Psy & Changelings 10 - Kiss of Snow

thing, it was that immutable fact, which was why his sudden watchful distance had left her so at sea. “Sascha,” she said, noticing the wince on the empath’s face, “your back’s hurting you.”
    “It’ll be worse if I sit.” Waving off Sienna’s gesture toward the wicker outdoor furniture, Sascha continued to walk. “The thing is, Hawke needs to know you’re making a conscious choice to be with him, even understanding that it’s not going to be an easy road—though I have no doubt his patience will be shoved aside by his arrogance very soon and you’ll find yourself hunted.”
    The black panther jumped down from his branch to stand against Sascha’s side as she completed that dry statement. Smile curving her lips, the empath stroked her hand over that proud head. “There’s also—” A startled cry, liquid gushing down her legs.
    And Lucas was shifting in wild sparks of color. “Sascha, did your water just break?” Stunned leopard-green eyes.
    “I’ve been having small contractions since the middle of last night,” Sascha admitted, chest heaving. “I didn’t want to call Tamsyn too early.”
    Rising without another word, Lucas gathered his mate into his arms, carrying her with no evidence of strain. “Sienna.”
    “I’m on it.” Grateful she had the DarkRiver healer’s code on her cell phone, she stabbed at the touchpad of her phone, missed. Tried again.
    Tamsyn’s calm response settled her own frantic heart. “I want you to go in,” the healer said, “time her contractions, keep me updated. Can you do that?”
    Sienna nodded, then realized Tamsyn couldn’t see her. “Yes, yes, of course.” She was a cardinal X and a SnowDancer soldier. She could time contractions. Sascha was having her baby!
    “I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
    Heading inside, Sienna knocked on the bedroom door before entering. Lucas had pulled on a pair of sweatpants and sat behind Sascha on the bed, one hand tangled with hers, the other petting her abdomen with soothing strokes. “How long till Tammy arrives?”
    “Under ten minutes.”
    Sascha blinked. “So soon?”
    “You think I’m an idiot?” Lucas’s voice was a growl, his touch unbearably tender. “I knew you were having contractions, stubborn woman.”
    Sascha laughed, then winced. “Oh, here we go again.”
    Sienna started timing.
     
     
    SASCHA felt another contraction building as Tammy walked in through the door, a competent, unruffled presence. “I’m so glad to see you.” She’d been so sure she’d timed it right, except her own body had decided to reschedule things.
    “I was never far away,” the healer said with a smile as she checked the progress of the labor, her touch gentle and capable. “Sienna’s in the kitchen with Nate. She’s putting together food for the people she knows are going to start dropping by any minute—that girl is terrifyingly efficient.”
    “I thought,” Sascha said, clutching at the topic to keep her mind off the rippling waves of pain, “she was going to pass out when my water broke.”
    “No, that was me,” Lucas growled next to her ear. “Now, remember, don’t try any more shit—do it like we practiced. Funnel the pain through the mating bond and into me.”
    It went against everything in Sascha’s nature to cause him pain, but she knew he’d never forgive her if she didn’t allow him to help her through this. “You have a terrible bedside manner.”
    A nip on her ear. “This is my first time.”
    Her heart bloomed. “Me, too.” Gripping his hand as her abdomen rippled, she diverted the pain along the mating bond to the panther who held her so tight, so close.
    His body jerked before he hissed out a breath. “Jesus H. Christ. I have new respect for the female of the species suddenly.”
    Tamsyn snorted. “You ain’t seen nothing yet, buckaroo.” Glancing at Sascha, she added, “I think it’ll help if you walk around for a while. Nate will keep everyone from the back of the house if you want to go out there.”
    “Yes, okay.” The next several hours were the most scary—and most wonderful—of Sascha’s life. Exhausted, her hair sticking to the side of her face, she clung to Lucas’s hand and rode out the contractions as they got progressively longer and closer together, until she couldn’t stay on her feet. He took most of the pain, her panther, but her muscles ached, so many strands of jelly in her body. “Oh dear,” she said toward the end of the third