"Push!"
"Keep pushing, Olive!"
"You're doing great, keep going!"
"Just a little more now!"
"That's it! You did it, you really did it!"
I was breathing heavily as I wiped the sweat off my brow. My entire body sore from the exertion.
Amias beamed down at me, "She's beautiful Olive."
"Thank—" I jolted and quirked my eyebrow up at him, "She?"
He nodded.
"You are giving your bassinet a gender now?" I questioned from my spot on the floor.
Amias scoffed, "But of course!"
In a whirlwind decision that was so like Amias, he and Felix announced that they wanted to adopt a baby. Werewolf baby adoption was virtually unheard of as mates tended to be fiercely loyal to their pups. However, there were rare cases where a female wolf was rejected after conception to be left on her own and raise a child; this usually meant the mother was a rogue at that point.
After everything settled down Devin and Ana declined our offer to stay with us in Malice, they said it was too stinky for them. Cue the big eye roll. So instead, the pair have spent a lot of time exploring the land—partly for enjoyment and partly to find a new place to call their own I imagined.
On their travels, Devin stumbled upon a rogue wolf who was on her own and very pregnant. Her mate rejected and banished her, she'd been on her own for months now. So when Devin politely inquired about the baby and what her intentions were with it, she was almost too happy to allow Amias and Felix to adopt it.
The rogue temporarily moved to Malice for the remainder of her pregnancy—temporarily because she was obstinately determined to get back into her pack now that she wouldn't have a baby with her.
And any day now, Amias and Felix were expecting the arrival of their baby.
At first, the thought of Amias raising a kid absolutely terrified me—no one thought he was ready for such a challenge. But, he and Felix were an were undoubtedly an incredible team. They were complete opposites of each other and it completely worked, they balanced each other nicely.
He glanced around the room, "Thanks again Ollie, that was some good teamwork action we had back there."
I frowned, "Teamwork? I read the instructions, I put it together and then I pushed the damn thing all over the room because you kept changing where you wanted it to stay."
Amias popped his tongue loudly in a very Alyssa-Edwards-esque manner. "Agree to disagree." He slung an arm around my shoulders, "Regardless...Felix, baby and I are all eternally grateful for your physical labor."
I rolled my eyes and slipped out of his arm while pulling out my phone from my pocket to check the time. It was almost noon which meant I had to get back to Matteo.
Amias saw me checking the time and he patted me on the back, "Everything is going to be fine." He assured with a bright smile, "Now get going, I don't want to face the wrath of Matteo for making you late."
He was right. This was one thing I couldn't be late for. So after a quick hug, I slipped out of his house and made my way over to our place.
Normally today wouldn't have been anything special. It would probably be just like any other day at Malice. Matteo and I would be working, Fran would be out on patrol and Amias would be working in the infirmary.
But it wasn't a normal day.
Exactly a year ago today, Alpha Isabel issued a warning bounty on my head at noon on the dot. We all immediately laughed off the threat, it seemed ridiculous for a pack like her's to make such a bold threat like that. Even after it slipped from the minds of our pack, the threat hung in the air like a silent weight over me and today the anxiety returned at full force on my shoulders.
YOU ARE READING
Olive the Other Werewolves
Werewolf"Shift." His voice hit me like a serrated blade as he stepped out of the crude semicircle of hardened wolves that had formed around me. I pushed myself off of the cold floor for what felt like the thousandth time that day, wiping the small trail of...