Page 72 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“Sorry for taking so long, but we needed cake. This calls for a celebration, doesn’t it?”
Nodding against the damp skin of his shoulder and neck, I pulled myself together and kissed him gently.
“Welcome home, my mate.”
Family
Jasper
“Comeinside,”Dakotaurged.The evening air was a touch chilly after the heat of the previous few weeks.
He took the cake box and ushered us towards the kitchen, where Chase was waiting to hug us all.
“This,” Dakota pointed to the elf. “Is Teárlach. He’s going to be staying for a little while longer to help move our patients when needed.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I said to the elf. Kade echoed me.
“Nice to see you again, Teárlach. Thank you for all the help that you and your people have given us over the past couple of weeks.” Blake stepped forward and performed a strange elven handshake thing.
I felt Dakota’s surprise over the bond. He’d opened it wide from the moment that he had seen me leave the car. The sheer relief of being home threatened to buckle my legs. Clinging to my mate was the only thing that kept me standing. Not that I wanted to let him go. It would be a long time before I could grasp that this was happening, so Dakota was just going to have to get used to a shadow following him around.
Tuning out of the conversation between the elf and Blake, I asked,can we go see her?over the bond. I was sure that Blake would excuse the rudeness of not only using the bond, but leaving during their conversation, but I ached to see my daughter.
“Excuse us, alpha, I want to take Jasper upstairs.” Dakota said.
“Of course. I’m sorry, Jasper. We’ve kept you apart for too long. I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling right now. I’m just glad we all made it through.” He turned to the elf. “Teárlach, I’m just going to see Axel. Could we continue our conversation over dinner?”
“Yes, alpha. I’ll keep an eye on the food, Dakota.” He offered, though he looked edgy.
“Blake, Teárlach knows all about what the charts are saying and the treatment plan for Axel since he and Angelica are the worst off currently—“ he must have caught the surge of panic over the bond and how Blake’s silver-blue eyes widened. “Just in this house. It seems that the younger they are, the worse it is. We don’t know why.”
The elf jumped in to save a floundering Dakota. “Dakota is correct. There is a correlation between age and recovery. The betas that woke two weeks ago all recovered at different rates. Largely, the younger they are, the longer they take. Chase is an example. He’s still feeling the effects. Lethargy. Loss of muscle tone. Lack of appetite.”
Chase intervened. “Let’s just go upstairs and see him, okay? He’ll be fine.” He was slow as he walked to the stairs, looking thinner than he had been. It was easy to see how the sickness affected him. The skin under his eyes was dark, lack of sleep leaving its mark. His normally golden tanned skin was pale from lack of daylight. There was an air of fragility about him that the usually bouncy effervescent Chase didn’t have before.
Blake escorted Kade up the stairs after Teárlach, who raced to catch up with Chase. The beta tried to brush him off, but accepted the help before he got to the top step, exchanging a smile with the elf.
Our group separated in the upstairs hallway. Blake, Kade, Chase and Teárlach for Axel’s room, and Dakota and me for Angelica’s room.
Angel was sleeping as we eased into the room on silent feet. Dakota found me a chair and placed it next to the bed so I could sit close comfortably. My fox relaxed at the healthy scent of our kit. She was breathing evenly, pale and thinner than before, but recovering. I’d seen that vision and truly believed it would come true. My girl was going to be fine. No, not fine. Thrive. She had a future that was just waiting for us.
We sat in silence for a little while. I could hear the others chatting, but we had no words. I was just so damn grateful that this ordeal was over and my family were back together. Intact and growing so very soon. Angel had time to recover before the triplets arrived in nine weeks, though with a multiple birth it was likely to be sooner. Then our little one just four weeks later.
As much as I wanted my daughter to get her rest, I wanted her to open her eyes, to see me there, to feel me holding her hand. I wanted to hear her dreams.
Her hand tightened around mine.
“Papa?” she whispered.
“I’m here, Angel.”
Her eyes opened, going large when they landed on me. “You’re here!” She wriggled, and I pulled her into my arms. Her hand landed on my belly and I felt the baby kick at her. She giggled. Such a pure, beautiful sound. “Hayden! He’s happy to feel me, Papa!”
“He’s not the only one baby girl. I’m so glad to be home.”
“You aren’t going away again.”
Dakota and I exchanged a look. “I’m not going away ever again. This is home. Forever.”
