Alpha Rising

Chapter Thirty-Three

Brianna’s P.O.V.

I hated the hospital. The smell especially. It was so clinical that it nearly burned my sensitive nose every time I had to visit here. But these damned doctors wouldn’t even let me bring in any flowers to help the scent of the room. Something about allergens or whatever. Ugh. My limbs were burning still where the wolfsbane seared my skin. I was hot to the touch, and it felt almost like I couldn’t get enough water.

The marks might even leave scars, I thought to myself as I turned my arm over and over to look at the wrapping gashes. f*****g rogues. The television above my bed droned on, though I wasn’t paying attention to it. I just kept thinking about the attack and what went wrong. They shouldn’t have been that close to the pack house, and they sure as hell shouldn’t have gone after me. I wasn’t even alone when I was jumped. 

“Miss Mallard,” I heard Doctor Cassian say from the doorway. He was looking down at his chart with a distressing scowl scrunching his brow. “Alpha Nikolai sends his apologies. But he will not be returning until after the Luna’s Full Moon ceremony at her home pack.”

Goddess, not her again. “Is that your recommendation, Doctor?”

His grey eyes flicked up to mine with surprise, and he simply nodded. “It was, yes.”

My lips pressed hard into a line, and I wanted to yell and scream in frustration. Nikolai was my best friend. My childhood sweetheart. It should have been me standing up there beside him when he addressed the pack. But the last two years changed everything. Nothing was the same, and it was like I didn’t even matter anymore. “Is that all?” I asked him. 

“No.” His tone held concern, but also impatience. 

“Then what?” I spat, already irritated and in pain. The antidote was helping with the pain some; wolfsbane was always a deep cut when it hit presumed Omegas. 

Doctor Cassian snapped his file shut with a huff and stood taller now. He may not be a ranked pack member, but he sure was still commanding. “You seem to be reacting negatively to the medication we have you on,” he finally said. “Based on your weight, you should have been flushed clear of the wolfsbane by now.”

A lump swelled in my throat. Did he know something? I didn’t think he did, because if that was the case… No. I couldn’t think about that right now. “What do you mean?” I asked, hoping that my hesitation didn’t seem too out of the ordinary. “Shouldn’t my healing factor have kicked in by now?”

“It should have,” the Doctor replied. “But your body seems to be...” He paused, and I could see him struggling to find the right word. “Rejecting it.” He flipped the chart back open and thumbed through it a bit before looking back up at me. “This can either be an outright allergy. And believe me, we will conduct a thorough test of possible allergens,” he said with some caution. 

“Or?” I questioned. Goddess, why the hell couldn’t he just spit it out already! I could hear the machine next to me beep faster and faster as I got progressively more frustrated, and the Doctor held up his hands in an attempt to placate me.

“Calm down, Miss Mallard,” he said with a huff. “I was saying, that it could be a tolerance.”

My heart dropped. “How in the hell would I have gotten a tolerance to the f*****g antidote!” The words came out before I had the chance to filter them, and I was nearly screaming at the man. I could see the struggle that he had when it came to not backing down from the tone, but I didn’t really give a s**t. I was clenching my jaw and trying my damndest to not rip the Doctor’s throat out with my teeth right then and there. 

This was not good. I needed to get out of here quickly. My father was expecting me to visit soon, and I didn’t want to leave that undone. 

“I don’t know, Miss Mallard,” Doctor Cassian sighed, moving to stand closer to the side of my bed. He checked for something on the readings the beeping machine displayed, but I had no idea what any of it did. “It could be anything from a natural buildup to a genetic mutation.”

The word mutation had me letting out a low growl and curling back my lips in defiance. “There is nothing wrong with me,” I snarled. It was bad enough that my former friend circle had started to treat me like a freak. I had nothing beyond my looks, anymore. 

The doctor huffed and snapped back at me with just as much frustration as I was putting out. “A mutation in your genes, Miss Mallard. It isn’t an active choice.” He turned back to scribble something else into his notes, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see what it was. When he caught me staring, I just turned my head quickly away and pouted. “But it does mean that I’ll have to keep you here while we figure out what is causing it.”

“How long?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. “Whatever cleaner you people use in this place is starting to give me a migraine.” 

At that, he just rolled his eyes. “I’ll be sure to include a new headache treatment in your schedule. But as for how long?” Doctor Cassian shrugged and tucked his pen behind his ear. “Alpha Nikolai instructed me not to let you leave until you were fully healed. So however long that takes.” He nodded to himself and made for the door. 

But as he was back in the doorway, he turned back to me and let out a deep sigh. “Please don’t make this treatment harder than it needs to be,” he pleaded. “I know it’s hard staying cooped up in here, but you will get out of here much faster if you let my staff do their jobs.”

All I could do was mutter and grumble a confirmation as I turned my head away from the older man. Of course, he was right. But I didn’t much like being in this place. Even beyond the stench of cleaner, the hospital was further from the pack house than our cabin was. Being this far from Nikolai never sat well with me. I just had to get to him before that no-good mutt became our Luna. 

I could hear the doctor’s shoes squeaking on the floor as he walked away and only turned back to these god-awful soap operas on television once the sound fully faded. 

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Phillip’s P.O.V.

Hoo buddy, I always got the willies whenever I had to go into the hospital. Even if it was just to visit somebody, I couldn’t really get over the creepy horror movie vibe. It was a clean and safe place, don’t get me wrong. But so many of those cheesy outbreak movies started in pristine hospitals… Man, it was just freaky.

But I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to see Trevor and Sheena’s baby. I strolled on into the visitor’s entrance and waved at the cute she-wolf at reception. She was sweet, but not necessarily my type beyond just being cute. I liked my women a little fuller. Some squish to cuddle up with at night. But I flashed her a wink regardless. I liked the positive attention. She directed me down the right hallway, and off I went with my little bouquet of pink balloons and giant stuffed wolf. 

“Knock-knock,” I said, carefully opening the door and peeking in to make sure that everyone was decent. When Sheena waved me in, my smile only grew wider. 

“Heyyy little Rosebud,” I crooned, meandering into Sheena’s hospital room. “Look what Uncle Phillip brought you!” My left hand held out the wolf towards the tiny wrapped up infant currently laying against Sheena’s chest. She looked gorgeous in this glow, and I couldn’t even begin to say how lucky Trevor was to have a woman like that. 

“Shhhh,” Sheena shushed me, waving me in with her free hand. 

“Oop, sorry!” I whispered, carefully clicking the door shut behind me. I kept my voice soft as I moved closer to kiss her on the cheek. “I didn’t realize the little one was still sleeping. 

“Oh no,” Sheena scoffed with a snort and shook her head. “She’s not.” A raise of her chin made me look in the direction of the small sofa that was in the birthing suite. And once I saw Trevor’s happy ass snoring away sprawled out on the too-tiny sofa, I just mouthed a wide and understanding ‘OH.’

“Must be nice,” I sighed, shaking my head with amusement. 

“Right?” Sheena agreed. “I wish I could sleep anywhere like him.” Little Rose started to move and whimper, and Sheena was quick to coddle and bounce her, cradling her in the crook of her arm now. “Shhh, hush little one.” It was so heartwarming seeing the motherly side kick in.

“Goddess above, I can’t wait to meet my mate and have pups of my own,” I said more than a little wistfully. 

Sheena looked up at me with one raised eyebrow, a smirk on her lips even as she shook her head. “You sure about that?” She asked, re-tucking the baby’s blanket back into place. “It’s not all baby kisses and balloon bouquets.” Sheena laughed, though she did poke at one of the balloons with her finger. It was one of those shiny mylar behemoths. I’d managed to find one that was an actual rose design, so you bet your ass I was going to spoil my niece. 

“Oh absolutely,” I said, plopping right down into one of the chairs beside the bed. I put the large stuffy on the empty bedside table, pointed towards the bed. “Seeing my mate carry my pups, rubbing her feet while she’s pregnant, helping her raise them, the whole journey.” 

The Beta female shook her head more, sighing heavily. “See those foot-rubs would have come in handy,” she teased. “Why’d you never offer those to me?”

“Because I would have killed him,” came the tired gruff grumbling of Trevor behind me. He groaned as he stood, and I could hear his back crack when he stretched. 

“You would not,” Sheena chided her mate. 

“Would so,” the Beta grumbled. “He’s unmated and unmarked.” Not that I needed any reminding of that, but my hand did go to my neck, rubbing gently at the spot I knew would one day be marked. Trevor saw me and held up his hands. “Not my fault. My wolf wouldn’t let any unmarked male touch her,” he said.

“Oh I get it,” I said with a laugh. “It’s cool. I bet I’ll be the same when it happens to my future mate.”

“You absolutely will.” This time it was Sheena chiming in and agreeing. “Even I was more possessive of Trevor when I was nearly full to bursting.”

The three of us were sitting there laughing, just enjoying the company when both mine and Trevor’s phones went off. I whipped mine out of my pocket and just saw that it was Nikolai when Trevor groaned. “See,” I said. “Pay Up. I told you he’d only last a day before checking in.”

“Fine,” Trevor whined, pulling a twenty out of his wallet and slapping it into my open and waiting palm. 

But as I unlocked my screen and opened up the text message, my heart sank. I knew immediately that Trevor was on the same page because we locked eyes almost immediately. 

“What?” Sheena questioned, seeing both of our faces. “What does it say?”

“That…” Trevor sighed and ran a hand back through his short hair. “Vira…”

I could see the panic in her eyes, and little Rose started to whine and shift in Sheena’s arm. “What happened to Vira?” The phone dinged again in our three-way group chat, and Trevor and I started typing away. I know it annoyed Sheena, but we had to. This was going to be one hell of an event.

[SMS: Big Papa] So I need you two to start building a case for the Elders for me. Get as many positive encounters with Vira on record as you possibly can. 

[SMS: Big Papa] Anything with the pack members, her work with looking into the rogues. All of it. 

[SMS: Numbuh Two] What! WHY? Is she okay?

[SMS: Me]  Yeah, what’s up, Boss?

[SMS: Big Papa] We’re petitioning the Elders for her to be named as Black Opal’s Alpha.

[SMS: Me] HOLY f**k. WHAT.

[SMS: Big Papa] Long story short, she and her brother were swapped at birth. TELL. NO. ONE.

[SMS: Numbuh Two] Uhhhhhh...we’re with Sheena.

[SMS: Big Papa] Fine. But anyone else, and I will have both your asses for lunch. Work fast.

Even through text, I could sense the urgency of this order. “I can’t believe it,” I said, looking down at the words on my screen. “She’s an Alpha.”

Sheena just scoffed and huffed. “Well of course she has Alpha blood,” she said. “She’s Zachary’s daughter.”

“No, baby, you don’t understand.” Trevor shook his head and handed his phone over to her so that she could read it herself. 

“Oh my god,” was all she could manage. 

“Yeah.” I leaned back in my chair and just looked at them both in shock. “What does this mean for the pack?”