~~~
Tristan heard their daughter’s first cry and was about to kiss his mate when Melanie’s hand went slack.
Both the man and beast yelled, “No. No, no, no.”
He glanced to the monitor and saw a weak heart rate moments before it went flat.
He squeezed Melanie’s hand. “Love, wake up.” He looked to Dr. Sid. “Help her.”
Sid and the nurses were already in action. Sid came to his side of the bed and pushed him away. “Leave the room, Tristan.”
His inner dragon growled. “I won’t leave her.”
Sid gave him a commanding glare. “I don’t have time for your alpha protective bullshit. Get out or let Melanie die. Take your choice.”
His dragon was clawing to get free, but Tristan pushed him back knowing full well that if his beast took control, Melanie would die.
Through sheer force of will he released his mate’s hand and moved out of the way. He let a nurse guide him out of the room, never taking his eyes off his mate until they were out in the hall.
He stopped and clenched his fists. He wanted to do something to help her, but in this, he was useless. Especially as his dragon was threatening to come out and kill everyone in the delivery room. His beast snarled and said, They killed our mate. We must avenge her.
Shut it, he yelled at his dragon. They are trying to save her.
His dragon gave a grunt and went back to pacing.
The nurse touched his arm and he glanced over. “Do you want to see your children now?”
With his dragon pacing and growling inside his head, seeing his children would help to keep his human-half in control. Not only that, it would help distract his human-half as well. He had every confidence in Sid’s abilities. Between the skill of the doctor and his mate’s stubbornness, he was confident Melanie would come back to him.
She had to.
He nodded at the nurse and followed her down the hallway into the newborn room. Since dragon-shifter numbers were low, there weren’t any other children in the room.
As he approached the two little carts that held them, he could scent his son and daughter and his dragon relaxed a fraction. We must protect our young. We won’t let anyone harm them.
Tristan didn’t argue and reached a hand out to caress the cheek of his son and then his daughter. And for the first time in memory, he felt tears prick his eyes. He whispered to his children, “Don’t worry. Your mum will be a bit late, but she’ll be here. She loves you and would never abandon you.”
As the feel of his children’s skin helped to calm him, he only hoped he wasn’t lying.
~~~
Melanie heard a voice so faint she couldn’t make out whether it was male or female, let alone what they were saying. There was so much noise. Beeping and yelling. Metal crashing and more yelling.
But she didn’t hear the cries of her children.
Her children. Where were they?
Then she felt a jolt go through her body followed by a split-second burning, which caused her to gasp in a mouthful of air. She opened her eyes and saw four dragon-shifters standing around her.
As her muddled mind tried to figure out what was going on, one of the dragonwomen—the doctor, she remembered—said, “Melanie. Thank fuck. Can you hear me?”
It took a colossal amount of energy for her to whisper, “Sid?”
“Yes, it’s me. You’re going to be okay.”
“Tristan?”
“He’ll be back soon. You know how protective male dragon-shifters are, so I kicked him out. He’s with your children.”
Her children. She wanted her children. “Where are my babies?”
Sid said, “We’ll bring them in shortly. I think you’re out of the danger zone, but I want to monitor you for the next ten minutes just to make sure and also deliver the afterbirth. It’s safe for you to fall asleep, so close your eyes and I’ll wake you when Tristan comes back with your twins.”
She whispered, “Tristan,” before eyes slid closed. After nearly a day and a half in labor, she couldn’t help but fall asleep.
A short time later, she woke to someone shaking her. “Melanie, wake up. Tristan’s here.”
At the sound of her mate’s name, Melanie forced her eyes open. Her brain was still bleary with exhaustion, but her power nap had helped with her concentration.
The doctor moved out of the way and she saw Tristan holding two little bundles.
The picture of her tall, muscled dragonman holding two tiny, ridiculously pastel bundles in green and yellow made her smile. “Hi,” she whispered.
Tristan rushed to her side and maneuvered himself into the chair at her bedside. He leaned over and kissed her before he said, “Hi, yourself.”
“You’re being nice to me. It’s weird.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry, it won’t last long. Now, how would you like to meet your children, Melanie Hall-MacLeod?”