Chapter 18: Crystalhill Here We Come

The next few days at the gathering was a blur. I trained hard to master my air abilities and Damon helped train Royce in using his void abilities. My stomach grew so big by the time the last day came that I felt like this baby was about to rip through my skin at any moment. As we were getting ready to take our day-long trek home, I started to think about how far we all have come since being at this gathering for the last seven days.

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"Hey Alfie, so we almost have everything read to go. I don't want to have this baby before we even leave the house."

"Yes, I just need to grab the thing you can a 'backpack' and I will be ready." I was standing outside the door to the house with Doc and Royce waiting for Alfie to finally be ready to leave. I think being able to see the city he grew up in and remembering some of the good times he had made him want to stay despite all of the terrible situations his father had put him in growing up. "Okay we are good to go. The sun is still below the walls so we should make it home before it is completely dark out." He said as he closed the door slowly and wrapped his left arm around my waist.

We started walking through the city and we could see everybody grabbing their belongings and getting ready for their journeys are well. As we were nearing the large gate opening at the edge of the city, we could see many of our villagers waiting for us. Upon further inspection, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of males and females waiting with our villagers as well. If even half of these people were actually coming to our village, we would more than triple our population. It appeared as if many villages and towns were being completely drained of their citizens and they were all moving to our nearly nonexistent village a day's walk from here. When they all saw us coming, they started hooting and howling; if there were people that still hadn't woken up yet, they definitely were now.

This trek would be much more difficult and much slower with the increase in followers, but we will try to make it work as best we can. I could feel my baby in my belly move around and start to drop and I could tell it wouldn't be much longer before this little bundle would be here. I just need to make it home before I go into labor; it is much too dangerous to have this baby in the middle of the forest.

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The start of the travel back to the village proved to be just as difficult as I had imagined. Leading this many people to a village they had never heard of and making sure everybody was okay to make it there was a challenge. After a few hours we finally made it about a fifth of the way home. I started feeling contractions and figured it was just because my body wasn't prepared to make such a long trip with such a large belly. Alfie had me hop onto his back so he could carry me the rest of the way or until I felt good enough to walk some more. I always heard that exercise and walking would help you go into labor, but I never heard of it working when you are just seven days pregnant.

As I was laying on Alfie's back my pain started to get worse. Short bursts of sudden pain turned into minute long contractions nearly back-to-back. At this point, many males – mated and unmated – started gathering around me in case I needed to be protected. This baby was going to be here in a very short period of time, and I couldn't do anything to stop it.

A few hours of constant contractions and encouraging words from other females, we were finally half-way to the village; Alfie sped up the pace once I started having contractions. We stopped for a break to get some water next to a large creek and Alfie set me down to bring me some water as well. I wiped the sweat from my forehead to stop it from dripping into my eyes when I suddenly felt a release of pressure in my stomach and a warm sensation between my legs. I slowly propped myself up to see what the warm sensation was when I saw a puddle slowly growing in size below me.

SHIT!

My water just broke in the middle of the forest.

As I stared in awe at the puddle beneath me, another contraction hit me like a ton of bricks, and I lurched forwards as I spread my legs. "ALFIE!" tears were streaming down my face and I knew it was time to start pushing when I reached my hand between my legs and felt my baby's head starting to crown. Alfie ran over to me and saw the puddle drenching me. His eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he ordered someone to bring a few animal skins.

I was lifted onto a few animal skins in a few moments and started pushing. My baby must have been extremely excited to be coming into the world since they came out with just one large push. Alfie sliced the umbilical cord with one of his claws and lifted our baby up to show me the beautiful person we created together, a little baby girl. Alfie had tears in his eyes and his smile nearly touched his ears. "I am so proud of you, Alyssa" he said as he crawled next to me with our baby girl in his arms. She had only cried one breath before she was calmed with his heartbeat. "So, what is this beautiful female going to be called?"

"Pauline, she will be called Pauline."

"That's beautiful, how did you come up with that? I have never heard a name like that before."

"That was my grandmother's name. She died when I was a young child."

"Well Pauline, your mother chose the most beautiful name for you. Now, how about we get out of this cold forest before it gets too dark? Doc, help them onto my back." He said as he turned back into his wolf form. Pauline was sleeping soundly in my arms while wrapped in an animal skin, and we slowly made our way back to the village. I couldn't stand the thought of her being out in the cold and dark forest on her first night alive, so I agreed to keep pushing forward.

Even more males were gathered tightly around us as we made our last part of the trip towards home. No male was going to let anything happen to a newborn female or the shifter who had just given birth to her. I started softly rubbing the side of Pauline's head in complete shock that this little baby was fully formed in just a week. I couldn't help up wonder if what Alfie said was true about the shorter pregnancy times. He said that the shorter the pregnancy, the stronger the babies, but is that true about females as well as males? The anticipation was killing me, I couldn't wait to see what color her eyes are and if she was a shifter or not.

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It was about two hours after sunset when we finally made it to the village. Many families were already starting the task of finding or digging their own cave, my only goal was to get my little girl to her own bed; thankfully, we kept a bed from when I was pregnant the first time, so she had a bed ready for her when we got home. Doc took up the duty of welcoming all of the new townsfolk for Alfie and we went straight to our cave.

It was cold when we got inside, but it quickly warmed up when Alfie got the fire started. I kept her wrapped in her animal skin and laid her down in her makeshift pack-n-play. Alfie started making her some clothes in various sizes, so we had some even if she grew quickly and I went straight to sleep. This day was extremely long for not only me, but everybody who joined us back to our village. The moment my head hit the animal fur, it all went black.

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In the morning when I woke up, I could hear Pauline starting to 'coo' in her bed. I got up and grabbed her when I realized I wasn't even in pain at all. When I had Royce, I was in pain for weeks before I was finally healed, but with Pauline I was already back to my normal – not so normal in my world – self. I held her tight to me as I swayed back and forth and she stretched out a tiny smile. Her eyes started to open slowly, and my heart started racing with excitement. The eyes I saw were the most beautiful that I have ever seen. They were a rich chocolate brown with golden flecks scattered throughout. Those golden flecks reflected light gorgeously. I got lost in her eyes as she was staring up at me. This little girl was going to be a great alpha one day when she grows up.

"How are my two favorite females doing?" Alfie asked as he looked over my shoulder at the magnificent baby girl in my arms. "Well, well, well, look who is going to be a strong alpha. This world has never seen a female alpha before baby Pauline, so you better show them what they were missing all this time."

I smiled as I swiped the long hair from her face. "Aren't her eyes just beautiful, Alfie? I've never seen anything like them before."

"Me either. Weird that she has the gold in her eyes already. Normally females don't have their true form eye color until they mature."

"Well, maybe she is a shifter and an alpha then."

"Maybe, but that has never been heard of or seen before."

"A female alpha has never happened either and I am holding one in my arms right now."

"I guess you're right, I guess we will see once she matures."

"When will that be?"

"Normally a female won't mature until she is able to mate, which is around sixteen years old. With her being an alpha and potentially a shifter, there is no way to tell when she will mature."

I didn't even want to think about that right now – about her maturing and mating with someone one day. She was such a little baby and my little girl, I didn't want to let her go, ever.

After admiring our baby girl for another few moments, Royce woke up and began getting dressed. I laid Pauline down to put her newly made clothes on and they fit perfectly. Her outfit was an elegant chocolate brown bear fur one piece that accentuated the color of her eyes.

Walking out of the cave we are greeted by a welcoming party for Pauline. The entire village, including the new citizens, was outside the cave waiting to get a good look at the precious new female. Many of the females 'awed' and 'oohed' as they looked at her excellently soft skin and long brown hair. Pauline's eyes were closed from the bright sun outside, but once she opened them, there was a wave of gasps throughout the crowd. The people started murmuring about her eyes and how she was the first female alpha ever known.

As we walked down from the cave entrance, the crowd of people separated to allow us to enter the village – which could now be considered a town with the influx of people. The town was filled to the brim with people introducing themselves and talking about their new caves. Many mated men had already finished constructing their mate's cave since all of the mates could work together to dig the cave as a team. I stepped up to a platform in the town center with Alfie and Royce following behind me and Pauline. "My family would like to welcome all of the new members of this great town, and welcome back all of the returning citizens. We will do everything in our power to bring this town to great heights and if there is anything you need, please come to us for help. I also welcome all of you to help each other. A great town cannot prosper without working together. We are all one great big family in Crystalhill, and we want everybody to treat others like it." I announced as each and every person in the audience listened silently as if they were hanging on every last word I was saying.

"Now for some exciting news; as most of you already know, Alyssa and I have invited a new female into our family. Pauline was birthed in just seven days of pregnancy, so for those of you who stayed in the town during the gathering, that is why you didn't know about her pregnancy. She is a strong female who will lead this town one day as she is an alpha." The crowd started to talk amongst themselves as their suspicions were actualized through Alfie's words. "I understand this is shocking for some since there has never been a female alpha, but as the daughter of an alpha and a shifter, this is not surprising to us. If anybody has any questions or needs help with anything, please ask us or somebody else for help and you will receive it."

As we were walking down from the platform, I saw a glimpse of someone I recognized.

Brian.