Mated to the Vampire Kings (15 page)

“Mother
fuck.” Brant ground out while moving towards her, he tried to touch her but she
flinched away, her eyes on his bloodied hands.

Her
mate actually looked guilty for a half a beat before he disappeared into the
bathroom. When he returned, he walked in the opposite direction while raking a
hand through his hair. “It’s too dangerous to fly Becky in. Too dangerous for
her to be anywhere near here.”

“Selina
then,” she said between hoarse pants. “We can call Becky. She can advise us on
what to do. The medication….”

Brant
turned and paced back towards them. “No, it’s too damned dangerous. We didn’t
get all of the humans that did this. York and Scott have gone back out there.
The fucker with the bazooka is still missing. Nothing goes in or out of here
until my troops have done a thorough sweep of the surrounding hills.” He
swallowed hard, his eyes roved around the room, so deep in thought that he
looked at nothing. “It’s going to take hours. We’re alone until then. Fuck!”

“Calm
down,” Zane growled. “We can do this. Call Becky.”

Brant
nodded, his jaw was tense and his eyes were hard. The pain at last thankfully
subsided, giving her a short reprieve but soon started up again.

Too
freaking soon.

It
was a doozy, making her groan. “It’s bad.” She was panting, trying hard to
remember everything she’d learned and read. Her mind was coming up with blanks.
The pain was just so bad. “Oh God! This can’t be normal.” She groaned and
panted and groaned some more. “It’s happening too quickly.”

Brant
had the cell phone against his ear. He was speaking loudly and gesturing with
his hands. “She’s in labor.” He snarled but she wasn’t sure of anything else he
said. The momentary jabs of slicing pain were just too much.

Zane
was trying to get up. His teeth were clenched and his muscles were corded, but
his body wasn’t cooperating. She knew the feeling. The tightness slowly abated
taking with it the hurt. Problem was, she knew the reprieve wouldn’t last long.

Brant
was on his knees next to her shoving pills into her mouth and holding water to
her lips. “You need to take the drugs. We need to try and stop this. Swallow.”

She
did as he said. A sheen of sweat was on his brow and his hair was all over the
place. Brant gently cupped her cheek. “We’re going to get through this,” he
growled before putting the phone back to his ear.

“I
need you to check if her water has broken… If anything is happening… down
there.” She heard Becky say.

Brant
nodded putting the phone down so that he could pull her sweatpants down. That was
when another one hit, she could feel the pull, the burn, as her uterus began to
seize up all over again. She groaned, unable to stop herself. “It’s too soon,” she
ground out between rugged pants.

“Is
she having another one?” She heard Becky ask. “That’s less than two minutes
between contractions.”

“What
does that mean?” Brant asked in a booming voice.

There
was no reply, at least she didn’t think there was. The pain was so bad that she
struggled to focus on anything else but each breath that she sucked in and
pushed back out in quick succession and on the all consuming agony that gripped
her midsection.

“She’s
bleeding.” Brant was between her legs. When had he moved there? He had the
phone cradled between his ear and shoulder. “No, not badly,” he answered.

 “Is
everything okay?” She asked, still breathing hard. Something trickled down her
cheek so she put a hand to her brow. It came away wet. She was sweating up a
freaking storm.

Another
sharp pain lanced through her.

Please
baby.

No.

You
have to stop this. You can’t come now.

Her
womb contracted, pulling tighter and tighter. The pain wrapping itself around
her. Something gushed between her legs.

“Oh
god,” she moaned, loudly. “Please no.”

Zane
was still squeezing her hand. “What is it? I can’t stand being such a fucking
invalid.”

“My
water just broke.” She put a hand between her legs and felt another gush hit
her fingers.

Brant
went pale, his eyes widened even further in his skull. “Her water just broke.”
He shouted into the phone. “What the hell must I do? Your pills aren’t working,
dammit.”

“Stop
shouting.” Tanya looked him in the eye.

“I’m
sorry.” He said both into the mouth piece as well as to her.

“Put
Tanya on,” Becky said. Brant put the phone to Tanya’s ear, giving her a
reassuring smile.

“Hi.”
She said, taking her lip between her teeth.

“Don’t
panic. Whatever you do, you need to try and stay calm, breathe.” Becky’s voice
was reassuring. Totally in control, something that was sorely lacking in the
cabin.

“Um…Okay.”
Her cheeks were wet and she realized that she was crying. “He can’t come yet.
It’s too soon.”

“Tanya…stay
strong. Don’t think about that right now.”

“How
do I stop this? What if he’s too small…what if?” Her voice wavered.

“Listen
to me…I’m on my way. You sit tight, I’m coming.” There was a loud growling noise
in the background. One of her mates didn’t like the idea. “You’re doing great.”

“No,
I’m not.” She sobbed, feeling another contraction. “My baby is coming. I’m
trying to stop this but I can’t.” She moaned between clenched teeth trying to
will the contractions away. It didn’t work. Tanya even tried to cross her legs.
This baby was not coming. She wouldn’t let him.

Brant
took the phone from her, she could see that he had been listening in on the
conversation. Once again, the pain became too severe to be able to listen in
properly. Brant was growling and shouting. Zane was throwing out questions from
his vantage point on the bed next to her.

Breathe.

“What
the fuck is precipitous labor?” Brant snarled before listening for a few beats.
“Speak English for god sakes.”

“Very
fast labor.” She heard Becky say. “I’m leaving right now, Rushe and Ross will
accompany me.”

“It’s
too dangerous. Fuck!” Brant snarled, sounding torn. He pulled his hand through
his hair.

“I’m
coming. You can’t stop me. We’ll take every precaution and we will be about an
hour. I may be in and out of cellphone signal.”

Sweat
dripped down her face as Tanya struggled with her pain while trying to listen to
what Becky was saying. She knew she should tell Brant to stop her friend but
the truth was that she needed her. Didn’t think she could stop Becky even if
she tried anyways. If that woman made a decision it was happening like it or
not.

The
contraction slowly released its hold on her but no sooner did that one end did
another start up again. “Nooo!” She cried. “This can’t be happening.”

“I
wish I could help you,” Zane growled. He’d managed to turn to his side. He was
dripping in sweat and looked far too pale.

“What
can I get you, Cenwein?” Brant asked. “Something to drink? A back rub?” he
cursed while looking down at Zane. “I’m just as fucking useless as you.”

“I’ll
have a water.” She said between pants of breath. Not really thirsty, she just
wanted to give him something to do. The one he had brought earlier was
finished.

Within
seconds he was back with a bottle of water which she clutched until the contraction
passed. Her mouth felt dry, so she tried to open the bottle. Her hands were
shaking. Hell, her whole body was shaking.

Brant
took it from her, opening it in one turn. “Here.” He handed the bottle back to
her. “How are you feeling?” He must’ve caught the look on her face as another
contraction hit because he quickly added. “Stupid fucking question.”

“Make
it stop. He can’t be born. Please, Brant.” She knew it was wrong of her to even
ask but she couldn’t help herself.

The
look of pain that crossed his face was too much to bear. “I’m sorry,” she
ground out. “So sorry this is happening.”

“It’s
not your fault.” Zane’s eyes were on her. “Like Brant said, we’re all in this
together. We’re here for you and for our son. It’s going to be okay.”

Tanya
bit down on her lip until she tasted blood. Her hands clutched her belly. “Oh
no. No, no. God no.”

This
wasn’t happening.

It
wasn’t happening.

Not
freaking happening.

She
pushed her legs closer together, even locked her ankles. She was making the
most god awful noises but didn’t give a damn.

“Is
it worse?” Zane asked.

“Of
course it’s fucking worse,” Brant growled.

“I
have the urge to push.” Tanya sobbed, she was crying in earnest. “I don’t want
to push.”

It
felt like all the air was sucked out of the room. Like someone had bitch slapped
him.
Hard.

“You
heard that?” He growled into the mouthpiece of his phone.

“I
did,” came Becky’s reply.

After
a short pause, she didn’t say anything more. “What the fuck must I do?” His
heart felt like it was hammering itself right out of his chest. Like it might
explode at any damned second.

“I
refuse. I won’t. No.” Tanya was writhing on the bed. The sheets tangled around
her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were set in pain. Even though her
legs were together and her ankles were fucking locked, he could still see that
moment where her body did what it needed to do despite her feelings in the
matter.

Her
eyes turned panicked and she pushed. Then she groaned and slapped her hand
against the mattress. “I won’t!” she cried.

A
sound of someone talking dragged his attention away from his female. It was
Becky, so he put the phone back against his ear. “This is too far gone to
stop.”

“I
figured.”

“I’m
going to talk you through this. Tanya needs to listen to her body, she can’t
try and stop this it’s useless.”

“Sweetheart.”
Brant tried to get Tanya’s attention but she was too busy mumbling and moaning,
her hands clutched her belly. “Tanya…” Her eyes moved to his. “Becky says that
you must push.”

Before
he could carry on, she shook her head. “I won’t. I refuse. I can’t have him…
Not now. You heard Selina. He’s too small, Brant.” Tears tracked down her
cheeks and his heart literally felt like it was tearing in two. Zane made a
pained noise and tried to get up again.

“Listen
to me.” He cupped her jaw. “This is happening whether we like it or not. He’s
coming. We need to deal with this.”

Although
he could see that she wanted to deny it, she finally nodded, her eyes filled
with tears.

“You
can do this.” He injected all of his emotions into that one sentence trying
hard to convey to her that he believed every word.

“You
can,” Zane croaked. The other male’s eyes shone. Mother fuck, his lashes looked
wet. Zane had just barely survived a helicopter crash. One that should’ve seen him
dead and did it without shedding a single tear. Right now, he looked ready to
cry a fucking river. Brant felt his own throat close and had to take several
deep breaths to get himself back under control. It wouldn’t do to lose it now.

“Oh
god.” His female was making deep grunting noises. “I need to push again.”

“What
must I do?” Brant asked Becky.

“Tell
Tanya to open her legs. I want you to keep your eyes down there and tell me
everything you see.” He could hear that she was in a moving vehicle.

He
maneuvered into place. “I can’t see anything…besides the obvious.” He could
hear how frantic and frustrated his voice sounded. Belying how he was feeling
inside.

“Stay
calm. Tanya probably still has a lot of pushing ahead of her. This could take a
while.” At least Becky sounded calm. It helped ground him. Somewhat. “The baby
will need to descend down the birth canal before he even crowns. I might still
make it on time.”

Tanya
flopped back on the bed, her hand snaked out, trying to find the water bottle.

“Here.”
Brant leaned over and helped her to drink.

“You’re
doing great, Ysnaar,” Zane said. He still looked like a fucking mess.

By
now he knew the telltale signs of a contraction. Her eyes widened and she bit
down on her lip. Then she grabbed her belly and clenched her teeth. Then she
pushed…hard.

“Oh
fuck.” Brant scrambled for the phone.

“What
is it?” Zane growled.

“What?”
Tanya moaned the word between pushes and loud grunts.

“I
can see the top of his head.” Brant reached out his hand but pulled it back. “I
can see my son’s head.” His voice shook.

Need
to pull myself to-fucking-gether.

“Okay,”
Becky said.

“Not
fucking okay,” he growled. “You told me this would take a long time.”

“It’s
not an exact science.” Becky sounded nervous. “This is happening really fast.”

“Tell
me something I don’t know.” He knew he was being a dick but couldn’t stop.

“I
need to push some more. Oh god.” Tanya moaned.

“This
needs to slow down. Tell Tanya to fight the urge,” Becky said. “Her vagina
needs a chance to stretch or she will tear badly. I don’t want her to go
through that pain unnecessarily.”

“You
just said that she shouldn’t fight the urge and now you’re telling me
different. Which is it?”

“Tanya
must fight the urge, just for the next one or two contractions. Please, just do
as I say every step of the way and stop arguing. We need to work together.”

The
healer was right. “You need to stop.” He growled, sounding aggressive and angry.
Shit!
“Stop pushing for a second, sweetheart.”
Better.

“I
can’t.” His female looked anguished. Her hair clung to her scalp and her bottom
lip was bloody.

“Okay…tell
Tanya to push but softly…as little as possible.”

He
relayed the message. His female nodded, unable to talk because she was panting
so hard. After another minute, she slumped back. “I don’t know if I can do
this.” Tears streamed down her face.

“He’s
almost here. It won’t be long now,” Zane whispered.

“But
he shouldn’t be born yet.” Was her anguished response. He felt it to his core.
What if his son didn’t make it?

Brant
tamped down on the thought. This child had royal blood running through his
veins. There was no way he wasn’t making it. “He is coming. This is happening.”

Her
hand went to her belly. “Here comes another one.”

They
breathed through it together. All three of them. Thank fuck Griffin and Lazarus
were outside. If he really thought about it though, he didn’t truly care about
that. His whole coven could see him right now and he couldn’t give two shits.

“Fuck.”
Zane growled as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. His hand still
gripped their mate’s much smaller one.

“Lie
down.” Brant pointed at the mattress.

Zane
shook his head. “I will not watch our son born to this world lying on my
fucking back like a pussy.”

“Stop.”
Tanya said the word on a sigh. Using the sheet, she wiped her forehead.

“We’re
not fighting, Cenwein.” Brant rubbed her thighs. He could actually see how her
belly tightened, becoming smaller and more compact as another contraction hit.

Zane
shuffled closer to her side. “I’m so proud of you, Ysnaar.” He swept her hair
away from her face. Brant could see how the male was sweating. How pain was
etched into his every movement. If he put himself into Zane’s shoes, he would
be doing the same. His respect for his partner grew. Big time.

“This
is a big one.” Tanya bit back down on her lip, breaking it open again. “Oh
god!” She grunted loudly as she pushed. The area showing the baby’s head
widened.

For
the next few contractions nothing more seemed to happen. Part of him became
fearful that there was a problem while another part felt relief that this
seemed to be slowing down.

“Here
we go again.” Tanya gripped her thighs and pulled back. At first there was the
familiar panting and grunting mixed in with the sound of her pushing and then
she screamed and pulled her thighs back at the same time. The whole top of the
baby’s head came out. Just slipped out!

Tanya
put a hand between her legs and gasped.

“His
head is half out.” The words were choked as strong emotions coursed through
him.

“You’re
doing great.” Zane continued to give words of encouragement. He glanced over at
Brant and they locked eyes for a second.

“That’s
good,” Becky said. “You need to protect her perineum…Put your hand on the piece
of skin between Tanya’s vagina and her anus. Put pressure there to try and keep
it from tearing.” The healer was talking quickly.

He
did as she instructed.

“The
head should slowly ease out over the next few contractions. Use your other hand
to support the baby.”

“I
can’t believe this. Oh god!” Tanya sounded like she was in awe but she still
sounded a little panicked. He didn’t want her worrying. Not right now.

Zane
immediately cupped her chin. “You are so fucking awesome.”

Maybe
not the best choice of words but they had the desired effect. His female
relaxed, she licked her lips and closed her eyes.

“Are
you still there?” Becky was still talking to him.

“Sorry,”
he growled. “Say that again.”

“Once
his head is out you need to check that the cord is not wrapped around his neck.
If it is, tell me immediately.”

Brant
felt a surge of adrenaline course through him wanting to act against a
perceived foe. He sucked in a lungful of air trying to calm the fuck down.

“Chances
are he will be absolutely fine.”

Tanya
was grunting again. She pulled her legs back and pushed. It took three more
contractions and his son’s little head was out.

Un-be-fucking-lieveable!

His
heart raced. “His head is out.” He barely managed a choked whisper.

When
he looked over at Tanya she was smiling and crying and then worrying but Zane
was there to talk her through it.

“There
is nothing around his neck…at least…I can’t see anything.” Fuck! Right now he
wished he’d attended classes or gone to fucking medical school. It sucked to
feel so utterly helpless.

“Good.
That’s good, Brant. What is the baby’s coloring like?” Becky asked.

He
felt his brow crease. “What do you mean?

“Is
he blue or normal, a bit pale?”

“I
think he’s normal. He looks…normal”

“Good.
That’s awesome.” He could hear the relief in her voice. It helped to calm him.
“You’re doing a good job. We’re still twenty minutes away. I’m not going to be
there in time.”

“Be
careful out there,” he growled. He would never forgive himself if something
happened +to them. The only consolation was that he didn’t think they would be
targets. Those fuckers had specifically wanted them…the kings.

“We
will be fine. Listen to me”—her voice became tense—“it’s important that…” There
was the sound of static.

“You’re
breaking up…Becky.” Fucking cellphone signal.

Tanya
was pushing again…bearing down hard. Her face was red, her eyes were clamped
shut. Leaning down, Brant pushed on the skin below where his baby’s head was
protruding and supported the little one like Becky had told him. He only hoped that
he was doing it right. His son’s head was turning from down to sideways.

Brant
gulped down a lump in his throat as he saw the baby’s face. Eyes scrunched
shut, tiny little nose. Fucking perfect! He must have made some sort of noise
because Tanya asked him something.

He
lifted his eyes to her.

“What?
Is he okay?” Her torn up lip quivered.

“He’s
perfect…so perfect.” His voice was thick with emotion but he didn’t care. Not
right now.

“Just
a few more pushes, sweetness. We’re nearly there.” For a moment, Zane looked
unstable, like he might topple over at any second. Then he righted himself.

Tanya
growled, baring her little fangs. Her shirt was pulled up over her belly,
barely covering her breasts. On a loud grunt, she pulled her legs back and
started pushing. One of the baby’s shoulders slowly became visible. Brant used
both hands to cradle the little one, fighting temptation to pull his son free.
Somehow he instinctively knew that it wasn’t the right thing to do.

“That’s
it, Cenwein. He’s nearly here.” Brant could hear Becky talking but he couldn’t
do anything about it.

“Lift
the baby towards Tanya!” she shouted, her voice coming from somewhere on the
bed, where he had dropped the phone earlier. He lifted and the other shoulder
popped out, quickly followed by his whole body.

Brant
made a growling noise, he was working hard to keep a handle on his emotions.
Tanya was laughing and sobbing but he couldn’t take his eyes off the little
person in his hands. The baby’s eyes opened just a crack and he kicked out his
little legs. Brant choked out a laugh which came out sounding more like a sob.
Then the little one balled up his fists and gave an almighty yell. It was
deafening. It was music to his fucking ears.

“Brant…Brant…”
Becky was screaming. The phone lay somewhere between his legs on the mattress.
“Put the baby onto Tanya’s chest. Brant…fuck…what’s happening?”

It
was only when he looked up that he realized his face was wet. He was
crying…weeping was a more apt description. Years had passed since he’d last
shed a tear. So long, he couldn’t even remember the last time. Not when his
father had died and not even when his mother had passed. Yet here he was. Balling
his eyes out. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.