Balance Read online

  Emma was sitting on a birthing ball, holding Kai’s hand, face scrunching in pain.

  Crossing the room in two big strides, I stopped in front of her and got on my knees.

  “I’m here. How are you?” I asked, still panting.

  Emma let go of Kai and grabbed my hand. “It hurts like hell. The baby keeps shifting forms.”

  Damn, I couldn’t imagine a baby in my belly shifting from werewolf to human. It sounded awful but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Instead, I started the rhythmic breathing Diya had taught me.

  “Okay, okay, we got this,” I told her calmly.

  I rubbed small circles in her lower back and she moaned. “This sucks, I wish Devon were here.”

  Kai and I met each other’s eyes and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I wish he was here, too.

  “Why would you want him here? He would have passed out on the floor by now. We would have needed to hire a nurse just to tend to him,” I joked.

  Emma laughed. “I love you, Aurora. You’re a good friend,” she said and then starting screaming in pain.

  I didn’t like that she was saying things like it was a goodbye. Diya reached over and attached some electrodes to Emma’s belly. Then I helped move her onto the bed so Diya could check her cervix.

  “Wow, Emma, I’ve never seen labor progress this quickly. This baby wants out. The constant shifting from werewolf to human is making your uterus have more intense contractions that are changing your cervix.”

  I raised my hand. “English, please?”

  Diya smiled. “She is dilated to ten and the baby is coming. Time to push.”

  Oh, shit. Kai backed up against the wall, out of the way, as I helped Diya get Emma’s feet into the stirrups. She was pale, sweaty, and grimacing.

  “Can’t we give her anything? Vicodin? A martini?” I asked.

  Emma laughed but it turned into a scream with the next contraction.

  I grabbed Emma’s left leg as Diya grabbed her right.

  “Push!” Diya screamed.

  Emma flexed her belly and pushed, screaming.

  After about thirty seconds she lay back panting, exhausted. Sweat beaded on her face and her chest was heaving with great effort.

  Diya checked things out between Emma’s legs and then silently pulled a tray out from under the bed. On it were a bunch of surgical tools. My eyes widened.

  Diya put out her hands to reassure me and glanced at the contraction monitor. “Another contraction is coming, Emma.”

  “I’m too tired. I can’t do this,” she said.

  I noticed her color was paler, her eyelids were closing so I gently grabbed her face. “Look at me,” I commanded.

  Her green eyes popped open and held my gaze longer than ever before. Devon’s death had changed something within her, within her wolf. I had a strong suspicion she wasn’t a submissive anymore. “You can do this. You’re the strongest woman I know. You have been through a lot and it’s made you stronger. You got this, Emma.”

  She lost her mate, carried their unborn child. She was the strongest damn person in my life right now. Determination settled into her features as she held my gaze for longer than a submissive should be able to and I knew she could do this.

  “Okay, Emma, push!” Diya yelled.

  Emma pushed, her face turning red, a werewolf growl ripping from her throat. Then, all of a sudden, a tiny pink baby flew out into Diya outstretched arms.

  Oh my God! I laughed and cried at the same time. It was incredible! Even though you expect a baby to come out, it’s different when it actually happens. It’s really a shock. It was amazing. A strong cry came from the baby’s mouth.

  “It’s a girl,” Diya said.

  Emma burst into tears. Her tears turned to laughter as she reached out and held her daughter. Leaning over Emma’s chest, I stroked the baby’s head. She was so small, so perfect. Oh, my God. I wanted one. Like now.

  I met Kai’s eyes from across the room. ‘I want a baby,’ I told him with one hundred percent certainty.

  Shock registered on his face, then he grinned.

  “Shit!” Diya screamed and blood poured out from between Emma’s legs and dripped to the floor. Emma’s eyes fluttered as she fainted and I quickly reached out to grab the baby as Emma’s arms went slack. Kai took the baby from me as I stood there in shock.

  “The placenta detached and ripped her uterus with it. No, no, no!” Diya screamed, trying to shove gauze between Emma’s legs.

  I was warned about the dangers of werewolf birth. It was like a human delivering a baby in the 1700s. The surgical interventions around today for humans didn’t work on the fast healing werewolf. I began to panic.

  Diya’s frantic eyes met mine. “I can’t fix this. Aurora, I can’t fix this!”

  Mist leaked from my pores, saturating the room as the baby began to cry. “Kai, get the baby out of here,” I roared in a voice that scared me. It was only half human and it oozed with dominance. Kai looked frightened but listened and left the room. Emma was a limp figure draped over the bed. My best friend. No!

  I held my hands in front of me and sifted through every healing lesson Gretchen had ever taught me. Hovering my hands over Emma’s belly, I whispered, “Heal.” I imagined a tear inside of her body. I had been studying the anatomy book Gretchen had given me and I imagined the uterus stitching itself together. The pink tissue fusing together. I refused to look at the massive amount of blood on the floor.

  Diya gasped in shock. “The bleeding stopped.”

  I continued to hold my hands out, breathing deeply, imagining all of the female organs in Emma’s body as healed. Sending mist to aid in fast healing. I opened my eyes. Emma was limp on the bed, skin white as the sheet that she rested on.

  Diya put two fingers to Emma’s neck and whimpered. “Too much blood lost. Oh God. I’m so sorry.”

  “No!” I roared and the window next to the bed shattered spraying glass all over the floor.

  The witches told me that because I had two affinities it marked me a Devi. That one affinity was mine and one was the Devi. I had a hunch that I was the seer and the Devi was the healer.

  ‘Devi, I need you. I know you’re the healer. I know it! If Emma dies, I die too! I won’t help you kill Layla. So you need to help me now. Please!’ The second I thought it, mist poured from my hands, saturating Emma’s body. I was brought to my knees panting as my skin tingled like my blood was filled with carbonation. Black spots danced across my vision and I felt faint. Suddenly, Emma gasped, taking in a huge gulp of air and that’s when I passed out.

  *

  “Her hair!” I heard Diya’s voice.

  My eyelids flew open and I groaned.

  Emma was sitting up in a chair, nursing the baby, and I lay on the couch in the living room. Kai was hovering over me with yellow eyes.

  “Still with us?” he ground out.

  I had a raging headache and felt hungover. “Yeah,” I croaked.

  “Her hair,” Diya said again with fascination.

  Kai eyed my hair and shook his head in disbelief.

  “What?” I touched my hair.

  Diya handed me a mirror and I gasped. A black chunk of hair streaked my bangs as I looked at Kai in shock. He was pissed and I could only shrug.

  “Witches,” Kai mumbled.

  Emma cleared her throat.

  I sat up quickly and grabbed my head again. Kai put a strong hand under my elbow and helped me walk over to Emma who had finished feeding and was now gazing at her daughter.

  Squeezing my hand, Emma looked at my hair with fear. “Thank you,” she told me.

  I nodded. “What’s her name? Can we repaint the nursery pink now?” I asked and everyone laughed.

  Emma looked down at the baby. “Avery. Devon wanted that name if it was a girl.”

  I nodded. “Avery.”

  *

  Kai made me shift to my werewolf form and fed me raw steaks. My vegetarian side would be repulsed, but I let my
wolf come to the surface and I knew I needed the steaks to replenish the blood I gave Emma. That was a scary thought. I gave Emma my blood. Somehow, magically. Now I had this black chunk of hair that wasn’t going away.

  Emma was asleep and Diya was watching baby Avery. We had all decided to take shifts to help her out. Alek and the kid, Jeremy, had spent last night in the basement; Jeremy in a cage, Alek on a couch. Layla was hell-bent on kidnapping female werewolves to use as baby incubators, and my best friend almost died during labor. It was officially the longest day ever. The second my head hit the pillow, I was out.

  Permanent

  The next day I awoke in excitement. Last month, Sylvia and the coven had formally invited me to an exclusive event called the witches’ ball. It was a black tie, witches only, ball where you could mingle with all of the witch covens, buy rare and precious magical items, get psychic readings, and God knows what else. Even with everything else going on, I was so stoked! Kai? Not so much.

  I rolled over and let my gaze roam over my mate, moaning lightly. Serious eye candy. He was lying on his back, one arm behind his head, shirtless. I must have done something really good in a past life to deserve to sleep next to this gorgeous man every night.

  Suddenly, he popped one eye open, a yellow eye. His wolf came to the surface for two reasons: when he detected danger, or when he detected sex.

  I ran my fingers along his chest down to the V-shape of his lower abdominal muscles.

  “Good morning,” I purred. “I thought you were sleeping.”

  He rolled over and quirked one eyebrow. “I was until your naughty thoughts filtered through the bond.”

  I laughed and then crawled on top of him. “The witches’ ball is tonight. I am so excited!” I told him, leaning in for a kiss.

  He groaned and pulled me off, sitting up quickly, eyes suddenly brown. “Tonight? Wait, I thought it was next week. You’re not seriously going after hearing about Layla wanting to capture female werewolves, right?”

  I sat back. Mood kill.

  “Kai, it’s tonight.” Was he serious? I told him about this a month ago and then reminded him weekly.

  He looked worried. “I should be able to go. I’m your mate.”

  I sighed. Not this again! “You’re a werewolf. It’s a witches only thing. I will be perfectly safe with Sylvia and the coven.”

  He didn’t think so. I could tell by his look.

  I stroked his hair. “It’s in Portland, well into our territory. It’s going to be fine. Don’t ruin this for me,” I pleaded.

  He still had that worried look on his face. I decided to distract him by peeling off my shirt and exposing my braless chest. His eyes went yellow and he grabbed me hard, pulling me into his body.

  I chuckled. Men were so easy.

  *

  After showering and getting ready for the day, I came out to find Kai and Alexa in a heated discussion.

  “I don’t trust the government, Kai!” she shouted. Dominance oozed from her.

  Kai put a possessive hand on her shoulder. “I would never let anything happen to you. It’s just a meeting, you would be our spokesperson.”

  I cleared my throat as Kai turned to me, looking strained. Alexa had her arms crossed, chewing her cheek. I still had trouble looking at her and not thinking of the blood that dripped from her neck. The way she forced me to change her. I shook off the thought.

  “What’s up?” I asked. I knew the government was having a lot of phone conferences with Kai, trying to soothe the fears of the humans. The militias had united with us and were keeping a tally for every vampire they killed. There were vampire kill websites and everything. The government was trying to publically make it look like they had also united with us, and that Kai’s announcement of our kind looked like a planned controlled thing.

  Kai placed a hand on Alexa’s back. “Being that Alexa used to work for RAIDOS, I feel she is the best person to be a liaison between the werewolves and the CIA.”

  I cringed. When RAIDOS (Research and Intelligence Division of Supernaturals) went rogue and suddenly took it upon themselves to do their own thing, Alexa barely had gotten out with her life. She was right not to trust them.

  “RAIDOS isn’t the CIA, right? They are separate?” I was trying to be neutral.

  Alexa sighed. “They were a super-secret branch of the CIA. I wouldn’t exactly call it separate. Listen. Every single thing that we tell him will be recorded and put into a file somewhere so that one day when they decide they don’t like the werewolves anymore, they can use it all against us.”

  Her surety gave me chills.

  “What would you have me do?” Kai roared. “Ignore their attempts at peace? Let them drop bombs on this mountain and wipe us all out in our sleep?”

  Alexa balled her hands into fists. “I don’t know! No, but I don’t trust them. I don’t want any part of it!”

  Kai looked murderous. “I’m not asking you to trust them! I’m asking you to talk to them for me. To be my in-between person. They use language that I don’t understand, they ask for figures I don’t have, and sometimes I want to scream at them to back the fuck off!” Alpha power radiated from Kai and Alexa went to her knees in submission, whining. Hell, even I bowed my head. Kai had officially lost it and he never lost it. I came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder, sending calm energy through the mate bond. Kai sighed.

  Alexa looked scared; she stared at the ground, panting. She didn’t want to upset him further. Neither did I. Kai told me once that he prided himself of running a clean pack. He was Alpha, yes, but he wasn’t a bully. I didn’t know how much this government issue was stressing him out until now.

  Kai swallowed, getting himself under control. Slowly, his eyes returned to brown and he pulled Alexa to her feet and met her eyes. “Alexa, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m under a lot of stress to keep this fragile relationship with the human government stable. I will figure it out on my own.”

  He turned to leave but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

  “No, I’m sorry. You asked for my help and my answer is yes.” She gave a weak smile.

  He smiled back. “You sure? Not just because I yelled at you?”

  She shrugged. “A little because you yelled, but yeah, I’m sure.”

  We all laughed and she gave him a quick hug. Pulling away, she placed both hands gingerly on his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes.

  “But there might come a time when we regret being so friendly with the human government. Coming out to the humans was bound to happen, but continuing to give them information may be a mistake.”

  Her ominous voice worried me. RAIDOS had originally been keen to partner with us. After finding out that my blood could make vampires pregnant, well, that partnership ended. Now they were a rogue organization not even backed by the government and they wanted me dead.

  She broke eye contact and dropped her hands to her sides. Now it was Kai’s turn to grab her shoulders.

  “Thank you for the wise counsel. We will be guarded with the information we give them and no one will hurt this pack. Not now, not in twenty years, never.”

  She looked unsure but nodded and left.

  Meeting Kai’s gaze, I reached out and took his face in my hands, kissing his lips.

  “I love you,” I told him. He dealt with so much for this pack, for me. I didn’t realize how much until now.

  His eyes roamed the length of my body. “I love you, too, but don’t bring Luna in our bed anymore. It stinks.”

  My eyes widened.

  “Busted,” Kai told me.

  I laughed. “Sorry. I’m going to go see Diya.” I kissed his cheek and left before he could talk more about Luna.

  I walked to her house slowly, letting the sounds and smells of the thick forest soothe me. The fresh dew, the bark chips crunching under my shoes, the varying shades of green. God, I loved this mountain. I would never leave it. I felt that Alexa was right to warn Kai, but I also knew he had done the right thing i
n coming out to the humans. Our fragile numbers were now strengthened with the human militias willing to fight the vampires with us but still. Humans outnumbered us all. When they realized that and if they wanted to … I shook my head, refusing to think about that.

  When I came upon Diya’s house, I saw that she was on the porch drinking tea with Trent. Her belly was getting big and she had one hand resting on it. I smiled, approaching them.

  “Hey, Mama.”

  She smiled in return. “What’s up?”

  I gestured to the black streak in my hair. “Can you dye this for me? I have a witches’ ball tonight and–”

  She scrunched her upturned nose as if she smelled something bad. She didn’t like witches. “Witches’ ball. Does Kai know?”

  I rolled my eyes and glared at her.

  She lowered her gaze. “Yeah, I can dye it, come in.”

  Trent stood. “No way. You’re pregnant!” He put his hands up in the air and looked at us like we were crazy.

  Diya rolled her eyes. “I’m going to wear gloves and a mask. Besides, I’m a werewolf. Some bleach fumes aren’t going to harm our baby.”

  Trent looked at me. “Sorry, Aurora, but no.”

  Diya’s mouth opened in shock.

  Well, shit. “I understand,” I told him.

  Diya grinned like she was up to no good. “Well, if I can’t do it, then you have to, Trent.”

  Trent looked mortally offended. “I’m not doing my Alpha’s mate’s hair!”

  I grinned, too.

  *

  Thirty minutes later, Trent stood in the bathroom wearing pink plastic gloves and a mask, holding a brush with cream bleach.

  I was trying to contain my laughter. “We have to get a picture of this,” I stated.

  “Shut up,” Trent grumbled as Diya barked orders from the doorway.

  “Now, carefully paint it on the chunk of black hair. Don’t get it on her skin.”

  He rolled his eyes at his mate and started painting it on. I closed my eyes against the hard fumes and tried not to breathe it in. With my werewolf nose, these fumes were ten times as strong, it was probably a good idea Diya hadn’t done this. Yuck. After finishing and wrapping my hair in foil, I sat around and chatted with Diya about how Emma was doing.