Reclaimed By Alpha Zac

Chapter Two

Seven Years Later….

MABEL’S POV

The bright lighting of the operating room dimmed as I stepped out of the door, taking off the surgical gloves from my hands with a sigh of relief.

Another surgery that went successfully.

It was a man in his late thirties who was brought unconscious into the hospital with multiple stab wounds across his chest and neckline. It was really an eyesore but given the years of experience I had, I pushed back the terrified feeling bubbling in my gut and quickly attended to his wounds. The surgery took over four hours, but with the help of my teammates, we were able to subside the internal bleeding and quickly stitch back the parts that needed replacement if tampered with carelessly.

Every procedure and hour taken was worth it, especially as I’d just found out that today happened to be his birthday.

I nearly stumbled back in surprise when my team emerged from all corners and started clapping and cheering as they celebrated my bravery and successful surgery.

“Dr. Mabel, you’re so incredible! You’re the doctor every hospital needs!” A nurse exclaimed as she strolled beside me towards the exit.

“No, Annie, she’s the MIRACLE worker every hospital needs! Have you ever seen her lose a surgery? Gosh, I need to be under your care to know what it feels like to be in the hands of an angel.” Another nurse pulled up to my other side, throwing her hands in the air with excitement.

I chuckled, and shook my head at them—"Why don’t we start with your coffee addiction? This angel would have a cure for that.”—making the rest of the team trailing behind erupt into giggles and laughter, and I shook my head at them as we arrived at the end of the hallway.

With a small smile, I waved them all off and walked down further the corner. Taking a deep breath, I stopped in front of my door and slowly turned the knob, the smile on my face immediately fading away when I found Mr. Bradley Chase, the CEO of the hospital, sitting lazily on my chair with a sly grin creeping up the corner of his lips.

Oh, great. Now, I needed a coffee to deal with this guy.

“Mabel, Mabel,” He teased, clapping his hands as I slowly approached my desk. “The miracle healer every hospital needs!”

How did he…you know what? I don’t even want to know how he knew about the conversations with my teams. He’s the CEO; of course, he was the eyes and ears of his company.

“Bradley,” I sighed, tossing my gloves into the trash next to me. “If you’re here to still convince me to do another donor, my answer will remain the saying—no. My kids are still on my neck for the last one I conducted; I can’t risk making it up to them all the time.”

He leaned back into the car with an intrigued laugh. “I haven’t given up on that, but that’s not why I’m here, Mabel. I came personally to commend you on your work so far. The patient you worked on today happened to be an old friend of mine, so I couldn’t just sit back without coming to show my gratitude for your passion in this.”

My brows raised in surprise. The patient was a friend of Bradley? Wow, I think I’ve just done something huge. Something huge. An idea quickly popped into my mind and I threw him a smirk as I masked my surprise and crossed my arms. “Really? You could show your appreciation by giving me a raise, don’t you think?”

Bradley scoffed under his breath, “Of course she’s going to say that.” Then, he turned back to me with an innocent smile. “A raise? Now isn’t that too greedy? Do you know how much you’re already making?”

“Oh, I do! But not enough to deal with your frequent visits.” I said, sarcasm dripping off my tone. “I’m starting to think that maybe I am the CEO of the company.”

“Remain the miracle doctor you are.” He stood up and flashed what looked like a challenging smile at the mention of his position, making me chuckle as he walked up to me. “I’ll think about it. You deserve it anyway. Don’t ever think your work doesn’t go unnoticed in this industry—you, my dear, are a valuable asset to the success of this company.” His hands were on my shoulders as he spoke.

“Does that mean I’ll still get that raise?” I asked, pretending not to hear everything else he’d said. The truth was that I was truly touched by his commendation, I felt welcomed and needed by everyone. Any more words from a person’s mouth would send me bursting into an emotional rollercoaster.

Bradley rolled his eyes and waved me off as he exited the room. My phone buzzed on the desk, pulling me out of the giggling state I was in as I reached out for it. My face fell, worrying replacing the smile on my face when I gaze at the caller ID on the screen.

It was the school. They never called unless….

“Hello?” I quickly answered.

“Hello! This is Mrs Clark, the nurse from the school. Your son—Alex—had a serious stomach indigestion today! But don’t worry now, he’s currently fast asleep, we just wanted to let—”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” I hung up before even letting her finish the sentence, grabbing my bag as I bolted towards the door.

At the school, Alex and his brothers, Axel and Lexa, surrounded me, desperately trying to convince me that Alex was all right, but I didn’t listen and still went on to examine him, checking for any marks or pressure that gave away any sign of infection.

“Mom!” Alex protested.

“I know, I know.” I raised my hands in surrender, smiling slightly as Axel and Lexa giggled behind their palms. “But we’re going home now. I got work leave for today.”

The triplets pumped their fists into the air with excitement and didn’t hesitate to climb into the car.

I shook my head with a disapproving laugh. “Boys.” Then, I climbed into the driver’s seat, roaring the engine to life with the twist of my keys.

Twenty minutes into the ride, my eyes caught something in the rearview mirror, my eyes widening with dread as I screeched to a halt. My heart raced with dread as I turned back to them, their eyes already on mine with a questioning look.

I thought I was imagining it, but there was no mistaking what I’d seen! The…the looks in their eyes—the color! Their pupils, which were normally dark, had flashed a glowing piercing shade of blue—one that’d hit a long-forgotten spot in my heart.

“Boys,” I whispered, my hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as I took a deep breath. “Your eyes…do they always change color?”

“Oh, that!! Yes, mum! It happens sometimes!” Axel exclaimed. “It's cool, isn't it? Almost like we have superpowers!”

“And our fingers too!” Lexa added, holding up his hand to our view as the unimaginable happened in front of us.

I watched with dread and shock as his fingers elongated, the tip of his nails turning into a deadly weapon before returning to the normal size as if it'd never happened.

“How…how long has all these been happening?” My voice became shaky.

Alex shrugged. “I don't know…weeks?”

Weeks?! How had I not noticed earlier?

I'd always known this day would come, but I didn't think it'd be this soon—this fast—they were just kids! I'd hoped that we could all live a normal life before indulging in anything from the werewolf packs.

“Listen to me, all of you,” I gritted through my teeth as I pulled into our driveway and turned to face them completely, the attentive looks on their face making me swallow down the bitter pieces of truth before deciding to open my mouth to continue, “You can't tell anyone. ANYONE at all about this, okay? This is our little secret. Don't ever try to show off these tricks in front of anyone, understood?”

Alex, filled with worry, suddenly leaned forward. “Why not, mum? Are we in danger? Did we do something wrong?”

“No, no sweetheart.” I quickly pulled up a smile and ran a finger through his hair assuringly. “You're not dangerous but people…people can be mean sometimes, they could misunderstand you and try to hurt you—maybe try to take your superpowers! We wouldn't want that, would we?”

They immediately shook their heads, hiding their hands behind their backs defensively.

Feeling relieved, I exhaled deeply and clicked the door open. “Good. Now, the last one to get to the door doesn't get ice cream!” I exclaimed, just in time as they bolted towards the house with excitement, leaving me behind to linger on the dreading thoughts in my mind.

Their werewolf blood was awakening, and as much as that shouldn't be a problem given that I'd been able to hide their identities for so long.

It suddenly was, because they were not only growing fast, but they were in the human world. A world where humans would do nothing to get their hands on my boys and use them to their selfish advantage.

A world where werewolves and humans didn't mix.