Page 55 of Cursed Wolf

She cries harder, and my chest is breaking in half. I feel lost, broken. My whole life, I’ve faced problems with a pragmatic approach—get in and fix the problem—but this is different. I’m dealing with our emotions, stress, and the horrible thought she might be right about this not being a normal birth. It lingers in the back of my mind that the baby won’t survive. I scold myself for even thinking that shit, yet my throat thickens at the thought.

“Nothing bad is going to happen, but I need you to just push a bit more, sweetheart.” I hold on to Narah, stroking her, kissing her, telling her it’s going to be okay. “Please do it for me.”

She sniffles, and I reach over to steal the tears drenching her cheeks.

Trying again, Narah grunts as she pushes hard, then a sudden explosive snap of power erupts from her fingertips as blue lines of magic flare from her hands.

Meira and the midwife rear back.

“It’s okay,” I explain. “Her body’s under shock, so her magic will be impacted, too.”

When the baby still doesn’t show, the midwife starts to gently prod Narah’s stomach.

“I feel the baby has turned, but something is blocking it from coming out.”

Giving me a look, she points her chin to the door, then walks out.

My gut hardens at what she’ll tell me.

“Narah, I’ll be back in a second, I promise.”

Her eyes are wide. “Nikos.”

Meira is right at her side, talking to her, distracting her.

In the corridor, I shut the door and turn to Lily, my heart galloping in a marathon.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t the baby coming?” I ask rapidly.

“Sometimes, the baby gets stuck.” She shakes her head, which doesn’t fill me with confidence. “It could have the umbilical cord wrapped around it or something else. We need to hurry because, at this stage of labor, the child is in danger.”

“Okay,” I say with a shaky breath. “What are our options?”

“We cut the baby out, but there’s a huge chance Narah may not survive, even with her fast wolf healing.”

“That’s not an option,” I state instantly.

“If I push down on her stomach, it’s a bigger risk to her and the baby’s lives.” She pauses. “The only other thing… My grandmother used to say feeding blood to a pregnant woman puts her body in a fighting state. It might help push the baby out quicker while her wolf tries to deal with the foreign blood in her system. That’s why we feed after an attack. We’re in a heightened state as our body reacts to foreign blood in our system.”

I don’t even know how to make sense of that, but at this point, I’ll try anything.

“And this works?”

“I’ve never done it myself, but my grandmother swore she saved several women’s lives this way. Otherwise, I don’t know what else to do. I only know so much about childbirth.”

“Well, then we’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” A shiver crawls up my spine. I fucking hate this situation.

Nodding, her lips thin, Lily’s face has lost a lot of color.

My breaths rush out raspy, and the weight of making such a decision buries me. Nothing can happen to Narah, but she will be beyond broken if we don’t save the child. Dread rears through me, but I won’t let Narah down. She’s the one in pain, so I suck it up and march back inside with Lily.

Narah’s huge, watery eyes meet mine. “What’s going on?” She groans, clutching her belly. Meira remains by her side.

“Gorgeous girl, we think the baby might be stuck, but we have a solution.”

“What is it?” Fresh tears fall down her face, but she’s listening, a desperate hope flaring behind her eyes.

“You have to drink some blood. It might trick your body into thinking it’s fighting an invader in your body, and it might release the baby easier. You can have mine.”

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