Understudy [ABO] [MxF] [18+]

T W E N T Y - F I V E

Ally woke up to a sharp pain in her abdomen.

She had been having a pleasant dream, that much she could remember. How could she not, after the night before? She had bonded with Elias, her mate. She had gone to sleep feeling the happiest she had felt in forever. Wrapped in his arms, head nestled onto his chest, she could vaguely recall wondering how things could get any better.

The sharp pain stabbed her again and she gasped, curling in on herself to cradle her stomach. Instinctively, she knew. Something was very wrong.

"Allegra?" She heard Elias murmur as he stirred from sleep, and felt his worry. "What's wrong?"

She trembled as the pain subsided a little, but the fear only increased. She could feel a wetness between her legs and tentatively reached down to touch it. When she brought her fingers in front of her face, she could smell the metallic scent of blood.

"The baby," she said, voice quavering. "Elias, something is wrong with the--- ugh---" The sharp stabbing sensation hit her again and she gasped, wrapping her arms around herself again.

Elias had reached for his phone before she had even finished her sentence, and she could vaguely hear him talking. "... and make sure Dr Warren is ready for us when we get there. I don't care that it's the middle of the night, this is my mate we're talking about. He will be there." As he spoke, she felt him leave the bed and begin rushing around the room. She looked up and saw he was throwing things into a bag, their most important things, as he wrapped up his call.

"Elias..." She heard herself call out to him, needing him beside her, protecting her. The moment he heard her voice, he dropped the bag and rushed to her, and scooped her into his arms to cradle her.

"I'm here, my love," he murmured as she wrapped her arms around him, and breathed in his scent deeply. It didn't ease the pain, but it soothed her nerves enough that she wasn't shaking anymore. "Let's get you to the car. There is a hospital not too far away, they're expecting us."

Despite his scent calming her fear, she could smell it tainting his own and simply nodded. He shuffled to the edge of the bed and stood up with her in his arms, only pausing to bend down and grab their bag of essentials on the way out to the car. She hardly noticed as he put her in the passenger seat and strapped her in until he went to move away, and she couldn't stop herself from whimpering at the loss of his presence.

"I need to, love," he said, voice strained, as he stripped off his shirt and laid it over her like a blanket. His scent was thick on it, and although it lacked the warmth of his body, it helped. He closed her door and rushed around to the driver seat, barely sparing a moment to throw their bag into the backseat.

"Elias, what if---"

"Don't," he said, not unkindly. She could hear the effort he put into controlling his voice to mask his own worries. "Don't think about it. The doctor will know what to do, she is the best I know when it comes to pregnancy. You have nothing to fear."

Allegra closed her eyes as he began driving and hoped he was right.