The Alpha's Bride

1017  The baby is coming!

Damon panicked.

Why was Talia holding onto her stomach? Was something wrong with the baby?

He knew that these humans would bring trouble! That's why he demanded privacy, and that's why he wanted Talia to stay behind and let him handle the intruders, but it was too late because they were here and she was upset.

Damon rushed to hold Talia. "What's going on, kitten? Should I take you to bed? Or call a doctor?"

Damon's head snapped to look at Nadia, Alice, Brad, and Gabriel who were petrified. They were not werewolves, but they could sense that something was different about the two people in front of them. Talia's eyes and hair changed color, and Damon climbed the tree like it was nothing, and… the air around them was unusual, dangerous.

"How dare you harm my mate!?" Damon growled.

"Damon…" Talia called in a strained voice. "The baby…"

Damon could see uncertainty and panic in Talia's silvery eyes, and he felt her pain. Damon saw red. Talia was in physical pain!

He directed his anger at four humans. "You harmed my child!"

"We didn't!" Alice squeaked.

Damon was livid. "And how do you call this? What did you do!?"

Talia squeezed Damon's arm to get his attention. "Damon… the baby…"

"Yes, the baby," he repeated anxiously. She said that already, so he knew that something about the baby was not right.

Talia sucked in a breath. "It's coming."

"Coming? Where?" Damon's eyes widened to the point of hurting. "What? Are you saying the baby is coming? Here? Now?" Was she joking? He was not ready for this!

"Ahh!" Talia exclaimed and a gush of liquid seeped through her bikini bottom like it was not there.

Damon could smell that was not pee. What the hell? Where did that come from? That can't be normal. Was that normal?

Damon remembered scenes from pregnancy-related videos and the whole world spun when he realized Talia was in labor. The baby was coming!

Wasn't it too early? Sure, Talia said that the more she used energies the faster baby grew, but he believed they had weeks to go, or at least until they went home. The baby was coming, and where was Travis? They didn't have a hospital here! Can Talia teleport them to the pack hospital? It didn't look like it.

"Ah…" Talia stifled a cry and Damon scooped her into his arms and started running toward the cabana.

"Don't you dare leave!" Damon shouted at the four humans. "Come with me! If anything happens to my mate or my child, I will kill everyone on this island!"

Nadia panicked when she saw Gabriel and Bret moving toward the beach. "Where are you going?"

"You heard the guy," Bret responded. "At least we can help stabilize her."

Alice's expression contorted into a grimace. "Help her? How will you do that? Are you a doctor?"

"I'm calling Stacy," Gabriel said while putting his phone to his ear. They all had first aid training, but Stacy was the only doctor on the island.

Bret grabbed Alice's and Nadia's hands and pulled them toward the beach. "Move! You got us into this shit. Don't you dare think about bailing out now!"

Damon placed Talia on the white mattress in the cabana, unsure of what to do next. "Talk to me, kitten," Damon pleaded while holding Talia's hand. "What should I do now?"

"Doctor will be here in ten minutes," Gabriel said from the side.

"Did you hear that, kitten? Ten minutes."

"Ahh!" Talia cried again. Lying flat, sideways, or standing, none was good. Everything hurt.

Talia grabbed Damon's arm and pulled him closer. "Hold me, Damon."

'Listen to mate,' Sapa growled in Damon's head. 'In moments like these, women will act on an instinct, and that's the best course of action.'

'How many pups did you help deliver?'

'None,' Sapa deadpanned.

Damon couldn't believe this. 'How are you credible in giving childbirth advice?'

'Mate is not a fragile human!' Sapa snapped. 'Mate has Lis and blood of a Goddess. She will do great. You only need to support her.'

Damon didn't like the idea of doing nothing and going with the flow, but what choice did he have? He lay next to Talia and cradled her in his arms.

Talia took deep breaths of Damon's scent which calmed her anxiety but she was worried. Wasn't this too fast? There was no documentation related to the pregnancy of the Guardians, but she assumed it should be similar to how werewolves and humans give birth to babies. It starts with cramping, and it turns into pain that's several minutes apart, and it can last for hours. This started in full force right away. Or was this the cramping part and it will get worse?

"Mmm…" Talia muffled her next cry into Damon's shoulder. His proximity and the sparks of their bond made things better, but it still hurt like hell.

Every contraction made it impossible to breathe and Talia felt like vomiting, pooping, and passing out at the same time. It was horrible.

"You should remove her swimsuit," Nadia said from the side.

Damon was outraged. No one will get to see Talia's private parts!

Nadia approached them, and Damon growled menacingly.

Nadia raised her hands defensively. "How will the baby come out if there is fabric obstructing the exit? If you don't let me see, the doctor will look when she gets here."

Damon looked around frantically and then he reached for the silky white fabric that enveloped the cabana. He yanked it away and placed it over Talia who was crying again. Why did it sound like the baby was coming out already? He never heard Talia cry like that and it made his heart ache.

"Stand on the other side!" Damon shouted and four humans quickly stepped back and in the direction where Damon gestured.

Damon removed Talia's bikini bottom and made sure the silky fabric was covering her up so intruders don't see the parts that shouldn't be seen.

He looked between her legs. "Breathe, kitten. Breathe."

Talia laughed weakly. "I'm not going to start breathing from down there."

Damon was glad she could crack jokes in a situation like this. "Tell me if I could do anything to make you more comfortable. The doctor will be here in a few minutes." And it better be a female doctor, or Damon will start a bloodbath.

"Human doctor?" Talia asked the obvious. "I don't need that."

"She can help."

"She can't. She will see things that shouldn't be seen and I will need to mess with their memories." Talia was not eager to go into other people's minds.

"You won't need to. I will kill them all when this is over."

"You can't kill them because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I killed for less," Damon said like it was a totally normal thing. "I told them to give us privacy, yet they came here and agitated you into labor. That warrants death."

"What about the doctor?"

"I will kill everyone on this island."

Nadia fell down to her knees. Those two were talking about killing everyone and they didn't bother to lower their voices, and somehow, she knew they were not joking.

me. I'm here…" He spoke into her hair.

12:03

"Where is the patient!?" A woman in her mid-forties asked breathily while emerging from the "Can you not talk about killing people now?" Talia asked Damon.

"Sorry, sorry," Damon was quick to say. "It helps me relieve stress."

Talia started laughing, but that was cut off abruptly when another contraction came.

Damon grimaced and he wished for the power to make Talia's aches go away.

He wanted a pup, but he didn't know it would be this painful. What if things go wrong? Was it a mistake to impregnate her?

Doubts crept into his heart, and he was unsure what to do other than… "I am here, kitten. Hold onto me. I'm here…" He spoke into her hair.

"Where is the patient!?" A woman in her mid-forties asked breathily while emerging from the foliage. The medical bag was a giveaway that was Stacy, the doctor.

"There!" Alice shouted while gesturing toward the cabana. "The woman is in labor. The guy chased us away."

Damon didn't have the capacity of worrying about things outside of the cabana.

Talia's grip on Damon's arm tightened and he was on the verge of crying. It hurt like hell. His vision blurred and he wondered if he imagined that Talia's necklace was glowing.

Talia blinked to see that the world stilled. Everything around her was fading into whiteness until she couldn't see a thing.

'Kitten?' Damon's voice sounded in her mind.

'I'm here.'

'What's going on? Did your necklace suck you into another dimension?'

'This is different.' Actually, it was not so different. She was feeling weightless and there was no pain, but she could feel Damon, albeit a bit differently.

'Natalia?' Another voice sounded in Talia's head and she wanted to cry.

'Dad?'

'Your mother is here also.'

'Where?' Talia asked anxiously.

The scene in front of her changed to see two figures made of light solidifying by the heartbeat, and then she recognized Valerian. He looked the same, but his whole body was shimmering in golden light. His hair was golden and so were his eyes. And there was a beautiful female by his side with silvery hair and eyes.

'Mom?' Talia called and the female smiled.

'Hi, Natalia.' Astraea's voice was full of joy and sadness. 'You have grown into a beautiful woman.'

It took some time for Talia to peel her eyes off her parents and look at herself. Her body was flashing in silvery pulses, with the strongest light concentrated on her belly.