Page 50 of Bred By the Beast

“Perhaps what you need to do is ask her out for coffee, do you like coffee?”

“I do.”

“Then try that,” she offered as way of a suggestion.

“And if she says no?”

“Then you accept no, and perhaps be her friend.”

He growled.

“And be there for her, but as a friend. You know, let her trust you.”

“And then take her back to my ... place.”

Poppy shook her head and laughed. “No, not back to your place.” She gritted her teeth, as she pressed a hand to her stomach. The baby kicked and twisted inside her. Unable to contain her cry of pain, she felt sweat cover her brow.

“Poppy?”

“I think my baby is in distress,” she said, as he turned and she couldn’t contain her scream.

“It’s time for you to take that medicine.”

“It’s missing that ingredient,” she said. “I couldn’t find it, and with how hot it’s been and the ground was so dry, we have not had ripe conditions.”

“Which is why I brought you this,” Alder said, holding out a glass jar. “I’ve been growing some in my green house. Ever since I found out about the interspecies risk, I grew it.”

She gasped. “Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked.

“Because they’re a pain in the ass to grow. Why do you think I’ve not been able to spend a lot of time in town?” Alder asked. “I’ve been babysitting this, and if you die, I’m not going to even consider pursuing my feelings for ... her.”

Alder would not tell her the name of the woman he had fallen for, and that was fine. Wilder had told her it was because he didn’t want to create a connection. In Alder’s head, while it was still just the hiker or the baker, or the woman, there was no connection. It sounded so lame, but with these men, it made total sense. She couldn’t exactly argue with it.

She bent forward and let out a scream. It hurt.

Alder picked her up, and Poppy tried to tell him to stop. If Wilder knew or sniffed him, it would drive him crazy.

“You’re overexerting yourself. We need to get you to your home and finish this now.”

Poppy wanted to argue, but also knew if she did, Wilder would suffer just as much as her baby. She had been overdoing it, especially when Wilder wasn’t looking. She wasn’t trying to hurt him. She wanted to enjoy her pregnancy with him.

“You’re not going to argue with me?” Alder asked.

Instead, even though she didn’t want to, she held on as Alder started to carry her back through the forest. Neither of them talked. They just stayed silent, she rested her head against his chest, thinking about her child, and it worked.

Slowly, her son stopped moving and causing her pain, but for how long?

****

Wilder loved his woman more than anything in the world. She was everything to him, and yes, he would love their child, but it wasn’t going to be the same.

“I’m fine. We’re going to be fine,” she said.

Seeing Alder bringing her back to the house exactly two weeks ago had crushed him. The two had somehow become friends, and it was all because Alder was trying to win some other human’s heart. He got it, but he was also a little jealous. They should not be getting along. However, without Alder, they would not have the final ingredient, and he already sensed his son was not as active.

Wilder looked toward his woman, and he knew her time was near. Perspiration beaded on her brow, and she tried to hide the pain she was in, but there was no mistaking it. Not anymore.

There was no one to help bring his son into this world. There was just him, and in his spare time, he’d been reading everything he needed know, to do all the right things.