Chapter 124

Alyson

I find myself sitting in the hallway between office and bedroom.

In one, my mate suffers with an ill mark on his shoulder and back, and in the other sits an enigma of a wolf. He has kissed me, he has fondled me, and unknown to us both, he has poisoned me while I was newly pregnant. If anything, I should hate the rogue Alpha, but I don't have it in me to leave him completely.

So I sit in the hall between them both, curled up with my hands resting on my stomach as if I have already blossomed outward, waiting for one of my favorite Alpha's to wake up. If I leave here to be with one, and the other wakes, I'll feel guilty forever.

For now, I wait, hearing steps breach my silent mediation between Alphas.

"My Luna, why are you out of bed?" I hear Fritz hum, my eyes watered and wide, shocked to see him here of all places. We didn't exactly part on the most amicable of terms. "You're still looking pale."

I wave off his words and he sits beside me, assuming my crouched position, knees firmly locking in under my chin. I can hear my pulse rattling with every breath. I'm cold, insanely cold, and my senses can only smell the blood of my mate in the room behind me.

"What did your palace healer say about your sickness? I was worried all night, couldn't think straight. I had to come check on things; how is Ryan?" His tone is soft, harmless, but I shed more tears, regardless. "Whoa, whoa." He slowly rub my shoulder and I bow my head in sobbing shame. "What is going on? What happened?"

"I'm pregnant," I utter in whisper, as though it's sinful to carry my mate's own heir. "I made Olivera run me to the clinic in Wilshire, the healer there told me what was wrong with me. Olivera found your little test tube cure," I mutter.

Fritz perks up. "Please tell me you both didn't st—"

"We did take it." I shake my head, wiping my fresh tears.

"Did you use it on Ryan?" He speaks softly, less furious than I would have thought.

I shake my head, still baffled by the events that did take place. "No, Olivera took it. The healer said the only way to know a reaction to it would be to administer it, but he couldn't in good faith give it to the Alpha of our pack incase—" I choke slightly, the thought of either Alpha dying is increasingly distressing to me.

Fritz wipes a hand down his face and neck, as though to flick off the exuding stress he feels now after hearing these things. "How is Olivera?"

"Knocked out," I say, sweepingly simple. "It was incredibly hard to watch him take that shot, Fritz. If it kills him… I don't know what we will do then."

"Ryan will fight this," Fritz assures me. "He has a strong Alpha bloodline."

"And what if he doesn't? What if Olivera doesn't, either?"

"I've never heard a Luna pity a rogue who kidnapped her and drugged her pick that same rogue over her fated mate." Fritz taps his foot rhythmically and slow; it frustrates me to no end. "You have a tremendous heart, Alyson, but don't let it blind you of your truth."

"You've done nothing but lie to me and my mate, and you badger me over truth." I shake my head, folding my hands over in my lap. "Truthfully, I love Ryan. He is my mate and my best friend. I can also care for Olivera. I sympathize with him. He lost his whole life; he lost his mate and the future he was planning on having and he is trying to figure things out. I understand him."

"He is just a rogue and he has hurt you," Fritz says.

I try to tame my snarky tone but it doesn't work too well. "So have you," I admit. "After it all, I will still consider you the closest elder I have to my family, and you will always be family, but let's not forget who lied and hurt me and my mate in this war we've just had."

He wants to argue, I can tell, but the noise in the next room startles me. I bolt upward, tripping slightly, but catching myself on the door frame. My heart ripples through me, seeing my mate sit up onto his arms, blinking slow to the world around him.

I run over to the side of our bed where he faces and fall to the floor, already releasing heavy ebbs of sobs and yells and any other noise that overcomes me. Ryan smiles through the pain that overcomes his body. He reaches for me, his warm fingers caressing my cheek and jawline, sweetly trying to sooth my regrets on how he has ended up in this situation.

"Ryan," I gasp, viciously rubbing my cheeks dry until they are damn near raw. "Ryan, I have to tell you—so much to tell you—I can't keep it in—I can't—"

"Please, Alyson, don't be upset right now." He fakes another smile but it's hard for him to keep it honest. He kicks his legs up over the side of the bed, growling the entire time. "I need to go soak in the bath for a little bit, mate. Can you draw a bath for me?"

Swallowing hard, I nod, moving to the suite and seeing Fritz in the opposite doorway, staring down Olivera who is still laid out on his little cot after shredding the chair to spare parts when he took his shot. I draw the bath though, forcing myself to focus, and then adding soap so the bubbles of the bath and the steam both rise into the air. Lavender scents swarm me.

"Thank you, darling," Ryan groans, limping slow as he is stiff and grappling to walk, leaning on the walls until I step in and help him forward. I help him strip off his pants and settle into the bathtub, leaning his head back soothingly. "This is exactly what I needed, mate."

I kneel beside the tub, washing his wound gently, the water turning crimson very quickly. "Ryan, we need to talk about something."

He rests his eyes shut, inhaling deeply as he tries to focus through the pain of me wiping his puncture wounds clean. "Yes, darling? What's wrong? If this about you being upset over me getting injured, then skip the lecture, please."

I swallow hard, trembling slightly. "No. Ryan, it's nothing about that. It's actually about us both and I think you should know—"

"Luna," Fritz calls, his voice frantic.

My heart sputters, seeing the elder run into the doorway of the suite, his eyes wide in shock or in horror—perhaps both.

"He's awake."