Alpha Rising

Chapter Seven

Alvira's P.O.V.

By the time I awoke fully, I could hear the room full of voices fall into a hush. There was a tenderness to my abdomen where I remember the knife had sliced, and my hand instinctively moved to brush over the spot. Beneath the hospital gown, I could feel no stitches and no scar. That meant that eventually, my wolf’s healing factor had started to kick in. Much slower than usual though, which worried me. 

I stirred, turning my head to one side where I saw both of my parents standing over Alban’s bed beside me. Mom was petting his hair and whispering something just barely inaudible to me, but Dad met my eyes with a heaviness that belied his fears. It was the first time we'd been in such close proximity to one another since I'd sucker-punched him. But he was still looking down at me like I remember him doing even when I was little and had a fever. So caring, so concerned. I felt guilt hit me for my outburst and tried to shake it off.

“How is he?” I managed to get out before my head hit the pillow again. I was still awake, but something in me was just so tired. Nell stirred in the corner of the room, her hand never leaving Joseph’s as he hovered near her to support her. It was sweet, seeing him so concerned for her, and a small part of me felt a tiny pang of jealousy. It was unlike me, on the whole, to want something so simply domesticated as that. And yet… I couldn't deny the yearning that my wolf felt in the back of my mind. 

My father’s subtle cough called me back, and my attention shifted over to the sleeping form of my twin. His bed was not six feet from mine, but it felt like miles when I couldn't reach out to hold his hand. 

“Good,” came Dad's deep voice. “The surgeons say that he’ll make a full recovery. But…” It was the ‘but’ that concerned me, and my father rose to move to my side. “Vira,” his voice dropped and I felt the warmth of his heavy hand on my shoulder. “The silver blade you found was coated in wolfsbane.”

It felt as though the air had been ripped from my lungs, and a tight knot formed in my gut. Something about the attackers had been beyond off at the time, but I never would have guessed something that serious would have ever been an option. Silver alone was enough of a weapon against any wolf, but to pair it with that potent of a poison? They’d been wolves themselves, or so I thought. How could they? 

My mind raced to the image of the one who had managed to flee, and I looked up at my father. I’m sure he could see the question already burning in my eyes because Dad was quick to shake his head. So... they hadn’t caught them. But at the very least, it sounded like they’d been able to send someone over to the scene. I let out a long and deep breath before reaching up to grab my father’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze. True, we may not currently be on the best of terms, but for just a minute it helped to be able to feel like the scared little girl that he remembered from my childhood. 

I wasn’t weak. It was a strength that allowed me to lean on him for care and support while my mother doted on her son. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a tall, refined-looking man enter the room. His salt and pepper hair was cropped short, and his muted eyes were grey with age but so full of the warmth that one might expect from the attending physician. I heard my mother call him Doctor Alvarez before my attention was once again back on my father. 

“When you feel up to it,” he started. I held up a hand to cut him off. My father exhaled sharply, and for a moment I wondered if the flash in his eyes was a sign of his disappointment before I answered him.

“You don’t even need to ask,” I said with a subtle note of warmth. I could understand why he felt the need to, but to me it was unnecessary. Besides, how else could I apologize for threatening to challenge him for his rank?  “I’ll meet with whoever needs to hear about them.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” There was a glimmer of something in his eyes that I couldn’t quite place, and I c****d my head to the side to try and make sense of it. “I’m calling for a meeting of the Packs next week.” I held my breath as he paused in his sentence, my wolf alert and attentive for the first time all day. "It's going to be the start of a lot of changes." The implication was there even without him outright saying so. Normally an Alpha could only bring his Heir to such a meeting. And nobody had ever thought to challenge that before. But it sounded like Dad wanted to bring us both. I only wondered if the other Alphas would actually allow it.

I grinned in reply, but as he opened his mouth again to talk we both heard the clatter of plastic and metal hit the tiled floor of the hospital room. I almost leaped up, and rightly would have had my father not been standing right beside me. His head turned too, and we were both staring at my brother, who was struggling to get up against Mom’s pressing hands. He’d knocked over the tray table full of sub-par hospital food in front of him, and didn’t’ even seem to care that green jello was splattered over his chest now. 

Panic hit me. Was he having a reaction to some of the medicine? Or were there still traces of wolfsbane in his system. Mom gasped in surprise and nearly toppled from her chair as she rose beside him. She reached out to grab his arm and steady him, but he was like a wolf possessed. "Honey, please," she said to no avail. "You can't move around so much." My brother's eyes were glassed over and he started sniffing the air, headed towards the door to the hospital room.

“Al?” I called, trying to catch his attention. But nothing was getting through to him. Not Mom’s words, not my voice. He was a wolf on a mission. The monitor attached to him started to spike, his pulse rising to an almost dangerous level. “Alban,” There was a nervous crack to my voice that I tried to hide, but I don’t think that anyone was about to judge me for my concern right now. 

The Doctor tried to urge him back down, but he was having none of it. My brother was pushing up, the loose hospital gown on his shoulders falling open along his back to reveal a deep purple bruise along his spine. I could see his fingers twitching with every step that he took and his nose turned up to the air much the same way Nell’s had when-

My eyes went wide before I, too, sprang from my bed to follow him. I think that Mom caught on to what was going on, because she started fussing about her loose braid of hair and smoothing out the wrinkles on her day-old dress. Alban was blind to us all as he was out that door and nearly stalking down the hall. 

I pushed out past the Doctor, hearing his exasperated sigh of frustration at having been so clearly disregarded in his own hospital. But I was determined to keep an eye on Alban after the chaos of the days prior. He looked a right sight of insanity, all bedraggled and such from his injuries. But that didn’t stop his very deliberate pursuit down the hall and to the nurse’s station. 

The poor young she-wolf at the counter looked almost flustered when Alban’s eyes locked on hers with understanding, and for a minute I was certain she was the one he was searching for. But she wasn’t looking as frazzled as Alban was. So no, it couldn’t have been her. 

No sooner, though, did another nurse come around the corner in much the same frenzied manner as Alban. Short dark hair framed a sweet face, and bright golden eyes were locked firmly on my brothers and I saw the word leave their lips at the same time. 

“Mate.”

Alban rushed forward and took the nurse into his arms firmly, pressing a terrifyingly fierce kiss to their lips and seeming to melt into the embrace. Behind me, I could hear the surprised gasps of several passers-by, as well as the subtle roll of anger in a growl far deeper than I knew Alban could create. I turned my head to see, looking just as the Doctor was now hovering behind my family with clenched fists and his eyes narrowed on the nurse that my brother wasn’t presently allowing to breathe.

There was a clearing of someone’s throat before the pair broke and I got a better look at the nurse’s face. With the now clearer view, I could see the telltale stubble of a man’s unshaven morning scruff, and pink heat rushed to my cheeks. None of us had ever anticipated Alban being mated to another male. My eyes darted to my father, silently hoping that his reaction would be...well. At least mild in mixed company. 

“Richie,” the Doctor hissed darkly, gesturing with his chin for the two of them to come back to the room and stop making a spectacle of themselves. 

The young man cowed in fear and rubbed at the back of his neck with an open hand. My brother leaned in again, whispering something to him and taking his hand. It was clear to see that their bond was instantaneous, like so many others had been. It wasn’t always the case with mated pairs that the attraction was so intense and immediate, but it was far from uncommon.

The smaller man, Richie, nearly jumped five feet away from Alban at the call of his name. I could see his frame trembling violently as the Doctor pushed past my father, and then me. Fear rolled in my chest as his towering frame loomed closer to the pair, and I could feel myself holding my breath, just waiting to see how this was going to play out.