The seasons changed outside the window of Zoe's apartment.
The leaves turned orange and then brown. The air grew crisp and cold. The first snow of winter dusted the city streets.
Inside the apartment my world was growing in a different way.
I stood in front of the full length mirror in the hallway. I lifted my oversized grey hoodie.
Seven months.
My stomach had popped almost overnight. It was a tight and round curve that protruded defiantly from my small frame. I traced the stretch marks that were starting to form on my hips. They were silver lines of lightning.
"You are getting huge," Zoe said as she walked by with a basket of laundry. She paused and smiled. "And I mean that in the most beautiful way possible."
I dropped the hem of my hoodie quickly. "I look like a whale. A whale that cannot tie her own shoes."
Zoe laughed. She set the basket down and came over to me. She placed a hand on my belly.
"You look like a mother," she said softly. "How is the little bean doing today?"
As if on cue a sharp kick landed against Zoe's palm.
"Whoa," Zoe gasped. She pulled her hand back. "That was not a kick. That was a karate chop. Are you sure you are not carrying a ninja in there?"
I rubbed the spot where the baby had struck. "She is strong. Sometimes I think she is trying to claw her way out early."
The baby was more than strong. She was relentless. Her movements were not the gentle flutters the pregnancy books described. They were powerful surges. Sometimes I worried she would bruise my ribs from the inside. It was a constant reminder of her bloodline. She had the blood of an Alpha Prime running through her veins.
"We need to go," Liam called from the living room. "Dr. Patel is squeezing us in before his lunch break."
I grabbed my coat. "I am coming."
Liam had been a savior. He knew that I could not go to a regular hospital. Without a social security number or insurance I would be flagged in the system. And if they ran a blood test they would see the genetic markers of a wolf. That would trigger an alert to the local packs.
So Liam had found Dr. Patel.
Dr. Patel ran a clinic in the basement of a laundromat three towns over. He lost his medical license years ago for treating supernatural creatures off the books. He was expensive but he was discreet.
We took the subway. I kept my head down and my hood up. Paranoia was my constant companion these days. Every time I saw a black luxury car my heart stopped. Every time I saw a man with broad shoulders and dark hair I held my breath.
Damon was everywhere.
He was on the magazine covers at the newsstand. Alpha of the Year.
He was on the news screens in the subway station. Blackwood Tech Stocks Soar.
He looked happy in the photos. He looked powerful. He looked like a man who had everything he wanted.
I placed a protective hand over my stomach. He had everything except this.
We arrived at the laundromat. The air smelled of detergent and steam. We walked past the rows of washing machines to the back door marked Employees Only.
Liam knocked three times.
The door opened. Dr. Patel stood there. He was a short man with thinning hair and kind eyes.
"Ah," he said. "The mystery patient. Come in."
The exam room was small but clean. It had an old ultrasound machine in the corner that looked like it belonged in a museum.
I climbed onto the paper covered table. Liam stood by my head holding my hand.
"How are we feeling?" Dr. Patel asked as he squeezed cold gel onto my stomach.
"Tired," I admitted. "Hungry. And she moves a lot. It hurts sometimes."
Dr. Patel nodded. He pressed the wand against my skin.
The screen flickered to life. It was grainy and black and white. But there she was.
The sound of the heartbeat filled the room.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
It was fast. It was strong. It sounded like a galloping horse.
Dr. Patel frowned. He adjusted the dials on the machine. He pressed the wand harder.
"Is something wrong?" panic spiked in my chest. "Is she okay?"
"She is fine," Dr. Patel said slowly. "Her heart rate is excellent. Her size is perfect."
He paused. He looked at me over the rim of his glasses.
"But I have delivered many babies Aria. Human babies. Wolf babies. Even a few fae."
My breath hitched. I had never told him what I was. I had just said I was running from a bad situation.
"What are you saying?" Liam asked. His voice was protective.
"I am saying," Dr. Patel said quietly. "That this baby has an energy signature I have never seen before. The machine is picking up interference. Look."
He pointed to the screen. The edges of the image were distorting. Static lines waved across the black background.
"She is affecting the electronics," Dr. Patel whispered. "She is very powerful Aria. Who is the father?"
I froze. The room felt suddenly cold.
"He is nobody," I lied. "Just a guy I met at a party."
Dr. Patel did not look convinced. He wiped the gel off my stomach and handed me a towel.
"Be careful," he warned. "A child with this much power will not be easy to hide. When she is born her scent will be strong. If there are packs nearby they will smell a new Alpha."
My blood ran cold.
I had not thought of that. I had been so focused on hiding myself I forgot that wolf babies had a scent.
"Is there anything we can do?" Liam asked.
"Sage," Dr. Patel said. "Burn sage. It masks the scent. And keep her away from other shifters until she learns to control it."
We left the clinic in silence.
The ride home was tense. I stared out the subway window at the dark tunnels.
"Do not worry," Liam said softly. "We will buy all the sage in the city. We will make the apartment smell like a hippie commune."
I tried to smile but it did not reach my eyes.
The fear was a cold knot in my stomach.
I was carrying a beacon. As soon as she was born she would be a lighthouse calling out to every wolf in the city.
We got back to the apartment just as the sun was setting. Zoe was working the late shift at the diner so the place was empty.
I sat on the couch and picked up the knitting needles I had bought from a thrift store. I was making a blanket. It was clumsy work but it kept my hands busy.
I clicked the needles together.
Click. Click. Click.
Suddenly a pain ripped through my lower back. It was sharp and hot. I gasped and dropped the needles.
"Aria?" Liam asked from the kitchen. "You okay?"
"Just a cramp," I gritted out.
I tried to stand up to stretch it out.
Another pain hit me. This one wrapped around my stomach like a vice. It squeezed the air from my lungs.
I doubled over and clutched the back of the couch.
"Liam," I gasped.
He was there in a second. He looked at my face. He looked at the puddle of water forming on the floor beneath my feet.
My water had broken.
"It is too early," I whispered. Panic clawed at my throat. "I am only seven months. She is not ready."
Liam looked at his watch. He went into nurse mode.
"She is ready," he said calmly. "Wolf pregnancies are shorter than human ones. I read about it. Seven months is full term for a high level wolf."
Another contraction hit me. I screamed. It felt like my body was being torn apart.
"We have to go back to the clinic," I cried.
"No time," Liam said. He scooped me up in his arms. He carried me toward the bedroom. "The contractions are two minutes apart. You are having this baby right now."
"Here?" I sobbed. "I cannot do it here. I need drugs. I need a doctor."
Liam laid me down on the bed. He grabbed clean towels from the closet.
"You have me," he said firmly. "And you are strong. You are the strongest person I know."
I gripped the sheets. The pain was blinding. It was a ring of fire that consumed my entire world.
"Zoe," I gasped. "Call Zoe."
"I texted her," Liam said. "She is running home."
I screamed again as my body convulsed.
In the distance through the haze of pain I heard a sound.
It was a howl.
It was far away. It came from the direction of the city park. But it was distinct. A wolf was howling at the moon.
And then another joined in. And another.
They were answering a call.
"Liam," I whispered terrified. "They hear us. They know."
"Focus on me," Liam commanded. He held my hand. "Look at me Aria. Push."
I pushed.
I pushed for my life. I pushed for my daughter. I pushed against the world that had rejected me.
I did not know it then but Dr. Patel was right.
The baby coming into the world was not just a child. She was a storm.
And the first thing she would do was break the silence I had fought so hard to keep.
