48. Rhyson

48

Rhyson

Water splattered on the floor between Anna's legs, and she stared at me in horror. "Jax isn't here. He should be here for this."

"Jax is not my concern right now. I thought you were still a month out from your due date." I would have never fucking let her come along if I thought she was going to give birth in the middle of everything.

"I am."

I roared again, and everyone came running. Lunessa took one look at Anna, paled, and disappeared. Irene and Janelle coaxed a stressed Anna out of the kitchen and into the living room while Maya raced around getting supplies.

My wolves stared on, a look of horror on each of their faces, and I was pretty certain that it mirrored my own. "Uh, what do we do? Juniper?" Duke asked in a strained voice.

"You did not just ask me because I'm a woman," Juniper snapped. "Do I look like I've had a kid?"

"No, it's just…" Duke tried to backtrack but Maya raced through, arms full of towels and blankets.

"Out of my way," she yelled. "Why isn't anyone boiling water for sanitation? Even I know that, and I've been kept in a locked room for most of my life."

My eyebrows rose as everyone immediately raced to the stove, all scrambling to be so helpful that they were practically knocking themselves out.

Was this because they wanted to help Anna or because Maya had asked them?

A minute later, there was a popping noise and Lunessa, Jax, and Saul all crashed into the kitchen. "Lunessa," Jax growled as the kitchen table buckled under him and crashed.

"I've been popping all over the place," she snapped. "You're lucky I got you here at all. A thank you wouldn't be remiss."

Jax was already scrambling away, practically pulling the healer behind him. It was pandemonium. Pulling out a chair that wasn't broken, I sat in it and waited. Anna's cries of pain could be heard throughout the den, punctuated by Jax's own growls. Everyone had drifted that way except me.

Eventually, Maya made her way back to the kitchen. She was as pale as a ghost.

"Everything all right?" I asked her in a steady voice.

"That's going to be me in a few months," she whispered as she slid to the floor and cradled her belly. "This baby is going to have to come out."

"That is usually how it works," I agreed in an even voice as I studied her closely. She looked like she was on the edge of a panic attack. This woman had been horribly abused most of her life, and she'd faced down death multiple times since we'd been on this mountain, but apparently Anna's labor was about to send her over the edge. "We're just sitting here being in the way. We might as well go check out Gideon's camp."

Her eyes brightened. "Yes. We absolutely need to do that. Everything seems to be progressing normally with Anna, so there's no reason for us to stay here."

"No reason at all."

"You get the others, and I'll meet you at the entrance." As Anna's cries rose throughout the den, Maya practically ran in the other direction. I didn't blame her. The baby was always in the back of my mind, but it was an unborn child. It was Maya that needed protecting. When it was born, there would be a whole different ballgame.

I was the king. He'd need a bodyguard detail. Training. He'd need to learn pack politics without actually being part of a pack. I'd need to raise him right. Keep him safe. Prepare him for the world.

I should have been afraid. Being a father wasn't part of my plan, but strangely, I knew that it would be fine. I knew that Maya would be an amazing mother. Sure, she was panicking right now, and she hadn't been raised right, but I knew that she would put none of that on our child. She was calm under pressure. Compassionate. Fierce. Protective.

This child would want for nothing. The problem was that I couldn't tell Maya that. Every time that I brought it up, she fled. One day, she would be ready to talk about it. I would somehow make her feel safe and secure enough to trust me.

It took three hours to talk to everyone who'd been under Gideon's reign. Most of them didn't know what Gideon was doing behind closed doors and were horrified. Others tried to claim that they didn't know, but their wolves betrayed them, and some of them outright knew but pointed out that they had no way of stopping it.

I was ready to cull all who knew, but Maya pointed out that it wasn't our place to punish anyone. In the end, those that didn't know took a vote. They decided who stayed, who was forced out, and who died.

It would be up to them to figure out how to govern themselves now, but they were told that if they needed help, they could go to Jax.

When we returned, Anna, Jax, and a beautiful baby boy were sleeping. Everyone was healthy but exhausted.

"Why did she give birth so early?" I asked the healer in a quiet voice.

"Anna was never just a wolf, and I always suspected that might change her delivery date," Saul said with a sigh. "Not to mention all the trauma that she went through during the early stages of her pregnancy and what she did to her own child before it was born. Frankly, I'm surprised she even made it this far before giving birth."

"What do you mean? What did she do to her child?"

Saul smiled. "Gave him a gift that saved the mountain, and if you want any additional information, you'll have to ask them to tell you the story. Now, if you will please let me see my next patient. Anna was not the only pregnant woman to go through trauma."

"Maya," I called out, knowing she was probably hovering right outside the door. "Let Saul examine you."

I left them alone without asking, knowing that he would demand it and she would wish it, but afterward, she came straight to me with a soft smile and told me that our child seemed to be in good health. We showered, ate dinner, and climbed into bed together. Without asking, she turned to me, and I framed her face with my hands.

"Are you scared?" I murmured as I kissed the tip of her nose.

I didn't need to specify. I'd seen the way she looked when Anna went into labor, and I knew what she was thinking. Soon, she'd be going through the same thing.

"It's a perfectly natural thing." To my pleasure, she moved even closer to me and slid her leg up against mine. It wasn't sex. It was comfort, and I put my hand around her waist to anchor her to me.

"If you ask me, it's pretty horrifying."

When she chuckled, I relaxed. "I would rather talk about anything else. Think about anything else."

I slid my hands up the backs of her thighs. "You're naked."

"I'm a wolf, Rhyson. I'm often naked."

"You're in my bed. Naked."

"Do you have amnesia or something?" she demanded. "What's wrong with you?"

Chuckling, I moved until she was under me. Her legs spread automatically for me, and I settled between her thighs with ease.

"I'm just pointing out that it would be easy for us to do something else." Leaning down, I kissed her. "Do you know what I want to hear?"

Beneath me, she rolled her eyes. "Yes."

"Are you going to say it?"

"Are you going to make me come?"

"I'm going to make you moan and shake baby, I always do." Fisting her hair in my hands, I pulled her head up and kissed her slowly. I made her scream whenever she needed it, but tonight, I wanted to do more. I wanted to show her that we could be more.

She met my kiss eagerly and dug her fingers into my side. I could sense the urgency in her, but I kept her anchored to the bed as I slid against her. "Warm. Wet," I sighed as I leaned down and kissed the side of her neck.

"For you, always," she moaned softly.

"Always," I echoed, wondering if she even knew what she was saying. Sliding down her beautiful body, I trailed kisses, enjoying every tremor, every soft sigh of happiness. In this moment, I could make everything right for her. I could make everything safe for her.

"I'm not going to say it."

"You are," I murmured confidently. "And when I say it to you, you're going to purr for me."

"Never going to happen."

"It is going to happen. Sooner than you think." Spreading her legs, I kissed her sweet pussy. Her hips moved just a little, and I moved my gaze up to her face. She'd sucked in her lower lip and was squeezing the sheets. I'd barely started. It wouldn't take long.

"Oh, God, Rhyson, your tongue is so amazing," she whimpered. "It's not fair that you can do that to me."

Soon, she was arching into me, breathlessly crying out as she came. When I rose over her, I stared down at her. "Are you my good girl?"

Rising, she grazed her teeth over my throat. Then, before I could react, she had a leg over my hip and whirled me around. I fell easily, letting her slide over me and enjoying the view as she straddled me. "I can definitely be your good girl," she said as she slid suggestively over my cock. "But tonight, I'm thinking of being a little wicked."

Cocking my head, I chuckled. "Tonight, I'll allow it."

Grabbing her hips, I surged inside of her, enjoying every inch of her tight, wet heat as it surrounded my cock. We both moaned as I filled her. "Baby, you are so perfect."

For a moment, I thought something snarky would come out of her mouth, but she moved a few times, pulsing me, and then she leaned down to kiss me, slow and easy, cradling my face while she fucked me. I gave her all the control I could before I took over, flipping her under me until she shuddered, squeezing her pussy around me until her orgasm triggered my own.

She was mine. I knew that with a blinding intensity. It didn't matter that she would never be my mate. She was mine. That child was mine. And nothing that she could ever say or do would change that. I wasn't giving them up.

But I couldn't tell her that. Nothing would make her run faster. I'd broken her, just as everyone else had, and now I was doing whatever I could to fix her.