I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World

Chapter 179: CP :181 The Pregnancy Contractions

The contraction faded, leaving Alex trembling and breathing hard.

Lucas carried him before he could attempt to stand on his own—lifting him with careful, practiced arms, mindful of the enormous swell of his belly and the aching looseness of his hips. Alex didn’t protest. There was no dignity left to protect when another wave was already building.

The birthing alcove was filled with soft furs layered three deep. Warm stones wrapped in cloth for his lower back. Extra leathers, clean and folded. A small water pool with fresh water. The herbs Sally had received from Moss few days ago in heart-lodge in wolf tribe—the ones meant for pain relief, for slowing bleeding, for encouraging swift delivery—were bundled and ready at the corner.

Lucas set Alex down and Naga’s coils arranged around him with the efficiency of long practice. Better lighting. Warmer air. People who knew what they were doing, or at least knew what he needed.

Alex was scared now. He was honest enough to admit that to himself. Before Mira from mer tribe was there to help him give birth— an experienced hand. But now he’s on his own. He could call for Moss but by the time she arrives, he might’ve already given birth.

Another contraction.

This one made him cry out—short, sharp, undignified—before he got his breathing under control. His belly tightened to stone beneath his hands. Zale was there immediately, cool mist and cooler webbed fingers pressing against his lower back, and the relief was enough that Alex almost wept for a different reason.

"How far apart?" Leo asked patting Alex’s head. His voice was controlled. His tail was not.

"Three minutes," Naga said. He’d been counting. Of course he’d been counting. "Maybe less. It’s moving faster than the snakelings."

"Because there are four of them," Alex said through his teeth, as the contraction crested and began to ease. "And they’re all ready to come out immediately. I can feel them. They’ve been lined up and ready."

Sally appeared at his shoulder with a cold cloth and pressed it against the back of his neck. "Anything specific you need? Tell me and I’ll get it."

"System," Alex said, on instinct, and then caught himself.

The silence that followed was brief. But it was there.

"Yeah," Sally said quietly. "I know."

She kept the cloth where it was.

The next contraction hit before the last had fully ebbed, and Alex’s hands gripped Naga’s coil hard enough that the serpent lord made a low sound. Lucas moved to his left side, large hand splayed against Alex’s back, applying steady counter-pressure without being asked. Leo had shifted to human form, golden eyes sharp and narrowed, taking Alex’s right hand in both of his.

"Look at me," Leo said.

Alex looked at him. Eyes steady as a fixed point in the world.

"There," Leo said. "Right here. Just breathe. I’ve got you."

---

Three Hours In.

Alex had lost track of time somewhere around the second hour—lost it in the rhythm of contraction and recovery, of breathing through the pressure and letting it go, of the constant warm presence of his mates surrounding him.

The contractions stopped being polite long ago.

They came in long, rolling waves that left Alex no time to recover between them, each one building on the last until the whole world narrowed to the tight, impossible pressure of four lives demanding their way into existence. He had stopped trying to be quiet about an hour ago. The snakelings were safely in the nursery cavern with Skye and Granite, the sanctuary walls were thick ironwood and stone, and no one in the birthing alcove was going to judge him.

Alex mates kept on patting Alex’s hand encouraging him with sweet words.

"That’s it," Naga said, every time. Low voice, steady eyes, the particular calm of someone who had fought through things that should have killed him and learned to breathe through the hardest parts. "Right here. Stay with me."

Between contractions, he drifted in a haze of exhaustion and the cooling relief of soft cloth wrap wiping his sweat over his face and chest by Zale. Naga’s coils supported the weight of his belly, keeping the pressure from his spine so he could focus. Lucas moved constantly—adjusting furs for his lower back, fresh water at his lips, the heel of his palm pressing exactly where it needed to press without being told.

Sally documented and commanded and kept everyone from panicking, which was, Alex thought distantly, exactly what she’d always done. Even when she was panicking herself.

The contraction that followed was enormous — the kind that turned the world white at the edges and made every sound feel distant except the roar of blood in Alex’s ears.

He pushed with everything he had left, a raw, guttural cry tearing from his throat as the pressure became unbearable. His body knew this moment: the burning stretch, the impossible fullness, the god knows instinct that said now. His belly hardened to stone beneath his hands, the tight, drum-taut skin pulling even tighter as four strong cubs fought to be born.

Alex bit his lower lip. Preparing himself for whatever to come. His heart beating louder than it should.

"Now," he said, and his voice came out strange and certain, stripped of everything except the fact.

"Breathe," Leo said, shifting his grip, moving closer. "Just breathe. I’ve got you. I’ve always got you."

"Leo—"

"I’m right here." Leo’s forehead pressed softly on Alex’s temple, his golden eyes locked, his voice a steady , low and unwavering. ""That’s it. Right here with me. You’re doing this. Push, Alex. I’ve got you."."

Alex pushed.

The contraction that followed was enormous—the kind that turned the world white at the edges. He felt the shift of it, the movement, the extraordinary sensation of something that had been inside him becoming someone outside of him. He heard Sally’s sharp intake of breath. Heard Zale murmur something in the Mer tongue that sounded like a prayer.

The pressure crested, burned, then broke.

A slick, wet sound filled the alcove, followed immediately by a thin, furious cry — strong, clear, and unmistakably alive.

Loud. So loud. Clear as a bell.

Lucas caught the first cub with careful, reverent hands.