Chapter 529: Hyperventilating
"What do the males do tonight?" Neoma asked, biting her bottom lip as her heart tugged toward the one who she wasn’t with—the only one she wanted to be with. Lucas.
It was painful being away from him, particularly since they hadn’t completed the bond yet. It was like a lingering, unsettling desire that only got stronger with time. She thought they would eventually get used to it and it wouldn’t be so bad, but she was wrong. Very very wrong.
Sometimes it was actually physically painful being apart. And it was physically painful being together—denying themselves the one truth that seemed to get louder and more insistent with every passing day. But tomorrow he would finally be hers.
"They hunt stags," someone chuckled.
August spit out the water she had been drinking from the unexpected laughter that bubbled up. "Stags?" She asked, wiping her face and giggling more. "Seriously?"
"Yep. A good ol lycan stag party," Greta rolled her eyes.
"But there aren’t stags here," Neoma frowned, glancing around in question. "How far do they have to go?"
"Pretty far," Greta said. "The other side of the Grimm and then some. I mean, they have to find the stags. It will probably be morning before they are back."
August’s smile died on her face, and she swallowed back the lump in her throat that formed out of nowhere. Suddenly she just knew. It was as if the knowledge of Graeme being gone brought with certainty her physical awareness that her son was coming.
"What’s wrong?" Maggie asked softly, glancing back at the females who were mostly focused on reassuring a teary-eyed Neoma that Lucas would be okay.
"I just... I’m tired," she tried to smile. "You know—if Graeme is gone, maybe I can sleep in my own bed? This has been fun, but I..."
"The pup is coming tonight, isn’t he?" Maggie’s eyes scanned her, reading the energy she was enveloped in.
August’s forehead cleaved, tears springing to her eyes. "I promised him he wouldn’t miss it."
Maggie gestured for Greta, and she jogged over.
"I think we should take August home," Maggie said quietly.
"Why?" Greta’s eyes went wide.
August suddenly grabbed her arm, her other hand braced over her stomach. There was a huge muscle spasming in her torso—the largest muscle ever was twisting like it was trying to wring out water.
"Goddess, okay," Greta gasped. "Shit. Well we aren’t taking her home. Let’s get her in the cottage upstairs. Can you run bath water?"
Maggie nodded quickly and sprinted away, leaving Greta to support August as she gritted her teeth silently until the pain passed. When it did, August panted, pupils dilated in fear.
"You need to pant like that while it’s happening," Greta told her. "Don’t hold your breath."
All the females sitting around visiting suddenly rose to their feet when they realized what was happening. Their Luna was in labor!
August gave them a weak smile, trying to remain calm and reassuring. But she wanted to cry. Graeme was gone? He had actually left pack land? Goddess, why of all nights did it have to be this one?
"Selah, can you run and see if the males have left yet?" Greta called, and the girl disappeared into thin air right before their eyes.
Greta gaped at the air where Selah had just been standing.
"Uh," Nedra laughed nervously. "So... Selah can use portals. I guess that’s obvious now."
"She what?" Greta exclaimed. "But she’s lycan!"
"Well that is surprising," Charlotte said calmly, a patient smile on her face.
"A portal," August said breathlessly. "I can use a portal to get home."
"You don’t need to go home, my love," Greta said. "I am right here. You have a support team right here. Thelonious can be born right here with all of us helping you, okay? Females have been doing it for thousands of years. We are all here for you right now. You’re safe. You’re okay."
Greta kept reassuring her with words of comfort as she guided her toward the cottage. There was no way she was taking August through a portal. That didn’t seem wise.
"Who all do you need?" Charlotte asked, matching their pace and holding her hand up to halt the others from following unless they were needed.
Greta glanced back at August, trying to judge who all she would want with her. But another contraction started and August squeezed her eyes shut, freezing in place as she was consumed with the wave of pain that was rising, squeezing her tighter and tighter and even tighter in the middle until finally it crested and started to slowly release her again.
"Breathe through those," Greta reminded her, realizing she had been holding her breath too as she watched August endure what she had gone through not that long ago. "Just me and Maggie for now. I will let you know," she told Charlotte and continued with August to the cottage.
"I need Graeme," August sobbed as they finally made it to the top of the stairs in Maggie’s cottage after two more contractions, each more painful than the last.
The contractions were so close together. Greta couldn’t believe how fast they were coming—it was like her nephew was determined to make his entrance now, at this very moment.
"I need my mate. He has to be here. He has to be here. I promised him," she sobbed and then gritted her teeth again as another contraction began.
"It’s going to be okay," Greta told her, trying to calm her with her touch, but the natural healing ability that she possessed was no match for this. She couldn’t compete with the physical pain of active labor, and she doubted that she could comfort August about Graeme not being here for it.
August roared as the contraction passed. She was even more breathless.
"Why would he leave?" She asked, panting in anger now.
Greta rubbed her back, glancing behind her as a commotion came from below. A spark of hope lit in her chest that maybe it was her brother, but the steps were too light, and seconds later Selah arrived at the top of the steps.
"I can’t find him, but Pearce is gone," Selah said, all the color drained from her face like she had seen a ghost.
"What?" Greta’s eyebrows pinched together. "What?" She repeated, shaking her head. "That doesn’t make any sense. Why... how do you even know? You were supposed to look for Graeme!"
"I..." Selah said, dropping her chin to avoid Greta’s eyes. "I haven’t mastered the portal thing yet. I ended up in the dungeon, and the guards there are freaking out. Pearce disappeared. It’s like he was planning it for tonight when he knew the strongest males would be gone."
August was starting to hyperventilate. Pearce was gone? Graeme was gone?
Where had Pearce gone? Was he a threat? Had he gone after Graeme? Was Graeme in danger? Was she? Was their pack? Was her son?
"Shit," Greta said, realizing August was having a hard time regulating her breath. "August, listen to me—it’s going to be okay. Pearce is weak. He is no threat to us in his current state. If he is gone, it is on the run. Trust me, okay? Everything is going to be fine. All you have to worry about is that baby of yours and how you get to hold him in your arms soon."
Greta forced herself to chuckle lightheartedly and give her words all of the sincerity she could for August’s sake. But inside, Greta was cursing her brother for not having taken care of the damned elder long ago.
Graeme claimed it was important to keep Pearce alive in case they needed him for anything that had been left unresolved and had yet to rear its ugly head. He argued that Pearce did not need death as a sentence when he had lost everything and was suffering from poor health and neglect in the dungeon. He was merely a pile of bones, barely moving... barely even breathing these days.
But now the elder was loose. And while Greta didn’t believe he would get far in his condition, he was at least causing their Luna a fair amount of distress at the moment.
