| |
CELESTE
I woke up to cramping and pain.
“Oh, no.” I grabbed for my stomach. “The baby.”
Tayte, who’d been asleep beside me, jumped up out of bed and stared down at me with a shocked look on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Panic gripped my heart as my belly tightened once again. “I think it’s the baby.”
I couldn’t be miscarrying! No! Not after everything I had risked to keep it safe.
“Fuck! What do we do?”
Tayte was already pulling on jeans.
I didn’t know. What should we do?
“Um... do you have a doctor here?”
I checked between my legs. There was a lot of wetness.
But I wasn’t bleeding. Not yet.
“Claire! Let’s get you to Claire.” Tayte grabbed for my clothes and helped me dress, then scooped me up into his arms and ran down the stairs.
I clung to him, but my grief sat on top of me like a cloud.
He called to the others, “Sam! Dane! We gotta go.”
Dane came running at the sound of Tayte’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
I sobbed when I saw him and reached out for my sweet Omega.
“Dane...”
Worry shadowed his expression and he grabbed my hands.
“She’s cramping,” Tayte said. “There’s something wrong with the baby.”
Sam walked into the room as Tayte spoke and I saw his face pale when he heard the words.
The cramps hit again, the tightness and pain making me cry out. “Ow!” And another sob left my throat. “Oh, no. I’m going to lose it, aren’t I?”
Tayte dropped a kiss on top of my head.
Sam ran to the front door and wrenched it open. “Let’s go.”
They ran with me through the town and I clung to Tayte, burying my face in the crook of his neck and breathing in the comforting scent of him.
What had I done wrong?
Was it because I’d run away last night?
Or because I’d let all three of them make love to me at once?
Or was this always going to happen because I was a weak little female who couldn’t handle a strong baby like Tayte’s?
They rushed me inside a house I hadn’t seen before.
“Claire! Help!” Tayte’s voice was urgent, and a nice-looking woman came rushing forward to greet us. This must be the doctor, Claire, that I’d heard so much about. She looked a little older than me.
She frowned when she saw me in Tayte’s arms and quickly showed us into a small bedroom off the lounge area.
“Put her down on the bed, please, Tayte. Now, what’s happened?” she asked.
All three men started talking at once and Claire stopped them with a wave of her hand. “You three go out and cool off. I’ll help your mate, okay?”
She literally shoved them out the door and I called out, suddenly too worried to be left alone with a stranger.
Human or not.
“No! Please. Can Dane stay?”
I didn’t know why I called only for Dane, but his calm strength was what I wanted in this moment.
He’d been the first to make love to me today.
The first one to kiss me.
The first one to look into my eyes and make me feel incredibly loved.
Dane looked at his pack mates, unspoken words passing between them. Then he nodded and rushed back to sit by my side and hold my hand.
I clung to him and turned so I could put my head on his lap.
He stroked my hair and I finally felt safe again.
Claire pulled up a chair and sat next to us, studying me.
“Ah... this isn’t the exact introduction I was expecting for the newest mate of the pack, but I’m Claire. I’m a doctor at the hospital where Nevaeh works, and I’m pretty sure you’re the one who went looking for me last night.”
I stared at her from my place in Dane’s lap. “Yes, I did. I’m Celeste.”
“Hello, Celeste. How can I help you today?”
She was so calm. Her manner was lovely and soothing. I knew she would help me if she could, but if this pregnancy wasn’t meant to be, then physician or not, she couldn’t save it.
“I... I think I’m losing my baby.”
My throat tightened and I swallowed the cry that threatened to rise up.
“How far along are you?”
“Um... about eight weeks.” I hadn’t seen a doctor of course, but my period was a month late.
“Okay. Are you bleeding?”
“No, not yet. I don’t think so.”
Claire stood up. “So, why do you think you’re losing the baby?”
I gathered my strength and sat up, wiping away the tears that fell down my cheeks.
“I’m...” Another wave of pain hit. “Cramping.”
I put a hand on my belly.
“Like you’re getting your period?”
I shook my head. “No, worse. It’s like a deep soreness.”
Dane reached for my hand again and held it tight.
Claire looked between us. “Have you been having sex this morning?”
Dane leaned forward. “Yes. Why? Could that have done something? Is it our fault?”
Claire smiled gently. “No. But from what Nevaeh said, Celeste is very inexperienced, yes?”
She looked at me and despite all the fear in my heart, I found myself smiling. She seemed so kind and trustworthy.
“Ah... yes. Tayte was my first and that was two months ago.”
Claire grinned. “And let me guess, all three of them doted on you and made you orgasm this morning, probably for the first time.”
Now this conversation was getting embarrassing. I had to remember, she was a doctor. It was all right to discuss these things with your doctor, surely?
“Um, yes.”
Dane blinked at me. “You didn’t come the first time with Tayte?”
I shook my head. “No, of course not.”
Dane looked up at Claire, his mouth open a little.
Claire looked as if she was biting back a smile when she said, “Almost impossible for a virgin. You three did well today, it seems, Dane.”
He looked away. “It wasn’t me. Or Sam. It was Tayte.”
Claire reached over and touched his hand and I turned toward him, too. Was Dane feeling bad about the incredible morning we’d had? How was that possible?
Claire said, “Dane, you don’t know much about the mating triad yet, but you’ll soon learn that we human, fated mates need all three of our men. All of you, equally. We don’t do well without all of you.”
I slid my head back into Dane’s lap and turned my cheek so I could kiss his leg. “This morning was perfect. You were perfect. You all were. Equally.”
There was silence in the air until Dane finally slid his fingers through my hair once again. He seemed more relaxed, suddenly.
“So, Doc, what do we do?” he said. “Does this mean the baby is going to be okay? It’s just Celeste’s body getting used to the aftermath of an orgasm?”
Claire shrugged. “Look, I’ll be honest with you. If Celeste is going to miscarry, there’s nothing I can do. Miscarriage is very common, especially in first pregnancies, and it doesn’t mean anything is wrong with the woman. It’s just... sometimes how things go, sadly. But most women go on to have very normal, healthy second pregnancies.”
I pressed my head against my Omega, my heart aching and tears filling my eyes once again. “Maybe it’s for the best. I know you and Sam don’t like the idea that I’m having just Tayte’s baby. I...”
I lost my words again and stopped talking, my throat squeezing shut with tears and pain.
“Oh no, sweetheart, don’t say that.” Dane pulled me up into his arms and held me as I cried.
It hurt so much.
I’d wanted a family, a baby, for so long, and now it was possible I was going to lose it.
Claire left us alone then, and I kept crying.
Sam came into the room and sat down on the bed with us, stroking my back and putting an arm around me.
Tayte hadn’t returned, and I didn’t mind too much, at least for a little while.
Sam and Dane provided more than enough love and support.
When my tears dried up, Claire returned to the room and got my attention again.
“I think you three have a bit to talk about, but from a medical perspective, Celeste, I’ll tell you this. Rest today. See how things go. If nature decides to take its course, I can advise you then. But if this is what I think it is, which is lots of sex and orgasms in someone not used to it, then you’ll be better by tomorrow and have no bleeding. So, watch for blood, and if you’re still concerned, I can take you into the hospital tomorrow and do an ultrasound.”
I clung to Dane and nodded. “Okay, thank you, Doctor.”
Claire waved her hand at me.
“Stay here for a few hours. I have to do a little shopping, and my boys are all out at work, so you’ll have the house to yourself.”
“Um, is Tayte all right?” I had to ask, given he hadn’t yet returned.
“He’s fine. I advised him to go make himself useful somewhere else so the three of you can bond for a little while. The triad thing can be hard when there’s so many people wanting love and acceptance, but I can already tell that you four will be just fine.”
She left and closed the door and I sagged into my men.
“I should probably check if I’m bleeding.”
I moved to stand up and Dane grabbed my hand. “Um, before you do, I have to say something.”
“Okay.”
He looked at Sam and they both seemed so sad.
“What’s wrong?”
Sam coughed and cleared his throat.
“We’re both... um, struggling with this. That you and Tayte seem so much closer than we could ever hope to be.”
A wave of sadness washed over me, dragging me into the darkness.
“So, you’re glad I’m going to lose this baby.” I nodded my head, the cramps in my belly continuing, though strangely, they were no longer as sharp.
They were more like the pains of muscle strain now. “Yeah... I suppose...” I wiped at new tears. “We can make more babies.”
Dane grunted as if in shock. “Is that what you think?”
Before I could say anything in response, Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me over to him.
“Sit, sweetheart.”
I sat on his lap and looped my arms around his neck, putting my head on his chest so I could be as close as possible.
The world was so cold and dark now, when only a few hours ago it had been filled with possibilities and hope.
“Celeste, we do not want you to lose your baby.”
I pulled away so I could look up at him, his brown eyes intense.
I wiped at the tears that would not stop falling.
“You don’t?”
“Of course not. We were excited about being a family so soon.”
That part I understood.
“But you... you don’t like that you weren’t there. And if this baby... goes away, then we can make one together.”
I was trying, I was really trying to see the silver lining of this day.
They shared a look that I couldn’t read, and horror struck my heart.
“Unless... if you’re only keeping me around because I was pregnant, does that mean you’ll send me away now, if I lose the baby?”
My arms dropped away from Sam’s neck and I began to fall. Fall into the abyss that swirled around me.
I didn’t know how I was going to pull myself out of this one.
Where would I even go if these men rejected me?
Sam grabbed for my shoulders and held me to him again, while Dane slid closer and cupped my face.
“Celeste, stop and look at us, okay? We know you’ve been hurt and betrayed in the past, and been unloved for far too long. But that isn’t the case now. Not with us. That will never happen again.”
I didn’t believe them, but I nodded anyway.
“Okay.”
“Listen, and listen closely. We love you... do you understand that? We love you. We don’t want you to ever leave us. And whether we have one baby, or fifteen, we will love them all. Because they will be a part of you, and us. Our pack.”
A sob built in my throat and escaped this time.
“But how...”
“It’s the fated mate bond. You are our heaven, our perfection, and we will love you with every breath, every minute of every day. No matter what.”
I looked from to Dane to Sam and saw the same stoic strength. The same heart that beat in them both.
“But... you left me this morning; I felt it. You didn’t want to stay in the bed with me and Tayte, and I know this baby is unwanted.”
Sam growled a little, his chest vibrating with his breath. “Your baby is not unwanted. He or she brought you to us. Without the pregnancy, we may never have found you.”
That was probably true, but I still didn’t quite believe them.
They were just trying to make me feel better, which said a lot about the strength of their characters and the beauty of their hearts.
“Thank you for saying that.”
Sam growled again.
“We aren’t just saying it—”
Dane burst in with, “We felt rejected, like we were third wheels in the situation. Unwanted add-ons to your relationship with Tayte.”
Silence descended as their words sunk in.
Then I began to laugh.
I sounded hysterical, and I probably was.
“Um... you felt... you guys....” I couldn’t stop laughing. They had felt rejected? By me?
I had to get up.
I staggered to my feet, then fell into the chair Claire had placed by the bed.
Dane and Sam stared at me like I’d gone nuts.
“Oh, come on... You two...” I took some deep breaths, forcing myself to breathe, to calm the racing of my heart.
This was a little too hilarious.
“What’s funny, Celeste?” Sam asked, his tone bordering on annoyed.
I forced myself to sober quickly. They were beginning to look offended again.
I reached over and held each of their hands.
“You two are super-hot, powerful shifters. I’m just a little, ugly human. Do you know how blessed I feel to have you both? To know that you want me, even a fraction of how much I want you?”
It still seemed totally impossible to me that these men desired me.
Professed to love me.
And would protect me against all enemies.
Sam grinned and Dane’s smile was so beautiful, I took a mental picture to capture for all time.
“So... I’m going to the bathroom to see if these cramps mean what I think they mean, and then can you please take me home?”
The men nodded, their concerned faces making my heart sing.
This baby may have been the only reason I escaped the bears, so maybe it was fated on more than one level?