Alphas, Rogues and Doctors, Oh My

RYAN’S POV

As I was walking through the backyard, taking in the sights and sounds of the Halloween Carnival Activities and sporadically talking with guests, I was distracted by Mrs. Potato Head at the refreshment table. I watched as she got a drink and maneuvered it under the headpiece of the costume; I laughed to myself, “Now THAT is a unique costume.” For reasons I did not understand, I felt drawn to her. I knew she wasn’t my mate. My mate was killed when she was on a night run and misjudged how close she was to the edge of the cliff. I shook my head to bring myself back to the present. I had already made it over to her just as she wobbled precariously, looking as though she was about to fall face-first into the punch bowl. “Whoa there, potato lady,” I said as I steadied her. I didn’t feel any sparks or an insatiable need to make her mine, but there was a feeling of familiarity, like coming home, as I caught her by the waist. “Looks like you might need to take it easy on the punch,” I said lightheartedly.

After some initial introductions, I escorted her around the carnival. We casually talked about nothing in particular. It was nice to meet someone who wasn’t outright throwing herself at me. Ever since my mate passed away, she-wolves seemed to come out of the woodwork, thinking that if they threw themselves at me, making themselves available in any way they could, I would make them my chosen mate and, subsequently, Luna. No matter how much I voiced my intentions of not making any decisions about choosing another Luna, they didn’t seem to grasp the concept.

After making the rounds and playing a few of the games set up in the booths, she unexpectedly excused herself to go to the restroom. I walked over to my Beta, Chris, and our Women’s trainer, Georgia, and sat down to enjoy my cup of punch. The next thing I heard was Emily screaming in a mind-link, “RYAN!! CHRIS!! GEORGIA!!” All three of us jumped up at full alert. As she reached the table, she breathlessly whispered, “Ryan…come quickly…rogues…in the packhouse…they tried to take me….” I didn’t hear anything else. I ran towards the house, shifting into my wolf as soon as I busted through the back doors. Chris and Georgia were only steps behind me. As soon as I shifted, the rogues’ stench hit me. I rounded the corner into the library. There were three of them, and the largest one had Scarlett by the throat. Just as he threw her aside, I pounced, gnashing my teeth at him, hitting their mark, almost immediately tearing his throat open with skilled proficiency. Just as I let go and dropped him to the floor, the other two ran past me and directly into Chris and Georgia, who apprehended them without any further fight or bloodshed.

Emily ran in, then, crying and hugging Scarlett, thanking her profusely for saving her.

Just then, I saw Scarlett drop to the floor, unconscious. I shifted back to my human form, put on the sweats Emily handed me, and kneeled, trying to get Scarlett to respond, to no avail. Then, I noticed that her breathing was erratic, and her pulse was double what it would have been after a hard run in wolf form. I scooped her up quickly and carried her bridal style to the pack hospital in the building next door to the packhouse. I mind-linked the pack doctor to meet us ASAP at the entrance.

“What happened? What’s wrong with her?” Emily cried as she followed closely behind. I didn’t answer because I was busy mind-linking the Gamma to ensure that the rest of the carnival ended without anyone else being alarmed and creating mass hysteria. I also linked with Beta Chris to check the packhouse thoroughly and inform the border patrol to double patrols and check for stragglers.

One of the nurses saw us as we rushed through the entrance doors and must have notified the doctor. Dr. Gail ran through the doors just as I laid Scarlett on a bed in an examining room. She helped me remove her costume. Initially, she and I were both shocked that she was overweight and wearing glasses, but those questions fell by the wayside without further contemplation at the time. There would be enough time to worry about getting answers to those questions as soon as we found out what happened and why she wasn’t waking up or responding to any efforts to rouse her.

DR. GAIL’S POV

I was getting ready to head home from the carnival when I heard my charge nurse’s frantic mind-link to meet at the hospital because the Alpha had just brought in an unconscious person and was already heading to one of the examination rooms. As I got there, he was laying someone on a bed and trying to remove the costume. I helped him and was startled to see that this she-wolf was overweight and wearing very thick glasses. I looked up at Alpha Ryan with questions in my eyes, and he shrugged, saying, “We can ask her when she wakes up.”

I ran to the lab to gather the medical supplies I needed to do bloodwork and called ahead to the x-ray tech to get the X-Ray machine prepared. When I returned to the room, I asked, “What happened?” as I began drawing blood. “There was an attack at the packhouse on Emily.” Alpha Ryan nodded towards the unconscious gild, “She somehow distracted the rogues long enough for Emily to escape and come find me, but she just fell, unconscious, and even though I could see no physical harm that would have caused it. She was unresponsive, and her vitals were elevated,” Alpha Ryan responded, with a look full of mixed emotions: confusion, concern, and sadness in his eyes.

I began to do a physical examination, checking for marks or bruising that had not healed over yet. Alpha Ryan informed me that the she-wolf’s name was Scarlett. She had some bruising around her neck, indicative of being held forcefully or strangled. I was astonished at the fact that they showed no signs of even initial healing. On her upper arm, I detected what looked like an injection site from a needle in her shoulder. After pointing these things out to the alpha, I had her taken to X-ray while I went to run the labs, promising to return as soon as I had news.

EMILY’S POV

I was finally finished getting dressed in my Olde World Victorian ball gown, complete with a hat and lacy gloves and a masquerade mask that covered my eyes.

It was form-fitting black silk with red lace accents throughout. I planned on being as royal as I could tonight. I made my way down the stairs and stopped in the library to return the book I had taken out to help me get this costume together. All of a sudden, I was nauseous, almost to the point of relieving myself of my lunch by an overwhelming stench of hot garbage and unemptied ashtrays. I was jumped by two rogues and was being dragged towards the door when Mrs. Potato Head came in and distracted them with snide one-liner insults, calling into question their behavior and Goddess-Awful odor emanating from them. It was enough to allow me to escape and run out to find Ryan, inform him of what was happening, and get help for the strange girl who came to my rescue. I followed him back into the packhouse, grabbing a pair of sweats for him from the hallway chest where we kept extra clothes for our wolves that needed clothing after shifting back to human form.

After seeing that Ryan had dispatched one large rogue and that the other two were struggling against the holds from Chris and Georgia, I ran up to her, threw my arms around her, and crying hysterically about how she had saved me. She waved me off, saying that it wasn’t any big deal, but then collapsed onto the floor, unconscious.

After we got to the hospital, I stayed in the waiting area, pacing and talking to myself, “I have to show her how grateful I am properly!! Who is she? How did rogues get past the border, much less into the packhouse without being detected? Where did she come from? It was like she appeared out of thin air, like she was my personal Angel, there to save me right when all was looking hopeless and bleak. What in the world is going on in there…”? I rambled to myself. My brain was all over the place. I couldn’t seem to stop and focus on one topic. Finally, I peeked my head into the examining room after I saw Dr. Gail leave with her blood samples, and the girl was wheeled away to Xray. Ryan motioned me to come in. We looked at each other with questions neither of us could answer, so I took a seat on the couch under the window, waiting for Dr. Gail and her report. Before I realized it, I had silently succumbed to the sleep I didn’t even know my body was craving.