A Midnight Song

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: Please review if you have time! Thank you and happy reading, T.H.


"God, she's pretty, isn't she?" Kurt cooed as he looked down at the infant he held in his arms. Mike turned away from the lovely, loving scene before him in the form of Puck and Quinn on the small bed together. Puck was seated against the headboard and Quinn was leaning against his chest, trying to stay awake despite her exhaustion as Puck whispered sweet things to her that he would never say loud enough for a human to hear. The only reason Mike could hear him was because he wasn't human. But, Puck wouldn't be embarrassed that he, Santana, and Brittany could hear him. He knew they could. There was no embarrassment when you were pack.

Quinn's eyes were closed as she leaned heavily against the Alpha who was her mate and Mike knew that she was fighting a loosing battle. The low, rumbling tone Puck's voice had taken on was intended to soothe her into sleep. She was fighting it, as was her nature, but she needed the rest. Little Beth's birth hadn't exactly been easy, after all. Had Puck had his way they would have taken her into the city nearly three hours away so that she could have little Beth in the relative safety and comfort of the hospital. But, Quinn had been too far along in her labor, Beth too eager to come into the world. Kurt had made the decision, when they arrived, that it was better for Beth to be born in the clinic than in a car that might or might not have reached the hospital in time. After a few minutes of Puck pacing the length of the room, growling to himself, trying to decide what would be best for the woman he loved while Santana and Brittany tried to soothe Quinn as only women could soothe their Alpha female and Mike helped Kurt set up the exam room for birth because he knew the smaller man was right and there simply wasn't time for the hospital, Puck had finally agreed and they had prepared for the baby's arrival.

For two hours, Quinn had been in hard labor, but they had gotten the gist of the story from the couple despite it. When they had been in Lima, Ohio, just one of the many places they had stopped on their way to where they were, Puck had been shot by a police officer when they had been spotted in their wolf forms. He had ordered them in growls and whimpers to run and hide, to leave him, and they hadn't been able to resist a direct order. They'd hidden, all night, in a garage. Kurt's father's garage they now knew. The man had been kind to them when he found them, exhausted and heartsick, in the morning. He hadn't called the police or yelled at them for the broken window. He had simply taken in their bedraggled state, offered to let them use the shower in the break room, found them all clothes and shoes, and fed them breakfast. They had repaid him by slipping out as soon as his back was turned. Santana, Brittany, Mike and Puck all vowed silently that they would make it up to the man. Mike for what he had done for them that day. And the others for being Kurt's father. Because Kurt had saved Mike and they would have all lost something very important in their lives if they had lost Mike. None of them were too proud to admit that they could have been broken completely.

While the three of them had been holed up in the garage trembling and terrified that they had lost their Alpha, Puck had gone human, unable to hold the wolf form any longer as he weakened. He had stumbled to a free clinic, his hand held against his profusely bleeding side, trying not to lose consciousness. He'd almost made it to the front door, where Quinn was just locking up for the night, before he collapsed. Quinn had turned just in time to see him go down and had screamed for Annie, a nurse just walking to her car, to come and help her.

She'd performed emergency surgery that night and removed the bullet, but Puck hadn't come through as she had hoped. He had lost too much blood and the wound had gotten infected. She hadn't expected him to make it through the night. But, then he had. His fever had broken by morning and he was awake by the early afternoon. From the moment their eyes met, his terrified and still a little pain filled and hers exhausted and more than a little confused, something clicked. It was the same something Santana had felt when she first saw Brittany and the very same thing Mike had felt when he had first locked eyes with Kurt. Something in them called for each other. When he got rough with her she got rough right back, not hesitating to slap him when he was being difficult. When she needed to sleep and was too stubborn to admit it, he had pulled her into the bed with him and held her to his chest until she had relaxed into slumber. She had calmed him when he realized that he couldn't shift. He had held her when she came to the realization that she loved him when she'd sworn, for her own reasons, never to do so. He'd spoken more with her than he had ever spoken with anyone, about anything that came to his mind and especially about the pack that he loved and needed to protect, and she'd laughed more with him than she ever had in her life.

At the end of their third day together, just after they'd admitted their love for each other out loud, they had tumbled into bed and for the first time Puck knew what it was like to care for someone he was making love to more than he cared for himself. When they awoke the next morning, wrapped around each other like they couldn't be without one another, he'd noticed a subtle change in Quinn's scent. It had taken him nearly five minutes of sniffing her before he realized that the change in her scent meant that they had created life. Two minutes later he'd realized he could shift again. It had terrified him because for the first time in over ten years he didn't know what he wanted. He wanted Quinn, needed her, but he also needed to be a wolf. He needed to be able to run with his pack. He loved them. They were his responsibility and his family.

It was Quinn who had come up with the plan when he'd finally told her what was on his mind later that day. She'd been amazingly accepting about the fact that he was a werewolf and he had been so happy that he hadn't questioned and just listened to her plan. She would stay in Lima only long enough for her to put in her notice at work and tell her friends and family that she would be moving. She'd explained to him that her best friend lived in a cabin in the mountains, far away from everything. She would go to Kurt's cabin and find work in the small town he lived outside of. Puck would lead the pack there and then they would all find a way to be together, Puck's pack and his mate. Puck had kissed her one last time and whispered that he would be with her again before the baby was born and she'd tried not to cry as he'd shifted and run away from her, knowing it would be months before they saw each other again.. It would take wolves a lot longer to get there than it would take her, after all.

"As long as you come back to me, Noah," She'd whispered to no one, "I can wait as long as you need."

The past nine months had found her moving into town only to find that the town was in need of doctor, their own having just retired and moved to Florida. Her original plan of staying with Kurt for a while hadn't been needed as, five days into her move, she had been handed the keys to the clinic with the good sized apartment over it. She'd waited impatiently every day as her body changed, wanting Puck by her side to feel their child grow, but he hadn't come. It had taken them even longer to get there than Puck had anticipated. They tended to stay away from towns so close to the woods because that often meant that the residents had guns and some serious chips on their shoulders about wolves and he hadn't even known that the very town they were avoiding was the one they were searching for.

When Quinn had come to Kurt's cabin that night to look after Mike Puck had thought he might die from how hard his heart was pounding. She had made her exit from the small cabin just after the sun rose and he'd been waiting at the edge of the clearing in nothing but sky and a smile. When she'd seen him she had nearly fainted. She had almost convinced herself that he'd been a dream. But, when they fell into each others arms it had felt like almost no time had passed. She'd stroked his Mohawk and cried when he fell to his knees and kissed her swelling belly gently, whispering to his little girl that they wouldn't be apart again. They had been planning on telling Mike soon, they explained at that point, but at first they'd been worried about his health and then they had wanted him to have time with Kurt because they had recognized the bond just as Mike had. Mike had looked at Kurt and Kurt had smiled at him, a blush rising to his cheeks.

Santana had finished the story by growling, "When Puck introduced her to us I was ready to kill him! Keeping a secret like that from us this whole time! Keeping our Alpha female from us like that!" She'd smacked him upside the head for good measure and smiled sweetly at Quinn. Wolf females were always very sweet around laboring women. Quinn had smiled back and grasped her offered hand. Already she had fallen into a routine with the pack and it felt good to love them like family. It was because the pack recognized her as Alpha that Mike had recognized her even when he didn't know exactly who she was.

Beth's birth couldn't have gone any better than it had, but without drugs it had been very taxing on Quinn and it was good to see that Puck was lulling her into sleep now as Mike turned to Kurt and looked down at the baby in his arms.

"She's really something," He agreed quietly, coming up behind Kurt and setting one hand to his hip as his chin came to rest on Kurt's shoulder. His other hand drifted up without him thinking about it so that he could run a finger over the baby's sweet cheeks, "I wonder if she'll shift or not when she gets older."

"Probably," Kurt murmured, "She's the daughter of an Alpha." The thoughtful look he'd gotten off and on as Quinn labored was back on his face and Mike could see it in the window reflection.

"What's on your mind?" He asked quietly, placing a gentle kiss to the back of Kurt's neck.

"I…"

"Okay, boys," Santana appeared at their side with Brittany. Kurt handed Beth over to the blonde with little fuss after giving her one last kiss, "Mommy needs her rest and Alpha needs time to bond with his pup. Britt and I are going to take off for the night and we think you should, too. All meet here for breakfast?"

"Sure," Mike shrugged amiably, "Kurt and I'll bring something over."

He wondered if he had overstepped a boundary line, making a decision for them as a couple, but Kurt was just nodding and smiling up at him. Mike pressed a kiss to the juncture between Kurt's neck and shoulder and couldn't help but smile at the way Kurt shuddered and relaxed in his arms. His body knew, Mike realized, what Mike's was trying to say and Mike couldn't help but wonder, not for the first time, if Kurt had some wolf in him somewhere. He didn't shift. Mike would have smelled that right away, but when he tilted his head back to allow Mike his throat, when he automatically showed a deference to Puck and Quinn even if he never fully submitted (But, why would he?) it almost seemed as if…Mike promised himself that he would ask later, after. When Santana smirked at him and Brittany gave him a thumbs up after handing the baby to Puck he knew that they understood.

"Bring him in," Puck said lowly when Mike went to say goodnight to him. He never took his eyes off of his infant daughter, but Mike could hear the approval in his voice, "He's a strong addition and the one you want so make it official."

"Yes, Alpha," Mike smiled and ran a hand gently over Beth's downy head one last time.

"I love you, Doctor Quinn," Kurt kissed his best friend gently. She was nearly asleep, but she smiled and put a hand to his cheek.

"I love you, too, Lady Face. Kurt…" She looked up at Puck and Mike, both looking down at Beth, "Are we happy?"

When they were children their parents had always said that Kurt couldn't be happy unless Quinn was and the same went for her. Even when they'd drifted, just seeing an unhappy look on the other's face in the hall could put them into a funk for days. When they had come back together the sensation had been stronger than ever, so when Sam had happened and Kurt had moved way out in the middle of nowhere to try to heal Quinn hadn't been truly happy for years. But now…Kurt looked up at the same thing Quinn was looking at and smiled. He looked back down at her with tears in his eyes.

"Yes, Quinn. We are."

She sighed and smiled, "Good."

He set his forehead to hers, "Good."