Fire and Ice

“Just push one more time,” Vera said, holding onto Annalise’s hand.

Annalise’s face screwed up in pain and I kissed her forehead, stroking her hair.

“You can do this, baby,” I whispered.

With a final scream, our daughter entered the world and I laughed happily. The nursemaid quickly cleaned her up but my dad looked stricken.

“What’s wrong?” I asked then looked back at Annalise.

Her face was unnaturally pale and her eyes were drooping. My heart stopped when I realized what happened. The bed was covered in blood and I shook my head frantically.

“No,” I gasped. “No, Annalise.”

“You have to turn her,” my father said, running to her other side.

Vera just realized what was wrong and started to cry. She was holding our daughter and rocked her, her face terrified.

“Baby, this is going to hurt again,” I said but Annalise didn’t seem to hear me.

Beads of sweat were rolling down her face and her breathing was labored.

“L-Logan,” she gasped. “I- Take care of-”

“Don’t you dare!” I yelled and moved her head to the side. I pushed her sweaty hair out of the way. “Keep your eyes open, Annalise.”

“Getting tired,” she mumbled.

“Logan!” my dad shouted.

I gulped and bit down into my previous bite marks. She cried out in pain and started to sob. I injected some of my saliva into her blood stream and quickly turned her back on her back. I fell to my knees.

She wasn’t breathing.

“No,” I whispered. “No. Not my Annalise!”

“Calm down,” my father said quickly. “This is what happens. Just wait.”

I looked up, tears streaming down my face. All was silent except for my daughter’s gurgles.

Suddenly, Annalise’s eyes shot open. They weren’t green any longer; instead they were the silver of the alpha and Pack Mother.

“Oh Annalise!” I cried and hugged her gently.

She hugged me back weakly.

“What-What is it?” she whispered.

I sat down beside her, ignoring the blood from where I bit her, and helped her sit up. Her eyes were cloudy and I beckoned for Vera to walk over.

“We have a daughter,” I whispered back.

Annalise began to cry in joy as Vera gave her the baby wrapped up in a soft blanket.

She was more beautiful than I thought she would ever be. Her skin was tan, showing her mixed raced parents. She had silver eyes, which was unusual but I didn’t care. All I cared about was that she was alive and so was Annalise. She cooed and I reached out to her. She grabbed hold of my finger and I laughed.

I had been crying more.

“She’s strong,” I breathed.

“Oh, she’s beautiful,” Annalise gasped.

“What do you want to name her?” I asked, leaning my head against hers.

“Delia,” she said and I looked at her.

“My mother? Are you sure?”

Annalise smiled, clearly tired, and kissed my cheek.

“I’m positive.”

Delia began to cry and Annalise stared at her in panic.

“She’s hungry,” Vera said, wiping tears from her face.

My dad turned away as Vera showed Annalise how to nurse.

“Oh!” Annalise said with a laugh. “Goodness.”

“That’s normal,” Vera said.

“What is?” I asked, looking between the two women.

Annalise was about to answer but she fell asleep.

“Annalise!?”

“Calm down,” my dad repeated. “She’s tired. She just gave birth and was turned into a werewolf. I swear to you she’ll be okay.” I could only nod. “Come on, Vera. Let’s give the three of them some time.”

Vera kissed Annalise’s forehead then mine. I smiled at both of them as they left. Delia had stopped nursing and was asleep just like her mother.

I watched the two sleeping. The labor had been long and hard for Annalise. After ascending to alpha and Pack Mother, a lot of stress had been put on her by the alphas of the other clans. They didn’t give us a chance to announce her pregnancy until she was bedridden. By then the damage had been done. My dad said that was why it was so hard for her.

The result was beautiful, though.

I kissed Delia’s face and Annalise’s lips. Exhausted, I put my forehead on Annalise’s head and fell asleep.