Sassy Embrace (Sassy Ever After #11)

14. Claude

FOURTEEN

CLAUDE

C laude drove out on a bleak gray day up to Aria’s mansion. He dreaded it the entire time, like the wedge of some big stone was caught in his throat. The reaction to Embraced had not been ideal.

In the moment, he felt that Leigh had done the right thing, taking over for him. It truly wasn’t his thing being in any kind of limelight. Though he hated the idea of disappointing Aria, and Leigh, at the same time.

Thoughts of Leigh and the way that she recoiled from him haunted his every movement. Logically, she hadn’t been wrong about her proposal to call off their relationship.

A vampire and a wolf working together in a vampire and a wolf club? Despite both being in a supernatural world, they were both immensely different. Leigh was ambitious and bright; he was cold and settled best in the darkness.

But the way she’d looked at him was a knife to his chest. He had never felt that way about any other woman in his life. Dalliances ended, but that was life. He had lived long enough to know that. But the idea of never seeing Leigh again gave him a gnawing feeling, a nagging misery.

The pain was awful. And the only salve, it seemed, was Leigh herself. That was an odd remedy to consider.

The vampire squeezed the wheel as he edged the road just before entering the gated driveway. It hung there in the gloom.

But when Claude got to the door, the housekeepers gave him a confused scowl.

“Aria isn't here, sir,” one of them said. “She went to the Central Pack this morning to visit Emma."

Claude glowered, puzzled. He had no idea why Aria, the vampire leader, would travel somewhere so late in her pregnancy. Though Aria was her own woman—she wouldn’t ever let someone advise her against something she was dead set on doing—Claude also knew she wasn’t stupid. The child, after all, was going to be half-vampire, half-wolf, and there were bound to be some complications.

It struck him as strange, as even a little telling.

“When did she leave?”

The woman peered up at the grandfather clock that rested on the landing between floors.

“I would say less than an hour ago, sir."

Vampires had as much intuition as wolves despite the lack of general knowledge about it. It wasn’t exactly supernatural, per se, but garnered over a long life of studying and observation. He could walk in the sun and he didn’t require rest, but not needing to eat outside the synthetic blood truly freed up a lot of time. Claude found most human’s and supernatural's behavior to be outrageously predictable. One just had to be willing to look hard and long enough.

The intuition then felt more scientific rather than mystical. He felt it, crawling along his shoulders and settling along his spine.

Claude was reaching for his phone in his pocket when it began to buzz. It was Aria.

He held a finger up to the housekeeper and pressed the phone to his ear. Aria instantly sounded like she was in distress.

“Claude?” she said breathlessly. “Where are you right now? Is Trevan there?"

He grimaced, then turned to leave out the front door. He trailed through the gravel driveway, the sky above a curious chrome gleam.

“I was coming to see you, but the housekeeper said you were going up to the Central Pack. Trevan isn't here. Are you okay?"

“Fuck,” she grunted, then winced. “I can’t get into contact with him. He’s not answering his phone. Claude, I think I’m going into labor."

She chewed on the last word, then let out a shrieking sound that Claude had never been privy to. His cousin was in pain, and he needed to get to her as soon as he could.

“Aria, where are you? I’ll come to you. Don’t worry about Trevan right now.”

“I pulled over just before Central Pack Territory. On the inroad. I couldn’t go any further."

“I’m on my way right now. I will get you to the hospital. Just hold on, Aria."

“I’ll be here," she said with a hysterical little giggle. “Look for the pregnant vampire squirming on the side of the road.”

“Will do."

Claude hung up and slammed his foot onto the gas. All thoughts of Embraced and its negative reaction scattered like spilled marbles in his brain as he blasted toward Central Pack territory. Even thoughts of Leigh dissipated, but only slightly. She remained there lingering like a gentle piece of silk stroking his mind.

He rushed as safely as he could to get to Aria, who was indeed right outside the Central Pack territory. She was sitting with the front door of the car open, doubled over.

It was not a sight Claude was used to seeing from his cousin. She was never one to hide her emotions, but an expression of debilitating pain was as rare as finding a tropical bird flying through Blue Creek.

When she saw him, relief washed over her glassy eyes.

“Claude,” she grunted, smiling forcefully. “Thank God, thank God.”

Claude helped her into the back seat of his car, then revved the engine, soaring his way to the hospital in Central Pack territory. He nearly carried her all the way through to the private hospital room that he called ahead about.

“Did you call Trevan?” she asked, her voice lilting with desperation.

Nurses guided Aria to her bed, but she resisted, waiting for an answer from Claude. Claude stood there, dumbfounded, then yanked his phone from his pocket.

“I’m sure everything is fine, Aria. Focus on yourself, on your baby. I will get a hold of Trevan.”

She sank into the bed as the nurses began to prep her for labor. The glassy look of exhaustion returned. Claude felt an invisible hand squeeze his heart.

He approached her, placed a hand on her leg, and lowered his voice to be reassuring.

“Everything will be okay, Aria. I promise. Trevan will be here.”

All Aria could do was nod and bite down on her bottom lip. Claude left the room to the sounds of his cousin's agonized groans.

He hated seeing her in that state. It was a part of what fueled his anger as he continuously called Trevan, moving from the hallway and back to support his cousin. He still thought of Leigh, wishing she was there with her warm, comforting presence.

Aria was starting to go into labor when Trevan finally answered the call. He sounded tired and irked.

“What is it?” he growled over the phone.

Claude barked back without hesitation.

“Trevan, your wife is in labor. Get over here. She’s at the hospital in Central Pack territory."

There was no time to ask questions. Trevan hung up the phone, and Claude returned to his cousin with the good news. She had placed her feet into the stirrups and was wearing a hospital gown. The birthing process had just begun.

“Aria, Trevan is on his way,” he said into her ear. “Do you want me to stay?"

“Yes!” she hissed. “Stay with me until that idiot gets here. Please.”

Her voice was sharp and angry. The nurses had given her an epidural, but it did not take. That was unfortunately often the case with wolf children, particularly, wolf and vampire children.

She held his hand and breathed hard as she began to push. Her face went scarlet as the nurses marveled at her abilities.

Claude thought she just might break the bones in his hand before the kid emerged.

“I’m here! I’m here!”

Trevan arrived a good twenty minutes after Claude had made the phone call. The vampire gave him a sullen look, then handed over the reins of Aria’s clawed, tight grip.

“Good of you to make it,” Claude said, snarling.

Trevan ignored him and went to his wife. She was in the middle of hollering when Claude left the room, giving the couple the privacy they needed.

Claude entered the hallway and got himself a coffee, feeling a sharp decline in the adrenaline that had pushed him while aiding Aria. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Leigh floated into his mind again. It calmed him like an injection straight into his veins. He held the coffee cup on his knee and slowly drifted away into some distant future…

A future with Leigh. Holding him in her arms. Making love in the early hours of morning. Hanging out in bed, naked, laughing all day. The space in his chest flourished like a bed of roses.

Claude forced his eyes open. He was back in reality, in the cold hallways of the hospital. Nurses and doctors walked up and down nonchalantly. Heart rate monitors beeped incessantly. He took a long gulp of his coffee and decided to move around. The adrenaline had evolved into a fantasy that he couldn't afford to enjoy too much.

He turned the corner to the cafeteria with one hand in his pocket. He began to pick up an enchanting scent, a field of wildflowers and fresh morning dew.

Leigh was there.