CHAPTER FOUR

They were ringing noises in her ear and the pain in her lower back had worsened. She could hear screaming and something cold was running down her face. The screaming continued and so did the pain. She couldn’t find her wolf, it was buried somewhere in the darkness and she called for it. She could feel it, it was there - shaded by the darkness – but it was not responding. 

“Not the wolf.” A hollow voice said. Its sound reverberated though every inch of her cells until the darkness absorbed it. Gwen wanted to speak, she wanted to ask what was happening but her voice was gone too. The last thing she remembered was Ivy asking her where she’d been. 

It was raining outside and Gwen had been in a hurry to get home before she was misses so she had ran under the rain till she got home and was soaked in it. Ivy was furious, she wanted to know where she had been but Gwen was not telling.  She had met a stranger and she had thrown all caution to the wind to be with him and in all the joy, had lost track of time.

“Wake up.” the voice said, the memory disappeared and she was back in the darkness. 

“You need to push more. We’re almost there.”

The darkness was fading and I it’s stead was blinding light. Gwen blinked until the brightness reduced. She was in her room, laying on her bed and a strange woman was between her legs. Gwen growled, she felt her wolf stir but it went back down, refusing to heed her call. 

“Ssshh…” the woman cooed and looked up. “Not the wolf. Do t wake the wolf of you’ll not be able to go through this without killing the child.”

“Who – “  

The memory flooded her. They flashes though her visions like lightening. She was at the celebration and Zack was too, so was Fiona. Then she was in a car and Ivy was outside waving and then she was in this house and at the bar. 

“Oh my God!” Gwen exclaimed. “The baby.”

“Its fine, it’s fine. Your child is alright all you need to do is let her into the world.”

“Who are –“ the woman pushed a towel into her mouth and Gwen’s teeth immediately but down on them. More sweat trickled down her face but the woman was quick to wipe them off. 

“Now!” the woman ordered. “Push.”

*

The cry of the child was hypnotizing and Gwen reveled in it. Her baby was here and she was beautiful. She had taken after Gwen in so many ways and also get father from what Gwen remembered of him. His hair had been a golden blonde and his eyes a piercing blue. The child had his eyes and her hair was a combination of her mother’s red and her father’s gold. 

The woman was gone, as fast as she had appeared. Gwen had not gotten the chance to ask who she was or to say thank you. The wolf, the woman had known of the wolf. No one knew Gwen was here and the Towners die not believe in werewolves. But the woman –

Gwen pushed the thought away. If her identity was in danger, she would have known it by now. The pack would have been here, howling into her ears and dragging her back to the pack house. Honey had reported that there was no one around the house, but he couldn’t report which location the woman had disappeared to. 

Gwen looked at her beautiful child and smiled. It was worth it, she thought.  Gwen was beside herself with joy which she couldn’t share. Ivy would have loved the child whether the father was human or not. She wished she could share this happy news with that one person who mattered to her but she had to think if other things too. Ivy would be in danger if she had any connection to Gwen. Especially with the birth of this child.