Page 71 of Omega's Triplets

Chapter Eighteen

The wind howled likea wild thing, and the air was cold enough to bite. But inside the cabin the Hell’s Wolves shared, it was warm and cozy. A fire crackled in the fireplace, and enough logs had been stacked up out on the porch to carry them through the winter. Food was stockpiled too. For the first time in as long as any of the pack members could remember, the freezer was full of wrapped meat. Hunting in the weeks before the cold set in had been a massive success.

Madison Wood, nine months pregnant and in her fourth hour of labor, laid in the dim light of the nursery. Her forehead glistened with sweat. Beside her, Jamie knelt on the floor with a bottle of water in his hand. Harley and Mark paced in circles around the bed.

“You two should really get some sleep,” Maddy said. “We don’t know how long this is going to take.”

Jamie nodded. “I’ll wake you up if anything happens. Or if I need a break.”

“We’re not going to sleep,” Mark said. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“It’s the middle of the damn night, Mark.”

“Yes, and our babies are being born.”

“We should get our rest. We should make sure someone’s always with her and in good mental condition.”

“You rest, then,” Harley said. “You go to sleep, if it’s so easy, and we’ll getyouif there are any problems. How about that?”

Jamie subsided.

“We scared off the Death Fangs, didn’t we?” Mark said. “I guess we can handle staying up late to watch our children be born.”

“You didn’t scare off any Death Fangs,” Harley scoffed. “You hid in a hole until they were gone.”

They all laughed. Even Mark joined in, somewhat ruefully. In truth, the pack all felt he’d made the right decision to stay hidden in Amy’s shelter until the threat had passed. Although it would have suited his nature to charge into the house and attack the Death Fangs, most likely getting himself killed in the process, he had showed restraint.

Maddy knew how hard that must have been for him. Mark was born to act, to defend his family and their home. To know that the Death Fangs had been in the house, all the while not having any idea where his omega was, must have been torture. But he had known that Maddy was still with Harley and Jamie, and he had put his trust in them.

It was so good to see her pack fully trust each other. Maddy would never forget those hellish weeks when the bonds between the brothers had seemed to be broken. She was fervently glad that, now, when her babies were coming into the world, they were on better terms than ever.

A contraction gripped her, and she squeezed Jamie’s hand and screwed up her face against the pain. Harley and Mark stepped closer to her. “Are you all right?” Harley asked anxiously.

“Fine,” she grunted through gritted teeth. If her pack could face down the Death Fangs the way they had, she knew she could handle this.

“They say births are easier on omegas,” Jamie said, anxiety bleeding through his scholarly tone.

She wanted to smack him.Easy, was it? Did he realize she’d be giving birth tomultiple babiessoon? But she held back. Resorting to facts and knowledge was how Jamie kept calm. He was just trying to deal with his anxiety.

The contraction eased. Jamie glanced at his watch and made a note in the notebook on the bedside table. Mark rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why you’re timing it,” he said.

“It said to do that in the pregnancy book,” Jamie said. “That’s how you know when the babies are going to come.”

“That was about human pregnancies, though,” Mark said. “You can’t really think it’s going to be the same.”

“It might be,” Harley said. “There’s no harm in timing the contractions. Maddy, do you want your ice cup?”

She nodded, and Harley passed it over. Maddy shook a few chips of ice into her mouth and crunched down. She’d only been at this for a few hours, but she hadn’t eaten anything since dinner last night, and labor was taking a lot out of her. She wished she could have something to eat, but she knew enough to know that wasn’t a good idea. Still, chewing on ice made her feel like she was eating something. It helped a little.

“More TV?” Mark asked her.

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