Cynthia’s eyes watered as she saw the head begin to emerge and she was shaking as she maneuvered her hands into position to help ease the infant out on the final push.

“Okay, Jennifer, you can do this. One more, big, hard, long push for me.”

Jen nodded and then turned to look at Decebel. Her eyes locked onto his and a tear slid from them.

“You can do it baby,” he told her through the barrier. “I’m here, I’m not leaving.”

Jen nodded and then took a deep breath and pushed. She pushed with all of her strength, calling on her wolf’s help to give her the endurance she needed. She felt the pain as her child was born and tears streamed down her face as she looked at Cynthia who held the messy little life. She had turned her over and had her nearly hanging upside down attempting to clean out her nose and mouth and then the most glorious sound filled the cave.

Jen heard her daughter’s cry and felt the tears gush from her eyes. She was alive; she was breathing. She turned again to look at Decebel and saw that he was on his knees; his eyes were wide in utter awe of what he saw. Jen tried to look down at Cynthia and her baby girl again but her vision was blurry. She tried to raise her arms to ask to hold her child but they wouldn’t respond to her command. The light was fading and she felt herself drifting. She was so tired and cold, so very cold.

Cynthia let out a deep breath once the baby began to cry. She was cleaning her up as quickly as she could and once she had laid her on a clean blanket she grabbed the surgical scissors from the kit and cut the umbilical cord and then clamped it off with the clamp provided. She wrapped her up tight in the blanket and then went to hand her to Jen, but froze when she saw that Jen wasn’t moving and her eyes were closed.

“Shit!” Cynthia breathed. She looked over at Decebel who was on his knees and barely holding back his panic and then looked at the baby again. The baby was breathing, alive, and vibrant. Decebel was alive and on the verge of freaking out. She pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the here and now. She set Cosmina, she remembered them saying that was what they wanted to call her, down gently on more blankets and then turned to check on Jen. She was breathing, but it was labored and shallow. Her pulse was weak and slow from lack of blood to circulate through her body. She had lost too much and Cynthia had no way to give her a transfusion. She felt warmth at her back and saw a soft glow begin to fill the cave with light. She stopped her exam to turn and see what it was. The transfusion was no longer an issue, because she was also out of time.

Decebel felt as though his lungs were on fire. He couldn’t get enough air as he watched his mate and his child. Jen had passed out, or at least he hoped that was all, but he didn’t know for sure. He just knew there was so much blood, too much blood. He watched as Cynthia placed their baby next to her and then began to check on Jen, but before she could do more than check her pulse, there was a soft glow emitting from behind her and then three entities, the Fates, were standingbehind her.

Decebel’s heart began to pound as he realized that it was time. They were here to collect him as the sacrifice for Jen’s death. He wished he could hold his mate and child once before he went, but then he had gotten to see Cosmina be born and had gotten to see his amazing mate give birth to their little miracle. He didn’t want to die, but he could now with a small amount of peace.

His ears perked up as he heard them begin to speak―to Cynthia, not to him.

“The child is born, the debt is now due. You have proven yourself honorable and through your silence deemed yourself worthy. We accept your sacrifice in place of the child.” The forms moved forward and seemed to reach out and touch Cynthia. She turned slightly and her eyes met his; she gave him a small bow of her head. Decebel watched in utter astonishment as Cynthia’s body seemed to deflate and was slowly lowered to the ground. Her chest was not moving. There wasn’t the slightest movement. Cynthia’s life was over, and she had given it willingly.

The Fates turned and looked at him, at least he felt like they were looking at him. And then they spoke to him.

“The magic that lives here has been given what it requires, a sacrifice. It is null and void of its power.”

Decebel nearly fell on his face as the barrier disappeared and the Fates along with it. He didn’t hesitate as he stood up and ran to his mate. He picked up Cosmina in his arms and held her close to his body and then knelt down next to Jen. She was barely breathing and she was pale, so very pale.

“Jennifer, baby, please stay with me, stay with us. We need you,” Decebel whispered as he leaned close to her, careful not to crush his daughter. He heard voices and running footsteps and looked up when the commotion grew louder. Vasile, Adam, Cypher, and the others came rushing in. They took in the scene before them and then jumped into action.

“Decebel,” Vasile said as he moved quickly to his side.

“She needs a healer now, Vasile.”

Vasile looked up at Adam. “Please get Rachel.”

Adam didn’t wait for any other instruction but immediately flashed. He was back in less than two minutes with a very frazzled looking Rachel.

She rushed to Jen’s side and laid her hands on her She pushed her spirit into Jen and began to seek out the damage her body had sustained. She saw the tear in the uterus and pushed her power there and mended the tissue. She took care of the destruction the birthing had wrought on Jen’s body and the aftermath of labor. She was careful to check for any other problems, but the only thing left was the blood loss. Rachel moved her spirit to Jen’s heart and pulsed power deep into it. She helped her body’s blood cells multiply rapidly, replacing the blood loss and sending it to her starving organs. As her heartbeat gained strength and her breathing evened out, Rachel pulled back from Jen and then pulled her hands away. She opened her eyes and stared at her waiting.