24. Finally
Finally
Dakota
“S o, here was Blake. He must have been about five. We were nine, and he’d just been told about this alpha power that he’d get as he grew up.
Thing was, Dad was always telling him how special he was, and Blake could be a little shit about it.
Dad was always filling his head. Stronger than every alpha boy he knew and all this bullshit.
So, I’d taken the last cookie that mama had made.
She didn’t get into the kitchen often, since our dad thought it was beneath her.
She’d made Blake’s favorite chocolate and macadamia cookies, and I’d made off with the last one.
” Chase chuckled from his place next to Axel’s bed.
Teárlach smiled as he observed the twins, but stayed quiet.
“He was so upset. Little Blake chased us all around the house, yelling at me to give it back. I don’t even know why Axel was running. Maybe he thought I was going to share it with him. I wasn’t.”
“You were.” A croak came from the bed.
My head jerked up from where I was looking at the observations that were being taken several times a day. I didn’t fully understand the chart but got the gist.
“Wha—“ Chase looked at his brother. His eyes were still closed. He turned to look at me. “Did you hear that?”
“I did.” Teárlach spoke at the time as me.
Chase studied his brother again before continuing the story watching Axel carefully. “So, we stopped, out of breath, and Blake squared up to us. He demanded I give the cookies back, not noticing that there was only one. I refused because I wanted it.”
“Brat.” Axel muttered. Chase and I exchanged a look, and I motioned for him to continue.
“We were at an impasse because I wasn’t giving up the cookie on the principle that Blake wanted it and he was our dad’s favorite. I didn’t get that it wasn’t a good thing until much later. Blake got really mad and his eyes started to glow. His voice got really low. It was pretty scary, actually.”
Axel let out a little laugh. His eyes were still closed, but I’d noticed that his fingers were twitching around his brother’s. Chase sent me such a heavy look. It was one part hope, two parts desperation.
“This voice just came out of him. Drop the cookie, it growled. And I did as compelled. Dropped it there and then. Right in the dirt. As soon as Blake saw it, he burst into tears and ran into the house. Mama saw him crying and found out what had happened. She was so mad at us. Dad, though, was proud when he found out. He actually asked mama to make Blake a batch just for him.”
“He gave me some.” Axel rasped. His eyelids fluttered, and he blinked open his eyes. “Water?”
Chase and I moved simultaneously to help him. Chase for the water, me for the controls on the bed to sit him up.
Chase set the cup at his lips and Axel took a couple of small sips before his eyes settled on Teárlach. “Who?”
The elf stepped forward cautiously. “Much has happened while you slept. I’m… I’m a friend of the pack. Teárlach.” I could have sworn he wanted to add something. His eyes never left Axel’s.
“Teárlach,” Axel repeated the name perfectly, drawing a small smile from the elf.
“We need to tell everyone you’re awake!” Chase got up from the side of the bed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and calling his brother. “Blake! He’s awake! You need to come.”
Axel looked confused and glanced at Teárlach for answers. “You’ve been asleep for a few weeks. Chase has been awake for two weeks now. He’s one of the few betas awake.”
“Huh. The others?” Axel asked.
“I’ll go check.” I went to Grady and Trey’s room to find them quietly talking with ívarr and a nurse.
“Ah, Dakota, I assume Axel is awake too? There have been reports of betas awakening all over.”
His words followed me as I rushed to Angelica’s room just in time to see her open her eyes. Her nurse moved swiftly out of my way so I could clasp my daughter’s hand.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
“I’m here, little kit.”
“Papa?”
“You’ve been sick, little kit. Papa can’t come see you just yet.”
“Kade?” she paused. “Hayden?” Her eyes were half closed, as if the effort to talk had sapped all her energy and keeping her eyes open was just too much.
“Who’s Hayden, sweetheart?”
“Brother. Baby.”
“Did you name your baby brother?”
“Saw him all big.” Her voice was incredibly quiet. She smiled. The nurse and I exchanged a look before working together to prop Angelica up a bit more and making sure she got a drink. Her eyes closed again.
“I think that was all from her for just now, Dakota. I’ll monitor her while you contact your mate. This seems like a normal sleep, though. See the eye movement there?” She pointed. “And her fingers are twitching. She’ll wake again soon. I need to get these readings to ívarr.”
“Thanks, Michaella. The others are all awake too, in different stages of waking at least.” I was in shock. All our waiting had paid off, and they had all made it through! “I just wish my mate could visit.”
“The spore levels have been dropping almost daily. We should take a reading.” Michaella suggested.
“Good idea. I’ll call Hakeem once I finish talking to Jasper.”
In the hallway, I got out my phone and made the call. “Dakota?” Jasper sounded hopeful. “Is Axel okay? I heard he’s awake.”
“They are all awake.” I heard the awe in my tone.
“Angel?”
“She asked for you. She’s gone back to sleep—“
”—“
“But it’s a proper sleep, a light one. Talking wore her out.”
I heard the sniffle he was trying to hide. “What did she say?”
“She asked for you, and then Kade and Hayden.”
“Hayden?”
“Seems our little girl has been dreaming about her baby brother and named him.” Goddess, I loved that little girl! I wondered if her dreams were like Jasper’s visions.
“I love that name, actually.”
“Yeah, me too. We’ll have to ask her about her dream once she has more energy. She said she saw him big.”
“Huh.” He was quiet, but I gave him a minute before I dropped in my next item of news.
“You know how I said you might be able to visit with a mask?”
“Yeah?” He said cautiously.
“Well, I’m going to ask Hakeem to do another reading, but the spore levels have been dropping daily. Maybe you could come today. You all could.”
“What? Really?”
I prayed to the goddess that I wasn’t filling him with false hope. “One of the fantastic nurses,” I said, giving Michaella a wink, “suggested we get Hakeem over here to do another scan. It’s what he is focusing on.”
“Could we stay?” The hope in his voice was so fragile.
“I really want that, but only if it’s safe.”
“Of course.”
The wait was anxious as Hakeem, Teagan, ívarr and Teárlach all discussed the readings of the last few days with my parents, who they had been sharing research with.
Consensus was that the spores were gone.
Yet, there was no reason for them to have vanished.
It just seemed that as soon as the sickness had loosened its hold on our betas, they had evaporated.
“So?” I questioned, looking between all the elves and my parents. Blake was trusting them and my parents to decide. He was eager to see his brothers, especially Axel, though he knew Kade was just as eager to see them too, and didn’t want to be left at home.
There was a lot riding on this decision and I felt the pressure fall heavily on me. I didn’t know how Blake took the weight. No one wanted to risk our pregnant omegas. At the same time, mentally, the omegas were suffering, having endured a lengthy separation from their families and pack.
ívarr sounded mystified. “We cannot account for it, but the spores are gone without a trace. If it wasn’t for the samples that we have in storage, I would think that they hadn’t existed at all.”
“So it’s safe for the omegas to all come home?”
He nodded, sharing a look with my father.
“We would like permission to stay within the pack for the next few weeks, at least. Of course, we can move into other housing. I’m sure you would like your mate at home.
” I smiled at him and nodded my thanks. “As soon as Axel is able to move around a little more, we can transfer him to his rooms at the mansion.”
“Thank you, there’s no hurry.”
“Dakota, I’m going to ask the council if we can keep some of the staff they arranged for a few days while we get everyone up and about.” Dad said as he pulled out his phone. “With them not needing to be on site, they can return to their homes in Sweetwater and Northarbor if they would prefer.”
As our alpha, Blake’s rooms hadn’t been touched, but we had displaced many of the pack to make room for the elves and hospital staff.
Our house was packed with the two elves and four betas that didn’t live with us.
I wanted to have Jasper come home to our bed, not the thin sofa bed in the garage.
No matter how nice I’d tried to make the space, it didn’t have the necessities that we needed, like a bathroom.
A pregnant omega couldn’t be expected to track down the stairs, across the yard, and into the main house to use the toilet three times a night.
“ívarr, would you like to come and stay with us?” Papa offered. “I’m sure my son would prefer his mate was in the house. Angelica will want her papa.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you for your generous hospitality.”
“Dakota, ívarr, would you mind if I perhaps stayed here? I could move to the room above the garage.” Teárlach asked quietly. He and ívarr had a silent conversation that ended with a subtle nod of assent from his leader.
“I don’t mind that at all.” I answered. “Chase isn’t quite at full strength yet and I could probably do with some help to get Grady and Trey to the bathroom later.
” The men appeared to be recovering quickly, or quicker than Axel and Angelica were.
Both could walk with assistance, so had their catheters removed.
While they were disoriented and weak, there seemed to be no real side effects to the illness. Trey had asked to call the council but had been denied. He needed to focus on getting back up to strength.