Beta Denise Thorssen's POV
"
BETAS TO MY OFFICE NOW!!"
The command thundered through the bond as we were getting ready for bed. I looked at my mate, wondering the same thing- what the hell pissed him off this time.
"We better get over there before he destroys another desk," Charles said as he took my hand. I put my remaining shoe on before he helped me up. His arm moved around my waist as we moved to the door of our quarters. We didn't have far to go; this wing held only the Alpha and Beta quarters, and our offices. The Alpha quarters took the end of the building, our smaller rooms were on the north side of the hallway, and our offices were on the other. The Alpha's office was next to his quarters, a conference room separated his large office and the smaller Luna office from ours. The Pack House was quiet; we knocked on his door and walked in.
As soon as I saw him, I knew exactly what had happened. He was sitting on the floor, leaning back against his desk, an open bottle of whiskey in his hand. Tears were flowing down his face as his free hand was touching his neck, the mating mark already fading from his skin.
Our Luna, Madeline, had died.
Eleven mated werewolves had gone with Doctor DelMara, and eleven females had died. I rushed over, kneeling by him and pulling his head into my shoulder. I was crushed, losing Connie had almost sent him feral, and to follow it up by losing Madeline was so unfair. Some had spoken in hushed tones about him taking another mate so soon, but I knew the pressures he was under. Everything was going to hell, and he had no heir, no future. A Pack with no heir was an invitation to take over. "Oh, Mitch," I said as I gently rocked him. His emotions broke, the tears pouring out as he sobbed onto the T-shirt I was wearing.
My mate took the bottle from him, going over to the bar and pouring it over ice in three glasses. He sipped on one, waiting for his Alpha to gather himself again. When he finally ran out of tears, he moved over and helped him back into his chair. When he was done, he brought him the bottle and a glass, the other glass he gave to me. As soon as he sat down on the couch, I sat in his lap, his free hand around my waist. "When?"
"I started feeling her pain at about ten thirty, it felt like I was being stabbed in the gut," he said. "I couldn't get out of bed, I couldn't move, I couldn't think. I suffered with her, then the pain started to fade." He wiped away a tear, then took a gulp of his drink. "At eleven twenty, it stopped- the pain, gone, the bond ripped away a moment later. I could feel the mark dissolving, my soul being torn apart again. She's gone."
"She was a good female, a good Alpha. I am proud to have known her," Charles said. "To Madeline, may Luna embrace her and dry her tears." He raised his glass, then I took a sip of the burning liquid. Mitch gulped down the rest of his, getting up to fetch the bottle again.
"Drinking won't stop the pain," I said. "You should rest, let us make the arrangements for her memorial service." We had been averaging a memorial every other day for three weeks.
"I'm fully aware of what is involved in losing a mate, Beta. I don't need your lectures."
"I'm sorry, sir, I just don't want to lose you again. You scared us last year, lashing out, disappearing for days on end." I looked down at my drink. "We are your Betas, we are here to help you."
"Then drink with me." And so we did. Bottle after bottle, until the sun rose and he finally slept.
Vivian's POV
I managed to sleep for a few hours at a time, and my day was ruled by checks and worry over the tiny child. Little Jennifer was a fighter, but she had so much to fight against. I spent an hour in my office, doing research on what I needed to do before I was back in the room. I stared at the tiny form in my gloved hands through the plastic cover. She was no longer blue, she was a bright red now. She refused to take a bottle and was running a temperature. I'd given her antibiotics already, but if she didn't get any milk in she would dehydrate and shut down. "I'll have to put in a feeding tube," I told Jessica, who was nervously waiting for the verdict.
"Have you ever done that?"
"Once, ten years ago, on a full-term baby," I said. I had reviewed the basic process and set up the equipment. She would be on a tube for weeks, allowing me to control better her fluid and nutrient intake. I simply couldn't be here all the time to feed her by syringe. I set Jennifer down as Jessica put her hands in the glove bag. "I need you to hold her, neck slightly back, and head towards you," I said as I readied the tube. Carefully threading it through her nose, then down her throat, I made sure it was in place before taping the tube to her face.
Jennifer did NOT appreciate what we were doing, but it was for her own good. We pushed a few cc's in, checking to make sure it was not coming back up. When I was satisfied, I stood up and stretched. "Next feeding I'll have you do," I said. "We need to make sure she doesn't get tangled up in wires and watch for signs she needs a diaper change." Werewolves could easily scent when she needed it.
We had a chart we were tracking everything on; vital signs, bowel and bladder movements, and feedings. I scheduled one every three hours, and with the tube she could be fed whether she was awake or asleep. "I need to get a nap, wake me before she is due to eat. If her temperature rises another half degree, wake me up," I said. I was nervous about infection, that was the biggest danger right now. I didn't know what effect the bleeding had on her, if she had ingested her mother's blood or another pathogen. At this age, her immune system was weak, a cold would kill her easily.
"I've got it, Vivian. You get some sleep."
"New parents don't get sleep," I smiled as I pulled off my gloves and tossed them away. I went back to the entryway, where the beds were set up. Snake had gone back to the clubhouse, but I saw Moose and Scrape watching television in the break room, bags of chips on the table, rifles within reach. I collapsed into my bed and was asleep in moments.
Beta Denise's POV
Alpha Mitch slept until noon, then he shifted and ran out of the Pack House. He didn't respond to the link, he just ran. "
My love, he went east into the woods. He can't be out there alone."
"I'm on it already,"
Charles sent back. "
I have a team set up, we'll monitor."
I was worried about him; when the despair of mate loss set it, it was all too tempting to just give yourself over to your animal part. If it went too far, became too unbalanced, the wolf couldn't get its human side forward again. It would attack humans, kill livestock, and continue until it was put down. Taking down an Alpha was hard, taking down a feral Alpha could take a whole Pack.
