Page 46 of Wrong Number, Right Lion

“Do you want to leave?”

“No.” That was a fib. With my free hand I was hugging a cushion and counting until the pain faded. “I’m fine.”

Kalen dropped to his knees in front of me. “I know you well enough, Arlo, to hear the distress in your voice.” He stood and held out a hand. “We’re going home.

“Ohhhh.” I was leaning back in the chair and couldn’t see beyond my belly. “Kalen, I either peed my pants or my water broke.” My mate said something, but a cramp gripped my belly. It felt like someone wringing out washing. Both ends of me were being twisted in different directions.

“Shoot. I’m sorry, love, I should never have suggested we come out tonight.” My mate fumbled for the key fob, but when he clicked it to unlock the car, he dropped it. That was so unlike him. As a shifter, he didn’t trip, stumble, or bungle.

Kalen was my rock. When I lost it, he calmed me. His arms wrapped around my body could chase away fear and anxiety. Now I had to be the grownup.

“My hand, babe. Take it.” His palm was damp, something else that was new. “It’s fine.” It wasn’t. We were on a hill that alleged it was a mountain and I was in labor. But I had to be strong for all three of us. Kalen, me, and the baby. Not the fake mountain. It was on its own.

“We have to drive home and I’ll deliver the baby there as we planned.” But these were the last words I got out. The next sound from my mouth was a screech, then a scream, grunts, and groans and finally a sigh as the contraction faded.

“Nope, change of plans. This baby wants out!”

“But we’re alone here with no modern amenities. I was supposed to give you ice cubes.” My mate would have no hair left if he continued to tug it.

“Silly, we’re not alone. Look up.” Perhaps it was my imagination, but the moon was brighter than before, and I was convinced she was shining for me, for us.

My mate fell to his knees. “How come you’re so smart?” He kissed my hand and helped me undress. After grabbing a blanket from the car—we went on a lot of picnics, so that blanket lived in his vehicle—he lay it on the soft grass and scattered the cushions around. He placed bottles of water and a towel on one side and helped me undress.

“Oh, here comes another one.” Kalen got behind me and took my hands. I dug my nails into his flesh and squeezed so hard, my shifter mate moaned. He tried to hide it, but it filtered into my mind that was drenched in pain.

My body was splitting in two, and I yelled to my mate to look after the baby if something happened to me. The cramping passed, and I wept. I’d had a handful of contractions, and I wasn’t coping. If this were a movie, I’d be yelling for drugs. Or I’d say I’d changed my mind and I’d come back tomorrow.

Kalen shuffled to my side. “You and I will bring up our baby. You have inner strength which is more powerful than anything I possess.”

I ruffled his tawny hair but another contraction took hold of me. Kalen panted with me, like we’d seen the omegas and their partners do in the birthing videos.

“Picture the baby being pushed with each contraction,” he whispered. “The pain brings our little one closer to us.”

Time blurred along with my vision, but even with my eyes closed, the moonlight danced on my eyelids, creating tiny flashesof light. Kalen, the baby, and I weren’t the only ones here. The moon was looking out for us.

The body of light appeared to be directly overhead when Kalen yelled he could see the baby’s head. I felt like a limp rag, but I had to get our baby out.

“What color’s the hair?”

“I’d say the same as mine.”

I was right.

With the moonbeams helping me and making up for my sapped energy, I groaned and pushed. Our little one’s shoulders were out according to Kalen, and soon after, he was holding the baby.

“A boy.”

Our son let out a loud cry, taking in his first breath, and I reached out for him as Kalen and I shared a kiss

“Hello.” I placed the baby’s ear over my heart. “You know this heartbeat.” Our little man calmed, and his fingers curled into fists. Kalen put a towel over our son and covered us both in part of the blanket before lying beside us.

“It might not have been what we planned, but giving birth under the moon was a unique experience for a human.” Having been enveloped in the moon’s embrace, I understood a little better why shifters revered the celestial body. Its power had rippled through me, and our son, and given me the strength to bring him into the world.

“Do we give him a name that honors the moon?” Kalen offered our son his finger and our little one grasped it.

“I think we should.”

“Lucian means moonlight.”

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