A Grey Wolves Howliday (The Grey Wolves #14) by Quinn Loftis

“Are you laughing?” she asked, still working on catching her breath.

She felt him press his forehead to the back of her head, and his breath huffed out into her hair. “She’s not wrong. It would be a very wet and a wild ride.”

“BOOM!” Jen yelled. “I knew deep down, like way, way deep down in the depths of your bowels, where no one could ever see, you had a sense of humor. You can’t hate me anymore. You just agreed with me about your mate’s water park slide, while she’s in labor no less.”

Zara coughed and looked at Bethany. “This is the weirdest delivery I’ve ever experienced.”

“Been to a lot of deliveries?” Bethany asked. She felt the next contraction coming and could tell it was going to be big.

“Nope. And I bet no matter how many I do go to, this will always be the weirdest.”

“Okay,” Jacque said once again, making everyone go quiet. “Her head is right here. You need to push hard. Then you’ll have to push hard a second time to get her shoulders through.”

Bethany nodded, took several breaths, and then pushed as hard as she could. She heard Crina mutter something about a strong grip and felt Drake sending her waves of love through their bond.

“Her head is out,” Jacque declared.

Sally pulled her hands away from Bethany’s stomach and immediately leaned over and started doing something Bethany couldn’t see, but she knew the healer was helping her child somehow.

“Okay, time to push again,” Rachel said, her voice never wavering, something Bethany was profoundly grateful for.

The pressure suddenly evaporated at the same time Jacque cried, “She’s out. You did it.” A moment later, a loud cry filled the room.

Pounding feet followed the sound. Bethany couldn’t take her eyes off the little body that Sally and Jacque were holding and wiping down.

“Whoa! Our bad,” a male voice called out.

“You heard a baby cry, and you thought everything would be all nice and tidy in here?” Jen growled.

She could understand why the men had come running. New pups were rare. The cry of the baby was like a declaration: “I am here. I am alive. And I’m a member of this pack!” It was the best sound Bethany had ever heard.

A few minutes later, Jacque handed Bethany her daughter wrapped up in a white blanket covered with pink bows. Her little girl was tiny. Drake’s chest rumbled, and when Bethany looked up over her shoulder, she saw his eyes glowed with his wolf.

“Ours,” Drake’s wolf said, his beast making the man’s usually deep voice even deeper. “Our tiny female pup.”

Tears ran down Bethany’s face. She nodded and looked back at their daughter. “She’s perfect.”



Jacque looked around the room. Bethany was still lying on the bed of blankets and towels that had been laid on top of three feet of torn wrapping paper. She rested amidst a menagerie of empty boxes, shiny new toys, coffee cups, trays of cookies, and half eaten pieces of cake. It was chaos. But in the midst of that chaos, in the center of the room, sat a tiny miracle.

Rachel helped Sally get Bethany cleaned up while Crina, Zara, Peri, and Elle, who’d been completely silent through the whole thing, knelt close to the couple so they could see the baby.

As Jacque watched the looks of wonder and tears of joy, a peace she hadn’t felt in ages settled over her. She was sad Alina had not been here to experience the amazing moment as another Canis lupus child was born into the world, but the new alpha understood that sometimes there could be no new life without death. Without the sting of death, there would be no awe associated with the miracle of life. Jacque knew how precious it was to hold a new creation because previous creations had passed away.

“The precious birth brought to you in life is like the precious lives that come home to me in death.” The Great Luna’s voice filled Jacque’s mind. “This is not your home, Jacquelyn, alpha of the Romania pack, mate of Fane, mother of Slate. One day you, too, will be called back to me. And as you welcomed the little she-wolf into your arms, so shall I welcome you back into mine.

“For now, you and your mate are the guardians of the supernatural races. What you see before you, this life and others to come, both supernatural and human alike, are what you are protecting. Well done, my precious alpha on bringing the first new wolf-pup into the world and into your pack.”

Warmth spread over Jacque, starting at the very top of her head and creeping down her body until the very tips of her toes were covered. It was like being wrapped in a heating blanket infused with love. “Thank you, Great Luna. For everything, thank you.” Jacque’s words weren’t just for Bethany and Drake’s child. They were for it all, from the moment her mother met Dillon, making a way for Jacque to be brought into this amazing world, to the moment she, Jen, and Sally became inseparable, to meeting Fane, to becoming a member of the Romania pack, having Slate, experiencing all of the trials, joys, and love, and every moment in between, right up until this one. Jacque sat on the floor, tears streaming down her face, her heart so full that she was sure it would burst, thankful beyond words for her life.

“You are welcome, Jacquelyn, daughter of mine. Peace be with you today and always, for I am with you.”



A few hours later, Fane found himself sitting on the couch, his mate in his lap and his son sound asleep on a blanket on the now clean floor. Peri, Elle, and Adam had been kind enough to magic away all the mess of Christmas and the birth. Now, everyone was resting, worn out but happy, as they passed around the little bundle.