Retribution (Moonstruck Genesis #4)

Chapter 5

“brEATHE, ANNIE.” Hannah barked the order and received a glare from Sean for her trouble. “What? The girl has to breathe and she’s forgetting to do so in between these gawddamned contractions.” She handed the helpless Wolf a cool cloth. “Make yourself useful. Wipe her face down with that.”

Sean snarled, but complied, gently mopping the sweat from Annie’s forehead.

“Don’t show me fang, asshole. I’ll take you out back and skin you. I need a new rug.”

Granny Mae, looking unruffled, kept up a steady rhythm in the rocking chair she occupied. Her eyes twinkled though no one else could tell she was amused. Josiah was getting older and while he wasn’t ready to release the reins of power, the time would come. She’d been watching these interlopers. Closely. The Wolf holding his mate with such tenderness and concern was an alpha and could be Alpha of any pack he wanted to join. She’d sensed that from the moment he entered town and had discussed it with him when he’d first talked to her about his pup’s impending birth. His woman, while sweet, had a streak of determination and strength worthy of any Alpha’s mate. She’d had hopes for them.

Until the boy’s Alpha arrived. That man downright stank from the power he exuded. While she’d been surprised Sean wasn’t an Alpha in his own right, once she met Mac McIntire and his mate? Granny wanted to cackle with glee but continued her serene rocking instead. The image of Josiah tuckin’ his tail and goin’ belly up in submission to the big soldier almost made her laugh out loud. She covered it with a soft chuff. If the rest of this pack of military Wolves were as strong, she could only hope they would settle here.

Blaidd’s Gap had mostly fallen off the human map. Mostly. A few of the males occasionally left, returning later with their mates, but none of them were really strong enough to challenge Josiah. The occasional human wandered in from the highway, but never stayed long. Still, things were changing. The secrets Wolves had kept for generations were about to spill forth. Science was catching up to the magic and that boded well for no one.

Annie whimpered, fighting against Sean’s embrace, raising her shoulders and pushing, grunting out her distress.

“Push, Annie. I know it’s like forcing a fuckin’ basketball through a tube of toothpaste, but you can do this, girl. Damn Wolves and their big heads.” Hannah held Annie’s hands without a grimace as the pregnant woman squeezed the blood from her fingers.

“The baby’s female,” Sean gritted out between clinched teeth.

“Oh, yeah. My mistake. A fuckin’ soccer ball then.”

“Not helping, Hannah.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Get the hell out!” Sean’s jaw was working now and his face flushed with his anger.

“NOOOOOO!” Annie let go of Hannah’s hands to slap at Sean. “Shut up, shut up, shut up. I hate you, Sean. Hate you with eye-stabbing, scoop-your-balls-out-with-a-dull-spoon hate.”

Hannah threw back her head and laughed. “Tell us what you really think, Annie.”

“Still. Not. Helping,” Sean snarled, his lip curling.

Mac stuck his head in the door, leading with a hand holding a massive mug of steaming coffee. When no one yelled, he eased inside and set the mug down within easy reach for Hannah, but out of the way if Annie started flailing. He offered a sympathetic smile to Sean, a wink to his wife, and a grateful nod to the midwife before he retreated.

“Your Wolf ain’t no fool,” Granny Mae informed Hannah, who laughed.

“Yeah, Mac’s a lot of things, but foolish isn’t one of them.” Hannah grabbed the mug and chugged about half of it. Putting it back on the dresser, she glared down at Annie. “Okay, wuss. I’m tired of this shit. I say we get this little girl born.”

Sean opened his mouth but Hannah shushed him. “Don’t make me go postal on your ass, Sean. I say the baby is ready. And I know Annie is.”

Granny Mae stopped rocking and pushed slowly out of the chair. She shuffled over to the bed, leaned enough to put her hands on Annie’s taut belly and smiled. “Yup. It’s time.” The old woman offered Sean a quiet smile. “You’re strong, son, but you need to be stronger still for yore mate. You ready?”

Sean nodded, his eyes tight with pain and worry for Annie.

“Next pain hits, sugar bug, you push until you cain’t push no more. Then you keep pushin’ until this baby girl is out here screamin’ her head off. You understand me?”

Annie opened her eyes, inhaled shallowly and nodded. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a huge “O”.

“Here we go now. You hang onto this li’l gal, Sean Donaldson. You hang on and don’t let go.”

FLOSSIE PUT a slice of hot blueberry pie covered with melting vanilla ice cream in front of Mac. Her husband had gone to check on the store—and fill in the neighbors on the status of things. The birth of a baby was a rare occurrence in Blaidd’s Gap. She refilled his coffee mug before settling into the chair her husband had abandoned.

Mac ate slowly, waiting like the born hunter he was. The woman had something on her mind and once she worked up the nerve, she’d say it.

“Good pie.”

“My grandson picked those berries himself.”

He watched her fingertips tap on the tabletop as he took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. He reached for his mug and her hand disappeared from the table. He could hear her hands fidgeting in her lap, her skin rasping across the cotton of the apron she wore. The woman was afraid of him and Mac supposed that was only natural. He hadn’t been in a real pack in years. Not since his childhood. He’d left early for the Army, believing he wasn’t cut out for pack life—at least not the pack his sire ran. That was before he knew the 69th existed. There’d been rumors. Always tall tales about the special Army unit, but as kids, he and his friends had consigned those stories to the realm of fantasy. Until he’d completed basic. Until an old Navajo by the name of Jacob Nakai walked into his barracks, studying him without comment.

The corner of Mac’s mouth ticked up in a small smile at the memory. He’d known immediately that Nakai was a Wolf, but when Mac had reported to his CO’s office the next morning, he hadn’t expected reassignment. When he arrived at his new duty station in the wilds of western Virginia, he discovered those stories weren’t fairy tales. The Wolves of the 69th Special Science Operations unit existed. And he was now one of them.

“So…how long y’all stayin’?”

Mac gazed at Flossie and was glad she didn’t flinch from his perusal. She’d been the mate of an Alpha for many years. He respected that. “Depends, ma’am.” He pushed his plate away and settled back in his chair. “I’m not here to challenge, Mrs. Cadogan. In fact, the sooner we get out of here, the safer your pack will be.”

She blinked rapidly at that and Mac realized her husband hadn’t explained the situation. He’d need to talk to the Alpha about that. Danger followed Mac and the others like a bloodhound on a fresh scent. Sadly, that same danger now lurked out there for anyone who carried Wolf DNA.

“I need to have another talk with the Alpha, ma’am. If you’ll ex—”

Before he could finish, the screams of a newborn baby shattered the quiet. Damn but Sean’s kid had a set of lungs. Grinning from ear to ear, Mac jumped up and headed toward the bedroom. He didn’t knock, simply threw the door open and rushed in. Sean looked shell-shocked. Annie looked exhausted but serene, her baby wrapped in a soft blanket in her arms. Granny Mae looked smug, and Hannah looked like she needed coffee with a slug of whiskey in it.

“Mac, may I introduce Miss Sally Danielle Donaldson.” Hannah’s nose twitched at the little girl’s name and her eyes glistened with unshed tears over the needless deaths of the baby’s namesakes, Sally and Danny Keegan.

Moving to the side of the bed where Sean lay, Mac leaned over to peek at the little face muffled by the blanket. Red and wrinkled, her mouth wide open in a yowl, the baby suddenly quieted. She blinked up at Mac, looking solemn. Mac slapped Sean’s shoulder. “Congrats, Wolf. Thank God she looks like her momma and not you!”

The adults chuckled and beamed while Granny Mae watched from across the room. Yes, Mac McIntire was a Wolf with an abundance of power. So much that even a newborn sensed it. She and Josiah were long overdue for a serious talk. She shooed the men and Hannah out. They went, grumbling, but they needed to celebrate—exuberantly—while mother and child needed some quiet for the first feeding. Once li’l Sally had a full belly, her mama could sleep and the rest of those fools could make a fuss over the precious baby girl.

And fuss they would. Wolves were such idiots when it came to the little ones. All children. Didn’t matter who they belonged to, but that’s what a pack was all about. Belonging. Caring. Protecting. Yes, shadows were creeping across Blaidd’s Gap and Granny Mae couldn’t be the only one who’d noticed the danger gathering out there, waiting, panting, hungering for a taste of the magic hiding here. Blaidd’s Gap needed these Wolves. Needed their strength. Needed their willingness to kill, because there would be blood before all was said and done.