“I hate doctors,” Cassidy muttered.

“So do I,” Eric said, “but they can help if we need them to, and they have antibiotics and things.”

“And epidurals,” Iona said.

“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Cassidy said. “Except I want to shift, so bad.”

“Don’t,” Eric said. “Your cub will come out human, so stay human.”

“Why will her cub come out human?” Iona asked.

Cassidy answered, her words breathy. “Pure Shifters are born animal and learn to shift later. Half-human Shifters are born human. Mixed species come out whichever species happens to have the dominant gene.”

“What will my cubs come out as?” Iona asked. “He or she will be three-quarters Shifter.”

“Hell if I know,” Eric said. “But I guess we’ll find out.” He sounded smug.

“You won’t have long to wait,” Cassidy said with a laugh, “the way you two were going at it last night.”

Iona’s face went hot. “It’s too soon to tell, isn’t it?”

Cassidy glanced at her with the same knowledge in her eyes Iona knew she’d had when she’d sensed Nicole’s baby. “It’s not. This time next year, we’ll have two cubs in the house.”

Iona realized she was right. Too many distractions—and maybe a little denial—had prevented her from acknowledging what her panther knew to be true. “Crap,” Iona whispered.

Eric laughed. “Yes!” he shouted. He stomped on the accelerator, and they shot through the streets to his whoops of joy.

The clinic, only a few miles away, was so ordinary that Iona had to ask if they were in the right place. Jace grabbed someone with a wheelchair in the front, and he wheeled Cassidy inside a fairly generic clinic full of staff in scrubs or neat uniforms.

Shane and Brody walked in, followed closely by a wild-eyed Diego and his brother, as well as Neal the Guardian with his broadsword strapped to his back. Iona understood why Cassidy had begged her to be there. A Shifter birth was an Event, apparently, and everyone attending was male.

The staff of the clinic seemed to be used to the entourage that accompanied a Shifter mother about to bring in a cub, because they let the group into a large room upstairs in the back without question.

This was a delivery room, Iona saw when Jace wheeled Cassidy in. A delivery table waited in the exact center of the room, leaving plenty of space for family and friends to surround the mother. The walls were lined with counters and cabinets, one with a large sink. A sagging vinyl sofa had been shoved under the one window, the only seat.

Iona started for the delivery bed to make sure Cassidy would be comfortable, but Eric’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. The Shifters hung back, waiting for Neal to approach the bed first.

Neal drew the Sword of the Guardian, touched it to the mattress, and said, “Goddess, mother of all, attend our sister as she brings strength to her pride.”

The other Shifters responded: “We give our sister into the hands of the Goddess.”

Not the most reassuring of prayers. But Iona thought about Eric’s and Cassidy’s tales of how Shifter women often didn’t survive childbirth. In the past, they must have believed that all they could do was let the Goddess decide whether she lived or died.

Eric squeezed Iona’s shoulder. Iona would be in this room herself sooner or later, if Cassidy was right. Next year, they’d be saying the prayer for her.

Iona went to Cassidy’s side as Diego lifted her onto the bed. “If the pain gets too bad,” Iona said, “swear at all the men. My mother said that helps.”

Cassidy laughed weakly. “Sure thing.”

Diego held Cassidy’s hand after he settled her, not looking happy at all the Shifters around them. He didn’t argue, but he obviously didn’t like it.

Iona understood further why when the males, including Xavier, formed a ring around Cassidy, then, as one, turned their backs to her, standing like sentinels around her.

“What are they doing?” Iona asked.

“Guarding me.” Cassidy winced and touched her abdomen. “All the males of the clan form a ring around the female when she’s giving birth, to keep predators away, which includes other Shifters who might try to steal the woman and the cub. These days the pride plus friends of the family guard the female.”

“You expect predators in the clinic?” Iona asked Eric’s back.

“It’s tradition,” he said without turning around.

“Or Cassidy might want to be alone with her husband. I mean, her mate.”

Cassidy gave Iona a wan smile. “Give up. The ritual has been going on for centuries. They’ll stand there until this cub comes, whether I like it or not.”

“Or I could always tase them,” Diego growled.

Iona left Cassidy to walk around Eric. She looked up at the stubborn light in his green eyes and understood that he participated in the ritual from instinctive fear, his need to protect his sister.

“Eric, how much power do I have in Shiftertown now, as your mate?”

His gaze shifted slightly. “A lot.”

“Enough to speak for all the females in Shiftertown?”

“The ones who want you to, sure,” he said guardedly.

“Then on their behalf…” She rose on tiptoe and kissed Eric lightly on the lips. “Stand the guards outside the doors and let Cassidy have a little peace.”

“Hmm,” Eric said. “Not have my trackers in the room?”

“Diego’s here, and he’s pretty good at guarding. I’ll stay, if Cass wants me to, and she might concede to have you here too. There are two doors into this room, both of which can be defended from the outside, can’t they?”

Eric relaxed his stance and looked almost amused. “It will be a scandal, love. The old-guard Shifters will pass out when they learn my sister didn’t have a ring of protectors two feet away when she dropped her cub.”

“We can throw cold water on them,” Iona said. “Please, Eric?”

Eric studied her, and Iona looked straight back at him.

“Shane, Neal, guard outside the rear door,” Eric said. “Brody, Jace, Xav, the front. I’ll stay in here and liaise.”

Iona mouthed, Thank you. Eric returned her light kiss. “You’re a radical.”