Chapter 40 Axel #3
Bree reached for a nearby cloth, dipping it into a basin of water and wringing it out.
“This is really your fault, you know,” she said, moving back to Kat and bringing the cloth to her brow.
She smirked at the low growl that rumbled from Axel.
“I tried to let you be a part of this. Tried to bring you to my side. Even said you could have the Fae and the child. But you didn’t want any part of that, did you? ”
Her voice had turned cold and vicious, and when another contraction ripped through Kat, Bree smiled. “So I had to go elsewhere. This could have all gone so differently.”
“That babe is going to be here any minute, Bree,” Rayell said suddenly, her honey eyes fixed on Kat. “Where is Miara?”
Miara?
That traitorous bitch.
Had she been feeding Bree information this entire time? Every time they had an appointment, she reported it?
But it all fit. She was the one who’d given him the flask, saying it was from Cienna. She would have known how close Kat was to giving birth. Maybe she’d been having visions all along and not said anything.
Bree frowned, looking down at Kat as she stood. “I don’t know,” she said curtly. “Go find her.”
“You go find her,” Rayell retorted. “I’m not beneath you, Bree. This is your godsdamn mess.”
Bree straightened, glaring at Rayell. “Fine,” she said tightly. “Keep him restrained.”
Rayell rolled her eyes. “Someone’s going to have to deliver a babe if you don’t go find the Witch.”
Axel could tell Bree wanted to say something in response, but she turned, striding from the room, her heels clicking. Kat cried out again, throwing her head back, and Axel could only look on, utterly helpless.
Until he wasn’t being restrained anymore.
Cade was cursing as he pulled the knife from his shoulder and tossed it aside, the string of words so vulgar, Axel nearly laughed. Then he realized Rayell was moving towards Kat, and he lunged for her. She was faster though, moving to re-wet the cloth and pressing it to Kat’s brow.
“There isn’t a lot of time,” the Night Child said. “I waited until she was on the precipice before telling Bree to go.”
Axel was frozen, trying to figure out what was happening. “We’re on your side here,” Cade growled, shoving Axel forward. “And I’m sure as fuck not delivering your child.”
“I can’t deliver him,” Axel said, slowly dragging his eyes back to Kat.
“Well someone needs to,” Rayell snapped. “Because this babe isn’t waiting anymore, and I promise you she’s coming back with more than just Miara. Valter will be with her.”
“Someone tell me what my father has to do with this,” Axel demanded, lurching to the bed as Kat cried out again.
“The short version is when you refused her, she made other plans. Your father is currently in hiding in the Underground. Recouping after these last months. They’ve made a deal,” Cade answered, standing near the door with his arms crossed.
“She delivers your child to him, and he will give her the Underground.”
“And you are okay with this?” Axel demanded.
“Of course not,” he retorted. “Why do you think we’re helping you right now?”
“Axel,” Kat cried. “I can’t wait. He’s— I can’t—”
“Okay, okay,” he said, rushing to the other side of the bed. He smoothed her hair back, pressing his lips to her brow. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll—”
She thrashed, her head shaking back and forth. “Now,” she panted. “I’ve been in labor for nearly a day. He’s coming now.”
“I don’t know what to do,” he said, looking from her face to her contracting belly and back. He’d been wrong. This was the most helpless he’d ever felt.
“Fae births are long,” Rayell said, climbing onto the bed behind Kat. “She’s nearly at the end. They take hours to progress, and by the time they get to this point, the mothers are exhausted.”
“But her power,” Axel tried.
“The…tonic,” Kat panted. “She had one.”
Miara had told them about that. How females drink it to stifle their magic so they don’t lose control of it during birth. This had all been planned from the beginning. Bree had been prepared with one.
“Axel!” Kat cried.
“I’ll help her push,” Rayell said.
By Arius, this was not how he imagined this going.
“Maybe I should help her push, and you deliver the babe,” he ventured.
“Axel! Get down there and deliver your son!” Rayell ordered. “We don’t have a lot of time. Cienna is handling Miara, but as soon as she realizes this was a set up, Bree will be back. We need to be gone.”
Rayell hadn’t been wrong. When he moved down the bed and adjusted Kat’s gown, he could see just how close they were. He glanced at Cade. “Do not let anyone in that door.”
The male nodded, turning away from them, and Axel turned back to Kat. Lifting his eyes, he met her gaze. Her eyes were muted and exhausted. Tears were streaming down her face, and her hair was matted to her brow.
He took a deep breath. “Okay, kitten. I’m going to wash this blood off my hands, and then we’re going to do this. Together. Because it’s always been you and me against the realm.”
She nodded, a broken sob escaping her.
Axel climbed off the bed, stripping off his torn and stained shirt and quickly washing his hands in the small connected bathroom. There wasn’t much he could do about the pants, but he cleaned up as best he could in the minute he had.
When he came back, he stopped at her side and took her face in his hands. “Let’s meet our son.”
In the end, it was as awful as he’d expected it to be listening to Kat scream as Rayell helped her push. Contraction after contraction came and went, and Axel could tell she was lagging, her strength and energy gone.
“We’re close, kitten,” he urged. “We’re so close. You’ve been so strong this entire time, trying to keep him from Bree, but I’m here now. She’s not touching him. It’s you and me and him. One more time, Kat. Ready?”
“No,” she cried, shaking her head. “No, I’m not.”
But nature didn’t care as another contraction came.
“Push, Katya,” Rayell demanded, holding her hands and helping her lean forward.
“Last time, Kat. I swear it,” he urged, and gods, he hoped he wasn’t lying to her.
She screamed, and there was a head. He didn’t know what to do. Did he pull? Help? Just…
But Kat knew, pushing one last time, and the babe was there, his cry filling up the space. And holy fuck. They’d done it.
“Cade, towels,” Rayell commanded, easing out from behind Kat.
Everything was muffled and muted for a different reason now as he held a tiny life close to his chest.
“Take him to her,” Rayell said, her voice low and hushed.
He nodded, moving ever so carefully to Kat’s side and gently placing the babe on her chest. She was crying, fresh tears on her face as she clutched their son close.
“You did it,” he murmured, sitting beside her and pulling her in. “You were so brave and strong, and look at what you did, kitten.”
There was a knock on the door that had Axel on his feet.
“Relax,” Cade said, reaching for the doorknob. “It’s our help.”
“Help?” he repeated.
The door opened and the Shifter Alpha and Beta strode in, Cienna behind them.
“We can’t stay here,” Rayell said, moving out of the way as Cienna strode forward. “We’re going to Kylian and Giselle’s.”
Cienna was at Kat’s side, checking the babe over while Kat still held him close. Then violet eyes lifted to his. “You did well, Axel,” Cienna said. “I tried to get here sooner, but I had to—”
“Handle Miara. I know,” he said. “Can we get the fuck out of here?”
“Let me look over Kat and make sure we can move her. I need a few minutes.”
He nodded, moving back to Kat’s side. Everything quieted down around him as he stared down at his wife and son. Cienna did the barest amount before they all Traveled from the House of Four, and an hour later, they were settled into a small suite at the Shifter home.
“Sleep, kitten,” he said softly.
He was sitting against the headboard, Kat nestled into his side with the babe in her arms. The babe had just eaten, and Kat hadn’t slept yet.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “The last time I fell asleep, I woke up to…”
Guilt clawed at him, and he pushed it away. He was drugged. They were played. This wasn’t his fault.
“No one is touching him,” he said, gently reaching for the babe. “Cienna is here. The Shifters. Rayell and Cade have more than proven their loyalty. We’ve sent word to Theon. I swear to you, no one will touch him.”
She nodded, already scooting lower on the bed.
She was asleep before her head hit the pillow, and then it was just him and the tiny sleeping thing in his arms. Black hair, but he’d expected nothing less.
A mix of his white complexion and her dark skin.
Emerald eyes that matched his, and a set of lungs that let everyone know when he wasn’t happy.
Perfect and innocent.
He glanced down at Kat, her chest steadily rising and falling as she slept. Cienna had said the tonic she drank should wear off anytime, letting her magic wake back up.
Axel ran his knuckle along his son’s cheek, drinking in the sight of him. “No one will touch you,” he murmured low.