Rayne sensed an inner resolve in Dayton as they sat at the large dining table eating breakfast with the Alpha and his heavily pregnant mate Lacey. Nors and Ashleigh were sitting a little further down the table. She knew the other couple had a child, a hybrid little boy with a scent that teased her and begged her to come to him. The boy was absent from the table and she knew it was because his parents didn’t quiet trust them. It didn’t offend her, she would do the same if she had young and was concerned about them.
It was probably just as well the child wasn’t there because it meant she could focus more fully on the growing hardness she sensed deep inside Dayton. The other emotions were still there but something was starting so supersede them, something very worrying. On the outside he looked calm but on the inside she could feel a growing hate which had the power to take over and destroy her friend completely.
She knew he’d spoken to Ashleigh before breakfast. She had considered following them and listening in but decided against it. If they had sought privacy then they had the right to it. She wondered if they’d spoken about Freya Eriksson.
From the moment she’d watched the vampire enter Dayton’s Gallery with the wolf she had known that the moment had been fated. She had never sensed a soul more damaged than Dayton’s until she’d reached out and taken the emotional makeup of the two women. Freya’s pain had been enough to make her knees tremble violently. How the vampire walked around with such a serene expression she’d had no idea.
Something told her in that moment that the vampire was the key to unlocking her friend’s pain. He connected automatically with others who suffered whether he knew it or not. He had sensed her own loneliness, her own need for belonging and that was why he had never been able to successfully keep her out. She knew he still wondered about that even after all these years.
Freya and Dayton had been meant to meet. She felt it deep within her bones. Their mutual anguish was a commonality they couldn’t deny, even as they denied each other. She had no idea what path it would take them down but she knew it was necessary for both their souls.
Freya had done something to him to force him to come home to the pack. It was a start but only a beginning. Her friend still had a wealth of pain and soul searching to go through. She imagined the vampire did too.
Rayne watched Dayton fuel his hate of the vampire with every passing moment. She wanted to intervene but she knew she couldn’t. Only when a wolf and a vampire looked deep inside each other’s souls and see the anguish within, would they ever heal. It would be a painful lesson for both of them.
“Oh crap!” Lacey suddenly said putting down her fork and turning slightly to look at her mate. “Can you help me back upstairs, baby?”
Rafe was instantly on his feet, concern on his face. “Lace?”
“I’m fine, I just need to lie down,” she said soothingly. “Though if you could get Mallen that would be a help. You’d think these little horrors would have at least let me finish my breakfast.”
Ashleigh jumped up suddenly a wide smile crossing her face. “Nors, run and get Mallen,” she gasped hurrying around to help her Alpha to stand. She shot a reproving look at Rafe. “Don’t just stand there. The babies are coming.”
Rafe stared at her blankly for a moment and then his eyes went to Lacey’s and his expression turned to one of wonder. “The babies are coming?” he echoed quickly supporting his mate around her back.
Lacey blew out a long breath and laughed shakily. “Either that or their having a game of tag in my belly.” She let out a low groan that had Dayton at her other side.
“Let me, Ash,” he said firmly adding his support to his Alpha Bitch while Rafe got over the shock of his imminent fatherhood.
His Alpha gave him a grateful smile a moment later before he swept his mate up into his strong arms. He kissed her gently, his face glowing with excitement. “Guess there goes the peace and quiet,” he murmured softly.
Lacey let out another shaky laugh even as she stifled down a groan of pain as another contraction swept through her. “Seems so,” she whispered against his lips her pale green eyes full of love as she looked up at her mate.
Dayton followed them upstairs automatically. It wasn’t as if his Alpha needed his help carrying his mate but it was instinctual to protect his back while his attention was otherwise engaged. They met Aaron on his way out of his rooms.
A wide smile crossed the Beta’s face as he accurately took in the scene. “About time too, gorgeous,” he smiled at Lacey. “Jen!” His mate came out and was immediately at her friend’s side climbing the stairs to the third floor with them.
“Watch the kids, honey,” she called over her shoulder. Lacey had been with her throughout her own birthing and she was going to be there for her too, if Rafe let her. She didn’t think he would object and the smile he quickly shot her appeared to bear that out.
In no time Rafe was lowering his mate carefully onto the middle of their bed covering her with a sheet as he sat down beside her. Jen moved to the other side of her and smiled as she brushed Lacey’s silvery blonde hair back.
“You’re going to be an amazing mother,” she smiled softly.
“If I do half as good a job as you’re doing, Jen, then I’ll be happy,” Lacey answered quietly and then groaned again.
“Dayton, can you let Aaron know to cancel the meeting we had scheduled for eleven? He’ll know what it’s about,” Rafe said. “If you can also round up someone to help look after the kids too, so he can sort out any Pack issues that need to be taken care of in the next few hours, that would be helpful.”
“Will do,” the other man answered immediately. “Is there anything I can do to help which is Pack related?”
“Ask Aaron. He knows what needs to be done.”
Dayton was halfway down to the second floor before he realised that he was acting like a Beta. It came as naturally as breathing to him even after five decades. His head shot up as he heard a slightly more tortured sound emanate from the room above. He sensed Rayne approaching and turned to look at her.
“How exciting,” she smiled. “I love newborn babies. They’re so warm and soft, just made to be cuddled.”
She looked genuinely excited at the prospect of being there for the birth that Dayton had to smile back at her. There was something intrinsically magical about new life coming into a pack, especially when it was the Alpha couple being blessed. It also gave him an idea.