Page 2 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
“No, my darling raccoon, they cannot.” I sensed a smile through the speaker’s tone. “Yet I can, and I seethe heart of who you truly are. You thought about your principles, gave up your home to travel on the path of good. Dalton, you really are worthy of this gift and it is my pleasure to give it to you.” Her voice was filled with such pride. For me. No one had ever spoken to me like that.
Her words struck me right in my heart. My eyes filled with tears, my chin wobbled as I tried in vain to hold them back. The raccoon part of me, my beloved alter, scampered into my arms and held me as I wept. “Thank you, goddess,” I got out around my sobs. She could only be the one we called The Luna.
“You are welcome, Dalton. My gift may take some time, so be patient. Stick to the path your heart tells you is right. Do not stray, for there are consequences if you do.”
“I understand, my lady.”
“Good luck Dalton. I am sorry for the trials coming your way, but faith is its own reward.”
Return to Work
Dalton
“My plan is just to seize the day, y’know? Just grab every opportunity while I can. This was a wake up call.” I wasn’t all that sure the nurse was listening to me as they took me through the stretches advised by Aldrin, our healer.
“Hmm?” they muttered. The nurse was one of the staff the council had hired to look after the pack while all the betas were sleeping from the beta sickness. I wasn’t sure of their preferred pronouns, just knew they were a witch who was affiliated with the Northarbor coven, though not anyone powerful.
They frowned as Spice bounced his way along the bed to wrap himself around my neck. Priscilla swished her fluffy tail lazily from the new hammock in the window of my bedroom, beside us. I’d bought the new bed for her so she could watch the world go by like the queen she was. My pets had to be in the same roomas me all the time since I’d woken. Clingy was not the word.
Clearly, the witch didn’t appreciate cute animals. Rude. They would likely hate my alter. My raccoon was twice as cheeky as Spice when given the chance. Inside my mind, he made a squeak of indignance.
“I’m nearly back to full strength. It’s time for me to get back to work.” The nurse met my eyes, a vacant look on their admittedly pretty face. They were fairly androgynous in appearance, not really my type. I wanted to be the pretty one in the relationship, y’know? Plus, not liking my pets was a big no.
“Being in a coma for a month has taught me I don’t live enough. There’s no one who would miss me if I was gone.” At that point I was pretty sure I was just voicing my thoughts, spreading them to the void for all the attention the witch was paying to me as they manipulated my limbs, making them burn and ache.
“Oh, you know that’s not true,” a voice drawled from the doorway.
“Let yourself in. Why don’t you?” I snarked back, a smile on my lips.
Chase stalked into the room, then perched on the end of the bed, a matching grin on his face. He looked me up and down as I struggled into a seated position. Spice was jostled from his place around my neck. His nose twitched as he spotted Chase holding a piece ofmeat. Abandoning me for his friend, he ran over to Chase to beg for the treat.
“Looking good, Dalton,” Chase said as he gave the morsel to Spice, earning permission to pet him. Like he had ever been denied. Chase was one of the few people to just automatically love my pets. It was pretty much the only reason he was still my friend after some of the stunts he had pulled.
“I’m so glad you’re coming back into the office tomorrow. Ax is doing his best from Dakota’s, but you just have the magic touch.”
Okay, so he was buttering me up. Suspicion grew within me. I kept a carefully blank expression.
The nurse glared as Chase picked up one of my feet and began massaging it. I almost groaned at the firm touch of his fingers on the arch of my foot. Spice, hearing my stifled sound, rushed back into my arms.
“Sorry,” I said, trying to pull my foot away despite really enjoying the pressure Chase was using. “Chase has no boundaries.”
My friend just shrugged. “True. You are coming back tomorrow, right?”
“What have you done?” I asked at the same time the witch spoke.
“Do you have permission to return to work?”
Chase fixed them with a look. “He’s assistant to our Second, and me. I think that’s enough permission.” To me he said, “nothing. Nope, not a thing.”
I scoffed, not believing that for a second.
Instead of cowing to Chase, the nurse stubbornly jutted out their chin. “Aldrin or Ívarr have to sign off on any beta returning to work, regardless of their position.”
Determined not to be stuck in the middle of an argument, I interjected. “I have the necessary permission. In fact, I’ve been dealing with some of the dreaded paperwork from home this last week.”
I was recovering faster than some of the other betas. Apparently one of the few benefits of being in my forties. The older we were, the quicker we were recovering.
Because of my chaotic upbringing, I didn’t know exactly how old I was. Not that it mattered, since I didn’t celebrate my birthdays. The date on my birth certificate was an educated guess from a doctor when I had ended up in the E.R. with a broken and shredded leg. Though with how small I was at the time, I could have been a lot older than I appeared. She guessed about six, making me possibly forty-two now, maybe.
