Heathen

after

"What?"

She rolls her dark eyes, parting my mate's legs as she puts on a pair of gloves.

"Her amniotic sac, did it break? Is that why she's wet?"

"No, she was taking a bath. I do not know what an amniotic sac is."

She looks inside my mate, nodding her head as she puts her fingers there.

"She's already dilated, I'd say about 7 centimeters."

I glare at her, not liking all of these unfamiliar words she's using around me.

"But that's so soon!" Elodie groans, her stomach tightening once again, she's in so much pain that she can no longer speak through it.

"It seems to be a quick labor. It could be due to the fact that it's an accelerated pregnancy. This baby is ready to come out." Doctor Johnston explains, wiping her arm across her forehead. Her skin is very dark, darker than I've ever seen. Her hair is short but thick and curly.

Elodie gasps for air, gripping my hand tighter as sweat slicks her fingers.

"He's ready to meet his Momma." She tells me, and I watch as she smiles lovingly up at me.

My heart stutters. I bend to kiss her roughly, ending the kiss with a tender peck.

"I'm not convinced its a male just yet. I'm still holding out." I tell her, my heart set on a little red haired female that resembles my mate in both beauty and spirit.

Elodie chuckles despite the agony still displayed all over her.

"This kit is a gladiator, just like his Pa."

A Pa. I am going to be a Pa.

I feel the blood drain from my face, even as my mate tenses once again as Elodie screams.

"You're okay, Dad. You need to be strong for her, okay?" Doctor Johnston's voice barely pierces through my brain fog. I climb off my knees, sitting beside my mate as tears roll down her perfect face.

I pull her onto my lap, determined to hold her against me.

"You're at a 9, Elodie, pretty soon I'm going to ask you to push."

"WHAT? Already?" My female demands, and I know I've never heard her sound so fierce in all the time I've known her. "That can't be right."

"Oh, it's right. Like I said, this baby is ready to be out. Are you ready?"

Elodie shoots me a panicked look, throwing her head back to see me.

"No, no. I don't think I am. I don't think I can do this."

I can see that Doctor Johnston is trying not to smile with amusement. I feel a spark of anger, but turn to my mate instead.

She needs me to be strong for her. For us. We are a family. I see the unsurety in her gaze, hear the trembling in her voice. I grab her face, leaning until her eyes meet mine. She's afraid. I despise that fear, but understand it. I cannot begin to fathom the pain she is experiencing.

"Tiny. You can do this. You do not admit defeat." I insist, my voice gruff. "I do not need to tell you how strong you are, because you already know."

Even though her lip trembles, even though her little body shakes, she fixes her jaw and nods her head up at me.

"Good girl." I praise, and her eyes twinkle as she refaces the female Doctor.

"You're a 10. You can start pushing."

Push she does. Baring her weight down on me, her whole body is tense as she screams with her effort. My mouth drops open witnessing it.

Elodie pushes, and pushes again, and again. Her power knows no limits as she refuses to be defeated by delivering our kit. Even Doctor Johnston's eyes widen as my mate battles in the bed for her victory.

"Here it comes! You're doing it, Elodie!" She encourages, and Elodie uses that momentum to finish it.

With a few more pushes, a newborn cry breaks the air. Elodie collapses in my lap, panting and gasping for air as exhaustion already makes her lids start drooping.

Our kit continues crying, and I'm hungry for a look at it. The Doctor quickly severs the tie between mother and child, bringing our baby to place in Elodie's shaking arms.

"Mother's intuition. There's something to be said about that." She winks, slipping the little bundle down to us. "It's a boy. Congratulations."

Elodie gasps, parting the blanket so we can take a look at our son.

His face is scrunched and angry, little fists swinging. His hair is dark like mine. The hair is plastered to his head. He's covered in blood and a white film. He's fresh from his mother's warm womb, and he's not too thrilled about it.

"My son." I murmur, cupping the side of the struggling bundle as tears fill my eyes. "Our son."

Elodie giggles, though she is crying too. She caressed his little, chubby cheeks with her fingertips, her hands still quivering from the ordeal.

And what an ordeal it was. I can scarcely believe we made it out the other side.

I pull my mate close to me, still snuggled in my lap, our kit going quiet in her arms as he blinks up at us. His eyes are light blue, like all babies, but I hope and pray to the gods that those shimering eyes will turn green like Eldoei's.

"We did good, Barre. Look at him." I look away from our child, focusing on her face above all else.

"You did good, my sweet mate. You fought and did not admit defeat." I grab her hand tightly and pulling it to my mouth, kissing each knuckle.

She beams at the praise, straining forward for a kiss. I grant it, before tucking her head into my neck and admiring my family over and over again.

Salsh and Freddie burst in the room, running past Doctor Johnston and jumping onto the nest. They sniff curiously at our son, but quickly lay at the end of the covers to stand guard. I smile at their nature.

Not so long ago I had nothing. I was alone. Desolate. A monster hidden in the shadows. I had no idea what was to come, the blessing that the gods would grant me. It all started on that fateful day, the day I found Elodie in the woods, hurt and alone. I may have saved her that day, but in reality, she was the one that saved me.

"My Elodie, my sweet tiny mate, I did not live until I met you." I whisper to her, watching more tears flood her face as she nods.

"Me neither, Barre. This is the life I've always dreamed of. I love you."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thank you for joining this journey :)

I hope I'll see you all for the announcement of book 5
Have a fantastic weekend ❤️❤️