“Emma’s in labor!” I screamed as Max watched me zoom by.

“Good luck!” Max screamed after me.

‘Is she okay? The baby?’ I asked Kai, my feet pounded the forest floor as I ran faster than ever before.

‘Baby’s fine, she’s fine. Diya says all is going well other than she is dilating very fast,’ Kai informed me calmly.

I flew across her lawn with vampire speed, a gift Kai and I shared. After throwing open the door, I ran back to the guest room, which was set up as a birthing room. Emma hadn’t set foot in the master bedroom since Devon died.

Resting inside the door frame, I let my breathing settle from the run and surveyed the scene. Diya was wearing green scrubs and white gloves. She was tinkering with a baby warming bed and setting out towels.

Emma was sitting on a birthing ball, holding Kai’s hand, face scrunching in pain.

Crossing the room in two big strides, I stopped in front of her and got on my knees.

“I’m here. How are you?” I asked, still panting.

Emma let go of Kai and grabbed my hand. “It hurts like hell. The baby keeps shifting forms.”

Damn, I couldn’t imagine a baby in my belly shifting from werewolf to human. It sounded awful but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Instead, I started the rhythmic breathing Diya had taught me.

“Okay, okay, we got this,” I told her calmly.

I rubbed small circles in her lower back and she moaned. “This sucks, I wish Devon were here.”

Kai and I met each other’s eyes and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I wish he was here, too.

“Why would you want him here? He would have passed out on the floor by now. We would have needed to hire a nurse just to tend to him,” I joked.

Emma laughed. “I love you, Aurora. You’re a good friend,” she said and then starting screaming in pain.

I didn’t like that she was saying things like it was a goodbye. Diya reached over and attached some electrodes to Emma’s belly. Then I helped move her onto the bed so Diya could check her cervix.

“Wow, Emma, I’ve never seen labor progress this quickly. This baby wants out. The constant shifting from werewolf to human is making your uterus have more intense contractions that are changing your cervix.”

I raised my hand. “English, please?”

Diya smiled. “She is dilated to ten and the baby is coming. Time to push.”

Oh, shit. Kai backed up against the wall, out of the way, as I helped Diya get Emma’s feet into the stirrups. She was pale, sweaty, and grimacing.

“Can’t we give her anything? Vicodin? A martini?” I asked.

Emma laughed but it turned into a scream with the next contraction.

I grabbed Emma’s left leg as Diya grabbed her right.

“Push!” Diya screamed.

Emma flexed her belly and pushed, screaming.

After about thirty seconds she lay back panting, exhausted. Sweat beaded on her face and her chest was heaving with great effort.

Diya checked things out between Emma’s legs and then silently pulled a tray out from under the bed. On it were a bunch of surgical tools. My eyes widened.

Diya put out her hands to reassure me and glanced at the contraction monitor. “Another contraction is coming, Emma.”

“I’m too tired. I can’t do this,” she said.

I noticed her color was paler, her eyelids were closing so I gently grabbed her face. “Look at me,” I commanded.

Her green eyes popped open and held my gaze longer than ever before. Devon’s death had changed something within her, within her wolf. I had a strong suspicion she wasn’t a submissive anymore. “You can do this. You’re the strongest woman I know. You have been through a lot and it’s made you stronger. You got this, Emma.”

She lost her mate, carried their unborn child. She was the strongest damn person in my life right now. Determination settled into her features as she held my gaze for longer than a submissive should be able to and I knew she could do this.

“Okay, Emma, push!” Diya yelled.

Emma pushed, her face turning red, a werewolf growl ripping from her throat. Then, all of a sudden, a tiny pink baby flew out into Diya outstretched arms.

Oh my God! I laughed and cried at the same time. It was incredible! Even though you expect a baby to come out, it’s different when it actually happens. It’s really a shock. It was amazing. A strong cry came from the baby’s mouth.

“It’s a girl,” Diya said.

Emma burst into tears. Her tears turned to laughter as she reached out and held her daughter. Leaning over Emma’s chest, I stroked the baby’s head. She was so small, so perfect. Oh, my God. I wanted one. Like now.

I met Kai’s eyes from across the room. ‘I want a baby,’ I told him with one hundred percent certainty.

Shock registered on his face, then he grinned.

“Shit!” Diya screamed and blood poured out from between Emma’s legs and dripped to the floor. Emma’s eyes fluttered as she fainted and I quickly reached out to grab the baby as Emma’s arms went slack. Kai took the baby from me as I stood there in shock.

“The placenta detached and ripped her uterus with it. No, no, no!” Diya screamed, trying to shove gauze between Emma’s legs.

I was warned about the dangers of werewolf birth. It was like a human delivering a baby in the 1700s. The surgical interventions around today for humans didn’t work on the fast healing werewolf. I began to panic.