The Jaguar’s Arranged Mate

Chapter 14

Beric hadn’t wanted to fight with Miera, but he felt so angry and confused. He didn’t know what to do to handle his people or his marriage, and he knew he was making things worse, but he didn’t know how to make things better.

When she’d mentioned divorce, he’d been floored. She hated being with him that much that she wanted to cut ties with him completely? Or maybe she just didn’t know how else to tell him that she didn’t want him to raise her child, that she wanted the baby’s father in the picture despite what she had said before. Maybe she regretted marrying him, thought him a failure of an alpha, and wanted to distance herself and her people from him and the Teal Warriors.

His life had hit a low point when she walked away from him. He had tried to call after her, begging her to wait, to listen, but he still didn’t know the words to say to make everything better. And maybe there weren’t any words to be said. Maybe he needed to show her, but damn it all if he knew how to do that.

Well, he would just have to find a way. Words, action, whatever.

So he followed after her and watched in horror as she collapsed. Her pants grew wet, and he cradled her to his chest. “Miera, what’s going on?” It didn’t look like blood, so it couldn’t be that bad, right?

She groaned, clutching her stomach. Her face was so white it scared him. “I…”

“What is it?” He hugged her closer to him.

She jerked away, and he winced. Her hands were on her stomach, on her belly.

On the baby.

Oh, God, the baby wasn’t coming now, was it?

“Do you need a doctor?” he asked, trying his hardest to keep his voice level and calm. Inwardly, he was such a nervous ball of panic. More than anything, he felt terrified. He didn’t want to lose her. Not on the battlefield. Not during childbirth. It didn’t matter that the child wasn’t his. The child was hers. And she was his. They were married.

How the hell could he have ignored her after their marriage? Being busy and overwhelmed was no excuse. He should have turned to her, leaned on her, let her help him. He sure as hell needed her. He couldn’t do any of this without her. That much was obvious.

He carefully picked her up and walked out of the mess hall. It wasn’t easy. All he wanted to do was look at her, to try and ease her pain, but there was nothing he really could do. She needed a doctor’s help.

So he carried her to Helen’s house. While he appreciated that the Teal Warrior had opened her doors to the Blood Roses, it struck him how awful it was that they weren’t set up in the hospital. Yes, it had actually been a blessing in disguise when the Brutal Claws had terrorized the hospital, but still. There was enough space, and they could pool their supplies together. They could work together. They could stop worrying about whether they were a Teal Warrior or a Blood Rose and just be a were-jaguar and help each other, plain and simple.

Still, he hadn’t hesitated. He immediately brought her to her people. Of course he trusted his men, but he wanted Miera to feel comfortable, and if she was able to talk—all she seemed capable of at the moment was moaning and groaning—he knew she would have asked him to bring her here.

Her best friend, Lisa, opened the door, took one look at Miera, and started to dictate orders.

He followed her into a room that she immediately had everyone inside clear out. “I didn’t realize you were a nurse,” he said.

“I’m not.” She helped him place Miera onto the bed. “Get out.”

“No.”

“You’re in the way.”

“You aren’t a doctor. I know that much.” He stared down at her then turned to address his wife. “I’m not leaving unless you want me to.”

Beric held his breath. Miera wanted a divorce. Of course she would want him to leave.

“S-stay,” she whispered.

A bustle of people came in, doctors, nurses, and more people he didn’t know. He wiped Miera’s sweaty forehead with a damp cloth and held her hand. She squeezed it tightly every few minutes.

The voices all blurred together, their words unrecognizable, but eventually he realized that he had been right. The baby was coming. And the baby was early. Far too early. The chances of survival, that he didn’t hear, and he hoped to hell that none of them actually voiced that. His ears were ringing, and he felt a little lightheaded himself.

He leaned over close to Miera’s ear, trying to block everyone else out and focus only on her. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. I don’t care about the fence. You’re right. Sam can handle it. I do need to learn to delegate. There’s a lot I need to learn. Because we’ll have time. We’ll have time to learn things together. We’ll get through this.”

Did this just mean the childbirth? Or raising the child? Because that would also mean getting through the war, which was so one-sided at this point that Beric seriously doubted he would see many more sunrises.

And now Miera was trying to bring into the world a baby who might not even live to see one sunrise, let alone multiple ones.

His breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t be weak. Miera needed him. He had to be strong, for her. For them.

“You don’t need to worry about anything,” he promised her.

Miera was shaking her head from side to side. She was sweating.

“Is she running a fever?” he murmured to a nurse.

“She’s fine. Childbirth is very trying on the body and…” The nurse glanced from Miera to him.

He stepped just slightly away from Miera, turning his back to her, but still holding her hand.