Page 61 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
I had to cut Kade off. Otherwise, he’d get into full lecture mode. “Sounds great.” I didn’t want to leave the house. Didn’t want to shift just in case there was any news from Dakota about Angel or my friends. I had to though, since regular shifting was good for the baby. If I didn’t go, then Kade wouldn’t be able to, and with three babies, he needed it more than me.
Showering and dressing daily was an increasingly tough challenge the longer that I went spending no time with my mate, but I struggled through it for Kade’s sake. The Luna had not designed mate bonds for extended separation. The video calls and the scent covered clothing helped, but they were just a patch on a larger problem. We had no idea how long this would go on for. Each day was a struggle to keep myself motivated and upbeat. I wanted to sink into the depression that was taking hold, as everything felt so hopeless without my daughter and Dakota around. Only the thought of him with her, watching over her, made it easier to breathe.
The other packs weren’t sharing information and from what Kade could glean from his daily updates, Sweetwater had been disproportionately affected. In other packs that we got information from, only a fraction got the illness, perhaps because they weren’t as connected to each other. Who knows? All we could understand was that no one that was sworn to Blake had been spared.
“Papa!” Kade shouted excitedly as I exited my room that I was still sharing with Deke.
“Yeah?”
“Chase is awake!”
“That’s wonderful!” It truly was. My heart fell, though. “Just him?”
Kade understood my sadness. “Yeah.”
“Still, it’s great news. Hopefully, the others won’t be long behind him.” I tried to be upbeat. This was a glimmer of hope that things were improving.
Kade enveloped me in a hug, our extended bellies making the action difficult. “It’ll be over soon, Papa.”
I rested my head against his and soaked in the scent of him, soothing my fox. My alter loved being around our boy but missed our little kit awfully. There were days they were as low as me, leaving it up to our alpha to keep us going.
My respect had risen exponentially for the young man. He was a different breed of alpha and I wondered if part of the reason that The Luna was testing the Sweetwater pack was because of him. She seemed to be guiding the pack towards something.
We waited for quite some time for news of Blake’s return, only to get a message instead. “Papa! Blake said that Dakota is visiting. The elves say it’s okay!”
“What?”
“Blake wants to spend a little longer with his brothers, so they’ve okayed it for Dakota to come spend time with you.”
“Oh!” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. It was more than I’d hoped for out of the day. When I’d heard about the elves, I’d been mildly curious. I would have liked to meet them, but knew it wasn’t possible until the worst was over, and by then they might have gone.
The other supernatural races had fascinated me all my life. My pack had been insular, much like Rincoln’s had been. We kept to shifters and the occasional trip to see witches, for things like fertility boosters and wards. The fae and elves kept themselves separate from the others, seeing themselves as superior to beings like us or vampires, who they looked upon as parasites. After learning about Isaac from Kade’s old workplace, I wondered if that comparison was accurate. The man was a leech.
“Papa? We’re going to go out and shift so you can spend some time alone.” His face had colored. The blush spreading down his neck amused me.
“Thank you.”
“Kade—“ Deke’s voice held a tone of warning.
“Security issue? Really? I’ve already planned around that. How about we meet up with some friends?”
“Who?”
I ignored their conversation and started bustling about the house, making it tidier for Dakota’s visit. The room that I was staying in was all wrong. Deke’s scent was all over it. Pushing open the window wide, I assessed the space. There was no way that Dakota was going to fit on the single bed. I stripped both the trundle and single bed and started moving furniture so I could push them together, and make the trundle a little higher to make a double when Deke caught me.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“Moving the beds.” I answered firmly.
“In your condition? Nevermind. Just let me do it, okay?”
I stepped aside to let him take over. He soon had them the way that I wanted. They had already been closer so he could hold my hand at night, but the height difference made them an issue.
“Tonight I’ll take the couch.”
Deke cut my noise of protest off. “I want you to enjoy the scent of your mate around you for a bit longer. I see how you are struggling. You need this.” I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight.
“I don’t know how I would have coped without you here. Thank you.”
