Ellida (32 page)

Nature should have balanced out the loss with
a sort of werewolf baby boom, but somehow that hadn’t happened, at
least not here in Red Cliffs. Most young couples were struggling
with medically unrelated infertility and the miscarriage rate was
high.

THERE WERE no secrets in the close-knit
community of Red Cliffs. With their keen sense of smell, werewolves
could easily detect subtle hormonal changes in their women, long
before any physical changes occurred. Pregnant human women were
trickier to identify that way, but gossiping, Red Cliffers’
favorite pastime, was a nice compensation for that inconvenience.
Given their deep fondness of children, Red Cliffs celebrated those
three almost simultaneous pregnancies. It was the most welcomed
news, even more because Frances Colby was expecting her second
child.

To her dismay, Red Cliffs immediately had
attributed it to Astrid’s presence among them, which she vehemently
denied.

“They’ve gone overboard this time,” she said
to Ahmed, annoyed. “How could I be responsible for three women
getting pregnant? That’s nonsense.”

“Or coincidence. Or collective psychology in
action. They believed your presence would bring balance. So you
came, they relaxed and—voila! We see that among humans all the
time: with no reasonable explanation, a couple can’t conceive. They
give up, or decide to adopt, and the next thing you hear, they are
pregnant.”

“And now I’m the Red Cliffs’ Venus of
Willendorf, on top of everything else,” Astrid said, laughing. “Do
I look like a tribal fertility symbol?”

“Nah. Hips too narrow, bosom too small. Red
Cliffs certainly won’t carve stone figurines of your image.”

“Well, thanks a lot, that restored my peace
of mind. This is not collective psychology, Ahmed. This is
collective craziness. When I get pregnant, I’ll attribute it to
you, publicly, at least the psychological component. You and your
cardamom black tea help me to relax.”

Ahmed pecked her cheek. “Make sure Jack knows
you are talking about my spiritual contribution only.”

AS SPRING slipped into summer, the obstetric
files in Astrid’s computer started filling up. Sadly there were
several miscarriages, as well, but after two months, the women came
back pregnant again.

After that, even those last skeptics were
convinced that Astrid’s presence had restored the natural harmony
and balance in their lives.

“ALL THOSE pregnancies would’ve happened no
matter what. It’s just a coincidence, Peyton. All my efforts to
explain that to Red Cliffs fall on deaf ears,” Astrid said to her
friend.

They sat in Astrid’s office at the Clinic
waiting for Frances to get dressed and join them. Four-year old
Graeme was kneeling in front of a chair, absorbed in an elaborate
drawing of construction machinery.

If Astrid had expected Peyton’s sympathy, she
was about to be disappointed.

“Do you really need to fight it so hard?”
Peyton said in a snappy voice, unusual for her. “You always seem to
find a reason to deny a part of yourself. You fought your wolf,
your wizard and now your Ellida, at least on some level. Why can’t
you just accept the fact that, as a force of good, you have your
part in the sudden increase in our fertility rate? You know you
do.”

She smiled. In part, Peyton was right.

“And when did you become my moral compass in
addition to being my on-call conscience?” Astrid said, laughing.
“Bad things will continue to happen, Peyton. I can’t eliminate
them. If I’m responsible for this, people will assume I can prevent
bad things from happening. I can’t.”

Peyton frowned. “Oh, come on Astrid, give us
more credit! Nobody thinks you’re a deity. But you
are
our
spiritual leader and you possess powers and energy we don’t. And
you are destined to use it for our benefit. It’s similar to being a
doctor. You help people, in both ways.”

“This time I’m not fighting
against
,
Peyton. I’m fighting
for
. For reason and logic. See, Miss
Spock’s still alive and kicking, and she needs rational
explanations. Tribal parapsychology doesn’t satisfy her.”

“Who’s Miss Spock?”

“My wolf’s best friend.”

“I thought I was your best friend.”

“You are. To both of them.” Astrid winked and
stood up to open the door to let Frances Colby in.

“Everything seems fine, Fran,” Astrid said
with a smile, sensing the young woman’s tension. “Please, have a
seat. I assume I can talk in front of Peyton?”

Frances had actually asked Peyton, her
life-long friend, to accompany her to the Clinic. Her husband was
on a business trip and she and Graeme were alone. The Colbys had
just moved into their new house outside the town, and Peyton had
been helping Frances with unpacking and settling.

“You are in week fourteen now. The baby’s
developing normally.” Astrid turned the monitor to Frances, and
pointed with a pen to different parts of the sonogram, “Here. Left
arm, left leg… Spine, head… Graeme, sit on my lap so that you can
see, too. See, that little dot here? This is baby’s heart. Look at
the baby’s face. See the eyes? Here is the nose, then the mouth,
and the chin…” Astrid turned back to Frances. “Everything’s
perfect. You are carrying a healthy baby.”

The expectant mother let out a deep sigh of
relief, her eyes misty with tears. To give her a few moments to
collect herself, Astrid turned to Graeme. “Did you bring your
broken truck?”

Graeme reached inside the pocket of his
overalls and took out his yellow dump truck with a broken axle.

“I think I have my special glue here,” Astrid
said and fished a tube of ordinary paper glue out from her desk
drawer. She dabbed it on the damaged shaft and spread it with her
fingers, letting her energy forge the broken halves.

She gave the truck back to the boy. “All
done! Let the glue dry out.”

A smile on Graeme’s round face mingled with a
fascinated expression.

“What do you say, Graeme?” his mother
reminded him.

“Thank you, Astrid!”

“Thank you,
Dr. Mohegan
,” Frances
corrected him.

She ruffled the boy’s hair. “Astrid’s okay,
we’ve already agreed to that, haven’t we, Graeme?”

“Your mom wants to talk to Astrid,” Peyton
said to Graeme. “So, how about a nice chocolate fudge sundae at
Lulu’s while we’re waiting for her?”

“With rainbow sprinkles?”

“Sure.”

Astrid walked them to the door. “Are you
joining us tomorrow for a spa party? Maggie’s here. Jack and James
are out of town and Eamon’s going fishing with the Blues
Brothers.”

Peyton gave her an apologetic look. “I’ll be
out of town, too.”

“Another business trip?”

“Uh-huh. I love my job,” she said with a
smile.

“Have fun, then. We’ll miss you.”

“Likewise. Sort of.” Peyton said, laughing,
and took Graeme’s hand. “Let’s go, young man. You and I have
serious ice cream business to deal with.”

AS SOON as the door closed, Frances turned
to Astrid. “Dr. Mohegan, as you know I have a history of
miscarriages within the last three years. I’m terrified that
something could go wrong with this pregnancy.”

“There are no guarantees, of course, but I
don’t see any reason for concern. Those miscarriages you had always
happened before the tenth week, right? Every pregnancy is
different. I thoroughly examined you. There’s nothing pointing to a
physiological problem. Miscarriages do happen, even multiple, more
often than we believe they do. You are now in the second trimester
and everything looks fine. Relax a bit. Do you want to know the sex
of the baby?”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

“Let’s leave it for next time, then. If you
have any question or concerns, come here, or phone me. Anytime. You
have all my phone numbers. There are other doctors here, if you
can’t reach me for whatever reason. Doctor Demmir has lots of
experience with werewolf pregnancy, far more than I.”

In fact, Astrid considered herself a resident
obstetrician under Ahmed’s supervision. She discussed every detail
of each of her pregnant patients with him. “If you want to talk to
Dr. Demmir, I’d be happy to book you an appointment. Dr. Demmir has
had a long career, and many medical specialties, including
gynecology.”

Frances shook her head. “No, no, Dr. Mohegan.
I’ll stay with you. Dr. Demmir’s awesome, we all know that, but I’m
more comfortable with you. And you are the Ellida.”

Oh, not again, Astrid moaned silently but
managed a smile. “Thank you for your vote of confidence. I’ll see
you in a month.”

“Thank you, Dr. Mohegan.”

ONCE ALONE, Astrid phoned Ahmed to come. A
few minutes later, his smiling face peeked in. “What’s up, Dr.
Duplant?”

“Come in and check Frances Colby’s sonogram.
I want to be sure I didn’t miss anything.

Ahmed stood beside her chair and carefully
studied image by image. “It’s a boy, huh?”

“It’s a boy.”

Without moving his eyes from the screen,
Ahmed added, “Are you done for today? Your husband’s here.”

Astrid’s heart made a happy somersault. Jack
had come back a day early!

“My husband?” she said smiling. “Oh God, not
you too. It seems I got married, only I don’t recollect the
occasion. What’s wrong with all of you?”

“Your wedding will be just another reason for
a big celebration. For these people here, you can’t be more married
than you are … The baby’s perfect, Astrid. Relax. You’re doing
fine. Ellida or not, you’re a doctor first, and an excellent one
for that matter. Keep that in mind.”

The door opened and Jack stepped in. He took
in the sight of Astrid and Ahmed still hunched over the computer
screen.

“Back up, Ahmed, nice and slow, and no one
gets hurt,” he said, laughing.

“Good to see you, too, Jack,” Ahmed said.
“When did you return?”

Astrid threw herself on Jack. “Oh, my God, I
didn’t expect you before tomorrow! Jack, I’m so happy you are back.
Although I won’t let you spoil my spa party,” she blathered,
showering his face with kisses. “You and Uncle are going fishing
tomorrow. Uncle’s also back, isn’t he?”

She stopped and pointed to a black cloth
zipper bag he’d draped over the chair. “Hey, what’s that?”

Jack scratched his head. “Ahem, my police
uniform. It’s been sitting there in the cupboard. Not likely that
I’m going to use it. James never wore his, not even once. This is a
formal position, you know, comes in the package. Mike Kowalski, my
deputy, is de facto sheriff. Not that he has a lot to do, either.”
He sighed. “Anyway, it has to be cleaned, it’s a bit dusty.”

And then his face flushed and his ears turned
pink.

She threw back her head and laughed. Mighty
Jack Canagan, the Red Cliffs Alpha, the most fearsome werewolf
warrior, was blushing! And she loved him for that even more.

A crooked smile hovered on Ahmed’s lips as he
moved his eyes from Astrid to Jack and back.

“I’m done for today, but before I see myself
out, I’ll just remind you, Astrid, that sex at the work place is
not permitted.”

She kept her gaze on Jack. “Unless you are an
Ellida. We can do whatever pleases us, remember?”

Jack laughed. “I think I’m leaving, too.
Wait, Ahmed, I need a word with you.” He turned to Astrid, lowered
his head and kissed her neck.

“And you, you’re going to pay for this when
you come home, you naughty little witch,” he whispered and then
stepped away, assessing her throat. His smiling, golden eyes
narrowed, “Nice hickey, baby. Be sure to cover it before you see
your next patient.”

“ARE YOU coming with us tomorrow? The ladies
have a spa date so we’re evicted,” Jack said as he and Ahmed walked
across the hall toward the exit.

“Sure. When?”

“Six o’clock. I’ll pick you up. And take
Monday off, if possible. I need you and Astrid to come with me.
It’s time for her to meet her step-brother.”

DARIUS WAS in his ‘forever’ early thirties,
but looked a good ten years older.

He was as tall as Jack, lean and athletic,
yet rough where Jack was polished, sharp where Jack was smooth and
raw where Jack was sophisticated. He had the slightly puffed eyes
of a chronically sleep-deprived person and deep lines around his
mouth. This added to his harsh masculinity as much as it made him
look worn out and bitter. Thick, bushy black hair that didn’t seem
to have had a recent encounter with a comb, sharp blue eyes, a
strong jaw and two-day growth of stubble completed the impression
of a mid-aged cynic.

Under that dark, rumpled and powerful
exterior, I sensed the brewing energy of a man who wanted to be
happy. His warm, wide smile revealed a set of straight white teeth,
confirming my initial evaluation. In that smile a saw a glimpse of
the real man behind the pain, anger and unhappiness. Boyish and
dimpled, it instantly whipped off that extra decade from his face,
softening his severe features and lightening up the sharp blue eyes
with an unexpected sparkle.

All his roughness and grumpiness aside, or
maybe thanks to them, Darius Withali was an eye-catching man.

The above described smile had been for Jack
and Ahmed, though. I still had to earn mine.

Head slightly crooked, his emotions hard to
read, Darius moved his slanted blue eyes over me, assessing me head
to toe. He was searching for Rowena in me; I knew that. I also knew
he was disappointed. Physically I didn’t resemble my mother much.
Nevertheless, his voice was nothing but pleasant and respectful
when he finally addressed me, bowing his head slightly.

“Ellida, it’s my honor,” he said in a low,
naturally sensual rumble.

“I’m glad to meet you, Darius. Please, call
me Astrid.”