Page 56 of Cursed Wolf

She blinks at me, then looks at Lily. “That’s going to work?”

“Of course,” I say, sounding more confident than I feel. I’m a believer that sometimes our own mind blocks us. So, if Narah thinks the pregnancy is fake, she could be her own worst problem here.

“Alright, we do it then,” she murmurs.

Meira watches me, confused, then hands me a blade from the table with the towels. Then she goes to speak with Lily as I hastily swipe it across my wrist. The bite of metal stings, but I’d take all of Narah’s pain if I could.

“Drink as much as you can, okay?” I instruct her, lowering my bleeding wound to her mouth. Blood is nothing new to wolves. “Back home, we made a blood wine brew for celebrations. It was said it strengthened and awakened the warrior inside anyone who drank it.”

“Wh-What happened when you drank it?”

“Well, my adrenaline pumped through me so much, I was bouncing off the walls.” So, maybe the midwife is onto something about the blood.

Grabbing my arm with two hands, her mouth latches onto my wound. She takes the blood into her mouth, her tongue licking the wound, while her huge eyes stare up at me as she remains lying on the bed.

“That’s it, beautiful.” Offering her a smile, I maintain my gaze with her, needing her to know she’s safe with me. “Take as much as you need. We’ll make this work.”

She just stares at me, making slurping sounds as blood seeps from the corners of her mouth. Suddenly, she flinches and shoves my arm from her mouth. Her eyes grow wide as her body twitches.

Panic folds around me, and I grab hold of her. “What’s happening to her?” I bellow at the midwife.

She and Meira are on Narah’s other side, holding her down by her arm and leg.

“Her body is adjusting to the blood,” the midwife says shakily.

Narah cries out, and everything quickly goes to hell as she screams.

The midwife scurries to the end of the bed and takes her position between Narah’s legs. Meira paces in a panicked state, and I hold Narah slightly upright as I tuck pillows behind her.

This has to work because there are no other options. Losing Narah or the baby is not even something I’ll consider.

“The baby’s coming,” the midwife yells, which sends Meira to grab the towels.

I take every breath with Narah, but she’s still in so much pain. I can see it on her face, and yet my beautiful girl never pauses. She fights so hard, already loving her baby unconditionally.

Moving on pure adrenaline, I can’t even feel my body. Fear claws at my insides, and the room seems to spin from my blood loss. When I look down, I find more blood dripping onto my pants and the floor from my cut. Blood taints everything. Rapidly, I grab a towel and roughly wrap it around my arm. Meira’s at my side, using a ribbon from her hair to tie the towel to my forearm.

She’s as terrified and as pale as a ghost.

“Thank you.” Twisting back around to Narah, her eyes seem to be glinting with a golden glow. It’s her wolf… and something so much more.

Her power.

Blue threads of magic run across her fingers, and I’m worried about what it means for the baby.

“I see the head,” Meira calls out, standing shoulder to shoulder with the midwife, bent forward and ready to receive a new life into our world.

“Narah, you’re doing it,” I say, my chest on fire. I want to yell and cry that it’s working, but I don’t dare move from her side.

She pushes, and I join her in breathing. The harder she works, the more her magic seems to go haywire, now taking loops above us. The lights overhead flicker, and the power leaves singeing marks on the ceiling.

A sense of urgency comes over me—her ability is building. I’m not the only one who keeps watching the magic. Meira does as well.

We keep going until Lily calls out, “The baby’s out.”

Wrapping the tiny bundle in a towel, she hands it to Meira, who quickly accepts and takes it to Narah. Lily returns to Narah, then glances at me with a furrowed brow.

“Narah’s bleeding a lot.”

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