Page 6 of Monstrous Baby
At the thought of any harm coming to this youngling or her mother.
Losing either of them would incapacitate me more severely than any damage the Big Rig could ever deal me.
3
NATALIE
Blinking, I stared up into nothing for a moment, not sure what had awakened me. Then I heard the soft little cry again, and I shot straight up. My face burned, my heart thudding. How could I have fallen asleep without a care in the world?
I have a BABY. A helpless infant. She depends on me.
Kroktl curled around me, giving me his chest to lean back against. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course you need to rest.”
His tone surprised me, sharper and firmer than he’d ever spoken to me, though his hands stroked my back soothingly.
“You had major surgery.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, Snryx retracted one of his implements. “Not to mention the fact that you grew an entire healthy youngling in a matter of months. Your body has been through traumas that could have easily killed you numerous times.”
Swaying back and forth to rock the infant in his arms, Lohr grinned at me like he was having the time of his life. “I believe she’s hungry.”
He stepped closer and gently transferred her over to me. Guilt tightened my throat. She was clean and bathed, wrappedin some of the new blankets. Diapered. They’d done everything they could—except feed her.
“I’m sorry.” Lohr’s voice trembled, achingly soft. “I’ll do better next time.”
I jerked my gaze up to his, shaking my head. “No, I’m sorry. You did everything perfectly. I’m just completely out of my element and feeling pretty useless.”
Kroktl rumbled deep in his chest. “Nothing could be further from the truth. None of us would even be alive without you.”
“That’s not true.”
“It absolutely is. What do you think would have happened to the rest of us with Axxol captured?”
The baby cried again, more insistently, and I brought her back to my breast. I fumbled for a moment, trying to shift her around more comfortably. Her hungry little mouth rooted and searched against my skin and then boom. She latched on, knowing better than me what to do.
I couldn’t remember if she’d nursed on the same side or not. Wasn’t I supposed to switch back and forth? I didn’t want to be lopsided.
“He would have found a way to escape,” I muttered.
“No fucking way,” Axxol retorted.
He stood at the door, not quite as comfortable in the room we’d claimed as our primary sleeping space as the rest of the squad. In fact, he’d only been in here briefly once that I could recall, and he’d never slept in here.
He’d certainly never joined me in bed. Even though the rest of us had regularly slept and cuddled together.
I honestly thought he was mocking me at first, but now that I was on their grid, I could feel his emotions like another facet of my own. A bitter, acidic burn like a churning stomach, mixed with a whirling, sickening tumble as if the ground had suddenly fallen out from beneath my feet.
Fear. The prime alpha T-rex of the squad had been scared to death. Trapped and easily incapacitated, unable to free himself. Knowing he was dead. The squad, wiped out. Without him, they wouldn’t be able to escape.
Beneath the fear, another quivering wave of volcanic fire rippled. Rage. Not at DSC for trapping him, but at himself.
Because he’d refused to allow himself to even think about the possibilities of having a mate. He’d deliberately held himself apart, even going as far as to humiliate and insult me for being human. Lesser. Which only incapacitated the entire squad.
Until I miraculously showed up and freed him. Me. The ragged, weak, annoying human.
I couldn’t help but grin at him, even though my vision swam as my eyes filled up with unshed tears. “Glad my inferior genetics managed to save the day.”
“Inferior genetics my ass,” Snryx muttered.
“No offense, but I’m still confused about how none of you were able to sense the Myrm DNA inside me.”
