Chapter 52 Call the Healer
The heavy thud of the front door closing seemed to echo through the expansive hall, signaling the start of a long, silent vigil. As the adrenaline of the goodbye began to recede, Ginny caught the way Leela’s hand white-knuckled the edge of the mahogany console table. She saw the flash of tension in Leela’s jaw—a look she knew all too well.
"Leela?" Ginny asked, her voice dropping into a low, concerned tone. "Was that a contraction? Are the babies coming?"
Leela took a slow, measured breath, forcing her muscles to unclench. Beneath the skin of her chest, the Elemental Stone—usually a breathtaking, harmonious galaxy of emerald green, deep crimson, shimmering silver, and sapphire blue—began to churn. The four colors, which typically danced in a perfect, celestial orbit, were losing their clarity. They were bleeding into one another, turning a thick, muddy gray that mirrored the rising anxiety in her heart.
"No," she managed, though her voice was tight. "I’m fine. I think it’s just the stress. False labor. My body is just reacting to the bond stretching and the weight of Fennigan leaving. It’s... it's just the mud settling."
Elana didn't wait, she moved with the grace and authority of a Luna who had raised Alphas, wrapping a supportive arm around Leela’s shoulders. The warmth of her presence was like a physical shield.
"Stress or not, you are pale as the mountain mist," Elana said, her voice firm but laced with maternal tenderness. She looked over Leela’s head at Ginny, her eyes relaying a silent command. "Ginny, take her upstairs. Get her into bed and don't let her move until I say so. I’m going to call Magda. I don't care if it's just false pains; we aren't taking risks today."
"I told you both, I’m fine," Leela insisted, though she didn't resist as Ginny stepped in to take her other side. "I have to stay focused for the link. I have to be the anchor for the boys."
"You can anchor them from a pile of pillows just as well as you can from a kitchen chair," Elana countered, guiding them toward the stairs. She stopped at the first step, her expression turning uncharacteristically solemn. "Leela, look at me. If anything happens to you or those babies while he is in those mountains, Fennigan wouldn't just be heartbroken—he would lose himself. His soul is tied to yours. For his sake, and for the sake of the pack, you are going to be a pampered invalid until that horse brings him back to you."
Ginny nodded, her expression grim as she helped Leela navigate the stairs. "She's right, Lee. We’re the home front. And the home front doesn't collapse on day one."
As they reached the master suite, the "false" pain rippled through Leela again, sharper this time, a rhythmic tug that felt less like stress and more like a countdown. Deep in her spirit, the Elemental Stone hummed, the muddy colors swirling violently as the power within her struggled to stay balanced while her mate rode further away.
Within the hour, the sound of a vehicle graveling to a halt outside announced Magda’s arrival. The pack’s head healer didn't bother with the front door bells; she marched straight up to the master suite, her leather bag heavy with both modern diagnostics and ancient, bundled herbs.
She took one look at Leela’s face and then at the dull, muddy swirl visible through the thin skin of her chest. Magda’s weathered face didn't betray fear, but her movements became precisely efficient.
"The Stone is reacting to the separation," Magda noted, her voice like sandpaper as she pressed a cool hand to Leela’s forehead. "The elements are out of alignment because the Alpha—the one who balances your fire—is too far away. And the babies..." she paused, placing a stethoscope to the bump, "...the babies are getting ready to meet their father, whether he's in the room or across the state."
"The elements are fighting each other," Magda rasped, her sharp eyes scanning the muddy churn. "Without the Alpha’s presence to act as the lightning rod for your excess energy, the Stone is turning inward. You’re drowning in your own power, Leela."
She pulled a stethoscope from her bag, her expression hardening as she listened to the twins. "And these two... they aren't fooled by your 'false labor' talk. Their heartbeats are racing to match yours. If we don't clear this mud, your body is going to force a birth just to relieve the pressure, and you aren't ready—not while your spirit is this fractured."
Elana stood at the foot of the bed, her hands clasped tightly. She had seen her husband lead through wars, but watching her daughter-in-law struggle against her own blood was a different kind of agony. "What do we do, Magda? How do we help her hold the bridge if she can't even hold herself together?"
"We stabilize the Stone first," Magda commanded, pulling out a bundle of dried mountain sage and a small, high-tech pulse oximeter. "Ginny, I need you to hold her hand. Not as a nurse, but as her anchor. Talk to her about home. Keep her mind away from the mountain."
Ginny moved instantly, climbing onto the edge of the oversized bed and taking Leela’s hand in both of hers. "I'm right here, Lee. Just focus on my voice. Remember sneaking into the drive in with Ray and Kenlan? They were such hoot, remember them dancing in front of peoples cars? Remember that chemistry mid-term? We survived that,didn't we? We did and we’re surviving this. Jax and Fennigan are just on a long ride. They’re fine. Focus on the nursery—the soft rugs, the smell of the lavender, the quiet."
Leela gripped Ginny’s hand, her knuckles white. With every "false" contraction that rippled through her abdomen, she felt the bond with Fennigan stretch. It was like a rubber band being pulled to its absolute limit across the mountains.
"It’s so cold out there," Leela whispered, her voice trembling as the muddy colors in her chest pulsed erratically. "I can feel the frost on his skin. I can feel the horse's hooves slipping on the shale. If I let go of the mud, Magda, will I lose him in the dark?"
"You won't lose him," Elana said, her voice dropping into a low, ancestral tone of command. "You are the Luna of Blackwood. You are the mountain itself. Fennigan is just the wind blowing across your surface. Let the mud settle, Leela."
Magda looked at Elana and Ginny. "We need to clear the 'mud.' If she stays in this state, the labor won't be false for long, and it will be a difficult one. We need to stabilize the Stone before she tries to open that bridge to the mountains."