Page 36 of Labor of Love

The birth happened in Zenith’s mansion a week later. Emre felt swollen and achy all over; he needed Zenith’s hands on him constantly, rubbing away his aches.

“I’m so ready for this to be over,” he whined. “And for me to stop needing to pee every five minutes!”

“You didn’t want me to move your things into the bathroom,” Zenith pointed out. “You wouldn’t have to get up to pee if you just sat where the pee should go.”

Emre scowled; Zenith shut up.

A contraction rolled through him; he hissed and clutched at Zenith, relaxing when Zenith brushed his fingers through his hair and rubbed his back.

“I’m going to shift,” Emre mumbled. “It’s easier that way.”

“Okay.”

Emre shifted into a gray wolf, lying on his side on their bed.

Zenith continued to hold and rub him. In fact, Zenith clambered onto the bed and shifted into a dragon, curling himself around Emre.

“Do you need more rubs?” Zenith asked.

Emre nodded, so Zenith rubbed his belly gently with his paw.

The contractions came faster. Emre whimpered, and Zenith nuzzled him with his snout.

“I wish I could take your pain away,” Zenith growled.

Emre pushed. Their friends’ wolf parents came to check on him, rubbing his belly to soothe him too. The good news about second pregnancies was that his body already knew what to expect. His muscles relaxed, and when he pushed again, the pup slipped out of him, a soggy, bedraggled mess.

“Emre,” Zenith gasped, choking up.

Emre wagged his tail tiredly. Zenith shifted back into a man, carefully scooping their pup into his arms. He looked like he was about to cry.

“Bring him closer,” one of the wolf parents said.

Zenith bit off the umbilical cord with his teeth and brought their son to Emre’s face. Emre licked their pup until he began to breathe on his own.

“He’s so beautiful,” Zenith choked.

Emre pressed his snout against their son, breathing in the combined scent of him and Zenith. Then he shifted back into a human, and Zenith gathered them both close, pressing kisses all over their pup.

“Gabel,” Emre croaked, stroking the little wolf’s head with his fingertips. “Named after your grandpa. Welcome to the family.”

“He’s perfect,” Zenith whispered. “You both are. All three of you.”

Emre agreed wholeheartedly. “I want to do the bonding soon,” he said. “The dragon ceremony. Then we can properly belong to each other.”

“Of course,” Zenith growled, kissing him again.

Zenith’s flight’s Circle was tucked into a mountainside, in a cavern at the back of his family’s mansion. Several dragons had shown up to witness their bonding; Emre felt just a little intimidated. Not in the least because they’d all shifted into dragons, and they all towered over him.

“They like showing off,” Zenith said dryly, tangling their hands together.

“We do it because there’s no space for you to be a dragon on the Circle,” Ace said, flicking his tail smugly.

The Circle was made up of several large concentric circles carved into smooth rock. Each circle had pictures of plants and animals etched between them, and even some Roman numerals.

“This has been in my family for generations,” Zenith whispered. “We’ll walk the Circle three times, and at the end of it, our lifespans will even out.”

“You’d do that for me?” Emre asked, humbled.

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