Page 78 of Stripped

“Should I cut the cord or something?” I asked.

“No. We'll leave that for Doc to do when she gets here. I've read it's good to keep the baby attached for a little while. Maybe just put the placenta in a bowl.”

She sounded exhausted, but way more calm and rational than I'd be in her situation. “You are amazing,” I said. “Seriously. I've never met anyone so amazing.”

She smiled weakly. I handed over her little girl and went in search of a bowl. When I got back, bowl in hand, she had the baby's little mouth pressed to her breast and, judging by the way the baby's throat was working, she was drinking. “You're a natural.”

“I have no idea what I'm doing,” she said. “But thanks.”

I put the placenta in a bowl and placed it on the floor next to them. We didn't have diapers, so we just stuffed an extra sheet under baby's bottom. I sat next to Julie and we admired her daughter. Every little thing the tiny baby did was beyond miraculous.

***

Someone banged on the door to the jail. “Jules, it's me. Let me in.” I was holding the sleeping baby girl while Julie recovered, she'd shifted to her wolf form to heal her arm and her body from the birth process.

The voice was clearly Axel's, but Julie stalked to the door in her wolf form and growled. On the other side, Axel chuckled. “Glad to hear you're alive, too, sweetheart. I swear I wasn't compelled. I've got Zane with me, and he's hurt. We need you to let us in.”

Julie shifted to human, her body tense, her expression worried. We couldn't hide in the jail forever. At some point, we'd have to let someone in and find out the hard way if they'd been compelled. “Hold the baby,” she said. “If they do anything squirrelly, run out the back with her.”

I nodded and shifted the baby higher against my chest. I grabbed the bowl with the placenta she was still attached to and held it with one hand. It was awkward and precarious and I doubted I'd be able to run fast, but I'd try. I was already in love with that little baby, and I'd do everything I could to protect her.

Julie nodded and opened the door. Axel stumbled in with Zane over one shoulder, blood seeping from him. My heart froze in my chest, but I didn't move. I was protecting that baby.

“Why didn't you take him to the clinic?” Julie asked. She locked the door behind them.

“Clinic was burned to the ground,” Axel said. He slowly lowered Zane to the floor and I could see a huge gash in his neck. “He'll be okay once he shifts.”

Axel bent over Zane and said something to him in a soft voice, Zane groaned and shifted to his wolf form. I'd never seen it before. He was fluffy and gray and enormous. I wanted to run my hands through his fur, but I was holding the baby and I was still ready to run, just in case. Axel checked Zane over and looked at me. “He'll be… Where'd that baby come from?”

Julie knelt next to Axel and laced her fingers through his. “Daddy, meet your daughter, Daisy Alison Montgomery.”

Axel turned his wide eyes on his wife. “You gave birth? In the middle of an attack on the pack?”

Julie smiled. She still looked tired, but seemed otherwise entirely healed. “If she's anything like me, she wanted to help with the fight.”

Axel groaned. “She would take after you. I'm not sure my heart will survive two daredevils.”

Julie pressed a kiss to his lips and he ran his hands over her face and body. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine. I shifted after she was born, and I feel great.”

“She was amazing,” I said. “I've never seen anyone give birth before, but she was a genuine rock star.”

“Good job, Momma,” Axel said. He stood and walked over to me, and I handed over the baby. He and Julie cooed over their daughter and pressed kisses to her sweet, warm skin.

“How are things with the pack?” I asked.

Axel looked up from his daughter and I hated myself for asking the question, because the joy and peace on his face fled and was replaced by sorrow. “The vampires have retreated. From what I've seen, a good many of them are dead. We've lost some people, too. I won't know how many until we get out there and start cleaning up, figure out who's under a compulsion. We'll be on our guard for a long while.”

I nodded. “So, I'd be free to leave?”

Axel glanced over at Zane and sighed. I could see the question in his eyes, but he didn't ask it. “I wouldn't recommend going back to Aspens Whiten, but you're free to leave.” He looked at Julie and then back at me. “We'd love to have you stay. Julie and I are so grateful to you for delivering our daughter.”

“Julie did all the hard work,” I said. “But I appreciate the offer.”

He nodded and he and Julie went back to cooing over their daughter. I didn't ask any more questions or interrupt what I knew would be only a stolen moment of joy with their daughter before they had to get to work rebuilding the pack town and burying the bodies. That baby would probably never know what a bright spot her birth was in an otherwise dark, horrible day.

I knelt by Zane and ran my hand through his thick fur. It was every bit as soft and warm as I'd imagined. His chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm and there was no sign of his injury. He'd be fine. “Have a good life,” I said softly. “You deserve to have every happiness imaginable.”

---