Page 42 of Soul Fated

Rowan’s head snapped up. "What?"

I met his gaze head-on. "I know how to deliver a pup. I've done it before. Three times, with my own hands. I’ve assisted plenty more."

“Don’t you mean hand? Singular?” Jasper quipped. Lana elbowed him in the ribs, and he muttered an apology. I didn’t want it. Wolves had been underestimating me my whole life because I didn’t look like them. I couldn’t wait to prove this asshole wrong, too.

Desperation flickered in Rowan’s eyes. "And I'm supposed to trust you with the life of a packmate?"

I didn’t flinch. "Do you have a better option?"

He glanced at Jasper and Lana, then blew out a breath. "Fine. But if anything happens to her?—"

"It won't.” I reached for my boots and called to Bill, "We'll need whatever medical supplies you've got. Anything in the trucks that could be useful—towels, blankets, clean water."

Bill nodded, already moving. "Got a first aid kit in the back of mine."

“I’ve got one in my pack,” Callista offered.

Jasper and Rowan hurried out the door and went to their truck. Lana took a load to mine as Bill grabbed the last few things from the washroom inside.

Callista started to follow, but Lana shot her a look. "You're not coming."

"Bull shit." Callista didn’t hesitate. She stomped across the driveway.

“Callista—”

“I feel fine, Lana. This is more important, and I’m not staying here alone.”

I dropped a stack of towels in the bed of my truck. "Her alpha’s right there. Who's going to mess with her?" I risked a glance at Callista and was rewarded by that damn flush of her cheeks.

“Do you have everything?” Jasper called out. Bill shoved a bottle of iodine and a bucket of clean rags in the back seat.

I nodded. “Let’s roll.”

Chapter

Twenty

Callista

Ididn't wait for Kael to stop the truck before I leaped out the door and sprinted into the trees. Lush ferns brushed against my legs, and branches snagged my clothes as I pushed through the underbrush. I didn't care. I needed to get to Marissa.

I knew what it felt like for my body to be out of control, and I couldn’t imagine having to stop on the side of the highway to give birth. She had to be terrified.

My ears strained for any sound of the others. Rowan and Jasper had gotten ahead of us by a few minutes.

“This way,” Lana called.

I shifted direction, my boots struggling for traction on the moss-covered logs. If I slipped, I was going to bite it hard. My arms were filled with supplies, and there was no way I’d be able to catch myself.

Somehow, I stayed upright, and a few seconds later, we saw them. Marissa on her hands and knees on a quilt, Evelyn and Will by her side. She wore an oversized T-shirt and socks, but her pants were already off. Rowan crouched next to them, looking like he’d just been slapped.

Marissa’s breaths came in short, sharp gasps, and her hands gripped the fabric beneath her. Her chestnut hair was plastered to her forehead, and her eyes were half-closed, her face a mask of concentration and agony.

Kael slowed, approaching warily. Will growled under his breath, his territorial protectiveness and panic warring with his knowledge that he couldn’t do this on his own. “Who the hell is this?”

“He’s Finn for the moment,” Jasper muttered.

Evelyn’s hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned in and spoke in calm, soothing tones, instructing Marissa to breathe, to focus on her voice.

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