Chapter 20 - A New Breed

WARNING: This chapter contains strong language and some graphic content.

Xavier hurried back to the apartment, carrying the now unconscious Allanna in his arms. He could hear her heart rate steadily declining and he hoped he’d make it back in time.

If there was one sure way to piss off a vampire, it was to harm its mate. Xavier was prepared to take the lives of all his clan for this. Not only might Allanna die, but their child would as well.

Xavier placed Allanna onto the bed and looked at her wound. He knew that a werewolf’s superior healing ability wouldn’t be fast enough to get the silver out of her system. There was only one way to save her.

Bracing himself, Xavier lowered himself down on top of Allanna, elongated his fangs, and sunk his teeth into her neck. Her blood tasted delicious, though it was heavily tinged with the poisonous silver. He’d fantasized many times about what it would be like to drink it. Now, he wished he didn’t have to.

Xavier hoped he’d get all the silver out of Allanna’s blood before he sucked her dry, but at last he tasted the last traces of the bullet. Her neck now had a pretty big bite mark on it and a little bit of blood seeped out of it, but at last Allanna stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

“Allanna?” Xavier asked with concern.

“Xavier,” she whispered. She reached up to touch his face, but then her own face contorted to one of sheer pain and agony. Her hands flew to her stomach and warm liquid seeped out from her legs.

“Shit!” she cried. “My water broke!”

“It must be trauma from the shot,” Xavier ascertained. “We’re gonna have to deliver this baby now.”

“It’s too soon!”

“No, it’s not. You’re nine months along, and it isn’t human. It’ll be strong enough.”

Allanna gripped her stomach tighter as Xavier rotated her to a better position and said, “Please get this baby out of me! I don’t even get an epidural for crying out loud!”

“Just relax, I’ve seen several babies delivered in my time. Calm down and do what I say.”

Allanna bit her lip, stifling a shriek. Xavier ran for a towel and positioned himself at her feet, lifting up her skirt before removing her underwear.

“I can see the head,” he reported. “Just push.”

“Fuck!” Allanna screamed as she tried not to thrash around.

“That’s it,” Xavier coaxed as he watched their baby’s head get closer. After a couple more pushes, Xavier extracted the bouncing baby girl and wrapped her up in the towel.

“It’s a girl,” he confirmed proudly. The baby’s eyes shined up at him, sparkling like his own but with Allanna’s hazel color. She had no fangs and her skin felt like a human’s – not too warm or too cold. This was clearly the result of his extra cold vampire skin and Allanna’s extra warm werewolf skin. This baby was literally half vampire, half werewolf. She had both genes in her body, and those genes made her a new breed.

“Is she okay?” Allanna asked.

“She’s just fine. She’s beautiful, just like her mother.”

“Oh, stop. Please, let me hold her.”

Xavier carried their daughter to her mother, who eagerly stood up, and placed her in Allanna’s waiting arms.

“She’s just…perfect,” Allanna cooed.

“She is, isn’t she? And here we were worried about what she’d be.”

“She’s…she looks like a vampire with her eyes. But I smell wolf in her blood.”

“Indeed. She’s a new breed. Half vampire, half werewolf.”

“This is incredible.”

Allanna suddenly felt something trickling out of her neck. She looked down and saw blood stains on her shirt.

“What the…” she asked. Xavier took the baby and confessed, “You were shot. I could only think of one way to save you. I had to get the poison out.”

“You bit me?” Allanna had to sit back down.

“I had no choice. I wasn’t going to lose you and our child.”

“But…if you bit me…”

“You’re not a vampire. It doesn’t work like that. It takes three bites, plus you drinking blood within 24 hours of the last bite, to complete the transition. You’re fine.”

“Thank God.”

Xavier looked down at their daughter and, like magic, a name came to him.

“I think we should call her Linley,” he said.

“Linley?”

“Yeah, it’s not an old name but it’s not new either. It’s unique, just like her.”

“I like it. And she looks like a Linley.”

“Then so be it. We also better get her some baby things.”

“Pink.”

“Of course.”

The new parents smiled at each other as their daughter cooed in her father’s arms. Allanna realized belatedly that they didn’t even have a crib for her.

“We didn’t plan on her coming so soon,” she said glumly.

“It’s not a problem. I’ll simply go get her a little bassinette for now.”

“Why don’t we just let her sleep in here with us? Then we can get all the stuff at the same time.”

“That might be the better option. But first, you both need your rest.”

Allanna nodded and Xavier could tell that she was physically spent. Not even caring that the bedding was dirty, she simply stripped down to her underwear, crawled under the covers, and fell asleep. Xavier didn’t need as much sleep as humans, or werewolves for that matter, so he took it upon himself to take care of Linley while his wife slept.

He carried her into the living room and sat down on the couch with her. He allowed her to grab his finger with her tiny hand, and he swore he saw her smile at him.

As Xavier watched his daughter, he knew that, now that she was born, the vampires wouldn’t back down. The werewolves probably wouldn’t either. Linley seemed perfectly harmless, but she had the genes of both species in her blood. That could spell disaster for both kinds. But Xavier swore that he wouldn’t let anything happen to his daughter. He’d protect her, no matter what the cost.

********************

“So it’s happened,” Mortius declared.

“Yes,” Gloria reported. “Xavier was in such a rush to get back to his apartment that he didn’t notice I was following him. I could hear everything. His bitch had their little brat, and apparently it’s half vampire, half werewolf.”

“Very interesting. You know, now that I think about it, perhaps killing that child isn’t the best option. Perhaps we should use this to our advantage.”

“Father, what advantage could there possibly be?”

“Revenge, Gloria. When the time comes, I have another plan that will ensure our victory over the werewolves of Duskwood. The battle is going on despite my absence, but their offspring will be our trophy card.”