Page 72 of Wild Heart

And just then, two loud raps then the door flew open. Olivia and Davey burst into the cabin, wind-tousled and breathless. Olivia’s cheeks were flushed, and Davey’s eyes were wide with urgency.

“We just got a call,” Olivia said quickly. “There’s a hiker up near Elk Run trail who spotted what looks like an injured wolf, high up on the slope, just beyond the fence line.”

Mason was already on his feet. “How bad?”

“Not sure,” Davey said. “But they said it’s not moving. Could be a snare, maybe a break.”

Natalie sat up straighter, her brow furrowed. “Do we have anyone else out there?”

“No,” Olivia said. “Everyone’s off duty or at home. We’re the closest.”

Mason grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair, his voice calm but firm. “Let’s go. We’ll take the truck up the lower trail and hike the rest.”

“I’ll prep the med kit,” Davey said, already turning for the door.

Olivia followed, her voice trailing instructions. Natalie stood too, pushing herself up with both hands, intending to follow them into the hallway to offer guidance. But halfway across the room, she stopped. Her eyes widened. She reached for the edge of the table. And then she doubled over. A small, sharp gasp escaped her lips.

Mason turned immediately. “Natalie?”

She straightened slowly, but her hands pressed hard against her belly, and her breath was short, shallow.

“I…” she tried to speak, but another wave rolled through her, this one deeper. Lower. Like a tide coming in fast and unrelenting.

All three of them had frozen.

Olivia moved first. She crossed to Natalie in two strides, her hands steady. “Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe.”

Natalie’s eyes met hers, wide and glassy. Then they flicked to Mason.

His face had gone pale. “Natalie?—?”

She gripped the back of a chair as another pang rippled through her.

Then she looked at all of them, Olivia, Mason, Davey, and smiled in disbelief.

“I think the baby’s coming.”

For a moment, the world stood impossibly still. Natalie’s voice, soft but unflinching, hung in the air. Then, the moment shattered into motion. Mason moved first, his instincts catching up with his heart. He was at Natalie’s side in an instant, a hand cradling her lower back, the other gripping hers as if he could tether her to steadiness.

“Okay,” he breathed, voice too calm for the thunder behind his ribs. “Okay, Nat. We’re going to the hospital. Now.”

Davey spun toward the door, already moving. “I’ll bring the truck around!” he shouted, his voice trailing behind him like smoke as he disappeared into the dark.

Natalie tried to stand, one hand braced on the edge of the table, the other cradling the taut, trembling swell of her belly. She looked up at Mason with wide, storm-lit eyes.

“It’s coming,” she whispered. “Finally… but I’m scared.”

Mason crouched before her, pressing his forehead gently to hers. “It’s going to be okay, don’t be scared. You and the baby are going to be okay.”

But the stillness that had filled the cabin with warmth only minutes before had now thickened into something else. Olivia hadn’t moved.

Mason turned to her, his voice taut. “You’ll come with us?”

But Olivia didn’t answer right away. Her cane rested against the wall behind her. Her eyes, usually filled with quick, practical fire, were locked on the window beyond the cabin, on the dark ridgeline, where the trees folded into shadow and wind whispered secrets only the wild understood.

“I can’t,” she said at last, her voice gentle but resolute.

The air in the room shifted.

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