard footsteps enter the cave, and I was almost on my feet when I recognized Mikael's scent. He was cleaner than before, covered in the earthy mineral smell of the spring, and I wanted to bury myself in it.

It had been too long since I'd had anything close to comfort, and as much as I hated Mikael for the way he'd fucked me and left me on the edge of my dying heat, my body still craved him.

He met my gaze across the distance, then he shuffled over to the supplies, returning with a small pack full of food. Most of it was fresh, and my stomach gave a low rumble, making him grin as he collapsed into a pile of strong, lanky limbs.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked, pitching his voice low so he didn't wake Mari or the baby.

I shrugged. It had been a while—the last dinner with Ivan, I thought. After feeding Yasin, food became my last priority. "It doesn't matter. I can go a lot longer than this."

He scoffed and pulled out a small plastic bag holding croissants, and a pear that was ripe enough that I could see his fingers sinking into the skin. "I don't know how long the fresh food will last with four of us here. Kor hadn't planned for this many people."

I blinked in surprise. "He set this up?"

"I was tasked with extracting you and holing up here until it was safe enough for someone to retrieve us," Mikael said. He deposited the food on my lap, then pulled out a pear for himself. He took a huge bite with a hint of fang, and I watched the juice run down his chin, hating what it did to me.

I swallowed thickly, then pulled some of the bread from the bag and tore the end off. It was stale, but maybe some of the best food I had ever eaten. "We're not going to last long with a newborn," I told him. "Even if Arturo manages to get enough supplies to last a few days, eventually someone will hear her cry."

Mikael stared down at his empty hand, then curled it into a fist. He had washed, but without soap, he hadn't gotten much of the grime from his skin. I thought about what it might be like to sink into a hot bath with him, and in spite of our situation, my cock twitched.

There was no doubt he could smell it, but he was gracious enough not to look over at me.

"I thought he was human," Mikael said after a beat. "They have no scent. They're strong, but…"

"I know," I told him, my voice barely a whisper. "They have genetic anomalies, and I didn't think she was human, but they're not like us."

Mikael's gaze darted over to her, then to the baby on her chest. "What's Kor going to do?"

I laughed softly and finished the rest of my croissant before I spoke again. "Tear the world to pieces until he gets his hands on his daughter."

"Do you think she'll run?" Mikael asked for the second time in as many hours. I wondered if he just needed reassurance or if the shock kept him from remembering.

"I don't think it'll matter," I said this time. "The moment Kor knows she's alive, he won't stop."

"They've hidden from us all this time." Mikael swiped his hands on his jeans, then leaned back with his arm pressed up against my thigh. The warmth of it was comforting, and I hated myself a little for leaning in, but he was my touchstone now. He was my link to my past, and to my home, and for that, I needed him.

"This time we know about them," I said after a beat, then leaned farther against the wall and felt my exhaustion tugging at me. "This time, we know where to look."