Just another day in the pack hospital.
WarrenAs soon as I kissed Yara goodbye, I’d gone to my office and called Alpha Harold. When I didn’t get an answer, I left a message.‘Alpha Harold, this is Alpha Warren. I have something important to speak with you about. Please call me as soon as possible.’While I’d waited for a return call, I’d tuned in to Yara so I knew about Haynes' and Laney’s mate bond.I’d just about given up hearing back from the older Alpha when my phone rang. When I saw it was him, I answered immediately.“Alpha Warren," I answer.“Alpha Warren, this is Alpha Harold. What do you want?” he growls into the phone. He sounds exhausted and worn out. This is why Alphas have pups young. Being an Alpha, especially during times of war like we’re in, takes a heavy toll on you.“Alpha Harold, I wasn’t sure you’d heard that I attacked Alpha Thomas’ pack and killed him and most of his warriors.”“Calling me to let me know you’re planning to attack me next?” he growls.“No. On the contrary, my understanding is that you
YaraI wasn’t joking when I called our bedroom a greenhouse. When I opened the door, I could barely take a step inside. There are flowers EVERYWHERE! Vases of flowers, potted flowering plants, on every surface, covering the floor, every damn where!Warren, not surprisingly, was smug about it. But then he had to tell me he loved me and kiss me in a way that has my entire body responding to him. I completely forgot that we were right in the middle of the pack dining hall, right in the middle of dinnertime until he pulled back, that smug look still on his face.“Did you want me to get some warriors to help you move them out?” he asks.Then I look around and realize that the entire pack was watching us. My skin heats to an uncomfortable temperature and Warren leans in, running his nose over my blush and kissing my cheek softly.“Yes,” I grumble.“What exactly are you saying yes to,” he murmurs as he moves to kiss my neck.“Not that! Not here! Not now!” I say, jumping back.His eyes are dar
WarrenEven with his ‘honesty’, Alpha Harold severely understated the state of his pack. My pack was in bad shape, his is on the verge of dying out. I realize immediately that it will take Yara days to care for everyone here.“What can I do?” I ask her, knowing that she needs more than just Savannah. I step up behind her, putting my hands on her hips and pushing my energy into her. I can feel how overwhelmed she is and knowing that she’s the only doctor here, the majority of this will fall onto her.“Do you have omegas who can sew?” she asks Alpha Harold.“Yes,” he says.“Get them here,” I say to him, looking around.“You two start triaging, I’ll start laying these warriors out for you,” I say to Yara, then turn to Harold, waiting for him to finish contacting his omegas. “I would suggest that you let your pack know that what Yara says goes, otherwise she’s going to waste valuable time arguing with your warriors.”He makes the announcement, but I can see everyone looking at Yara warily.
YaraI have no idea how long I’ve been fixing broken bones, stitching up bleeding wounds, and generally putting the parts of these people back together. This pack truly was a mess, and I steel myself as I walk out of the last surgery room for the rest of what’s to come. I can feel the fatigue trying to push its way in, but I can’t allow that. Not yet. Not until this pack is at least back to a place where they can start to heal.“Yara,” Warren says, and just his voice soothes something deep inside me. He wraps his arms around me and I take a moment to just breath in his scent, drawing from the strength that I know he’s pushing into me.When I step back, he lets me go. “Where’s Savannah?” I ask him."She got everyone here stabilized so I sent her to get some sleep and get to know her mate,” he says, smirking.“So…no sleep then,” I say.“Probably not. Although, if he’s a good mate, he’ll recognize how exhausted she is and let her sleep.”“A good mate like you, you mean?” I say, smiling up
WarrenI didn’t know an Alpha could begin losing his wolf and still shift.‘Strong Alphas can, or ones who used to be strong. You would be able to if I started dying. I'd make sure of it. I'm sure his wolf is doing the same,’ Arric says.‘So, once Yara is done with him, he’ll be strong again?’ I ask him.‘Look how much stronger we are and not just because she healed us. We’re stronger because our pack is stronger. He will be too.’When Harold’s son walks in, he looks at us cautiously.“Henry, come here, son,” Harold says warmly.The young Alpha walks over to his father’s bedside, still watching me and Yara warily.“Henry, this is Alpha Warren. He and his Luna doctor, Yara, are helping to heal me and Luna Yara is the one that has been healing our pack members.”“We have Rebecca,” he says sharply, as if Yara and I are trying to secretly infiltrate his father’s pack.“Henry,” Harold says a bit sharply, “these two are basically saving our pack. Show some respect.”“It’s okay. I bet you’re
QuintonWe’d gone to Brady’s pack only to arrive after Harold had retreated back to his pack. We’d missed him by just a couple of hours.We’d had to wait to get through Brady’s booby traps. Harold and his warriors had set off some, but the biggest reason Brady doesn’t get attacked is because of those booby traps. The only reason I haven’t implemented them in my pack is because Brady sometimes loses one of his own pack members when they forget where they’ve left the traps. I’m not willing to lose my pack members and I don’t have the knowledge of how to set and reset them like Brady does.When we’d finally gotten inside his pack lands, I realized just how much his pack was injured.“How much of this is from Harold?” I ask him, looking around. These warriors are in no position to attack Warren’s pack with me.He’d looked around at his pack. “Some, but most of it is still from Warren’s pack.”I knew he was injured, knew he’d needed time to heal, but I hadn’t realized that Warren’s pack was
YaraI’m still so exhausted that I can barely open my eyes when there’s a knock at the door.“Excuse me, Alpha. Could I speak with you, please?” A voice that sounds vaguely familiar asks. Why didn’t they just mind link him?I feel warm lips press against my head. “Just a moment, Franklin,” Warren says, his voice raspy and sounding just as exhausted as I feel.Franklin? Who’s….Then it all comes rushing back to me. We must still be in Alpha Harold’s pack. I open my eyes and see that we’re in a room that is unfamiliar to me.I push myself out of bed, realizing that Warren must have put me in one of his shirts, and I make my way to the door. Just as I reach it, I hear Warren growl.“Warren?” I ask, opening the door.He turns, pulling me against him. “Simon and Quinton are here.”“I didn’t hear any howls of attack,” I say, wrapping my arms around him. The thought of Simon being close after what he did to Piper, makes me want to stay attached to Warren.“The patrols saw them talking, Luna. W
CharlieAs soon as I got Alpha Warren’s call to attack, I did two things. I kissed Noelle and then I contacted Haynes. Noelle has been sleeping in my room since she arrived, which means, she’s barely slept here at all. I was thrilled to be able to lay down with her and curl up around her. I want her to get to know me and feel comfortable before we complete our bond. And now, I truly understand Warren’s frustration at waiting to mark his mate. I’m not sure how he can continue to wait. Gregor is going nuts, but we also know that Noelle is exhausted. She went through a lot in a very short amount of time.Now, I’m going to war and I don’t want to leave without kissing my mate goodbye. Properly.“What’s going on?” she asks me when I finish waking Haynes and telling him I need to speak with him.“Alpha Quinton and Alpha Simon are at Alpha Harold’s pack. Alpha Warren wants me to attack Quinton’s pack while he’s away.”“Will you be okay? What can I do?” she asks, worried. It feels really good
Five Years LaterYaraIf you had asked me six years ago what my life would look like now, I’m not sure I would have ever imagined this. My life is filled with love, happiness, work, school, the pack, and most importantly, family.My mate is as perfect a father as I knew he would be. He LOVES being a father and I love watching him with our pups. I never thought I could love that man more than I did, but seeing him being the incredible father that he is with our pups, I’ve just kept falling more deeply in love with him and wanting to give him more pups. After the twins, we decided to wait a bit. Our original plan was to wait a few years while we adjusted to being parents to two babies. Warren wanted to focus on getting the pack financially stable and increasing the pack’s income and I wanted to focus on going back to school and turning our hospital into a teaching hospital.It took about six months of negotiation with the closest werewolf university and a lot of conversations with their
WarrenIt’s been several months since we killed Brady and Dr. Stephens. It took a while, but the pack has settled into what I guess is a more normal routine. We spar, we run patrols, Charlie and I run the pack, Yara and Noelle run the hospital, Haynes and Laney train and manage the warriors.Now that life has settled down, our pack is having a baby boom. I’m pretty sure every one of my mated she-wolves is pregnant and some who aren’t mated are pregnant as well. Yara and I talked about that and we’ve agreed that if both parents are fine with remaining unmated, they can. The ones who don’t agree, have to speak to both of us so we can come to a resolution. Thankfully, now that we’re having pack gatherings with Alpha Harold and his pack, there are fewer unmated adult men and women in our pack.Today, Yara is in the pack hospital making last minute preparations before our twins come. I’m watching Charlie and Haynes working with Carson. It’s been a long, grueling road for him. He’s struggled
AnnaWhen the pack came back after attacking Alpha Brady’s pack, they brought Dr. Stephens with them.Dr. Stephens, the man I have despised ever since I started working in the hospital. All of us, the nurses, knew that he was hurting our pack, but there was very little we could do about it. At the time, we were in a constant state of war. We could barely keep the pack going in between battles, and Dr. Stephens had been part of that problem.We’d all turned to Savannah. She was younger than Erika and Katie, but she had more medical experience. Without any conscious discussion about it, we had all deferred to her when we questioned Dr. Stephens' methods. Goddess knows, you never questioned him to his face. He’d berate you in front of anyone and everyone in the room. He was a horrible man for so many reasons.As I stare at the man, who is currently on his knees in front of Alpha Warren, I remember the day I lost the man that I’m pretty sure was my mate. I was almost eighteen. I had actual
WarrenAfter making love to my mate for hours and sleeping off the exhaustion of the battle, I wake up feeling fantastic. While I slept, Arric healed what was left of my wounds, my mate is safe, happy, and pregnant with my pups, and all that’s left is Dr. Stephens who is currently residing in my cells.There’s one more thing that I need to take care of before I deal with Dr. Stephens, and that’s Carson. Yara told me that he wanted to die when he came in. I understand his fear. Not having a place in a pack is a terrible feeling for pack members. While we get ready this morning, Yara and I talk about the options and how we can possibly keep him running patrols. She explains to me about prosthetics and that it will take modifications on our part and his, but once he and his wolf gets used to wearing one, they can continue to remain at warrior status and help defend the pack.But before that, we need to say goodbye to our allies and send them off.When we get downstairs, the feeling in the
YaraThe flow of warriors coming into the hospital finally starts to slow down. When we get one warrior with a spike through his foot, he tells us that they’ve breached the packhouse and the battle is winding down. I’ve periodically felt Warren’s emotions, his pain, but nothing that my mate and his wolf can’t handle.Now that it’s settling down, the fatigue of the day and night is starting to set in. But I know I won’t be able to sleep until my mate is home and I’ve checked him over.I’m still working with the warrior who got the spike through his foot, holding his bones in place while his wolf starts the healing process when I hear a commotion out in the front.“They’re back, Luna,” Savannah says, coming into the room.“Go, Noelle. Go check on Charlie. I’ll be out as soon as I’m done here,” I tell her. She and Savannah rush out of the room.“You should go too, Luna,” the warrior says.“I will, once the bones in your foot are back in place,” I tell him, putting another one together and
WarrenAs expected, we ended up having to send a large group of warriors back as soon as we blew the bombs. I’d heard Carson screaming in my head and told some of my warriors with minimal injuries to get him to Yara as quickly as possible. I have to hope that my mate can work the miracles she always seems to and because I know she’ll do everything she can, I remain focused on the battle.It’s been long enough since they last attacked my pack, that Brady’s warriors are healed. But Franklin and Harold’s men severely decimated their numbers. Even with the number of wolves that we’re having to send back to the pack, we’re still outnumbering them. Add to that, we have two Alphas and two Betas leading this attack on four fronts and it doesn’t take Arric long to get to the packhouse. I send half of the warriors i my group to help the others as I prepare to enter the packhouse. With Brady, you never know what types of traps he’s set.‘Alpha, Franklin and I have Alpha Brady. Do you want us to k
YaraWe only had a couple of hours before the injured started coming in. The first thing I realize is that every single one of them has splinters all over them. Because they blew the bombs with wood, they’ve all been hit with various sizes and amounts of debris.“Make sure you get every piece of wood out of them. If you don’t, they’ll become infected. Warriors, you need to let my team know if you feel pain somewhere so we can get all these wood pieces out of you. If we don’t and you get an infection, I’ll pull you from duty until you’re healed.”“Yes, Luna,” they say with varying degrees of strength in their voice.Savannah and I begin doing triage and I take the worst ones while she takes the ones that she can handle.The first group that comes in have large pieces of tree that punctured through them. I’m guessing others did as well, but this group couldn’t pull these pieces out without causing more damage to their bodies. I take the one with a large piece of wood in the thigh, and Sa
WarrenAfter dinner, I take her upstairs so we can celebrate properly. I don’t spend the hours that I want to with my mate, but when I return, I’ll make it up to her.I’m up before dawn the next morning, Arric and I ready for battle. I shower quickly, letting my mate sleep in. I know that soon enough, she’ll be overwhelmed in the hospital.When I get out of the shower, she’s sitting up in bed. The sheet is laying across her lap, but her breasts are bare for my view. Any other morning, I’d be crawling back into bed. But today, my mind stays focused on the battle ahead.“Why don’t you go back to sleep, baby? We’ll be sending warriors back to you soon enough,” I tell her.She shakes her head. “I’m coming down to see everyone off. I want our warriors to know that I love them and I’m here if and when they are brought back.”I go to her, kissing her deeply, drawing strength for what I have to do today. I know it’s a possibility that we’ll lose warriors. I hate it, hate it even more than I us
WarrenTwo? Did she say two pups?I hear the sounds of the pack cheering around us, but I’m focused on my mate’s beautiful face and her smug smile.“We’re having twins?”“Mhmm,” she answers, her fingers running through my hair and sending shivers all over my body.“Boys? Girls? One of each?” I ask.“One of each. But don’t think that gets you out of pup duty for the rest of your life. You promised to give me as many as I wanted,” she says, grinning up at me."I always keep my promises," I growl. It's a happy, possessive growl as I lean in and take her mouth in a dominant kiss, pouring all of my love for this incredible woman into it.‘How many pack members do we have to threaten to keep their sons away from our little girl,’ Arric growls, already feeling possessive of his pups.‘She’ll have her brother to keep them away,’ I say as an image of Henry watching Harold enters my mind. Only this time, it’s MY son and he’s watching ME, learning to be a good Alpha from me.I deepen the kiss eve