The Other Brother

Loki paced the hallways of the hospital. His head spun with the need to go to Ash, to chase down the enemy and keep everyone safe, as the surge of power passed from his twin.

The hours had passed since he brought his new Mate into the clinic. It was no surprise that she had passed out; the events of the past few days and weeks were enough to put anyone on their ass. The adrenaline crash alone… and a witch pregnant with a wolf cub, the cub of her dead Mate, just hours after finding her second Mate.

After all was said and done, Ash was only 16 years old, a child in many people’s eyes. She was in a precarious situation; a wolf pregnancy could be complicated for a non-wolf. Wolf cubs took a lot from their mother, and the healing powers of a wolf combined with their strength were often the only things that got women through. Part of Loki wanted to throttle his twin, and part wanted to cry because he didn’t have the option to. Micah would have been delighted. Micah would have known what to do.

In the human world, girls with a dangerous pregnancy would have options… but in this world, in Loki and Ash’s worlds… the options weren’t the same. In many people’s eyes, Ash was carrying the pack’s future alpha; for others, she was carrying the future princess. An abortion was not on the cards for Ash, but would she be happy to have this child? Would she even be able?

“I think we should keep her here… where I can monitor her. We don’t know how the pregnancy will affect her. She is so young, and her body may not stand up to the demands of a wolf cub,” Dr Jenkins told the gathered crowd. His usual unruffled air was a little dented today as he looked at the new alpha, completely lacking in family, standing with his beta, Xavier.

Mrs Black and Xavier were taking in what he was saying, at least, as Loki seemed consumed by what was happening in the hospital room. His nurses were trying to treat the Luna while the fae that Dr Jenkins knew in his gut not to trust attempted to corral the hellhound who had claimed Ashlyn as his own.

“How could he have been so stupid? That boy! I would wring his neck if I could!” Mrs Black ranted to no one in particular; they all knew she would do no such thing, even if possible. “I will gather her some clothes and toiletries and have them brought down,” she said, turning and walking from the hospital.

“Judgments of Micah are unlikely to be helpful in this situation; we are where we are, and we must deal with what the Goddess has seen fit to give us.” The doctor continued, turning to look into the room behind him, “However, it may be helpful for someone to contact the palace; they may have information that can help us help…”

While the concern was palpable in all the gathered men, Blaze, holding a very unhappy hellhound on a lead, the doctor’s words were cut off by a collective “No!”

It was Xavier who continued the sentence, “No, not unless it becomes necessary, I am not sure that Ash would want us to reach out to her family just now. They often pressure her to leave the pack and take up a more traditional role. With Micah dead and her bond with Loki not yet formalised, they would have a stronger position to argue from.”

“And who are we to say that she should not be given that option?” The doctor suggested. The only response was a fierce-sounding growl from Loki. “That woman is my Mate… she is my Luna… your Luna… she belongs here! The goddess gave her to me for a reason!”

Loki had been sleeping on a not very comfortable hospital chair for the past 3 weeks. Ash had barely spoken since Doc confirmed her pregnancy. The only thing she seemed set on was that she didn’t want Loki to leave her. She wouldn’t speak to him when he was there, but the first time he had left to get a shower and deal with some issues, Ash had woken up alone and screamed so loud that she was heard in the pack house. It was physically painful for the wolves, and in the end, the doctor had to sedate her.

It was a dull, foggy, grey morning, early, and the sun was barely visible through the haze. The chill in the air was cold enough to chill you to the bone. Loki woke with a start. Ash was sitting bolt upright in her bed, screaming at the top of her voice once more. Tears were running down her face. Her face contorted, and her eyes were wide, her hands clutching her stomach. Before Loki could even process the scene before him, machines were beeping and bleating, footsteps were approaching at a run, and their owners’ voices were shouting to each other.

Loki had just made it to Ash’s side when the overhead lights flared into action with a light buzz. The room had seemed full of the unspoken words between the two of them; the addition of 4 more people did not help in Loki’s half-asleep state, especially when Jessie ran straight up to Ash’s other side and placed a hand on her face. “What is it? What is it, darlin’? Come on, tell me where it hurts… I can’t help till you tell me.” He coaxed, and Ash stopped screaming, but the only one who made a noise was Loki, who growled loudly at Jessie.

Jessie had moved away from Ash after silencing the screaming machines. Loki had his hands on Ash’s shoulders, climbing onto the bed at her side. “Everything will be fine, just tell me what the problem is, I will fix it for you” his voice was tender, his eyes soft. The boy had fallen.

It seems like it’s been seconds since I saw my Mate, my Micah. I can still smell him. But the pyre, the empty cells, Loki, the baby. How can I smell him? And yet I can.

The monologue ran round and round in Ash’s head as the medical staff bustled around her. She knew something bad was happening, something terrible, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to ask the question.

“It’s ok, Luna, everything will work itself out, but we need to do an ultrasound, ok?” Someone said, Jessie, she thought. The blankets had already been pulled off her body, needles inserted into her arms. The smell of blood was strong in the air. “She’s still bleeding Doc” said a female voice “nothing else yet”.

Ash zoned out once more. Her head turned away from the screen, her gaze meeting Loki’s. Everything had gone; she had nothing in the world left for herself, except for the connection with Loki. She could feel it deep in her stomach. Like a rope uncurling from the deep pits of despair. Thick and strong. It reached far past her and out into the universe, connecting her to Loki and, by extension, the pack at large.

Blaze and the hellhound struggled against the raging wolf. Loki saw only his Mate in pain and distress, not her need for medical attention that he couldn’t provide.

Finally accepting the fact that he was not helping anyone in the room, Loki paced in the hallway outside the room, snarling at every sound and movement. No one could calm the wolf inside him.

“She will be ok Loki… they have her… they will do their best for her and just look what she has already survived” Blaze told Loki “Come, sit, meditate, pray, send her positive energy… You being stressed will still affect her; do what you can to calm down”

Loki’s reply was to press himself against the window, looking into the room as if he could transport himself through the wall by sheer willpower.

“I am afraid that the Luna is losing the baby, Alpha. There is no longer a heartbeat, and she is bleeding profusely. I am doing everything I can to stop the bleeding, but none of the medications I have appear to be working.” The doctor told Loki, Xavier, Mrs Black and Blaze, once more his attempts at a calm and in control facade were frayed at the edges. “Perhaps we now need to reach out…”

Loki growled viciously. Clinging desperately to the feeling in the back of his head that is Ash. The presence that would only grow with their bond and which told him without a doubt that she was still alive and well in the shell of a girl in that hospital bed.

All the gathered heads turned to Loki, waiting for him to elaborate, to give his plan, to give them a direction. But it seemed that growling was the entirety of his contribution. He was back at the window, staring at the Mate that he longed to hold.

Loki drifted back into the hospital room, regardless of the nurses’ concerns and the conversation going on in the corridor that he really ought to be a part of. It looked as though he wasn’t even consciously moving his body.

Something inside him had changed. Suddenly, he could feel Ash’s pain, and the need to go to her was getting stronger by the second. She was calling out to him even though she had yet to utter a word to him.

Their eyes met as he arrived at her side. Ash’s eyes were no longer the calm, sea blue that Loki was used to; rather, they were hard, furious, and angry, flickering between the kind of dark purple that signalled nothing but trouble and a deep, almost luminous green.

“Why is this happening to me? What did I do wrong?” Ash finally spoke. Echoing the questions from all around her hospital room. And despite the words sounding like those of a confused child, her voice told a different story. Her eyes were still fixed on Loki, even though he would have no real answers for her.

“I am sorry, Luna, we do not know why you have lost the baby… but you did nothing wrong” It was the doctor speaking, Ash’s head turning to him so fast that he could feel the pain it would have caused most people. The doctor found himself instinctively recoiling from Ash, her eyes hard, black and staring.

Mrs Black gasped, and Mark crossed himself. “Ira… the Luna is not herself right now”, Mrs Black whispered to the men gathered at the foot of Ash’s bed.

“Ira? What is this?” Blaze asked, possibly louder than he should have. Ash responded with a growl, a growl so vicious and wolf-like that the whole room turned to look at Loki, taking a step back from the bed in unison. Ash tilted her head to the side as she watched them, confusion on her face despite the hard black eyes.

Mrs Black herded the fae and the medical staff from the hospital room. “The Luna… I haven’t seen this in so long…. I didn’t even know it could happen to someone without a wolf…”

The assembled crowd began to speak at once, all asking the same question with different words and not waiting for an answer. Blaze silenced them all as effectively as Loki could with a vicious hiss.

“Speak, woman, tell what you know,” Blaze told Mrs Black firmly, his voice and accent suddenly taking on an unnamable, supernatural, dangerous edge.