Page 33 of Marked By His Alpha Dragon's Desire

Chapter 18

Luca

The crunching of metal and screeching of tires, the smell of burnt rubber—these were all things I would never forget. The blinding white pain that rocketed through my bones when the side of the vehicle hit me was indescribable. The pain had been instant and unbearable, almost to the point where I couldn’t tell where it started.

I lost consciousness for a while, but even in that state, I had desperately tried to wrap a protective arm around my abdomen.

Protect my eggs. Protect my eggs.

That was the only thing I could think. If it wasn’t for my newly acquired healing abilities thanks to my dragon mate, I would not be in good shape.

Now I was moving—though where, I didn’t know. Raphael’s calming embrace wrapped around me.

“Everything’s going to be just fine, Luca. We’re going to the doctor.”

“Home,” I said. “I want to have my eggs at home.”

I was in labor now. The stress of the accident was too much for my body. My breaks and cuts had healed thanks to my dragon mate, but that didn’t take away the stress my body had endured.

These eggs wanted out. Now.

The pressure in my abdomen was absolute torture. It was as if all the muscles in my body were conspiring together and squeezing all at once to get these eggs out.

“We are closer to your house than the clinic,” Tyler said. “We can have Quinn meet us there.”

“Yes,” I said. “Do that.”

The ride had been bumpy at first. I didn’t know how Levi had gotten us out of there, I was just thankful that he had.

I was in the back seat of the fire truck. Oh goodness, I could not have my eggs in a fire truck. They needed to be in their nest, snuggled safe where they belonged. I didn’t want to give birth in the back of a truck. I needed my nest. My perfect, beautiful nest.

Raphael and I had spent weeks perfecting the nest, and we were proud of it. The plan had been to have a quiet, comfortable birth there.

“Raphael, I’m scared. I’m so sorry.”

“Hush. It’s not your fault,” he said. He brushed the hair from my forehead and kissed me. His lips lingered on my forehead, and he continued to murmur encouraging words to me while I rode out another contraction.

The truck came to a stop, and as much as I wanted to get out and go into my home, there was no time.

“They’re coming,” I said. “Holy shit, they’re coming now.” The pressure built to a point of no return. I could feel the eggs now. They had to be close.

Raphael’s eyes widened. Scales erupted over his neck and down his chest.

“Calm, dragon. I promise everything’s gonna be okay.”

I had no idea if that was the case. Sure, I had inherited—or rather, gotten—his healing ability once we were mated, but there were some injuries you couldn’t come back from. What damage had been done to my eggs in this mess? I couldn’t bear it if something happened to them.

The back door opened, sunlight streaming in.

“Raphael, I’ve done this before. I can deliver your eggs,” Tyler said.

Oh shit. This was happening. I was going to give birth in the back of a truck. A fire truck, no less.

Raphael nodded and squeezed my hand. “Luca, you can do this. okay? Just breathe with me.”

Tyler used his strength to remove my pants. The rip was barely audible over my loud moaning. I could barely tell what was happening—all of my focus was on pushing the egg from my body. Tyler positioned me carefully, his hands gentle. We didn’t have a ton of room to work with in the cramped backseat. Tyler stood outside the truck, while my feet were propped on the door frame. My head rested in my mate’s lap.

“Okay, we’re ready, Luca. Go ahead and push.”

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