Page 55 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
Out poured a dozen medical personnel, many more than I’d expected. I opened the door for them and directed them upstairs. Some concentrated on setting up bulky beds in what was the nursery. Others went to check on the betas, checking over what I had used with approval. They soon hooked Grady and Trey up to fluids and monitoring equipment.
My bear grumbled when they tried to do the same to Angelica. “Mr Flemming,” one witch, if my sense of smell was correct, tried to calm me, sensing an issue, “she’s in a better condition than the adults, but this could help get her out of this faster.”
I hadn’t wanted to tell Jasper, but Angel hadn’t roused when I’d last checked on her. “Will she be okay?”
The witch was kind and laid a hand on my arm. “From what I’ve heard, the young are generally hit hard and fast, then recover without issue.”
Her kind words comforted me, and I stepped aside to let them set up the machines.
Axel and Chase arrived in a flurry of movement. Chase walked up the stairs, the effort adding some color to his wan face. They carried Axel on a stretcher to the nursery, where their beds were ready. They’d been placed side by side so the twins could stay touching if Chase felt they needed it.
It was startling to see the brothers together. It had only been a few hours since Axel hadn’t woken and he was somehow already diminished by the illness. He seemed so small in the bed, the white sheets making him look gray. Stubble lined his normally clean-shaven jaw. His silver-blue eyes, the same as Blake’s, were hidden under twitching eyelids, the only movement aside from breathing that he made. Nothing that the medical staff did elicited a reaction from him. They worked efficiently and wrote down a series of numbers in charts.
The witch took me aside again. “The council has arranged for us to be on loan from the hospital to assist you.” Relief nearly floored me that I wouldn’t have to do this alone. “Is there somewhere we could sleep? At least two of us will be here at a time.”
“If you don’t mind sharing, there’s my room.”
“Where will you sleep?”
“The couch or my office over the garage. There’s a sofa bed there.”
“We can give you a radio and key it into the alarms so you can have a proper rest in the office. You look worn out.” She said it kindly, no judgment in her tone.
“I am. I’ll go grab a couple of hours now, if you don’t mind.” My mate kept up to date with what I was doing with our texts, but Kade and Blake would want more information on Axel’s condition.
Grabbing a radio and a brief overview of the treatment plans, I went to the office and made the call. Jasper answered on the first ring, almost as if the phone was attached to his hand. His precious face came into view, Blake and Kade beside him, Deke in the background. “Kota? What’s going on? Where are you?”
“Oh, I’m in the office. We needed the space for the healers.” I quickly explained that Axel had been moved to our house for his care. Then about the medical team the council was paying for. I saw the moment that Blake relaxed, knowing that his brothers and Angelica were getting proper care. I knew he didn’t doubt my parent’s abilities, but he appreciated that they were overwhelmed. It was too much to expect them to manage all the care that so many betas would need. As it stood, more than half the betas of the Sweetwater pack were sick. The rest showed symptoms. There was no way that my parents could cope with that. After just over a day, they were already exhausted.
With the trickle of information we received daily from the council, we could expect this to last for weeks as it had in other areas. I exchanged a longing look with my mate, seeing the same need there. While I’d never wish my bonding undone, I almost wished that we had waited, not that we could have known. I didn’t know how long I could go without being near him, touching him. He absently ran a hand over his stomach and the longing hit me like a punch. I sent a prayer to our goddess for a solution.
Unexpected Aid
Dakota
Twoweekslater
Fatigue was a regular companion. I snatched sleep where I could, in between hours of administering medication that did nothing. With the healer’s help, I learned how to change IV lines, how to turn our sleeping betas so they wouldn’t get bedsores. All the sick slept. There were no exceptions. Every beta in the Sweetwater pack had succumbed to the beta sickness.
These days I could fit a catheter, change it out, without issue. More than once, I was told that I’d “missed my calling,” by the grateful staff the council had employed. I’d laugh off their comments, pushing the compliments onto how I’d been raised.
My parents were a regular fixture at the house, though they didn’t come inside now that we had hospital healers here. I was grateful to them more than once when they’d come directly from visiting Jasper with a scan picture of my baby son and the scent of my omega on a shirt. Our bond was strong, but frayed at the edges, the forced separation wearing it thinner with each day. Swapping clothing with that trace of the other’s scent was necessary for me to get some rest most days. Papa had hit upon the idea, and it gave them an excuse to check on Kade.
Each time that they went, they had to be cleansed magically and medically before they could enter the house because they were still making house calls to betas. With Kade carrying triplets, there was a high chance of a beta who could get sick. Angel had insisted we were having a boy, but we had no idea of designation. The risk was too high to be careless. As much as I wanted to go to my mate, to hold him in my arms, I’d spent far too much time with the sick, to even think about gambling our baby’s life on it.
Even with the team of healers and nurses, we were all battling exhaustion and stress. I was trying to keep the pack run businesses alive with agency workers, any spare alphas and unattached omegas I could find. It was a careful balancing act, and it felt like at any second that it could all come tumbling down.
Chase had been useful in keeping our spirits up until he’d succumbed to the sleep two days after the twins had arrived. I missed having the beta around with his quick words. Often his extra gift, the power to tell if people were lying, was what they valued him for. Most overlooked his wit.
When Shelby called, I wondered if she was after an update on Kade. “Hey Shelby,” I answered, running a hand over the short beard I’d grown.
“Dakota, hey. I have a question for you.”
“Oh-kay,” Her brusque tone had me drawing the word out.
“What the fuck?” Her cursing shocked me. Shelby had never been one for swearing since most of her job was customer facing.
“Huh?”
