Chapter Thirteen ~ The Lycan's and the baby

Marik's point of view

I trailed kisses down her neck while thrusting my hips, slamming my cock into her as hard as I could. It hadn't taken long for her to relax and beg me for more, and now we were at full speed. Her nails dug into my back, and as my balls slapped against her ass cheeks again, she moaned out and dragged her nails down my back. I hissed as the pain hit me, but began to purr when it was replaced by an immense pleasure. I thrust my hips a few more times sending her over the edge. Her moan echoed through the hut, and if it didn't wake a few villagers, I'd be surprised.

She laid there panting while I slowly pumped into her, before exploding into my own climax. I collapsed onto the bed beside her and panted along with her. She let out a little sigh as her fingers slid down my arm, finding their way to my own fingers. Entwining our digits, we lay there in silent bliss. I pulled her into my embrace, and she rested her head on my chest. While running my fingers through her, she snuggled into me. The night couldn't be more perfect. I had the woman of my dreams curled up in my arms, and an exciting future ahead of us.

Liviana's point of view.

It had been five years since Marik and I had gotten married. He took over as chief and we thought that our lives would be perfect, but that was far from reality. I barely got to see him, and when I did, he was exhausted from hunting and fighting Lycan's. We couldn't explain it, but the Lycan's were coming thick and fast. Every time Marik managed to kill a Lycan, two more attacked our village. He tried to train the warriors to fight against the Lycan's but they didn't have the strength to kill them. The best they could do, was distract or wound the beasts, but Marik had to kill them.

Some nights he came back in a terrible state, and if it wasn't for his fast healing, our village would have been wiped out months ago. We couldn't understand where they were all coming from, and even the ones that Marik had chained up in the cave weren't talking. I didn't know how much longer he could carry on like that. If it was a few years back, I would have suggested moving the villagers to somewhere new. But these days, there was nowhere for us to go. The entire southeast of the country was overrun with Lycan's, and we were one of the last villages left.

I was cooking a delicious stew, I needed to make sure that Marik kept his strength up. Nothing but the best cuts of meat and the best vegetables that the village had to offer. I felt so helpless these days, all I could do was look after the hut and take care of my man when he came home. I wanted nothing more than to be out on the hunt with him, but since the escalation of Lycan activity, Marik refused to let me go. We had been trying for a child for five years, and we hadn't been successful yet, but he'd had some witches cast a spell, in the hope that it would help us conceive. My parents and the tribe weren't aware. If they knew we were using witches, they would kick us out of the tribe for sure.

They were scared of anything that was new, and it took long enough for them to accept Marik and his ability to shift into a wolf. I think they only accepted it because he was the only one strong enough to kill the Lycan's, and without him, we would all be dead. I was sure that if we didn't have the threat of Lycan's, then they wouldn't have accepted him as chief at all. I hated that it all rested on his shoulders, and regardless of him handling it well, I could tell that it was wearing on him. The only way I could help him was to take care of him when he came home. But then when he left again, I had to busy myself, because all that went through my mind, was that he wasn't coming back.

That was the stage I was at tonight. He'd been gone almost all day, the longest hunt yet. I'd cleaned the hut and prepared a delicious meal. Hell, I'd even delivered a baby this morning. I'd become the resident child birther in the village, and anyone in labour called for me along side the doctor. It seemed as if the spell that was cast nearly three years ago had worked on the other women villagers, but not me. Because all the other villages around were being wiped out, we were taking in any people that had managed to escape. We were now the largest tribe in the country. As most of the other tribes had lost their men in Lycan hunts, we were inundated with women and children, all needing a place to call home.

We welcomed them with open arms, and my mother was the one in charge of helping them settle in. She loved caring for people, so the role suited her well. The men in our village were more than happy with the influx of new females. We had always had more boys born into our tribe, baby girls were a rare sight, so having all these new women around, lifted the spirits of the warriors and the tribe in general. It was hard delivering babies, I watched a few women pass when they couldn't deliver, and even lost a few babies along the way. It was heartbreaking, but I had no choice but to continue to help them.

Most of the babies that had lost their mothers, were then given to other mothers who had either just given birth, or were still breastfeeding. It put their bodies under extra stress, but they were happy to help out in any way they could. They accepted the babies into their households as if they were their own. This morning was horrendous. The mother was only a young woman, she was heavily pregnant when she arrived here a few weeks ago. The poor thing had travelled alone and on foot for over a month to get to us. It was touch and go for a while, she was so malnourished, and I didn't think she'd make it. But all of a sudden a few days ago she perked up and began improving.

If only she'd had another week or two to recover, I'm sure she would have pulled through. But she went into labour in the early hours of the morning, and by the time I arrived, she had already delivered a stillborn little boy. He was so tiny and perfect, he just looked like he was sleeping. The mother was devastated, and cried her heart out. I couldn't help but break down with her. I held her hand and mopped her brow while the doctor tried her best to stem the woman's bleeding, but it was impossible. The young woman gradually became weaker, but before she slipped away, she contracted again. The doctor screamed at me to get some clean bedding and when I returned, she was holding a tiny baby girl in her arms.

The baby was covered in blood and screaming like a banshee. I stopped in my tracks and stared at the whaling little bundle. The doctor and I couldn't help but cry happy tears. We'd lost the mother and the child's brother, but the tiny girl was a fighter. The doctor handed me the baby, and asked if I had any other mothers that she could go to. I didn't, all the mothers I had, already had an orphaned child and their own to look after, and the other pregnant women weren't due for another month or so. Panic set in, and I didn't know what we could do for the baby girl.

The doctor took her from me and cleaned her up, before wrapping her in a clean blanket. When she handed her back to me, I couldn't help but fall in love with the beautiful baby. She had a mop of dark blonde hair, and was sleeping soundly. The doctor suggested that I ask each of my breastfeeding moms to squeeze out some milk for us, all of it added together should be enough to keep her going until we moved her on to cows milk and solids. It was a plan, and I was willing to try anything to keep the precious girl alive. I took her home with me, and my mother went to fetch us some baby things.

She returned with a basket for her to sleep in, clothes and blankets. We were all set, I just didn't know what to tell Marik when he returned home. I know that he wanted children of his own, but I didn't know how he'd feel about raising another man's child. It wasn't anything that I had thought of happening, so we'd never discussed it. Not that we could discuss much these days. I left the stew bubbling away, and went to check on the baby. She was in her basket sound asleep, and I couldn't help but smile as I ran my finger over her cheek. Her skin was so soft, and when her lips curled to the side, my heart melted.

Marik's point of view

I saw that Marcel and Max got home safe, then hobbled back towards my hut. Today had been the craziest yet. We had to fight two Lycan's at once, and we barely left with our lives. I was beaten pretty badly, and was thankful for my fast healing. I knew most of the warriors would have to rest for the next few days out at least, so hoped to God that the Lycan's gave us a break for a few days. All I wanted now, was some food and a hot soak in the tub. Usually, Liviana would hear me coming and rush to the doorway, but today she didn't. I furrowed my brow and stepped into the doorway. I hunched over slightly while placing my hand on the doorframe, my ribs were killing me. When I looked up, I saw the most glorious sight ever. My beautiful wife with a baby in her arms.

She turned to stare at me with wide eyes, like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't be. I guess that she was worried about my reaction. I know we'd been trying everything to have a child of our own, but I had never thought about offering a home to one of the many orphans we had now. Although I still wanted children of my own blood, seeing Liviana with that beautiful baby in her arms and a beaming smile on her face, I couldn't deny her the opportunity to be that babies mother. I stepped into the hut, and she immediately went to put the baby back into the basket.

"No, don't lay him down on my account."

She smiled at me while sitting back onto the bed. She patted the bed beside her, and I hobbled over towards them. Once seated I pulled the blanket back off of the baby and took a look. It had the most beautiful bright blue eyes and the cutest little face. Livi handed me the baby to hold, and although I had held a few of the babies in the tribe, this felt different. It felt like it was mine and Livi's. I couldn't describe it, but I had a love for him already.

"He's so perfect. Is he ours?"

"I agree, and yes she is ours. If you want her, that is."

I looked up into her eyes with surprise.

"It's a girl?" She nodded with a sweet smile on her face. It was rare for a little girl to be born, we hadn't had one in over a year and a half. "Of course I do. How could anyone not love that little face?"

I used my other arm to pull Livi closer. She wrapped her arm around me and used her other hand to stroke the newborns face. As her finger skimmed over the tiny baby's cheek, it let out a faint purr. Livi snatched her hand away from the child and we both just sat there staring at each other in shock while the baby fell asleep in my arms.