My Destiny Mate by ARIE78 (Completed)

Chapter 6 Forth

A sunbeam landed on my face and tickled my nose and I instinctively stretched an arm over to Beam' side of the bed. When my hand landed on the empty pillow, I rose alarmed at once and called out for him. He was probably just in the bathroom. He got up to pee a lot these days. No response. I got up and rushed to the front room, calling his name over and over. Was I overreacting? Something bitter and solid had lodged itself in my throat and I was getting increasingly restless. It had become second nature for me to worry over his wellbeing and every time he wasn't before my eyes, I tried to finish whatever I was doing faster, so I could get back to him and make sure he was alright.My eyes landed on the empty bowl of berries I'd secretly set out for him the night before. So, he'd eaten them, which meant he was up and about, but where had he gone? If he was close by outside, he'd have responded by now. I noticed the note I'd scribbled on a piece of yellowing paper and saw he'd written something underneath my words. Thanks for breakfast and for last night. Gone to fetch some wood. Not fair that you get to do eve rything around here. Be back soon. Love, Beam.

I stormed out of the house immediately. What the hell was he thinking going into the woods alone? Not to mention he knew perfectly well it wasn't okay for him to lift anything heavy and that had become even more crucial the closer he came to when the baby was due. I sniffed around and was just considering turning into my wolf, so I'd have a better chance of tracking the direction he'd gone in, when I heard his wails coming from down the hill where the small creek ran.

"Forth! Forth, hurry!"

I ran over to him as fast as I could and found him bent over a tree stump, holding his belly with one hand, his face contorted in pain.

"Beam? Honey? What happened? Are you okay?" I said breathlessly, taking him into my arms.

"I think it's coming. The baby. It's time, Forth, It's hurt a lot" he panted. "Oh God, what are we going to do? I didn't think it would be that early." He whimpered at another wave of painful contractions.

"Hey, honey. Listen to me, just breathe, okay? I have it all figured out. You didn't think I'd just leave it to fate, did you? I've got a plan. You just hang in there, okay?"

I carefully picked him up and realized that despite his advanced pregnancy, he weighed nothing in my arms. It was probably the fact that I was so high on adrenaline all of a sudden, I couldn't feel a thing. Then I started running, careful not to jump and shake him too much. I could only imagine how he felt. Sometimes I'd felt completely powerless when he'd been in pain during the pregnancy and the only thing left for me to do was express sympathy and be there for him. Now, however, I could finally really help. It was up to me to get him to town and I was not going to fail him.

"Where are you taking me, Forth? We can't do this alone. You don't know how to deliver a baby and I-"

"Shh, calm down and just breathe. I know a place we can go to. I found it on one of my trips to town. It's a shifter clinic and we're lucky that such a small town has one. They'll take good care of you, don't worry." It seemed to me that the trip to Pulau Mutiara took twice less time than usual, but it was probably my completely warped sense of time or the urgency that made my feet run faster than ever before. Soon we found ourselves in front of an unmarked building and thanks to the early hour there weren't many people passing by on the small street. An elderly woman responded to my loud bangs and as soon as she saw the squirming with pain Beam in my arms, she ushered us inside.

"How long ago did the contractions start?" she asked, while she led us into a brightly lit waiting room, lavishly decorated with plants.

"I don't know for sure," I replied instead of the panting Beam, who I deposited carefully in a comfortable looking armchair. "Probably about half an hour ago. I tried to get him here as soon as possible."