Page 52 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“Keep going as you are, Poppy, and on a full moon night you will have a healthy baby at home.”
“Really? You get visions?”
“Occasionally. This was quite clear. A blessing for you after the blessings you gave.”
Kade surged forward to hug Poppy, nearly toppling them both over. Deke and Blake’s shifter reflexes saved the pregnant pair. They stood together in a group, Kade exclaiming over them being pregnant together until Blake’s phone ringing had us all pulling back.
“It’s Roan.” Blake moved outside the store, just far enough that the outside noise would give him privacy. As he made the call, Kade kept an eye on him while Deke paid for our purchases. For some reason, I couldn’t look away from Blake. Another sense of foreboding washed through me.
He clutched at the window, a look of horror on his face. I truly expected the worst in that moment. Deke held up Kade as Blake’s pain bled through the bond.
“Papa, it’s Axel. He’s in a coma.”
Suffering
Dakota
Gradywaswaitingforme in the kitchen when I returned after dropping Jasper off. “We can manage, you know.”
I rolled my eyes because the man was visibly shivering, sweating and looked as pale as snow, a color I’d never seen on a healthy shifter. “Now you don’t have to. You and Trey can get better, and I can focus on Angelica. Make sure you all get the care that you need.”
“But why?”
Restraining another eye roll was getting painful. “Because despite what you two think of me, I love my mate and our family. He cares about you both and while you’ve put him in a difficult position, he showed me earlier where he stands. That’s with me. I think you both being here gave him the push to admit his feelings and complete the bond, so really, I should be thanking you.”
Grady looked down at the cup in his hands. “I’m sorry.”
I looked at him, confused. “What for?”
“For how we’ve been acting. You have to understand, Jas and Angel were ours to protect for years. The bond we have now, they’re like family. Angel especially, since we can’t have our own.”
“You’d want that?” Honestly, it surprised me he would admit that. I had this image of them in my mind that didn’t fit with a family. Betas, in my experience, were like that. They fought hard to protect omegas and keep all of us safe. It was why so many betas ended up as enforcers or working for the shifter council somehow. Alphas, though in demand, were needed with their omegas to keep a steady birth rate. Not that it was working since year after year, fewer shifters were born.
He met my eyes. “I’ve wanted nothing more.”
His pain and longing were clear. “I wish there was a way that you could have that, really I do. It must hurt seeing it come so easily for us. This baby… while it was unexpected, he’s wanted.”
“He, huh?”
“So Angel says.”
His smile was genuine at the mention of my daughter, though it fell at his next words. “Babies just aren’t in the cards for us. We could adopt and we might in a few years.” He looked back down at the near empty cup. “I’m sorry for bringing the sickness here. The council is aware it’s here and is initiating quarantines for betas. We aren’t to travel out of our packs for the time being. It means you’re stuck with us for now.”
Everything was moving too fast. I’d just gotten Jasper, and now we were separated. “I don’t mind.” Not any more. “There’s no proof it was you. Rumors of the sickness have been going around for weeks. It’s just our turn to have it. With luck, it passes quickly and no actual harm is done.”
“Yeah, I hope so.” He got up, putting the now empty cup next to the sink. “I’m going to go check on Trey.”
The younger man shuffled over to the stairs and began to climb. My feet were moving before my brain could catch up, grabbing him as his body went limp halfway up. I struggled to shift him into my arms properly. While the stairs weren’t narrow, they weren’t wide enough to adjust my hold on him properly. Thankful for my bear’s strength, I hoisted him up the stairs and along the hallway to the room he shared with his mate.
“Grady?” Trey couldn’t speak above a whisper.
“Passed out. I think he’s been overdoing it looking after you both today.” I carefully laid Grady down on the bed next to Trey. The blond moved closer to his passed out mate, trying to rouse him.
“He’s sick too, isn’t he?” He gently traced the lines of Grady’s face. The two men had been difficult guests at the best of times, but their love for each other, Jasper and Angelica too, was perfectly clear.
“You all are.” I didn’t want him to hold the guilt that Grady did over the illness. “At least two, maybe three betas at the house too, before you start about bringing it here.”
“But we could have.”
