Page 59 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“I’m going to stay here with my brothers for a bit longer. I can watch over Angel’s room, too. Why don’t you visit Jasper?”
“Do you think it’s safe?”
Ívarr paused in the notes he was making on a tablet that had appeared from somewhere. When and where did he get that? “If you shower and put on fresh clothing, we can scan you for the contagion. We believe that we have identified the way they pass it on. As an alpha, it’s highly unlikely that your system is carrying any of the spores.”
“Spores?”
“They mostly cling to biological material and carry the infection. It’s possible that some were on food items. While it is most probable that the infection spread quickly from person to person, food and even some clothing has been identified as having spores on their surfaces and could have resulted in an infection.”
“So, it’s safe to visit my mate?”
“If you take precautions, yes.”
“Could he come home?”
“I’m very sorry. While I understand the need to be with your mate, I assume that since the contagion separated you, that he is with child.” I nodded at the elf. “Then it would be too high of a risk for the baby. Until the child is born, we cannot know the designation and babies are so rare.”
“No, I understand. I just miss him.”
“Occasional visits are all I can recommend just now. I’m very sorry, Dakota.” The elf’s face was solemn.
“I understand, Ívarr. Truly.” Disappointment was a regular feeling for me. I could cope. “It’ll be great to see him.”
“Why don’t you shower at the heat house and head to Kade’s after? I can call them and let them know you’ll be visiting. Kade needs to hear that Chase is awake.” Blake suggested.
“Hell yes he does! How long was I down?” Chase croaked.
“Two weeks.”
Chase’s voice wore out with his creative line of cursing. The tips of Ívarr and Teárlach’s ears both turned pink as they blushed. I heard the already familiar laugh of Hakeem from outside the door, and the tinkling sounds that could only be Teagan laughing, too. I already felt better having the beta awake.
I said my goodbyes and grabbed some clothing from the garage room I’d been sleeping in. When I approached my truck, Hakeem and Teagan were waiting for me. “We are to scan you after your shower. We will check your vehicle and cleanse it whilst you shower. Then perform a check on you for traces.”
The elves were going to great lengths to make sure that I got to visit my mate. I’d be forever grateful to them for that, since I was sure that there were far more important things for them to be working on.
“Thanks. Do you want to ride in my truck? The heat house isn’t far and then I can escort you as far as the mansion.”
It physically pained me to think of the betas that I’d grown to care for, like Dalton, Axel’s long suffering assistant, or Winter, the very talented cook and baker that worked wonders in the pack kitchen with his team, wouldn’t be there to look after the elves. Melody wouldn’t be there with some quick joke to ease the growing tension.
They were at the mercy of the alphas since most of the omegas had retreated to the omega section of the compound. I worried for Roan being stuck with alphas that treated him with disdain because of his past with Rincoln.
Blake had grown concerned, with good reason, that the lack of betas would have alphas taking advantage of the vulnerable omegas. Between us, we’d arranged for the alpha mates of the omegas to have time off their jobs to protect the compound, sending a couple as guards to any workplaces not in the omega section so that they could run the factory.
We were so shorthanded everywhere that I despaired of ever getting caught up. There was no knowing when this would end.
At first we had all thought it would be like a flu. Information had been scarce, so we hadn’t known to expect weeks of everyone being in coma-like states.
It was like something out of a fairytale, but instead of one sleeping cursed girl, we had hundreds of sleeping betas. Not all of them lived on the compound, but all the Sweetwater pack betas had fallen to the beta sickness.
Our relationship with the pride was okay, but no pack wanted to admit they were vulnerable, so no information was coming from them. No help either. The aviary was under restrictions, and we were on their shit list for taking in Jake and Sebastian and reporting them. No hard loss, and it was unlikely they would have offered aid, even if they could have.
My poor parents were traveling to Sweetwater daily, putting on protective equipment and keeping well back as they visited sleeping betas. They’d go home and shower before visiting pregnant omegas for fear of passing anything on. I worried constantly about how worn out they were looking. The whole thing had aged them. Both were close to a hundred, and it was showing. Papa had flecks of gray in his hair that I was sure hadn’t been there before.
The shower in the heat house was a pathetic stream of lukewarm water, but I didn’t care. All I could focus on was getting clean and seeing my mate. My bear rumbled his frustration at my slowness. He wanted to be with his fox as soon as possible. Yesterday if he could. It was difficult to explain the idea of a contagion to an alter, but he seemed to understand it was for the safety of our cub.
Hakeem and Teagan were waiting for me when I exited the heat house, the sun caught on threads of gold woven through Hakeem’s shoulder length locs drawing my attention to the man studying my vehicle carefully.
“Ah, Dakota! Your vehicle was at a safe level. Let me check your clothing.” Teagan wove a complicated machine around me, and then Hakeem ran his hands inside my personal bubble, eliciting a growl from my bear. For some reason, Hakeem had my bear’s hackles rising.
