Christmas With the Alphas: A Claimed Novella Read Online Free
Author: Viola Rivard
half-hour.”
Her heart began to thud inside of her chest. “We have to go find her.”
Mila finished dressing in record time and followed Caim out of the den. Despite how worried she was, there was just no getting around the fact that she had to pee. She hastily relieved herself behind the nearest bush while Caim shifted.
As soon as she climbed onto her mate’s back, he darted off into the woods, hot on the trail of tiny paw prints in the snow.
***
As they trekked farther into the mountains, Mila’s only consolation was that they didn’t see any other prints besides their daughter’s. Still, Caim was clearly as distressed as Mila, which was why she didn’t bother him with the minor fact that she was having contractions.
They had been running for exactly thirty-six minutes and she only knew that because she was counting the minutes between each increasingly sharp pain. The contractions were coming closer and closer together at an alarming rate and soon she was gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.
Mila tried to reason that it would be hours before the babies would be there. After all, she had been in labor with Dawn for over half a day. But it just didn’t feel like the same, agonizingly slow pace as before.
They had begun scaling the mountainside when Caim began to pick up speed. His sudden acceleration came in tandem with her hardest contraction yet, justifying her sharp exhalation and tight grip on the back of his neck.
A strong wind swept down the mountainside, stinging her cheeks. The trees thinned, but only to give way to jagged stone outcroppings. Mila was thankful that it had been too cold for any of the snow to melt, otherwise the rocks would have been covered in an invisible layer of ice. She staved off images of her little girl falling down the mountainside as Caim continued to surge forward.
Mila had lost track of time when they finally heard Dawn barking. The ground plateaued and they found their daughter in a wide clearing, frantically yapping up at a small tree. A quick glance up at the tree revealed a terrified-looking squirrel, clinging for dear life on a naked branch.
Dawn began hopping up and down with excitement at their arrival. Her joy was met with a stern growl from her father. The little wolf pup whined, then whimpered, but Caim didn’t back down. In the end, Dawn bowed her head in a submissive pose.
Caim stopped to let Mila off. Rather than run up to her daughter, she made for the nearest tree and leaned against it as another contraction threatened to bring her to her knees.
Still oblivious to her distress, Caim shifted and stalked over to Dawn, picking her up by the scruff of the neck.
“What have I told you about leaving the den on your own?”
As she usually did when she was in trouble, Dawn remained in her wolf form and did her best to look pitiful. As he usually did when he was supposed to be disciplining Dawn, Caim gave in to her woeful puppy dog eyes.
Sighing, he said, “We will discuss this later. We should go back to the den now.”
“Um, I don’t know if that’s really an option at the moment,” said Mila.
On cue, her water broke.
CHAPTER FIVE
His mate had clearly lost her mind. There was no other logical excuse for what she was doing. Still, Caim decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sitting down,” she said, as she lowered herself onto the fur she had laid out.
Dawn immediately rushed to her side. His mate’s condition had the pup confused and frightened, and she immediately sought to comfort the pup. She put an arm around Dawn’s neck and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
This was most certainly not ‘okay’. She was sitting on the ground, lying to their daughter, and she had definitely lost her mind.
“Get up,” Caim ordered. “We are going back to the den. I’ll get Fern.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but her words were cut short by a hissing moan as
Her heart began to thud inside of her chest. “We have to go find her.”
Mila finished dressing in record time and followed Caim out of the den. Despite how worried she was, there was just no getting around the fact that she had to pee. She hastily relieved herself behind the nearest bush while Caim shifted.
As soon as she climbed onto her mate’s back, he darted off into the woods, hot on the trail of tiny paw prints in the snow.
***
As they trekked farther into the mountains, Mila’s only consolation was that they didn’t see any other prints besides their daughter’s. Still, Caim was clearly as distressed as Mila, which was why she didn’t bother him with the minor fact that she was having contractions.
They had been running for exactly thirty-six minutes and she only knew that because she was counting the minutes between each increasingly sharp pain. The contractions were coming closer and closer together at an alarming rate and soon she was gritting her teeth to keep from crying out.
Mila tried to reason that it would be hours before the babies would be there. After all, she had been in labor with Dawn for over half a day. But it just didn’t feel like the same, agonizingly slow pace as before.
They had begun scaling the mountainside when Caim began to pick up speed. His sudden acceleration came in tandem with her hardest contraction yet, justifying her sharp exhalation and tight grip on the back of his neck.
A strong wind swept down the mountainside, stinging her cheeks. The trees thinned, but only to give way to jagged stone outcroppings. Mila was thankful that it had been too cold for any of the snow to melt, otherwise the rocks would have been covered in an invisible layer of ice. She staved off images of her little girl falling down the mountainside as Caim continued to surge forward.
Mila had lost track of time when they finally heard Dawn barking. The ground plateaued and they found their daughter in a wide clearing, frantically yapping up at a small tree. A quick glance up at the tree revealed a terrified-looking squirrel, clinging for dear life on a naked branch.
Dawn began hopping up and down with excitement at their arrival. Her joy was met with a stern growl from her father. The little wolf pup whined, then whimpered, but Caim didn’t back down. In the end, Dawn bowed her head in a submissive pose.
Caim stopped to let Mila off. Rather than run up to her daughter, she made for the nearest tree and leaned against it as another contraction threatened to bring her to her knees.
Still oblivious to her distress, Caim shifted and stalked over to Dawn, picking her up by the scruff of the neck.
“What have I told you about leaving the den on your own?”
As she usually did when she was in trouble, Dawn remained in her wolf form and did her best to look pitiful. As he usually did when he was supposed to be disciplining Dawn, Caim gave in to her woeful puppy dog eyes.
Sighing, he said, “We will discuss this later. We should go back to the den now.”
“Um, I don’t know if that’s really an option at the moment,” said Mila.
On cue, her water broke.
CHAPTER FIVE
His mate had clearly lost her mind. There was no other logical excuse for what she was doing. Still, Caim decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sitting down,” she said, as she lowered herself onto the fur she had laid out.
Dawn immediately rushed to her side. His mate’s condition had the pup confused and frightened, and she immediately sought to comfort the pup. She put an arm around Dawn’s neck and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
This was most certainly not ‘okay’. She was sitting on the ground, lying to their daughter, and she had definitely lost her mind.
“Get up,” Caim ordered. “We are going back to the den. I’ll get Fern.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but her words were cut short by a hissing moan as
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