“Fuck me!” Munro yanked the cuff off her arm as the magic was siphoned away.
With a chilling shriek, Iona tightened her stranglehold on the archwarlock. The whine grew louder and louder . . . until Jels’s head popped off, tumbling through the air.
His body exploded in a plume of bloody ash, spattering the nymphs.
Munro had no time for satisfaction. His mate’s cuff had failed, and she was in labor.
“Munro!” Kereny’s eyes flashed blue, unerringly finding the moon. With a yell, she tore her gaze away.
“Desh can still trace the doc to the surgical suite in time. Just keep your beast down!” Munro raised his head and bellowed to anyone within earshot, “I need a godsdamned phone!”
As soon as the words left his lips, newling howls sounded.
“Close the gates!” Madadh yelled from the wall. “We have to mount a defense—the newlings are returning!”
With Jels’s death, his vassal spell had disappeared, leaving those Lykae unleashed and crazed under the moon. They charged back toward the settlement. With the boundary spell gone, they could scale right over the wall.
With a chorus of roars, Glenrial’s residents ran to defend their stronghold.
Munro spied Cassandra sprinting to the wall. “Need your phone, Cass!”
Never slowing, she said, “Mine is toast!” Everyone’s phone would be. Because they’d all used bloody Wicca tech. Over her shoulder, she called, “Find a landline.” She might as well have told him to find a rainbow.
Kereny said, “Even if you got a phone, a deer-shifter doctor won’t come to a Lykae war zone.” She was right.
“I can do the surgery.”
“You might hurt them. We can’t risk it. It’s too late anyway!” A scream followed her words.
“Kereny?” Her belly looked . . . flatter.
“They’re coming too fast. Crowning.” She dug her claws into his arm. “Bed! Or they’re coming here!”
Munro clutched her close and ran for all their lives.
SIXTY-SEVEN
As Munro hastened back to the lodge, Ren grappled to keep her babies inside, fighting to cage her beast. But the battle sounds spurred it even more.
Everyone just stay put! I need a moment!
Sweat dripped in her eyes as she bit back screams. She was too weak to push out one baby, much less two! She roiled with dizziness, and her vision faded in and out. . . .
“Love, I need you to wake up.”
Wake? “I was asleep?” When she blinked open her eyes, she found herself in their bed.
“Here we go.” Munro positioned her against the headboard, then stuffed pillows behind her. His face looked as if it’d been carved from stone, but she could tell he was terrified.
Regret swamped her. “I’m so sorry.” Her c-section plan had failed.
“None of that! We’ll get through this.”
Another contraction hit. “Ahhhh!” Her claws shredded the bedding.
He knelt between her legs. “You’re a powerful she-wolf. I believe in you, lass. And I love you more than the moon.” He cupped her face and planted a kiss on her lips. “Now, let’s take care of business for our lads.”
At least one of them was feeling take-charge.
He ripped off her bloody skirt and tore away her underwear. His eyes grew wide. “That’s a—fuck me—a head, no?” Munro’s brain seemed to be malfunctioning right before Ren’s unfocused eyes. “S’posed to be that big?”
Between panting breaths, she said, “Just be . . . ready.”
When the next contraction hit, she lowered her chin to her chest and pushed, yelling from the effort.
A haze of pressure and pain lasted for what must have been hours. Pressure and pain. Pushing the baby, fighting the beast. Pushing, fighting, pushing . . .
PRESSURE!
She screamed and used all of her strength to ease it—
Then . . . relief.
A baby slipped into Munro’s arms. “You did it! Kereny, we have a son.” He held up a surprisingly large infant. A healthy cry made her heart soar. “One down, one to go. You’re doing amazing with your beast!”
She wanted to see their son, but her lids grew too heavy. “So tired. Need to rest.” Exhaustion made her eyes slide shut.
When she opened them again, Munro was handing her a bundle wrapped in a nursery blanket. “Look at our lad, Kereny.” His voice was roughened. “He’s perfect.”
She stroked the baby’s soft cheek. “Sweet, brave boy.” Their poor son was having a hell of a night.
A wolven chuff left Munro’s lips. He was watching the two of them like he’d witnessed a miracle. His eyes were wet, filled with so much love. “You’re an ace at this! Should’ve known you would no’ need that cuff. The first babe has paved the way, so this should be easier.”
Easier? If caressing her beloved son proved this difficult, how could she deliver another one? Resurrecting from the dead had been simpler than this! “If I pass out again, lay him in the crib until his brother comes. Then put them to my breasts. They need to nurse.”