Chapter 57

Her voice cracks, raw and full of terror. “He’s going to die! He’s going to die!” I’ve never seen Little Dove so utterly despairing. Her reaction makes everyone around her paralyzed. For a split second, everyone seems to hold their breath. “Where did you put it?” she practically yells, her panic making her words sharp. She shakes him by the shoulder as her eyes dart across his face, scanning for any sign of his allergic reaction as if it might somehow slow down the process of his anaphylactic shock. “You know you have to carry it with you all the time!” Her words come out louder now, panicked, but there’s no anger behind them. Just fear.
“I didn’t mean to...” Azrael says, shaking his head. “The EpiPen is in my backpack in the bedroom.”
Right away, Alicent jumps to her feet and runs towards the packhouse. “It’s going to be okay,” she says over and over, her voice shaking so hard it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself. “It’s going to be okay, buddy. Just hold on.” I hear her muffled sobs as she enters the house, making unease crawl up my spine.
“I’m going to die,” Azrael says, holding a dirty hand to his chest, smearing chocolate across his shirt. “I should have asked you before I eat if they contain lactose, Aunt Vi!”
I take a deep breath and roll my eyes. “Werewolves don’t have lactose allergies, boy,” I say impatiently, even though I myself am trying to calm my own nerves. My heart is pounding in my chest. “There’s no such thing when you’re a werewolf.” 
Vi smiles at him. “Az, I didn’t say anything before because I knew you wouldn’t have any allergic reactions. The diseases that werewolves have, which are rare, are completely different from those of humans,” Vi explains to him before turning to me. “But I should have told Allie that it was lactose free. Now she thinks her son’s life is in danger.” 
“Now that you mention it... I really don’t feel anything wrong,” Azrael states the obvious. 
“Az, are you okay?” Lily and Theo approach where we are. 
“Yes,” he answers. 
‘She’s almost back. I can feel her aura stronger than ever. Her emotions are so strong,’ Kral says. 
“Your mother is coming.” I turn to the boy. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’ve had an anaphylactic shock before, right?” I ask. 
Azrael nods vehemently. “Yeah. The last one was pretty nasty.”
“Great.”
“What?” Vi asks me with wide eyes. “Are you crazy?”
I ignore my sister, continuing to look down at the boy who, by the way, is healthier than ever. “You are going to pretend to have an anaphylactic shock to your mother so she won’t find out. Mimic the symptoms of your last nasty one exactly like it was,” I command him before turning to the others. “You are also going to pretend he is having an anaphylactic shock.”
“Yes, Alpha,” they say in unison.
“Az! I’m coming, buddy!” Little Dove shouts as she approaches us, running barefoot with what she thinks is the life-saving device in her hand, the EpiPen.
Azrael springs into action. He pretends to gasp for air, his chest rising and falling too quickly. “Oh, Mom, I can feel my tongue starting to swell!” He clings to his shirt, his gasps turning into fake wheezes. “I can’t breathe!”
She runs faster. “Oh, God!” Little Dove cries.
I turn to the boy and almost growl at him for following my command, because he is quite convinced. Fuck! Little Dove is more panicked than before!
The boy’s wheezing grows louder and raspier, his hands clawing dramatically weakly at his throat. “Help!” Azrael sits on the ground.
She kneels down on the ground in front of him, her hands trembling as she pulls the cap off and presses it into her son’s thigh. The boy jerks slightly. She whispers, her voice breaking, “Come on, come on.” 
“Let’s take him to Blackmoon Hospital,” I say, crouching down beside her. But Little Dove barely seems to hear me. Azrael is her entire world, and right now, for her, her world is falling apart.
I gently place my hand on her shoulder, hoping to soothe her trembling frame. Fuck. I hate this. There’s nothing I can do to stop her from feeling this way right now. 
Little Dove’s voice breaks again, a weak whisper this time, “Please, please don’t leave me too.” 
I clench my jaw, looking up at Vi. ‘Not now,’ she mindlinks me, shaking her head slightly and slowly with her lips tightly closed.
I look back at Little Dove. I can feel everyone around me hating to lie to her, too. “He’s going to be fine, Little Dove,” I say softly before narrowing my eyes straight at the boy. “He *is going to* be fine.”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine, Allie!” Vi says. Lily is about to say something, but my sister holds her back. Beside her, Theo is also in agony over Alicent’s desperation.
I instantly mindlink Dr. Martin with the code for this type of situation so he can get the hospital ready. I hold Little Dove’s hand as she holds Azrael close, whispering desperate reassurances. “See, he’s starting to get better already. He’s not short of breath anymore.”
Seemingly sensing his mom’s aura as well, Azrael says, his voice unnaturally steady now, “I think it’s working, Mom.” The boy’s breathing begins to ease, the fake rasping sound softening. “Yeah, I feel… better already.” 
Tears streaming down her delicate face, she looks at her son as everyone collectively exhales. 
“Yeah... That was... quick,” she looks at her son with a frown. “He’s doing much better than last time.” Azrael looks at me with wide eyes, clearly not knowing what he should do. The little boy doesn’t want to worry his mom as much as I don’t.
“He’s not that well. Let’s take him to the hospital to make sure he’s fine,” I say. 
She squeezes her eyes shut, crying harder. “Thank you, Ethan! That would really help!” 
Vi helps her up as I pick up Azrael and start carrying him in my arms dramatically. The boy looks at me angrily and whispers, “You know I’m fine!” 
I laugh internally. “The EpiPen worked, but I think he’s still pretty bad.” I start walking toward the garage. Everyone follows me.
“Hey! I’m fine!” Azrael says out loud this time. Then he realizes what he just said when he looks back at his mom, and he corrects himself, “Uh, I mean, I don’t feel so good... but I’m strong!”
“I don’t know. I think his guts are starting to come out,” I tease him, smirking at her.
Little Dove smiles beside me, wiping her tears.
“Mom, I don’t need to go to the hospital. I didn’t even go last time!”
I frown at her. Even I, a werewolf, know that humans need to go to the hospital after using an EpiPen. Why didn’t she take him?
‘She probably couldn’t afford it,’ Kral suggests.
I don’t push her because I can tell how hard she’s trying to stay strong right now. Her hands are still trembling. “Look at all this blood coming out of his belly,” I say.
Just like her son, Little Dove looks at his belly. “What?” he asks before realizing it’s a lie.
She finally giggles and playfully slaps my arm. “Ethan! Stop!” Then she looks at her son. “Az, Ethan is right. You need to see the doctor.” 
“Oh my Goddess, Uncle Ethan! You’re right! I’m going to be a widow without even having married him!” Lily plays along dramatically, whining. 
Everyone laughs, even the brat I’m carrying in my arms who looks at Lily like he got hearts for eyes, like a cartoon. Azrael’s white wolf almost makes the boy howl for her, his little fated mate. 
When we get to the car, Little Dove sits in the backseat with her son, and I take them to the hospital while Vi stays at home with Theo and Lily.
“You scared me half to death, buddy. I thought I was going to lose you,” she says to him, cupping the boy’s face.
Azrael squirms, his fingers fidgeting with the edge of his shirt. “Sorry about that,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact with her.
He sneaks a glance at me in the front through the car mirror and then at his mom, whose head is now buried in her hands. Guilt flickers in his eyes, but he says nothing. Just like me.

🐺 🐺 🐺

Thwap! Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!
“Where did you say Vi went?” I ask Jordan, her fated mate, after defending four of his punches. He pauses, unable to breathe properly. This is why I prefer to spar with my Beta, but he’s lifting weights right now. 
“She didn’t tell me where she went,” Jordan replies, catching his breath and wiping his sweaty forehead with his arm.
“You didn’t push her?” I ask, frowning. I grab the water bottle nearby and throw it towards him.
Jordan grabs the water bottle. “She doesn’t tell me everything. She can tell me on her own.” He shrugs. 
I let out a bark of laughter. “If I ever found my fated mate, someone who I will make mine, she’d be allowed to keep nothing back. No secrets. I’d know it all. She would rely fully on me for everything.” I scoff. “Holding back wouldn’t be allowed.” 
Jordan grows pensive as he drinks the water, avoiding eye contact with me. Josh says, approaching us, “You realize that statement is full of red flags, right?” He smiles like crazy, then he looks at Jordan before his gaze shifts to me. “Maybe it’s just an Alpha and Beta thing because I am the same with my mate.”
I laugh again until Jordan says, “I don’t know where Vi went but she went in one of your cars.”
Oh, fuck. 
Wait. “That doesn’t make sense,” I say to Jordan. “Her car isn’t in the garage.”
But it’s Josh who answers me. “Vi let Allie use her car so Allie could drive to Summerville. Allie asked Maggie to watch Az since she was too worried after yesterday’s fake incident,” Josh explains, shaking his head. “Poor Allie. when she was about to leave, she almost gave up. Maggie had a tough time convincing her that she could go and that she would watch the boy for her. Little does she know Az is perfectly fine.”
Josh explains everything, but all I hear is that Alicent went to Summerville *alone*. Fuck. Did she go meet her ex-husband without me? Where did she go?
I look over at Lily, who is playing in her special area. “Where’s Azrael, Lily?” The little boy must know.
Lily looks at me, her eyes wide. “Uh... he... I... He’s sleeping!” she blurts out, grabbing a doll and running out of the gym before I can even call her to ask why she’s lying.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alicent***

I feel bad about leaving my son behind after everything he went through yesterday. But after Logan demanded that I pick up a package for him from our old place, I had to leave my son with Maggie so I could do it. There was no way I could bring him along after he had just left the hospital.
Yesterday was a nightmare! I park in the lot behind my old building and just sit there for a minute, with my forehead resting on the steering wheel. 
Logan said he couldn’t pick up the package because he had a big job interview at the same time. And apparently, his fiancée can’t come here instead of me because this place isn’t safe for her, but for me, who used to live here, it is. I sigh. Yes, his exact words.
I grab my phone and get out of the car. At least I came in Vi’s fancy car. If it were my old one, I would definitely be changing a tire on the way here by now.
I lean against the car door and text Logan, letting him know I’ve arrived, but there’s no one in the stinking parking lot, just a few parked old cars.
I feel a shiver down my spine as I look at my old building, but I shake my body a little to get past it. Maybe it’s the weather.
Suddenly, I hear a noise coming from behind the car, so I head towards it. I didn’t put anything in the trunk. Did Vi leave it open the last time she drove it? Shoot, I should have checked it before driving.
But then I freeze, blindly holding on to the car, startled by the sight in front of me.
This time, there is no mistake. It’s not a big dog like the one I found hurt by the Blackmoon fence. There is no way to confuse it. Its size makes it clear that the white furry one is not a dog. It is a white wolf.