Chapter 53 EMERGENCY BIRTH
ALICIA'S POV
The pain hits like lightning splitting me in half.
I double over in Ray's office and my hands clutch my stomach where something is very wrong. This isn't supposed to happen yet. I'm only three months along. The baby isn't ready.
"Alicia!" Ray catches me before I hit the floor. "What's wrong? What's happening?"
"The baby." The words come out strangled. "Something's wrong with the baby."
Another contraction tears through me and I scream. This pain is different from anything I have felt before. It's sharper and deeper and absolutely terrifying because my body is trying to push out a child that's too small to survive.
"Get Sarah! Now!" Ray's Alpha command echoes through the packhouse.
Monty appears in the doorway with his face going pale when he sees me. "Oh god. Is she in labor?"
"Three months early." Ray's voice shakes as he lifts me. "We need to take her to the medical wing. Fast."
They carry me through hallways that blur together. Every step jostles me and every jostle brings fresh agony. The mate bonds flare hot and desperate. Through them I feel my mates' terror matching my own.
Kai meets us at the medical wing entrance. "Sarah's preparing the delivery room. How bad is it?"
"Bad." I gasp as another contraction hits. "Kai it hurts. It hurts so much."
His eyes soften in a way I have never seen before. "I know. Hold on. Just hold on."
Logan's already in the delivery room when we arrive. He must have run ahead to help Sarah prepare. Medical equipment is everywhere and the smell of antiseptic burns my nose.
"Put her on the table." Sarah's voice is calm but her hands shake as she pulls on gloves. "Alicia I need you to breathe. Take deep breaths and try to relax your body."
"Relax?" I want to laugh but another contraction steals my breath. "How am I supposed to relax when my baby is dying?"
"The baby isn't dying yet." Sarah positions herself between my legs. "But we need to work fast. This is extremely premature. The survival rate for three month pregnancies is almost zero."
The words hit like a death sentence. Almost zero. My baby has almost no chance.
"Do something!" Ray is beside me now and his hand grips mine so tight that it hurts. "Save her. Save them both."
"I'm trying." Sarah's examining me with her face set in grim concentration. "She's already dilating. The labor is progressing too fast. I can't stop it."
"Then deliver the baby safely." Logan's moved to Sarah's side to assist. "We have incubators. Oxygen. Everything a premature infant needs."
"For a six month premature baby maybe." Sarah's voice is tight. "This baby is three months early. The lungs won't be developed. The immune system will be nonexistent. Even with our best equipment the chances are minimal."
"I don't care about chances!" I scream as another contraction rips through me. "Save my baby! Please just save my baby!"
The mate bonds pulse and suddenly I feel something strange. My mates are pulling at the pain and trying to take it from me through the connections. Ray's bond flares first and his face contorts as my agony transfers partially to him.
"Stop." I gasp. "Don't do that. You will hurt yourselves."
"We can handle pain." Monty's on my other side now. "Let us help carry this."
Kai and Logan join them and all four bonds burn bright as they deliberately pull my suffering into themselves. The contractions are still excruciating but slightly less overwhelming because they are sharing the burden.
"That's incredible." Sarah's watching with wide eyes. "I have never seen mate bonds used this way. The pain distribution is actually helping her body relax enough to deliver safely."
Another contraction. This time it is stronger and longer. My body is pushing now whether I want it to or not.
"The baby's crowning." Sarah's voice rises with urgency. "Alicia when I say push you need to give me everything you have. One big push. Can you do that?"
I nod because I can't speak. The pressure is unbearable. My mates are gripping my hands and sharing my pain but it's still too much.
"Now! Push!"
I push. I scream and push and feel something tear but I don't care because my baby needs to come out. My baby needs to live.
"Good! Again! One more push!"
I push harder. The mate bonds flare so bright I see silver light filling the room. My power surges without permission and wraps around the tiny life leaving my body.
"The baby's out!" Sarah catches something small and terrifyingly still. "It's a girl. You have a daughter."
A daughter. I have a daughter.
But she's not crying. She's not moving.
"Why isn't she crying?" Ray's voice breaks. "Sarah, why isn't she making any sound?"
Sarah is working frantically. Suctioning the baby's mouth and nose. Rubbing her chest. Breathing into her tiny airways.
But nothing changed.
"She's not breathing." Logan's beside Sarah now and his medical training is taking over. "Start compressions. I will handle oxygen."
They work in perfect sync. Sarah's fingers pressing on a chest so small I can barely see it. Logan holding a mask over a face the size of my palm.
"Come on baby." I am crying now and tears are streaming down my face. "Please breathe. Please please please breathe."
The mate bonds pulse again. Without thinking I push my True Luna power through them and into my daughter. Silver light flows from me through the bonds through my mates and into the child they are all desperate to save.
"Alicia what are you doing?" Kai's voice is strained. "The power drain is too much. You will kill yourself."
"I don't care." I push harder. "Save her. The power has to save her."
The silver light intensifies. It wraps around my daughter like a cocoon. For a moment nothing happens and I think I have failed.
Then her tiny chest moves. Once. Twice. The, a weak cry fills the room.
"She's breathing!" Sarah's voice cracks with relief. "Oh thank god she's breathing."
The cry grows stronger. My daughter's lungs fill with air and her voice announces her arrival to the world. The sound is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.
"Let me see her." I reach out with shaking hands. "Please let me hold her."
Sarah wraps my daughter in a blanket and places her on my chest. She's so small. So impossibly fragile. Her skin is translucent and I can see veins underneath. Her fingers are the size of matchsticks. Her eyes are closed and her face is scrunched up as she cries.
"Hi baby." I whisper through my tears. "Hi. I'm your mama. You're safe now. You're safe."
My four mates crowd around. All of them staring at this tiny creature with matching expressions of awe and terror.
"She's perfect." Ray's voice is thick with emotion. "Our daughter is perfect."
"She's too small." Monty touches her hand with one finger. "How is she even alive?"
"The True Luna power." Sarah watches my daughter with fascination. "Alicia channeled healing energy directly into the fetus during delivery. It forced rapid development of the vital organs. I have never seen anything like it."
"Will she survive?" Logan asks the question we are all thinking.
"I don't know." Sarah's honesty is brutal. "The next twenty-four hours are critical. She needs constant monitoring. Temperature regulation. Feeding support. But she has a chance now. A real chance."
My daughter's crying stops. Her tiny hand wraps around my finger and something in my chest cracks wide open. This is love. Pure and overwhelming and fiercer than anything I have felt before.
"What should we name her?" Kai asks quietly.
I look at each of my mates.
"Luna." The name feels right. "We name her Luna. After the power that saved her life."
"Luna." Ray repeats it softly. "Perfect."
Sarah moves to take Luna for examination but my daughter's hand tightens on my finger. She doesn't want to let go.
"Just a few minutes." Sarah's voice is gentle. "We need to check her vitals. To make sure everything is functioning properly."
Reluctantly I release my grip. Sarah carries Luna to the examination table where medical equipment waits. Logan assists while Kai and Monty stay close to me.
"You were amazing." Monty brushes hair from my face. "Terrifying but amazing."
"I didn't do anything special." I am exhausted now. The adrenaline is fading and leaving me hollow. "I just refused to let her die."
"That's everything." Kai's voice is soft. "That's being a mother."
Ray's phone buzzes. He checks it and his face goes pale.
"What?" I ask. "What's wrong?"
"Message from Morrison." Ray's hand is shaking. "He says congratulations on the birth. He says Luna is beautiful. He says he is looking forward to meeting her in person very soon."
The words hit like ice water. Morrison knows. He knows about Luna. He knows she was just born.
Which means someone told him. Someone in this room or close enough to know what just happened.
I look at my four mates. We’ve still not found the spy and something tells me one of them just told Morrison about my daughter's birth. One of them is the spy.
And now The Veritas leader is coming for my baby.