Page 60 of Redeemed Wolf

Silas was only gone for a minute or two, but that was more than enough. I waved my hand at him. “Help,” I said, gesturing toward the bedroom. My wolf tried suggesting that I might want to give birth outside, but besides the fact that it was winter, it felt… weird.Maybe next time, I told him. Because yeah, I already knew we would be having more kids. Sure, pregnancy was alot—a lot of pain, discomfort, exhaustion—but it was also an abundance of joy and wonder. And there was nothing I wanted more than to have a whole litter of pups with my mate.

Silas took most of my weight as I leaned on him, and together we shuffled through to the bedroom. He was just getting me settled on the bed when Pacey came running in. I’d never seenthe huge alpha so flustered. His long hair was still wet from the shower he’d probably been in, water dripping off his beard. He took one look at me, naked on the bed with my knees up, and turned around to face the wall. “Sorry!” he sputtered.

I would’ve laughed if another contraction hadn’t decided to give me a squeeze. Instead, the sound that came out of me was half groan, half wheeze. As soon as it’d passed, I blew out a long breath. “I thought shifters weren’t worried about nudity,” I said, addressing the back of Pacey’s head.

“It’s not your nudity that’s bothering him,” Silas said, stepping into the bathroom to grab a stack of towels. “He’s squeamish.”

My eyebrows jumped. “What?” How was Pacey supposed to help when he couldn’t even bring himself to look at me?

“I’m fine,” Pacey insisted, waving over his shoulder at me.

I looked over at Silas, raising an eyebrow, and he rolled his eyes. “Don’t look at me. You invited him,” he said.

In the end, Pacey made himself useful. He fetched ice from the kitchen when I was thirsty from panting and set up a fan when I needed a breeze. And when it came time to push, he sat by my side and held my hand—he was blindfolded, obviously. I appreciated being able to squeeze his hand as hard as I could without worrying about injuring him. I knew he could take it.

Silas, meanwhile, was my rock, my coach, as well as my midwife. He breathed with me from his place between my knees, told me when to push. And when it came time, he cut the umbilical cords and rested our children in my arms, first our son, then our daughter a few minutes later.

“Can I… go now?” Pacey asked nervously, his leg bouncing. His face was squinched up, and he looked a little green. He definitely wouldn’t be able to handle the afterbirth.

“Yes, please go,” Silas said with a shake of his head, chuckling.

Pacey stumbled blindly from the room, bumping into the doorframe before finally taking off his blindfold. “Congrats!” heshouted from the other room as almost an afterthought, before I heard the front door open and him taking a deep breath of fresh air.

I was grateful, once all was said and done, for the peace and quiet. I had no doubt the other members of the pack would be knocking on the door in no time, casseroles in hand, eager to meet the new little prince and princess of the pack. I was still getting to know everyone, but for just a few minutes, I was glad it was just the four of us.

“I’m so proud of you,” Silas whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, not caring a single bit how sweaty my hair was. “You were so strong and brave.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” I said, my eyes already drifting shut. I didn’t just mean the delivery of the babies. I had this feeling that if he’d never shown up at that lab, I might’ve stayed right where I was under Eric’s thumb forever. Without the strength of fate’s bond between us, I might have been adrift forever, and the thought of that horror would remain until the day I died.

My body had already begun the slow process of healing. Shifting would speed it up, but for now, I just wanted to memorize every detail of their little bodies. I traced my fingertip down my son’s nose, the curve of my daughter’s ear. “They’re so delicate,” I whispered.

“They’re stronger than they look,” Silas said.

“How do you know?” I asked.

He smiled down at me. “With you as their omega father, I have no doubt. You’re the strongest man I know.”

I squinted at him. “Even stronger than Pacey?”

He laughed. “Definitely. Did you see how fast he ran out of here? We probably won’t see him again for a week.”

We lapsed into silence, each of us holding one of the babies against our bare chests. “What should we call them?” I asked.

“Hm,” Silas hummed. “How about… Kris?” he suggested, rocking our son. I knew his mother’s name had been Kristen, though he talked about her rarely.

“I love it,” I told him. “And for our daughter… Do you think it would be okay if we named her Vesta?” I asked, stroking the gingery fuzz on the top of her head. “They wouldn’t be here if not for her.”

Silas’s eyes melted with affection. “I think that’s perfect. Two strong names for two strong wolves.”

We stayed nestled in the bed together as I fed first one and then the other. It would take some time to learn how to juggle them both, but I knew I wouldn’t be doing it alone. I had Silas, Pacey, an entire pack on hand, not to mention Grim Wilds. When I thought back to where I was a year ago, I never would’ve been able to guess how much bigger my world was about to get.

Who knew what was in store for my future?

Chapter 25

Silas

Shan and I agreedthat holding a joint summer solstice party would be good for morale and building a sense of community between our packs. And, since there simply wasn’t room at Grim Wilds for everyone, I’d offered to host it at Overlands. This was one of the main reasons I’d been working so hard all spring at fixing up the more rundown homes. Now I had guest quarters for everyone.

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