5. Mystery Omega #2
The pieces all started to fall into place for me.
How Rincoln hadn’t asked for any assistance.
Hadn’t even offered ?any sort of description, or any information about this missing son, had all sorts of red flags waving.
Had I become too comfortable in my office that I’d neglected to use my wolf senses?
I relied far too heavily on Chase’s extra senses, I knew that much.
They weren’t infallible and could be fooled.
I’d lapsed into silence, thinking about the whole situation. I vowed to talk to Kade when he was feeling better so that I could check if I needed to remove Rincoln from my territory. Making sure that Kade was safe was a priority to both me and my wolf.
Realizing I wouldn’t ask any more questions, Dakota finally took a seat to wait on the news. He tapped away on his phone, probably updating those at Mercury about what had happened.
“Chase, could you contact the pack and have someone return the van to Mercury, please?” I asked my brother.
Why aren’t you using the link?
I didn’t reply to Chase, keeping my thoughts locked down tight. I didn’t want anyone, even my brothers, to see how conflicted I was about this whole situation. How Kade had entered my territory was cause for punishment, but my wolf, and my heart, believed that Kade needed our protection.
“Sure thing, Alpha.” He wasn’t usually so formal with me, but with strangers present, he would fall into the proper etiquette required for our roles. Chase flashed me a look about having to speak aloud, but I ignored it.
“Thank you,” Dakota said, albeit ungratefully.
Part of me thought that his animosity was because he didn’t want me to be a decent person, sensing a threat.
I wasn’t sure if I was. Kade might fascinate me in his current state, but there might be nothing there.
It was probably just because of the magic and his illness, my wolf sensing a pack member in distress.
Not that Kade was pack, he was an independent but he must have asked for permission to settle in the area.
As the closest alpha, he was my responsibility.
Not wanting to arouse suspicion or hint at any sort of weakness in my pack, I sent Axel a message:
Blake: Find out who signed off on Kade staying in the area. I’ve heard nothing about him. Someone obviously checked him properly at the gates since they had the correct designation. I want whatever history we have on him.
Although I knew he was discussing Kade’s use of blockers and magic with the staff, he wouldn’t ignore a message from me. His reply took seconds to arrive.
Axel: Understood. I’ll have that for you when we return to the pack-house. Chase is worried that you aren’t using the link.
I decided to side-step that last part. My brother coddled his younger twin.
Axel handled a lot of duties in the pack as my brother and second. He also had his own assistant, who was likely going through transcripts now to find the information that I needed.
Blake: Apologize to Dalton for me. There’s no rush on it.
Axel: No chance, he’s getting too lazy. Need to put the fear into him every so often or he’ll start forgetting my coffee order when he comes to work.
Blake: Never thought I’d feel sorry for your assistant, but Dalton deserves a better boss.
Axel: He’s mine, you can’t have him. *tongue out emoji*
His message made me smile for the first time in hours and he returned to the room shortly after, sitting close enough to be touching. My wolf enjoyed the touch of a pack-mate and relaxed for the first time since we’d met Kade.
We waited for another hour before a doctor came out to speak to us.
“My apologies for the wait, gentlemen. I had to wait for my patient to wake and then we had to discuss treatment. He’s allowed me permission to share this information with you, though you aren’t family.
He’s developed an allergy to the blockers and has to stop taking them immediately.
Which one of you is Dakota?” The doctor looked between us all and Dakota stood.
“That’s me. Kade works with me.”
“We are having some disagreement over the next steps, but Kade needs to rest for a few days and to stop using both the potion and the blockers. Once the blockers clear from his system, his healing should improve. He’ll likely go into heat in the next week to fourteen days.”
“So, no work for a couple of weeks?” Dakota asked carefully, not showing an opinion either way.
“He can work after a few days on light duties, but will probably need heat leave soon after his return,” the doctor advised.
Relief that Kade was going to be okay filled me until I was hit with another worry. “Will his wolf be okay? He didn’t try to shift.”
“I can’t know for sure, but his shifting ability will likely return shortly.”
Something didn’t feel right. The doctor was acting cagey. “Are there other side effects of this?” I asked outright.
“Are you Kade’s partner?” he directed the question at me, causing Dakota to let out a rumbling growl. I shook my head. “Then that is all I’m at liberty to discuss with you.”
“Can I see him?” Dakota asked, as the doctor tried to leave.
“I’m sorry, but my patient has asked for some privacy and rest.”
We looked at each other, dismissed and worried. The doctor had left out something pretty important, and Kade was upset enough to risk offending a pack alpha.
A nurse entered the small waiting room. “Now that you’ve heard from the doctor about your friend, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Visiting hours are over.”