Page 54 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“Could you both study it? Take blood samples?”
“We don’t have the equipment or we would. I just wish —“ Papa ran a hand through his brown hair, leaving it a rumpled mess, so far from his usual care and attention to appearance.
“Papa, go rest. Afterwards, you can check on everyone and get more fluids into them if you need to.”
“Are you okay with your home being used as a clinic? Our actual clinic is overflowing already. We could move everyone here to the main house, but that would displace alphas, and you know how they can be over their spaces.”
We didn’t need a bunch of irritated alphas starting fights. “I’d rather have them here out of the way. You’ve both taught me a lot of medical stuff over the years.”
“It shows. Good job with the teas and remedies.” Papa patted my cheek and left to go nap.
The house filled with the sounds of labored breaths as the betas all slept. I hoped Dad and Papa were resting better than the betas, their rest was interrupted with fever dreams. Angelica crying out woke me from a doze more than once, my heart hammering with panic each time. My bear was in an uproar about not being able to fix this for our little kit. We both felt so useless. I used more of the remedies and a cool cloth to take her fever down, and while it worked momentarily, nothing I did seemed to work for long.
When I was considering waking my parents, a phone rang. Papa answered the brief call. “Aldrin,” I heard Papa shake my dad. “Wake up. We have to go!”
Dad roused. “What is it, love?”
“Chase called. He and Axel are both sick. Axel won’t wake up, no matter what Chase does.”
They were gone for hours before I heard any word. I paced the house, ordered food and more remedies. I wanted to call Jasper, just to hear his voice, but I didn’t want Kade to overhear anything about Axel.
Papa: Axel is in a coma. Northarbor General is sending equipment, including beds. Can they stay with you? We’d like them out of the main house. The hospital won’t have them. The clinic is full.
Fucking humans. There was no reason to believe that we could pass this onto them, but they still panicked and refused to help.
Dakota: Of course. They can have the nursery. It’s empty.
We hadn’t had any time to buy anything big for our baby son. Everything was now on hold until they could come home safely. All of it felt so hopeless. Finally, we had bonded after months of dancing around it, only to be forced apart. I hated it and my bear was furious. Our mate belonged by our side, not miles away. I tried to soothe my bear, reminding him that Kade was with Jasper and the pup had pups of his own to look after. It cooled the fire enough for me to get some more rest.
Exhaustion pulled at my limbs as I climbed the stairs to check on my charges. I wanted nothing more than to slip into the pallet I’d made and close my eyes for a few hours, but I had to check everyone and make sure the nursery was clear for the patients.
Jasper video called me as I finished checking the nursery. The stress was clear on his face and I despaired I was adding to it. “Kota, you look like hell!”
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“You know what I mean! We just heard about Axel. Blake is terrified. It’s taking both Kade and Deke to hold him back from charging toward the mansion.” Jasper was pacing back and forth. The familiar background of Kade’s house settled my bear some.
“Dad is bringing Axel and Chase here. The hospital won’t have them and the clinic is full.”
Jasper paused. “Moon help us!” He made a gesture, like a witch’s blessing.
“I’m just glad you and the baby aren’t here.”
“Me too. Pretty sure I’d be worse than useless right now.”
“I don’t know about that. You survived a bad situation.” Pain rippled along his face. “Then you made the best of the separation from Kade. You’re a survivor, Jas.”
“You too, huh?”
“Sounded right.”
“Just don’t call me Jazzie.”
The brief glimpse of my mate was enough to soothe my bear while I waited for the medical team to come and set up for Axel and Chase’s arrival. Chase wouldn’t consider leaving his twin, despite not being as sick as the majority of the other betas.
It left me wondering why so many were bedridden within hours and others were still walking about, sick, but still able to function. While attempting to work, I made notes on my observations, sure that my father would like them later when things had hopefully settled down. He was a scientist at heart, his healer’s gift too important not to use for the good of the pack. He loved being a doctor and healing the sick, but I knew he wanted to study fertility and investigate why so many supernatural species were struggling.
Several vans pulled up at the house as I was finishing up hasty roster changes for the factory. I was going to have to ask Blake about hiring temporary staff with so many off sick.
