Page 87 of The Wolf Slayer

Throughout the rest of the day, men kept coming to the cabin and with each new one healed, Niev could feel her body become weaker. Blake made sure to give her food and breaks, but she kept getting up, unable to stop herself. She knew the more she healed the higher the chance of the siege to be over.

Not only that, but she wanted to give each one of the men a fighting chance of survival. Each one of them had a family who needed them to return safely. She was too afraid to ask Blake about casualties–there surely must have been some on either side. She was already drained enough and couldn’t handle the thought of someone not returning to their loved ones.

She’d lost track of time. All she could think about was to hold on a little longer, just a few more men to heal. She wasn’t sure when or how many more men she could’ve saved but darkness crept upon her, a mixture of tiredness and exhaustion.

Piercing A Heart

The darkness surrounded her, took over all her thoughts and feelings. Her mind was clouded, her feelings numb. She wasn’t sure where she was or what had happened, but she was trying to remember the last thing she’d been doing. She remembered feeling weak, drained from all the blood that had left her body. She tried to remember why she’d lost so much blood and that’s when she remembered the faces of all the men she’d tried to heal. It all came back to her–she’d been on a mission to save all these lives.

As she was trying to remember more details, she felt something tug on her and a voice try to breach through the darkness. Focusing on the voice, she tried to understand what it was saying.

“Aunt Niev.”

At first the voice seemed far away, but the tugging on her became stronger and pulled her out of the darkness.

“Please wake up.”

Niev realized that someone was shaking her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Alizia’s face hovering above her. Slowly Niev recognized Blake’s room in the main house.

“Mommy is having the baby.”

Niev instantly was back to reality, all the darkness was gone immediately. Her mind was no longer clouded as she heard someone scream from one of the other rooms. Immediately, she got on her feet and looked down at little Alizia who had mixed expressions of fear and joy on her face.

“Where is Darron, my love?” she asked softly.

“In our room.”

Niev got on her knees to be at eye level as Alizia and gently took her hands in hers. “Go to him Alizia. I’m sure he needs someone by his side. He must be as excited as you are. I’ll go check on your mamie, okay?”

A few days ago, Niev had overheard Layla talk about how she didn’t want the children to see the birth. She was too afraid to scare them. She said that labor was beautiful but also a scary process for a child. Niev followed Alizia out of Blake’s room.

Blake must have brought her here after she’d fallen asleep. She made sure that Alizia went into the children’s bedroom and followed Layla’s muffled screams to the bedroom at the end of the hallway. She opened the door slowly, not to startle anyone inside and walked in. Layla was kneeling on the floor at the end of the bed, resting her hands and head on the bed. Mayra was by her side, gently stroking her back.

“How can I help?”

Both women looked up in surprise, when another scream escaped Layla’s lip.

“Mayra, I have no idea what is going to happen or how labor works so you need to tell me how I can help you.”

Mayra pointed at the closet. “We need towels. There is a basket of them in there. You can also grab two large bowls with warm water from the kitchen.”

Niev followed her instructions and handed her the towels. She then rushed down to grab a large bowl filled with nice warm water. This whole situation terrified her. This would be her in just a few months. She knew labor was a painful act, but seeing it in person was horrifying. She rushed back up the stairs trying not to spill the water all over the house.

“Mayra, where is everybody?”

“The men left for the attack a few hours ago and Lyliann left to make sure all the families are safe in their homes. I was supposed to stay here and take care of you and the children when Layla started to have contractions. I think it’s all the stress from the past week.”

“It’s much faster than my last labor. My contractions are close, and I’m already six centimeters dilated.” A tear ran down her cheek and she started sobbing. “I need Michael.” Another contraction hit her, and another scream tore through the air.

Mayra leaned down to her daughter and gently rubbed her back while patting her forehead with a wet cloth. This was so intimate. Niev felt like she was interrupting something very private. She turned and walked back to the kitchen to fetch the second bowl of water. She was leaning over the sink when she heard footsteps behind her.

“I’ll be right there Mayra just tell me what else to bring up and go back to Layla, she needs you.”

“I don’t think you want me to go up there,” a dark and dangerous voice answered.

Niev flinched and twirled around to see a large, naked man with light blond hair coming toward her. Half of his face was covered by a large wound running from his forehead over his eye socket down to his cheek. His eye was missing. Instead there was a burned-out hole that seemed to be in the process of healing. She knew right away who he was. It was the white wolf she’d attacked to save Blake’s life.

“You know, I’ve been planning my revenge since the day you took my eye. At first, I just wanted to rip your throat out but then I realized you deserve far more than a quick end. I’ll give you a slow, torturous death. I want to make sure you regret what you’ve done to me and beg me to kill you.”

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