Promises

Ivan

"So, what do you want us to do?"

"I don't know yet. I want to find out more about him, but I need Nefra to be willing to talk about it. So give her a few days, and I'll have you guys watch the house. See what he's doing."

"Do you think he'd care that she left?" Terry moved out of my way when I got up to get a new soda from the fridge. "I mean, if he was fucking other women."

"He cares..." That was the part that angered me the most. "He... loves her."

It sickens me, but it's the truth. I heard it in his voice. They were sincere in how he spoke to her and when he'd said the words. The bastard was in love with Nefra and still took his mistress to his bedroom and fucked her. I should be grateful for that since it's why I got her out of there, but it still pisses me off.  

"You've got to be kidding." Danny smacks the wall, seeming frustrated with the whole thing.  

I open the new bottle and take a few sips. Now my stomach feels like I've got to throw up, but that might be from the conversation. Contemplating what else to say, I drop the bottle to the ground, letting it spill, when I hear Nefra screaming my name and asking for my help. Before anyone can move, I'm out the door and flying up the stairs. I see Greg trying to run in that direction, but I push him out of the way and storm into the bedroom, waking the baby, who starts screaming. I scan the room, but I don't find my mate. Then I hear the sound of running water and head to the bathroom.

"Greg, take the baby to Taylor! Now!" I ordered, breaking the door and finding Nefra curled up on the shower floor. "Goddess, baby, what's wrong?"

Her eyes are silver and gold when she looks up at me, and her face shows only pain. Without thinking, I rushed to pick her up. The water burns me, but I don't care. Nefra's in so much pain that she can only scream and cry, holding onto my damp shirt for dear life. As I carry her out of the bathroom, I hear a loud snap and look down to see Nefra clawing at her ribs. The bone was moving under her skin like something alive before settling back into place. Then another, and another.  

"Fuck!" I have no idea what's happening, but the sparks of our bond are mixed in with the sensation of Nefra's feelings. It felt like my ribs were breaking and resetting themselves, and I can only imagine how bad it was for her. "Danny!"

A new sound catches my attention, and I'm forced to lay Nefra on the bed to check her over. There's nothing on her front, so I carefully roll her onto her stomach, swearing loudly when I see what's happening. The stitches had ripped open and were bleeding like they were fresh. A strange smell comes from them, and some silver liquid oozing with the blood makes my eyes water and my throat burn. With every stitch, Nefra cries out, reacting the same way she would if a knife stabbed her.  

Danny comes running in, with Steven and Vince behind him, but I growl, and they back away. The last thing I want is for them to get in the way. Penelope still cried in the hallway, and Taylor tried to soothe her. I must've scared her when I came in, but it doesn't sound like she's hurt. Danny comes to the bed and quickly checks Nefra's back, watching as the last stitches tear open.

"Damn it." He growls, lifting Nefra's head so she can look at him. "She's a witch?"

"No, a sorceress." What did that have to do with anything? "Why does it matter?"

"Luna, did you cast any spells?" Danny ignores my question, focusing on Nefra. She nods weakly at him, and he swears again. "What did you do?"

"I... I didn't mean to..." Something new attacks and I feel the pain in my legs. She digs her fingers into the sheets, and they almost rip. "A healing spell."

"What's happening?" I demand again, wanting to pick Nefra back up, but Danny grabs my arm and pushes me away. "I'll shift and..."

"No, that won't help." His voice was deadly calm and had a different kind of authority. It's why Danny was the best field medic I've known. He always stays cool under fire. "Her spells are rebounding on her. Maybe it's the dragon's magic, but there's nothing we can do."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I grab him by the collar and lift him. To his credit, Danny doesn't flinch.

"She's healing, Alpha." He takes his shirt back, kneeling beside Nefra and checking her pulse. "Every injury she's ever had is being affected by magic."

"Stop it!"

"I told you I can't." He shakes his head, taking the edge of the sheet and cleaning up some blood from Nefra's back. "Fucking hell, this is silver."

"What about the dragon?" I looked at Steven, who was standing there helplessly. "He's got the power, doesn't he?"

"He's overseas!" He puts his hands to his head. "Taylor, you have his number. Call him!"

"It won't help, Alpha." Danny insists, looking at Vince, who is trying to stay calm. "I need washcloths with hot water and my med kit."

Nodding, Vince rushes out of the room, taking Steven with him. I stand there, helpless, as my mate suffers through all the pain she's ever felt. Why had she cast that spell? Had she been trying to fix what was left of her injuries? The marks were trying to heal, but Danny forced them to stay open.

"Alpha, I need your help." Danny looks at me, pointing to Nefra. "I need her to be as calm as possible. Help her keep her breathing steady."

"Okay." Sitting on the bed, I cradle Nefra's body so Danny can reach her back, but she's pressed against my chest. She'd stopped screaming, now only able to whimper. "It's okay, baby. Just copy my breathing, alright?"

She nods, and I do my best to stay calm. At first, Nefra can't steady her breathing, it comes out erratic and like she's hyperventilating, but soon she can mimic mine. Vince runs in carrying several towels and washcloths and handing them to Danny, who gets to work cleaning Nefra's back. She whimpers but stays as still as she can.  

"That's pure silver," Vince growls, helping Danny with the blood. "Look, it's trying to heal back in her skin."

"That's why we have to keep them open until we can get it all out," Danny instructs, taking another washcloth. "I'm almost done, Luna. These will heal properly now."

A different sensation grips my lower belly and then radiates to my back. Nefra's body stiffens, and she mewls. Then, trembling, she looks up at me, silently pleading with me to remember. The feeling happens a few times, and I realize what it is. Then, looking down at her stomach, my mind goes to the worst place, and I snarl, my wolf panicking as he imagines our mate bleeding out.

"Danny, she's going into labor!" He doesn't look surprised for a second, as if he expected it, but then I remember he wasn't in the parking lot. "She had a C-section."

"Shit." Throwing the rags to the ground, he grabs his bag and pulls out a syringe kit. "Hold her still."

He fills the syringe with a dark blue liquid before rubbing Nefra's arm with a swab. This might be difficult for humans to do under these conditions, but not for us. Our eyesight is sharper, and it's easy to find veins. A human needs a magnifier to find the same veins Danny can get to on the fly. It goes in effortlessly, and within a few seconds, he's done.

  "Nothing's happening." Nefra was still hurting, and the contractions were getting stronger.

"Give it a minute, Alpha." Danny pulled more things out of his bag, including bandages and tape.

"I see a unicorn." That's the first thing Nefra says when her body relaxes. She laughs softly, her head lulling against my shoulder. When I stare into her eyes, I see how glassy they've become. "There's pretty unicorns here. Do you see them?"

"Yeah, unicorns." Danny tried not to smile as he agreed. "Alpha, would you let her lie down?"

"Why am I naked?" She wraps her arms around my neck, not letting go when I try to set her down on the bed. "Where are you going?"

"I'm not going anywhere," I assure her, trying to pry her hands from my neck. "I just want you to lie back."

"Okay." She giggles, letting me go and falling back on the pillow. "Why am I naked?"

"You were in the shower."  

"Oh... I thought you ripped my clothes again." She nods, bursting into laughter before looking at Vince, who is staring at me. "He ripped my shirt and pants on Ricky's bed and licked me. I like it when he licks me, but don't tell him that."

"Okay." Vince agrees, not hiding the smirk despite his obvious concern. "You can tell me all about it later."

"Okay," She whispers back, rolling onto her side and taking my face. "You're so cute! Like a puppy. A sexy, fuckable puppy."

"Uh-huh," I put a finger on her mouth to shut her up. "How about we talk about that later?"

"No, now." She pushes my hand away with a pout. "Do you still want me? I'm trouble."

"Always."  

"You're so pretty." She mutters, touching my face again. "Why are werewolves so pretty?"

"Because the moon goddess blesses us." Vince teases, getting out of Danny's way. "She likes pretty."

"Oh, that's nice of her. You're pretty to look at." Her eyes go to my lips, and she sits up just enough to kiss me. "I like you."

"I'm glad, but lie back." She was so out of it, I don't think she'll remember this.

"Luna, you'll feel like you want to pass out. I don't want you to fight it. Don't worry. I won't let you leave us."

"Okay, I can do that." She grins, still nuzzling my face. "I smelled cooking meat."

"What?"  

"When I had Pen-Pen, I smelled like cooking meat." She laughed at her own words again. "I smell yummy. Do you think I'm yummy?"

"Baby? How about you try to relax." Even I can't help smiling at how out of it she is. Vince had to leave the room, and I heard him laugh when he was in the hall. It's crazy that we're laughing right now with how serious this is. "Everything's going to be fine."

"I wished for you." She mutters, caressing my face gently. "When Ricky tried to kill Pen-Pen in my belly. I made a wish, and you came for me. You didn't let us go back without you."

"Of course. You're my mate." I kiss her forehead but frown when I see lines appearing on her arms.  

"If I die, will you keep Pen-Pen?" She asks, splitting my attention, so I tap Danny, who sees what I do and grabs more bandages. "You won't send her back to him? You'll be her daddy?"

"Nefra, you aren't dying," I growl, hating the sound of those words. "Now lie back. I'm here with you."

"Ivan!" She says my name with a huff and doesn't notice that her wrists are bleeding or that she's getting blood on me. "You won't send her to a place for babies without parents? Oh no! She'll have to be like Oliver Twist! Oh, don't let her do that!"

"Nefra, Penelope is my daughter. You don't need to worry about that." I don't want to encourage her to move. But I want to reassure her of that. "Stop moving."

"Okay." She smiles weakly, the blood loss mixing with the painkillers. "You're her daddy now. She won't ever know about him. He'll never hurt her again."

"You're right. He won't." Danny had her arms bandaged, but the blood still tried to seep through them.  

"You have the same eyes." Her eyes start to flutter. "Did you know that?"

"Yeah, I noticed." My chest hurts. I don't feel her pain anymore, but the fact her wrists were cut meant she tried to kill herself at some point.  

"Promise she won't know him?"  

"Nefra..."

"Promise!" She demands, using her last strength to grab me.

"I promise."  

"Okay... good." She turns her head and whimpers, the sense of pain returning to my lower stomach. When I look at what Danny's doing, I see a thin line of cut flesh appearing. "Hell of a first day? Isn't it?"

"Yeah, a hell of a day." I watch her eyes roll back, and her body goes limp on the bed.

"Alpha, I need help holding this down." Danny still had that calm tone, and I envied him because I was not calm at all.