Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

RETH

Reth was only halfway through the cave when Elia's scream pierced the air and he almost shifted, his heart thundering, thudding in his chest, sputtering as if it would give out with the fear that shot through his entire body.

He flew through the rest of the cave and into the bedchamber to be met with a scene of horror.

Elia lay on the bed, her legs propped high on pillows under the furs. Her body writhed and her mouth was open as if she screamed, but she made no sound. Aymora was at her head, murmuring comfort and instruction, holding her hand and using the other to stroke her sweaty hair back off her face.

Jayah pushed past Reth who had frozen in the doorway, taking her position at Elia's side, throwing the furs back so she could peer at and touch Elia's belly.

Reth, speechless, helpless, his entire body shaking, blurted, "What can I do?"

Elia's eyes flew open and her head lifted for a moment. She mouthed his name, but her eyes squeezed shut again and she let her head drop back as Aymora coached her to breathe… just breathe…

Shaky on his feet, Reth circled to the other side of the sleeping platform and crawled up next to her, taking Elia's other hand—which she squeezed in a vicelike grip until the bones in his hand creaked.

"I'm here, Love," he murmured over the sound of the sucking, heaving breaths she was forcing through gritted teeth. "I'm here."

The pain seemed to go on forever as Reth lay there, next to her, helpless as a babe and overwhelmed with fear.

He'd heard males speak of this before—the frustration and fear they'd experienced while their mate delivered, the need to fight, to bite, to do something—and the utter helplessness that overwhelmed them when there was no enemy to tear away from their precious one.

He'd heard them speak of it… but he'd never imagined…

Then suddenly, Elia slumped back against the pillows, her damp hair stringy and dull, her eyes circled in shadows, her entire body shaking.

Reth pushed up on one elbow to stroke her hair back and kiss her cheek. "You are magnificent," he breathed in her ear.

Elia sobbed and curled towards him, taking his face in her hands. "You're safe… you're safe…" she whispered over and over.

"Don't worry about me," he rumbled, trying to smile. "You have bigger fish to fry."

"Oh… Reth…" Elia dissolved into tears and he held her, shushing her, murmuring his love as Aymora and Jayah held a whispered conference next to the sleeping platform that he prayed Elia couldn't hear, or didn't listen to.

"The contractions will come back in a minute," Elia said, her voice quavering. "I'm so glad you're here, Reth. I was so afraid."

"I wouldn't miss this for the entire Kingdom, Elia," he said, and he could smile with that, though the sick dread in the pit of his stomach wanted to steal it away. He stroked her face again, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

Then she shuddered and her eyes screwed tightly shut again. She groaned and writhed, her teeth chattering.

Reth was horrified. "What… what's happening to her?"

"Her body yearns to shift, but it can't," Aymora muttered.

Reth frowned. "But… is the tonic that strong? I shifted when I'd taken it."

Aymora gave him a worried look. "You shifted early on, before it had taken full hold. She took it hours ago, and she has built up great strength in resisting the beast—out of her fear, which drives the beast forward. She is being torn in half by the conflicting powers. I do not like it." She didn't speak for a moment, then she added quietly, "Reth, you know what this means if—?"

"Yes!" he growled, refusing to meet her eyes, stroking Elia's hair.

Aymora didn't say anything else and Reth didn't take his eyes off Elia's tormented face, the warning from Jayah echoing over and over in his head.

The baby needed to shift. His daughter needed to enter this world in her human form. 

Elia groaned. "It's coming again," she breathed. 

Reth's heart slammed against his ribs again as he braced to watch her in pain.

Elia breathed quickly, sucking in air in increasingly fast breaths, then, as the contraction hit, she cried out—then made no noise, her mouth open in a silent scream.

Reth wanted to tear down the walls of the cave, but he could do nothing but lay next to her, hold her hand, and watch.

Elia was completely naked now, and bare, as the two females took their positions, Jayah with the long cone in her hand that she used to listen to Elreth's heartbeat.

Aymora had turned her full attention back to Elia and adopted the motherly tone she used whenever a patient was panicking. "Keep breathing, Elia. I know it hurts. But you need the air. We are here. We won't let you go."

Elia forced her breath out, then sucked back in, but still didn't speak, didn't meet their eyes, her entire existence consumed with pain.

Reth wanted to reach out, to soothe her, to comfort her, but he was afraid he would only hurt her further. So he let her crush his hand in her remarkable grip and whispered all the wonderful things—the ways that he loved and admired her, the ways that their daughter would be like her, all the ways she made him smile. He wasn't sure she heard a word of it, but he couldn't just sit there.

Again and again and again… this relentless process repeated—Elia slumping, breathing, crying, even falling asleep for a few seconds here and there, until her body went rigid with pain. Reth standing by, helpless, his beast roaring within, desperate to fight something, to protect, to slay this enemy that threatened his precious mate.

But the enemy was within her. He could not kill it without killing her.

He had never felt so useless in his life.

Then Elia sagged back into the pillows again, sobbing, pleading with Aymora to do something before the next contraction, and Reth's heart began to tear in two, and his beast snarled for release—to bite, to fight, to devour…

So it was pure instinct driving Reth, when the door swung open and Behryn stepped in, asking if anything was needed, and his eyes widened as Elia cried out and tried to cover herself.

Nothing registered, except that his mate was there, bare and vulnerable, unable to protect herself or her babe… and everything within Reth exploded in white-hot fury.