A Friend To The Elements

chapter 19

Chapter 19

*Lily's POV*

I began to pick at my plate in awe that I had food at all. The tray was a basic breakfast with a scrambled egg, two pieced of buttered white toast, and a small cup of plain water. I picked up the toast first and slowly took a bite feeling the bread turn into mush in my mouth.

I tried my legs again slowly putting more weight on them. The muscles had been unused for so long that they felt like jelly.

After half a piece of toast my stomach began to churn. I fought with my body's desire to reject the small bit of food and sipped the water. I sat it back down on the tray and wiggled my fingers over the cup. I was so weak that only a few droplets raised from the liquid, but it was something.

There was a quiet hum that was new in the building. I looked around trying to find the source and saw something on the ceiling flickering. It was light. A light bulb. I dropped my head and rubbed my now burning eyes. It wasn't bright by any means, but my eyes hadn't been exposed to light in what felt like years.

Maybe I had been going about this the wrong way. I crossed my legs on the table and put the smallest piece of egg in my mouth. It was completely plain with no seasoning, but I had never had a better egg in my life.

If I gain his trust and make him think that I was coming around he would give me more. I could maybe get strong enough to put up a fight. Maybe I could get him to take me outside and make a break for it. I didn't know where I was or how many people were here that I would have to make my way through. I didn't think he would ever get me back to full strength until he knew he could trust me.

What plans would he put in place with my growing trust though? Would I be putting others at risk by my assumed cooperation?

I took a deep breath and tried to cast my energy out as far as I could. I wanted to feel Adam. I wanted to feel his presence and draw him to me. My eyes shut tightly, and I bawled my hands into fists digging my nails into my palms. I wanted to feel something more than anything, but nothing came to me.

*Adam's POV*

We sat around the small dining room table dissecting everything Henry had said. He was somewhere in between the two tribes probably playing off each of our weaknesses. We could only search to a certain line and same for them. Even though they were cooperating with us it was only the bare minimum.

Something twisted in my stomach, and I felt a tugging. Without thinking I ran to the sliding door and shifted as soon as I was passed the threshold. When my paws hit the ground, I ran full sprint faintly hearing Noah and Josh's footfalls behind me. I felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and dragging me towards her. I tried to reach my energy back to her, but it was gone.

I slid to a stop and howled in frustration.

Where the hell was, she.

*Samantha's POV*

After my 31 weeks mark, I was allowed two visitors. The patrols never stopped, but a midwife and female doctor visited to check my progress every few days. Our little boy was kicking constantly, but my body rejected every ounce of nutrients I put inside of me. At first it was only if I ate full meals, but as the pregnancy progressed even the smell had me retching.

While the doctor only visited twice a week, Henry had hired the midwife to visit daily. She was another shifter, but I was too weak to be able to smell what she was. As a shifter our senses were heightened. We could smell and hear things that other humans couldn't. Depending on the animal different senses were heightened. Lions and bears gained strength and an odd volume. They would always be the loudest in the room whereas a fox shifter would be quiet and have a sense of what was going to happen. Wolves gain an extra sense of smell and hearing.

The weaker a wolf is the more human they become. The same results happen with shifting. The longer I went in between shifting the weaker my wolf would be. I was unsure if I would even be able to.

The midwife visited each day for an hour give or take. She didn't ask questions, but she talked to me about the outside world. I knew that she was concerned. She would look at me with such sad blue eyes every time she sat beside me bed.

The first few times she visited she would dress as a professional nurse might. She would wear plain deep colored scrubs. Her tiny body would almost be swallowed up by them. Her light blonde hair would be in two braids that fed into low buns at the base of her neck. The same outfit and hairstyle every day.

After a few weeks when she realized it would only be us two, she would gradually dress down. On my 33 weeks mark she wore black high rise boyfriend jeans with the knees ripped out and a plain blue bodysuit underneath with a high color. At my 36 weeks mark her blonde hair fell in loose waves almost to the middle of her back. She wore form fitting light wash skinny jeans and a bright pink loose t-shirt.

"Only 4 weeks left Sam." I nodded and rubbed my round stomach. I pulled myself up from the bed and she moved extra pillows from the floor to behind my back so I could sit up. Little man's foot pushed its way up against my skin near my belly button. I could see his tiny toes through the thin night gown that had become my uniform the last few weeks.

She sat in the chair beside the bed and propped her elbows onto the mattress to lean her chin into her hands. "On a scale of on to ten how terrified are you?"

I laughed and wrapped my arm around the bottom of my belly. "Solid eight and a half."

A deep voice came from the hallway and we both jumped. Janey stood up abruptly from the chair and turned around to face Henry leaning against the door frame.

"So, this is what I pay you for? To sit around and gab?" He wore a joking smirk, but we both saw the hardness behind his eyes. Janey moved to the opposite side of the bed and began pressing against my stomach to find the baby's head and bottom.

"Have you been having any pains?" She tapped my knees gently telling me to raise them and lay them to each side of the bed. Henry moved to stand beside the bed, but kept his arms crossed making no move to have any physical connection.

"Every few days I will have what feels like contractions. The Braxton hicks we spoke about, I think. They haven't gained in strength by much and don't have any sort of consistency."

Henry nodded in approval as Janey began to do her routine check then turned and left the room. I heard the downstairs door click and relaxed back into the bed. I expected Janey to sit back down and relax again to tell me about whatever craziness her little brother and mother had gotten into. Her father left her mother high and dry when she was only ten. In the shifter world someone leaving their mate voluntarily especially after children was almost unheard of.

She didn't return to her seat. Instead, she went in circles around the bed busying herself with technical questions about my progress that hadn't changed in the last 24 hours since she asked me the same questions.

At exactly one she packed her things and gave me a formal goodbye. I sighed and pulled the blankets up to my chin.

The next day Janey arrived in deep maroon scrubs and her hair in one simple braid. She made her way to my bedside and sat her bag in the chair.

"Henry?" I called his name as loud as I could muster and watched the fear flicker across Janey's face. Just as fast as it appeared she masked it behind a face of professionalism.

As soon as I was satisfied, I wouldn't get an answer I grabbed Janey's wrist and yanked her towards me. She didn't fight even though I brought her face within inches of mine.

"I will have a stillborn."

Her eyes widened and she tried to wiggle her hand out of mine, but I gripped it tighter digging my nails into her skin. "Your baby is healthy Sam. Don't be scared."

I shook my head and pulled her arm even closer. "Janey. My child will be stillborn. You will take his body to a pond a few miles away. You'll know it when you see it."