We were standing in a clearing amid the forest. There were several hundred trees around us, and there were many outcroppings and fallen trunks that acted as interesting levels for different flowers and fauna to live among, but the sight of the wolves around us was a thousand times more majestic than anything I could have imagined.

It was a surreal moment in my life to watch one of the beasts move toward us—a single female. She was large. Overly large. Bigger than the others, and when she wandered forward, I noticed she was pregnant.

I cut Sabina a look, wondering if she knew what was happening because I sure as hell didn’t, and this was my world, not hers. Why she was so at ease with this was beyond me.

She’d mentioned to me that when we’d mated, there’d been like a click in her head where she’d gone from not understanding some things to understanding a lot more.

But I’d never imagined the degree into which that was the truth.

I frowned at the thought, wondered if she was acting on instinct or a knowledge that was denied to anyone not omega, but then my thoughts were dragged from me when the she-wolf waddled forward and flopped onto her belly before releasing a keening sigh as she rolled onto her side.

My eyes widened at that, but even though I froze when all the pack around us stepped forward, I jerked into action a second later, just as Sabina did.

The she-wolf whimpered as we approached, then started panting. I had no idea what was happening, not until I saw her belly contract.

I winced, recognizing that she was in labor, and…

From her size, I had to figure she was the alpha bitch.

A mateless one, now that Austin had killed the alpha male.

I grimaced, even as I stroked a hand over her, and Sabina surprised me further by whispering, “Something’s wrong with her. The birth isn’t going well.”

My eyes widened at that. “She told you?”

She bit her lip and ducked her head before sheepishly whispering, “Yes.”

I frowned, then reached over and grabbed her shoulder. “Don’t ever act cowed before me, my mate. You are granted with gifts that I’ll never understand, and they are a blessing, just as you are my blessing.”

She peeped up at me, then whispered, “It started this morning.”

“Hearing the animals?”

She blew out a breath. “Yes. It’s just impressions though.” Her gaze wandered around the clearing, taking in the circle of concerned wolves. “They’re worried. For her.”

I arched a brow. “That’s clear to see.”

“They like her. They want her to lead. The alpha male was brutal. Spiteful. She is good. Kind. But she is dying. She knows it.”

Horror trickled through me. “How does she know?”

“The pups should have come by now,” she rasped, her hand shaking as she let it drift over the she-wolf’s coat. As she touched her, the bitch’s tension lessened some, but every now and then, the contractions would appear. “She’s been in labor for almost half a day.”

I scowled at that. “She should have given birth by now.” Twelve hours was a long time between the beginning of labor and birthing the pups.

I knew that much. Only because of my time working at a vet clinic in town before we’d been set on the path to enforcing for the pack by Eli.

I’d thought about going to college to study to become a vet, but it had just never worked out.

Still, I knew some things… It was better than nothing, at any rate.

In this instance, I had no means of acting. I figured Dr. Appleby would have taken her temperature, maybe would have given her some meds to encourage the birth while reducing pain, but I had none of those facilities at my—

The hand was back at my shoulder again.

Pushing me forward.

I was me, but I was more.

Touched.

Shaped.

Molded.

A true child guided by its mother as I moved around to the she-wolf’s side and saw the pup was essentially stuck in the vulval entrance. Another wolf nudged me, and I turned to it in surprise. It promised me no harm, but there was a plea in its eyes, a plea that was so poignant, it was like looking at the eyes of another human.

The thought took me aback, as did the nudging of another wolf. A male. Younger than the other. Very young, in fact. But I shifted focus onto the she-wolf once more.

I needed to act. Fast.

This was not how I’d imagined my day going, me sticking my hand carefully inside a she-wolf’s genitals that wasn’t my mate’s, but hell, life was turning weirder every day.

When I managed to get the pup out, I felt the hand grow tighter around me.

It didn’t relent.

Didn’t let go.

The pup wasn’t breathing.

The mother was exhausted.

Sabina looked frozen, like she knew both were dying, and I just couldn’t let that happen.

In my head, a sudden buzzing made itself known to me, and I jerked up, twisted around, and tried to figure out where the fuck it was coming from.

I recognized that noise.

I knew it.

Quickly, I passed the pup to Sabina, and she took it, sorrow etched on her features, but I ignored her, and instead, ran toward the sound.

I ran as fast as I could, totally aware and uncaring that some of the wolves—including the one with eyes that would haunt me forever—followed me as I sped through the trees toward the buzzing.

When I saw it, it came as a real shock. I knew for a fact that we’d been nowhere near the tree that bore the fruit that had saved my woman, but that didn’t matter.

This plane, this forest, it seemed to act of its own accord, which told me this was the right move.

I took a running jump and caught the lowest lying branch before I moved up the tree, crawling up it like a spider monkey. The second I reached a level where there were two fruits, I didn’t wait.

I grabbed them, plucking them both off the tree and ignoring the angry flies as I did so.

Putting the stems in my mouth was not pleasant, considering I knew what was inside these horrific fruits, but I had to get down.

Fast.

Time was running out.

When I plopped to the ground, the wolves yipped and barked, and the one with a streak of silver on its head and the young pup both danced around me as I started the short run back.

It took far less time than it had taken to get there, and when I arrived, I saw there was another pup beside the she-wolf.

Twins.

Mother.

Had to be, didn’t it?

Blowing out a breath at the sight, I almost skidded to a halt over the slick moss as I made it to the she-wolf’s side.

When I dropped the fruit into my palm then tore into it, I watched as the disgusting flesh was revealed to me.

Sabina’s face was proof of just how vile it was to see genuine flesh inside a fruit, like I’d spliced into my leg to reveal torn tissues and sliced fat, but I shoved it in front of the she-wolf.

Either she knew what it was, or the scent of blood in her exhausted state was too tempting to deny.

She snapped it up and ate it with a gusto that I couldn’t fault as I moved over to Sabina and tore into the second one.

I dabbed my finger into the flesh, wanting to laugh when Sabina almost gagged, but I put it to the pup’s tiny mouth. The small creature was more like a ball of goo than a little wolf, but it lapped at my finger.

A miracle in itself, since I knew newborns didn’t seek milk for a little while.