Path of the Hunters [PART 3]

"No, she would want something more original than to take from someone else."

He sighed. "I only know but so many women, y'know."

She laughed softly. "Nova, please. Any names."

"Hmm... How about Aurore?"

"Mm... Aurora..." The contraction passed and she smiled slightly.

He smiled as well. "Sounds good. Now, on to the boy's name."

"During the next one." She stroked her belly, sighing. "I'd like to know 'ow Crescent is doing."

"She's doing fine." Cross appeared at the door. "The only complication is the location of her wound. Until Mani takes care of it, she can't move her arm, or risk tearing the thing back open. It was a pain getting her to relax, so that wouldn't happen."

"Yeah, she's stubborn like that," Nova said, smirking. "She ain't that much different from me."

"Ugh. Don't remind me." The echidna rubbed a sore spot on his neck.

Aurélie smiled. "At least she is all right. It wouldn't 'ave 'appened if... She and I lost our powers. It was odd."

"...Yes, I asked the help of Shadow Squad, back there. They implemented their pet project you guys overheard months ago..."

"What!?" Nova snapped, nearly jumping from the bed, and at Cross' throat. "You mean to say they used that damn thing, and put my wife and cousin in more jeopardy than they were already in!?"

He sighed. "That's about the size of it. I was hoping that they would be clear before they used it."

The wolf glared at the echidna with almost feral eyes. "God Dammit, Cross! You didn't think to tell them to make sure of that!? What the fuck were you thinking!?"

"Calm down, Nova," Mani said, going to Aurélie's side. "Your hissy fit isn't doing Aurélie any good."

"You're a whiny bunch, you know that, right?" Came a stern voice as Damien walked up, it was obvious he was annoyed. "Look, all I want from you is a 'thank you'. If we hadn't had dropped those things, then it would have been impossible to evac the girls."

"It doesn't matter," the dog murmured, eyes closing as the next contraction hit. "It 'appened. Crescent is... fine. Nova."

"I just don't like it when people shove their foot in their mouths and jump the gun on the blame game."

Nova averted his gaze from Cross, and thus from the human that walked in. He was not talking with that man in there. He was pissed off as it was...

Cross sighed. "Look, Damien's right. Their situation was far too desperate to wait it out. There wasn't time to do things pretty. Action had to be taken." He turned to the human. "Quite frankly, I'm glad they were able to act as they did. After all, they didn't have to stick their necks out for-as far as they were concerned-some pregnant woman and her friend."

Nova's fists clenched tightly, and was on the verge of bearing fangs. He hated when Cross said things through blunt logic.

Damien shook his head. "If you want to yell at me, do it later. You have far more important things to worry about right now." He sighed, "Just a little fyi, blades that pass through objects are a little bit more dangerous than bullets." He walked off.

Aurélie had her eyes closed, trying to breathe. She'd tuned them out, just wanting this to pass... It hurt the worst so far...

With Damien gone, Nova glared darkly at Cross. "You..." he spoke with utter venom, though keeping his voice down. "We'll talk about this, later."

The echidna sighed. "Fine, whatever. I got business to take care of, anyway." He walked off, muttering to himself.

Meanwhile, Mani had her eyes on Aurélie. "The contractions are getting worse. Of course, the stress from that little conversation didn't help at all."

"Mani, please," Sol said with an exasperated sigh. "Don't give that guy another reason to walk back in here, and start more trouble."

"Comments like that aren't helping much, Sol. Now, Aurélie, I can give you some painkillers to lessen to pain from the contractions, especially with them getting steadily worse."

Aurélie nodded. "Bonne. Faites-le."

"Okay. Sol, the copper syringe, please."

Sol nodded, grabbing said syringe from one of the nearby cabinets, along with a vial of medication, and passed them to Mani. She shook the medication vigorously before filling the needle with it.

"This will lessen the pain considerably," she explained, sterilizing the dog's arm. "Though there is a bit of a numbing sensation, so I've been told." She stuck the needle in her arm, and injected the medication.

The dog opened her eyes, looking from the needle to Nova. "Viens ici." She didn't feel like English; she didn't feel like dealing with this. She wanted to cry, needed him to keep her focused. "Nova..."

The wolf's anger dissipated with the sound of her voice. He turned back to her, a much softer look in his eyes, and held her hand gently. "I'm sorry, Aurélie. I didn't mean to snap out like that."

"It's fine, mon coeur." She sighed. "I still feel them moving. It 'urts less."

"Those two sure are stubborn, huh?" he remarked with a weak smile. "At least we know they're strong."

"That much is certain," Mani said. "With the way the contractions are progressing, it's quite possible we could see birth within the next, oh... two hours, three, tops."

"Fine by me. The sooner the better." Aurélie smiled softly. "Boy names."

Nova smirked slightly. "Let's start with a name I hate already: Damien."

Sol snickered. "So predictable."