Rabid Mate (REWRITING A FEW CHAPTERS)

Chapter 6

-- 7 MONTHS LATER --

I hurt all over. From my swollen toes to every individual hair on my head, my body pulsed with pain.

I've been stuck on my makeshift pallet, a bed made out of the furs of any animal my wolf had been able to catch over the months of our living in the cave, for three days now. My stomach was distended so far that I got queasy looking at it. I was purple and green and black all over from the kicks of my supernatural children. I couldn't make myself stand any longer from the weight of them, and my wolf also advised me to stay on bed rest until they were born.

She hasn't come right out and said it, but I could sense her worry for me and the pups. She feels it's been too long and they should have been out by now. I could also sense she wanted us to Change and go for a long run. We haven't shifted in three months now. She told me we would have to wait until when the babies were ready to be born, shifting too much in a werewolf pregnancy was dangerous and could kill the pups.

Eliserah, why do I hurt all over? I spoke to her in my mind. I've learned that it was easier than speaking out loud, and safer if we were hiding from people coming too near to our home. It took me about a week to get the hang of it but I'm grateful for it.

After our first Change, she gave me her name. I thought it was beautiful.

*** FLASHBACK ***

"I'm scared. Will it hurt the pups? We might die. We should wait." I said as I paced what I now officially thought as of the washroom.

We can not wait, Callisto. To wait would condemn us all to a certain death, you would not be able to protect yourself alone without my form.

"Fine. Let's just get this thing started then, huh?" I tried to sound strong and sure despite my earlier confession of fear.

We're starting now. Brace yourself.

A pain so fierce I stopped breathing for a few drawn out moments wracked my body right after she told me to be prepared. I had stopped walking around the room when she first replied to me, so I was just standing there. When the wave came over me I dropped to my hands and knees and arched my back, screaming when I got air back into my lungs. I barely heard my wolf cautioning me about the noise I made, but I didn't care. I had to let the pain out somehow and this was my only outlet.

With the ferocity of that pain, I thought that would be the worst of it. I couldn't fathom that it could get any worse, and I was wrong. When my bones started to break and re-form inside me, the pain increased ten fold. Being able to hear the process made it that much worse. I could feel sweat already pouring off of me, since I had no clothes on to soak it up. Doing this bare would keep me from damaging the only clothing I had to my name.

What seemed like hours, but was probably only moments, after the beginning of the bone re-shaping process, I started to feel an all consuming itch spread over my skin. It was so bad that it nearly blocked out the pain of my Change. With all these horrible feelings going on inside of me, I felt that I could just burst. I had closed my eyes when it started, and now I opened them to inspect my skin for the cause of my insane itching. I saw almost honey brown fur mixed with white, black, and a darker brown, spreading across my hands and arms. I also noticed a small puddle of blood between my clenched hands. I must be bleeding from my nose.

As my pain continued to rocket upwards, I lost the strength to hold myself up any longer. I slowly dropped to my side, not wanting to cause myself anymore pain. I curled up, closed my eyes again, and stayed as still as I could, suffering for what felt like days upon days.

When the pain finally started to ebb, I opened my eyes again. My vision was even sharper than before, I could smell every mineral in the walls and water around me, as well as the musk of rodents who had used this cave as home long before I ever thought about escaping my hell. I could hear everything moving around in the forest above me for miles. I took a while to enjoy my heightened senses. When I finally stopped trying to hear, see, and smell everything, I looked down at myself. I was beautiful.

"Wow. I feel... powerful, for once!" It took me a moment to realize I hand't spoken those words out loud, but my wolf heard me anyway. At least we won't have a problem communicating like this.

It's wonderful, isn't it? We are pretty magnificent.

I heard her chuckle in my mind as I started to do a wolfy skip around the room.

By the way, my name is Eliserah. No need to call me 'wolf' any longer. I wanted to wait until we were one to give you my name.

I loved her name, and I didn't mind her withholding it from me for a few days.

"Are the pups all right, Eliserah? I asked almost frantically. How could I have forgotten to ask after them so long?!

They are perfectly fine, Calli.

*** END FLASHBACK ***

Unlike then, the pain I was in now sort of crept up on me. It settled deep in my bones and wasn't going away any time soon. In fact, it would spasm, getting worse for a few moments, and then easing up for a bit. Eliserah answered my question, making my flinch in surprise because I'd gotten lost in my memory.

It is because we will be giving birth soon, very soon. I think we should Change now, and let me take over.

I sighed in relief. I didn't think I could handle this pain getting worse. I consented, and felt the change slide over me. I could still feel the birthing pains, but at a much lower level that I could ignore almost. After the first Change, shifting didn't hurt any longer and I could go from human to wolf in mere seconds. Now that Eliserah was taking the brunt of the pain, I could hear her whimpering inside and out. She told me to stay silent until it was all over so she could concentrate on bringing the babies into the world.

I did as she said, and lost myself in thoughts of the future with our children. And I also worried about whether or not I'd ever be able to give them a normal life, going to school and living in a real home. I'd already given up on thoughts of a mate. Even if I found mine, he'd reject me when he found out I'd had children that weren't his. To werewolves, that was an unforgivable betrayal to our mates as females, no matter if you'd never met each other before.

I was ripped from my thoughts as I felt a jolt of pain intense enough to slip past the protective barrier my wolf had put up between us. I first worried something was wrong, until I saw what Eliserah was looking at. Our first pup, a boy, was laying in a puddle of slimy birthing fluids beneath us, a wet ball of steel gray fur.

He was beautiful, and I felt a fierce unconditional love like I haven't felt since I was taken slam into my heart.