The Midwife's Moon Read Free Page A

to suck in enough air to support his run, he slowed to a walk.
    In an effort to try to save time, he cut across fields and through orchards as he got closer to the few towns on the reservation. There were no large towns between him and his destination, but he didn’t trust in luck. The moon was a large orb on the horizon before he found the place—and stopped dead in his tracks at the end of the long driveway.
    The truck usually parked outside the garage was not there. It hadn’t occurred to him that Nolan might not be home, although he realized too late it should have. He began slowly walking down the driveway anyway, not knowing where else to go. Each step agonizing as his calves screeched in protest. He heard a car turn onto the gravel driveway and turned around. The lights of the vehicle blinded him, and all he could do was squint.
    “Hey,” a voice called out.
    Nolan. Lance recognized the Ulfric as he stepped out of his still running truck. Lance fell to his knees. Nolan quickly covered the ground between them and helped him to his feet. He swallowed hard. Now that the time had arrived, he couldn’t find his voice to say the words which would put her out of his reach forever.
    Nolan put an arm under Lance’s shoulders and steered him to the passenger side of the truck, not saying anything more. Lance, grateful for the reprieve, let himself be helped up into the truck, never letting go of his cherished package. The driveway wasn’t long enough to give him time to say goodbye to his beloved who wouldn’t recognize him once she woke up.
    “You’re the Wahpawhat’s Ulfric,” Lance stated as the truck came to a stop.
    “And you’re a long way from home, Lupin,” Nolan replied.
    “I need help. I didn’t know where else to turn.” He stopped and swallowed hard. Where to begin? How did he explain all the sights and feelings flowing in him when he did not understand them?
    “If you walked from Lupin territory, then you need to come in. I’m going to carry the wolf upstairs. You aren’t known as one of the alphas of your pack, but I sense you could be. I’ll leave it to you whether I come back for you or not.”
    Lance nodded. There was both respect and threat in the other man’s words. Respect for him because of the length he had gone to in order to save the female wolf. A threat if Lance were to disappear before the Ulfric had satisfied himself with the answers and maybe his physical condition. Lance waited while Nolan came around the truck and opened the door.
    “It looks as if she’s been caught in a trap,” Nolan said as the truck’s dorm light hit her body. “She’s lost a lot of blood. She should have a doctor.”
    “There’s a doctor, a healer from our pack who works at the hospital in Toppenish, but—” he hesitated. How do you tell the alpha male of a warring pack what to do? Very carefully. “You can’t go there. You must not see her. I...” He hung his head down, fearing Nolan’s reaction. “I have visions. If you see her now, it will end badly.” Might end badly anyway, but it wasn’t time for them.
    “I’ll stabilize her here, and call for Kamiakin to help me.” Lance had no idea whom he meant. “He’s my new lieutenant. He can take her in.”
    Lance nodded, but wrath and jealousy threatened to consume him. If he didn’t believe her life depended on this man, he wouldn’t have brought her. Having brought her, he needed to trust whomever Nolan entrusted her with.
    “She’s—” he croaked, tears forming. The last time he had shed tears was years ago, and now for the second time in one night, he felt the wetness on his dark cheeks. “She’s important to me. You must save her from my pack, and never let Boris see her or smell her. He will know. I told him she was dying. That I would make sure of it.”
    “I take it Boris is not likely to forgive you for this.”
    Lance shook his head. The circumstances were so complicated they gave him a headache thinking about them.