The Omega Queen

Twenty-Eight

Erin edged closer to the room. She glanced at where Alexander and Cahira stood, trying to prepare themselves while Kaison waited for them to make the final call. Fighting the urge to go back to her mate’s side, Erin slipped quietly into the isolation room. Nathan snarled at her, pulling at the restraints keeping him tied to the bed. She hesitated.

‘You have to make physical contact,’ Eir reminded. ‘Remember the bird?’

Erin moved closer, circling behind the bed. She breathed deep before stepping closer and gripped his head between her hands. Nathan struggled, but the restraints kept him from turning on her. Erin leaned over him, pressing her forehead against his.

‘All right, here I go,’ Eir said.

Her wolf surged forward and pushed itself into the beta. He struggled against the alien force, but her wolf was undeterred. It continued its advance. Eventually, the beta stilled as her wolf sought out every inch of him. Then it set them both on fire.

Erin whimpered as her body temperature rose to a fever alongside the beta. She felt like she was truly on fire and Nathan whimpered though he didn’t have the strength to fight. Slowly, her wolf withdrew, pulling the rising tide of fever from his body and into their own. Erin gasped as it surged into her. She knew her face had to be flushed as her skin felt it was on fire.

“Erin?”

She looked up to see Alexander standing in the doorway. He stared at her in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

She wanted to tell him it would be all right, that there was no reason to worry. Her mind felt fuzzy, and it was getting difficult to breathe. Suddenly, she felt heavy and limp. There wasn’t time to mouth even an apology as she collapsed.

Alexander rushed forward, catching her unresponsive body. He stared at her, cradling her close. Her face was flushed, and she was practically burning up. But she had been fine before. What the hell just happened?

“Alex?” Kaison asked from the door.

“What are you waiting for?” he snarled. “Tend to her!”

“Was she bit?”

“I—I don’t think so. She just fainted.”

“Bring her here,” Kaison instructed him to a different bed. It was still in the isolated room, but as far from the beta as it could be.

Alexander laid her down and Kaison immediately checked her vitals, attaching her to a monitor. Her heartbeat was racing, and her temperature continued to rise. He checked her hands, wrists and arms to find no evidence of a bite. If she hadn’t been bitten, he didn’t understand why she was having such a violent reaction.

“Do something!” Alexander snarled.

“I need an IV bag and cold compresses!” Kaison turned to his waiting staff. “Hurry! We have to bring her temperature down!”

His order stirred them to action. Kaison worked quickly under his alpha’s domineering gaze to insert the IV to bring her vital fluids while the nurses carried in a cooler full of cold packs. Alexander had to fight the urge to protect his mate as they quickly worked to strip her and cover her with a hospital gown as they practically buried her under cold packs. He paced even as his wolf paced in his mind.

What had gone wrong?

Erin had been secure in the saferoom. The rogues hadn’t gotten close to her. There was no way she could have been infected unless Nathan had bitten her. But there were no wounds, not even a scratch.

Beside him, Cahira watched them work on Erin and was practically in tears. She shouldn’t have brought Erin to the hospital, but she hadn’t been able to stay away when she heard Nathan was bitten. It was only natural for Erin to accompany her, but that had been a mistake.

“We shouldn’t have come,” Cahira quietly muttered.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Alexander growled. His mate would have been perfectly safe if they had simply stayed home.

“I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stay away,” Cahira whispered. “Nathan, he’s…”

She looked at her adopted son and fell silent. He seemed to be resting peacefully. The monitors tracking his vitals remained steady. It was nothing like the erratic behavior he exhibited when they first arrived.

“Is that right?” Cahira suddenly asked.

“What?” Kaison looked up from Erin’s vitals and glanced in her direction to see the beta was calm and quiet.

He looked again at his pack’s future luna and back to the beta feeling he had stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Just what was going on?

Erin seemed to have stabilized, so he crossed the room to look Nathan over again. He drew blood as he had done when the beta was first admitted, wanting to test the two samples. The male wolf was cool to the touch, and everything looked normal, which shouldn’t have been possible. How could he not have any signs of infection? And why was Erin suddenly overcome with symptoms but didn’t appear to be bitten?

“What’s wrong?” Alexander suddenly spoke, sensing his confusion.

“I’m not sure,” Kaison hesitated. “I need to run some tests.”

He straightened, looking at the nurses who worked diligently to make their future luna as comfortable as possible. Kaison wondered if any of them had an inkling what the she-wolf was to them and their alpha. They had seen the way Alexander embraced Erin as soon as she arrived. Surely, no one could be dense enough not to understand the implications.

“Everyone,” Kaison spoke softly, but with authority. “Not a word about what happened her today. Understood?”

The nurses shared grim expressions. It was unusual for their gamma to issue orders, but they would not disobey. Quietly, they nodded in agreement. They weren’t really sure what happened in the last few minutes, but they understood at least one thing.

Moments ago, they faced the real possibility of losing their beta, but now, because of the silent she-wolf, it looked as if they had been spared that tragedy. They were both grateful and in awe of the she-wolf they had all become quite fond of. Not only that, but the way their alpha had embraced Erin as soon as she arrived was not an image they could forget. The reason why she tagged along with Cahira had much more meaning than they dared say aloud.

It was much better for their alpha to make the official announcement. They would wait until then before they voiced their suspicions. Until then, they would make sure the she-wolf received the best care possible.