Friday, October 18th
(Cole’s POV)
It’s been a little over six weeks since I moved back to Shadowlands. We ended up staying in Alpha O’Malley’s apartment four nights instead of one. Luna Arianna started cramping overnight the first night in a pattern that felt like labor and she’s not due until January so it gave all of us quite the scare.
Dr. Leroux insisted on caring for my wrists while Luna was at the hospital. It was difficult to do without the familiar comfort of Alpha Cassius but somehow Alpha O’Malley managed to fill in. I guess it’s part of the training Alpha Black said he needs.
It was finally safe to travel Saturday morning and despite my wolf’s sadness increasing as we got farther away from our mate I can honestly say I was excited to return to the small group of friends I had made.
Alpha Cassius told me before we arrived at the pack house that I would be living with him. I guess he felt the need to warn me considering the hesitation and bad experience I had with it the first time. I simply nodded as I really didn’t have a reason to disagree. His beta was removed from the pack before I left and he’s the only one that caused me any grief.
The first few nights I stayed in the medical room next to Cassius’s. He was concerned about possible nightmares sending me back into the depressed state that he saw at the Bluetail pack. After a week on my medication and seeing both Dr. Leroux and a new one, Dr. Miller, for therapy twice a day, they both agreed I was stable enough for my own space. Cassius ended up moving me to the only guest room on the first floor. This one is much bigger than the ones he created on the third floor and considering the injury to my back the smaller amount of stairs was better for me.
A plush king size bed sits in the middle of the northern wall with a long, eight drawer bureau against the southern wall. A flat screen TV is hung several feet above the bureau’s top leaving plenty of space to place things needing to be left out, mainly my nebulizer and the variety of medication I’ve been started on. It took a week of staying in this room to fully unpack my stuff. I guess part of the reason is the clothes Deven had gotten me before I left were washed, dried and put away before I moved here.
For the first time I felt safe to pull my laptop from the bag and plug it in. I know it’s been months without a charge and that has the potential to ruin it as I’m certain it’s quite old.
Alpha Demetri has stood by his word. Within a week of my decision to stay he made contact with Cassius checking on how I was doing. He gave Cassius Jessa’s number and helped me program it into the phone Deven gave me. We only talked on the phone twice before she encouraged me to purposely channel with her.
While she doesn’t know why, she’s been sick ever since she met me. At first I was upset until she explained how channeling with me helped her feel better. It’s taken a lot of time with her guidance over the phone but after four weeks of doing it nightly it finally became natural to communicate that way.
At the moment I’m holding back. Alpha Demetri is on his way up from Virginia. Jessa’s unknown illness is getting worse and he firmly believes that she needs to be with me to get through it. It’s supposed to be a seven hour drive but they’ve been on the road for nearly twelve making me nervous enough to question if they are even coming. I look at my phone as the alarm rings, 6:30. Time to report to the dining room for dinner. While I’ve been doing great with the strict schedule and have even been able to eat regular meals, tonight has me sick with worry.
I grab my phone off the charger and stop the alarm going off. I check again for any texts and again, the screen is blank. I sigh hard and pocket my phone into my sweatpants. Alpha Cassius tends to keep his house on the cooler side so I switched over to sweats and t-shirt attire a few weeks ago. I make my way slowly from my room, approaching the table with hesitation.
“I know you’re disappointed that your mate isn’t here yet. I have heard from Demetri. They should be here around seven. Demetri’s concern for Jessa has increased so Deven brought his stethoscope with him. He’d like to do a general check over and a gentle read. We’d like to help pinpoint her illness.”
I nod, grateful for the kindness I didn’t ask for. I stand behind my seat. It’s been weeks since I’ve felt this out of sorts and it’s making my stomach knot painfully into a ball. I whine subtlety, gripping my stomach in the process, a move that doesn’t escape Deven’s keen sense of pain in others.
“Go ahead and take a seat. I’ll go get you something a bit lighter than what’s on the table.” He states as he leaves the table.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper towards no one in particular.
A gentle pat on my knee alerts me to Luna Charlotte’s desire to comfort.
“Do you have any memories of her?” She asks as she serves her plate.
I shake my head.
“I have no memories of physically being with her while I was at Crimson Dawn but she’s been persistent with connecting with me through the channel.”
“The channel?” Cassius questions.
“Is that the same as the link?”
“My understanding is that it’s similar but uses a different plane than the astral plane our wolves live on. It has a farther reach. We set it up so every night instead of her calling we used the channel. She’s told me a lot about herself, at least the happier aspects.”
“What do you mean by the happier aspects? Mates should share as much about each other as they can.”
Deven expresses the same concern I had when I felt she was hiding her past. I nod with a quiet thank you as he places a small bowl of chicken soup in front of me. I look around the table briefly before picking up my spoon. I look up at Deven as I feel his hand on mine.
“You can still have whatever you want from the table.” I nod as I turn my attention back to the soup. I’m not really even interested in eating it.
“The last few nights she’s been having a very hard time sleeping. She often cries from the pain she’s in. What she has told me I believe was an accident. She didn’t realize I was still in the channel with her.”
I pause as I simply play with the soup in front of me. I can feel the tears I loathe fall as the table remains silent.
“What do you know, Cole?” Deven encourages.
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