Chapter 20 - Sage
It was Summer who told me, pounding on the front door, so out of breath when I answered it that she had her hands braced on her knees. She'd run the entire way from Richard's house to give me the news.
"Your old Alpha," she panted, struggling to speak. "Breached the border. For you."
It was a shock, like ice water poured over my head.
Joe had come for me? The idea that my old pack had been so concerned with me being taken was a totally foreign thing.
I had simply assumed my disappearance was written off as a non-issue.
Kidnapping she-wolves wasn't unheard of, but it was an antiquated practice that a lot of packs refused to participate in.
Even still, I never imagined I was worth enough to come hunting for.
I couldn't help but feel a small bit of warmth at the thought.
But there wasn't any time to bask in the feeling. Joe was here, and according to Summer, he'd brought an entire entourage with him.
"It's just Noah and Cal, but reinforcements are on their way," Summer said as we made our way towards the border.
"What else do you know?"
"Nothing," Summer, normally all smiles, sounded grim, "All I got was a short text from Cal. He hasn't answered any of my replies."
My heart dropped. I couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to get very bad, very fast.
We shifted, loping through the woods until we could see the small gathering of wolves up ahead. Noah sensed me first, and I shifted back, pulse thundering as I looked between my mate and my former Alpha, who was flanked by his men and appeared relieved to finally lay eyes on me.
"Sage," Joe said, his eyes darting to Noah and then back to me, "Thank goodness. Are you alright?"
"She's fine," Noah growled, baring his teeth, "And she's not going anywhere." Joe didn't take the bait, but kept his eyes fixed on me until I answered. "I'm fine."
The air between the two men crackled with animosity, but it hadn't broken out into violence, at least not yet. There was still time to diffuse the situation before it became an all-out war.
"Are you sure?" Joe began again, and Noah let out a warning rumble. The wolves flanking Joe tensed, and Summer and I both stepped forward, ready to jump into the fray if needed. Neither of us was a fighter, but the shock of it might be enough to stop the violence for a beat.
"Stop," I held my hand up to both Alphas, and they glanced at me. "Joe, why are you here?"
I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it for myself. My former Alpha took a breath and then met my eyes. "To bring you home. I had to clear it with the other packs in the alliance, or I would have come sooner."
That made me pause. "Clear it? Why?"
"Because," Joe looked back to Noah, "We have to be in agreement if the possibility of war between packs is on the table."
Everyone in the clearing sucked in a breath, and I felt a headache start to pound in the back of my head. Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I just didn't feel right. Still, I pressed on. "I'm...grateful you came for me at all. But it's more complicated than you know, Alpha..."
Noah snarled then, when I addressed Joe by his title. "More complicated, how?" Joe asked.
"Because she's my mate," Noah snapped, not giving me time to answer for myself. He moved in front of me, as if to shield me from my former Alpha. "My bonded mate. And my wife."
For a moment, the only sound was the wind curling through the trees around us and shaking the branches. Joe looked genuinely shocked, and it was the first time his mask had cracked.
"Did you know when you were treating him after the attack?"
"...yes. I know I should have told you, but it had been years since I'd seen Noah, and I'd hoped the bond had faded. Turns out that was wishful thinking."
Joe nodded, his face grave. He looked to Noah. "This complicates things. But you still stole a wolf from my territory, and as far as I'm concerned, she's still part of my pack. If Sage wants to come home to Brokenclaw with me, then I'll make sure she has that choice."
I'd never seen Noah so angry. He was like a different person, and if it wasn't for our mating bond still glowing strongly between us, I'd question whether he was in his right mind or not.
"If you take her," He seethed, "Then I'll call the rest of my pack, and you'll have your war. I'll make sure there's no doubt who won, and who lost. You will have to retreat."
Joe's shoulders squared, and his men tensed, waiting for the command. "Is that a threat, Alpha?"
"You're damn right it is. Sage is my mate, and I'll bleed if that's what it takes to keep her."
My head was spinning, and I reached out to grab Summer's shoulder to steady myself.
It was all too much, the clearing full of pissed off Alpha energy, and the pull I felt towards Noah fighting with how much I still wanted to go back to my old home.
It had lessened as I became more comfortable with Noah and the Silvervine pack, but seeing Joe and his wolves made the desire surge up all over again.
But Noah was my mate. He'd helped me through my heat, kissed me until I was breathless, and cared for me like no one else ever had. He'd done so much to prove that he was a better Alpha than his father, and that I could really have a home with him.
It was too much all at once. My legs felt shaky, my knees weak, my vision going fuzzy at the edges. I had to find a place to sit down before I passed out.
"Stop it," Summer snapped at the Alphas. "You're going to hurt her!"
Noah turned to look at me, his face stricken. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "Sage, what's wrong?" Joe was looking at me with concern.
"I don't..." I was starting to sway on my feet, and it was getting harder to stay conscious. "I'm—"
Noah crossed the distance between us, catching me as my legs buckled. "Sage! Hey, Sage, look at me."
"I don't...know what's..." I mumbled, trying to get the words out, but unable to focus.
"Shit," I distantly heard Joe say, but when my old Alpha tried to come forward, I heard Cal come forward to get in his way.
"We're pausing the negotiations so I can tend to my mate." When Noah spoke, he kept his eyes on me. "Cal, take Joe and his men...fuck, I don't know. Somewhere. An empty pack house. The Council hall. I don't care. We'll continue this later."
If I weren't on the verge of unconsciousness, I would have laughed at the word negotiations.
The two Alphas were doing a lot of snarling and posturing, but negotiations weren't exactly on the table.
Maybe my sudden illness would give them some time to regroup and act in a sane manner at their next meeting.
Surely by then I would have made my choice.
I clung to Noah, my hands fisted in his shirt like they had been earlier when he kissed me, except this time I was feeling a lot less amorous and a lot more sick.
Noah was a warm, steady presence as he carried me back towards the house.
His scent and the strong, protective energy that flowed through the bond were the only things keeping me tethered to consciousness.
When we made it back inside, he wasted no time carrying me to my bed and tucking the blankets around me.
"What happened?" He asked, brushing his thumb along my forehead. "What can I do?" "Nothing," I murmured, trying not to fall asleep. "I just need to rest."
He didn't look convinced. "Sage, let me help you. Please."
I tried to smile at him, reaching up to touch his face even as my vision went foggy. I felt terrible, but I didn't want him to worry, either. "Maybe some aspirin, water, and crackers."
"Okay," Noah's eyes darted around the room, like he was looking for anything else that might help. "Water, crackers, and aspirin. Got it."
As soon as he left the room, I closed my eyes. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like longer, and I dozed. A few minutes later, the bed dipped, and Noah was shaking me awake.
"Hey, don't sleep. Not yet. Eat and drink something."
He was right. If I fell asleep without getting some food in my stomach, it would be all the worse when I woke up. So I took the pain meds and the water, and slowly chewed on a cracker. I wasn't hungry, and it tasted like sawdust in my mouth, but I powered through.
Neither of us spoke about the elephant in the room—Joe and his men, residing somewhere in the territory and waiting to confront Noah once more. The fact that the Silvervine Alpha was even willing to step away from the fight was proof that he cared more about me than his own pride.
But the fight wasn't over. Even though the nausea was ebbing away and the lightheadedness was fading, the battle between the Alphas had only been delayed.
"You need to eat more," Noah fretted, "And then sleep. The healer will be by soon."
He had his back turned, so I was free to roll my eyes. I was a shifter. Our immune system was practically impenetrable, and a little stomach bug or migraine wasn't going to kill me. "I'll be fine," I told him.
"No arguing," Noah insisted, "You scared me. You should have just let me handle Joe." "Noah. You and I both know I would have to talk to him. He is...was...my Alpha."
Noah's gaze sharpened, "Is or was, Sage? Because from what I can tell, you're my wife and the Luna of this pack. Whatever pack bonds you had with Joe's pack are broken."
He wasn't wrong. Day after day, I had felt my connection to the Brokenclaw pack grow weaker as my connection to the Silvervine pack grew. And now, with the bonds severed almost completely, I could barely even remember what it felt like to be part of Joe's pack.
But that didn't mean I wanted to give up my ability to choose.
What if Noah was wrong, and we didn't work well together in the end?
That seemed impossible, with how things had been going, and how close I felt to Noah despite the kidnapping, but there was still that lingering doubt.
..and that lingering desire to go back to my quiet home and my job as a healer.