Page 123 of The Scent of Vengeance

He hummed against my skin, making a shiver ripple down my spine. The sound of high-pitched giggles had us both looking round as Noah and Zeke chased Selena around beside the forest edge, her blonde hair flying out behind her as she twirled and span between them. Liam gave my neck another kiss before releasing me and striding towards them.

“One of you two is carrying her when she’s too tired to walk,” he announced, scooping her off her feet as she squealed in delight.

I laughed as he threw her up onto his shoulders and strode into the forest, leaving the others to grab the bags as they waited for me to join them. My breath caught as I stepped forward and my belly tightened with an aching twinge, waving a hand at Zeke’s concerned look as he watched me.

“I’m fine,” I snapped, pointing after Liam. “Walk.”

He shook his head affectionately at me, waiting until I was beside him and gently rubbing my lower back as he pressed a kiss to my temple. “Come on, beautiful, let’s get you home.”

It was a few hours before I finally admitted that we had a problem. The tightenings across my stomach had strengthened as we set a slow pace through the trees, my back cramping and aching in a cycle that was only becoming more frequent.

As another wave of tension hit me, Liam stopped dead on the path and spun to face me. “You’re in pain, Princess.”

I huffed an unamused laugh. “You try being pregnant. It hurts.”

He narrowed his eyes at me as he took in the strain on my face and the discomfort radiating down our bond. “No, this is more than usual. What’s going on?”

“Mama?”

Selena’s tiny hand slipped into my own, her eyes wide as she noticed the tension in the air. I stroked her cheek softly, bending down as far as I comfortably could to meet her eye.

“I’m fine, baby, I promise. Remember what we talked about?”

She nodded solemnly. “Having babies hurts, but its ok.”

I nodded and smiled at her. “Yup! So even if it hurts a bit, I’m fine, ok?”

She gave me a beaming smile and threw her arms around my neck. I squeezed her tightly and breathed in her pure, fresh scent before pulling back and nodding towards Noah. “Go and walk in front, ok?”

She nodded and skipped happily into his waiting arms, though I noticed that he stayed well within earshot as the other two pressed closer.

“What’s happening?”

“Do we need to stop?”

I shushed them and pushed them away from me, needing space as another wave rolled through my belly. Panting a little as the tension began to become pain, I held up a hand and gave them a shrug.

“Apparently I don’t have a few more weeks. But if this is anything like last time, we might make it back before this actually happens, so lets just keep walking, ok?”

Liam’s eyes flared as I felt his panic. “You want to keep walking?”

I sighed dramatically at him. “Yes! The village is only a few more hours away.”

Blinking at me once, he turned to Zeke. “Stay with her, I’ll shift and go get help.”

I growled low and loud, making his eyes snap to me in surprise. Darting out a hand, I wrapped my fingers around his balls through his jeans and squeezed threateningly. He froze as I let my hand prickle with power, his eyes wide as I glared up at him.

“You had better hope that this baby is yours, because I’m about to rip these clean off,” I hissed.

He swallowed audibly and slowly raised his hands in surrender as I nodded and continued.

“Now, are you going to continue to ignore your very pregnant mate and act like an alpha asshole, or can we walk home with all body parts intact?”

“Let’s walk,” he croaked, and I saw Zeke shaking with laughter in my periphery.

I released my grip and patted his chest condescendingly, pushing past him to follow my daughter along the path, Noah having moved her away from the confrontation.

My hopes of getting home were dashed, however, when the contractions began to blend into one another less than an hour later. Zeke’s grip on my elbow was constant now, supporting me and whispering words of encouragement as I continued to head towards the village, determined to get as close as possible as I felt the heavy anxiety of my mates down our bonds. Ideally, I would have sent one of them on with Selena to get her home, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that this baby was determined to arrive and I didn’t want any of them to miss it.

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