Chapter 29: Acceptance

Alpha Carson Nygaard’s POV

Cascade Pack House

As soon as Chairman Coffey ended the call, I started another one. It was a smaller videoconference, only the Alphas of our families. I watched the screen as Sawyer and Ashley, Coral and Keith, Rori and Chase, Michael and Margaret, and Martin and Rebecca joined the conversation. “Well, that was fun. Thank you for handling that, Sawyer. I didn’t have the patience for it.”

“You’ll get my bill,” he said with a grin. “Overall, it went well. I hoped we would get to punish Millner ourselves, but he’s dead now. The question is what we do next.”

Martin was the most politically savvy of us, and he was first to understand the implications. “In the short term, the attack will gain us some goodwill. You repelled a sneak attack from a Council member, and you handled it well. We should use this to galvanize support for our cause.”

“Isn’t it a bit early,” Coral asked.

Martin shook his head, no. “I’m sure the jockeying for Millner’s spot on the Council is already beginning. We represent a good chunk of the voting Packs, but we don’t have a retired Alpha on the bench for a century to put up. Our allies do, and they will be lobbying for our support of their preferred candidate.”

He was right. “How should I handle it?”

“You don’t do anything,” Martin said. “Heather is your mate, and as far as they know, she is dying. No one expects you to leave her side, and it would hurt our cause if you did. Let Mom answer the calls for you.”

It made sense, a lot of sense. “Too bad we can’t put Mom up. THAT would shake up the Council.”

Most of us laughed, but Sawyer didn’t. “Technically, there’s no reason we can’t.” The rest of us stared at him. “The laws for eligibility only state that the person cannot be an active Alpha of any Pack. They don’t even require the person to have BEEN an Alpha. The idea that only long-retired Alphas are candidates is tradition, not law. Carson’s right; Mom would be a hell of a Council member.”

“We can’t risk it,” Margaret said. “She’s mated, it’s a package deal, and we’re trying to keep the Change secret for now.”

“She’s right,” Coral said. “It’s too bad. I’d love to be with her when she and Frank walk into Council headquarters, and he lets his dominance out. Kirk and Coffey would piss themselves.”

It was a fun thought. “So I stay out of sight with Heather, Mom handles the calls, and we all work the other Alphas.”

“Exactly,” Martin said. “Don’t commit to anyone just yet, but talk about what we want in the next Councilman. Someone with honor and courage, open to human interaction, and new ideas.”

“Let them bring forward their suggestions. We can talk again in a few days; we might find it to be an easy choice,” Michael said. “I have a few ideas as well, especially since Sawyer pointed out I don’t have to restrict myself to fossils.”

“Go to your mate, Carson. We got this,” Chase said.

“Thank you all. I’ll keep you posted on Heather’s progress.” With that, I ended the videoconference and headed out of my office. I sent a request to the kitchen to have food brought to the Clinic as I ran towards it. “Mom?”

“Carson? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Mom, I had a quick talk with the rest of the family plus Michael and Martin about what to do next. They suggested that I stay with Heather, out of sight for a while.”

“To be with your dying mate,” she said.

“Yes, but we both know how strong she is. She will pull through. Can you stay in the office, answer the phone calls and deal with the condolences?”

“Of course. Go to your mate; you’ve been away too long already.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I reached the Clinic, making my way to her bedside. She was still sleeping, hooked up to machines, but not pale like earlier. “How is she doing?”

“She’s beginning to wake. I was going to call you in a few minutes,” Doc said. I looked at the monitors; her vitals were back to normal. “Temperature is just starting to rise. The fever will hit in the next hour or two, so you don’t have much time before she’ll be out of it again.” The shift started with the worst case of flu-like symptoms; high fever, chills, nausea, muscle aches. For the first shift of a werewolf, an hour or two later, you were shaking out your fur and learning to walk on four legs. Frank’s first shift had been long and painful, and only Colletta’s mating bite gave him the strength to complete the change. “Doctor Olson’s plane arrived, he’s been picked up and will be here in an hour.”

That was good; the Oxbow Lake Pack Doctor had been there for Frank’s change. Alpha Michael had put him on a private jet to Yakima as soon as he heard about Heather. I kissed Heather on the forehead, noting her flush. My wolf wanted to be next to her and protect her from the pain. “Is it all right if I join her?”

“Of course, Alpha. Be careful of the lines.” Her left hand had the IV line, blood pressure cuff, and pulsox fingertip detector, so I moved to the right side where her broken forearm lay in a cast. I stripped down and lifted the sheet, sliding in next to her. Moving her arm over her stomach, I rested on my side with my arm below hers.

She started to move a few minutes later, and I gently took the fingers of her right hand as her eyes began to flutter open. “You’re safe, Heather. I’m with you.”

Doc turned down the lights, and she opened her eyes wide. “How…” She turned her head to me and tried to sit up.

“Just relax and breathe, love. You’re in the Clinic. You took a nasty fall into the river, and your body hasn’t recovered yet.”

She looked at me for a moment before relaxing. Turning her head, she looked at Doc. “Babies?” she whispered.

“Alive for now,” he said. Heather moved her right hand towards her lower belly, wincing in pain before she looked down to see the fiberglass cast on it. “One of the attackers bit your arm, breaking both bones. They are healing well.”

“For now?” Tears were falling from her eyes, and I knew she had figured it out.

“Your injuries were extensive, and your heart had stopped when I pulled you out of the water,” I said. “The bite was going to kill you, kill all of you. We gave you my blood, werewolf blood, just like we did with Frank. It stabilized you and is healing you already, and you’ll make the change soon if you want to.”

Her eyes got big, tears pooling in them. “You said you couldn’t change me because it would kill the babies. I don’t want to hurt them.”

I put my hand gently on her cheek, my thumb wiping the tears away. “There was no choice where I could save you all,” I said. “I’m sorry, my love. If you don’t want to be like us, I will let you go. We will make you comfortable until you are gone.” It tore my heart apart to say this, but I had to. She had so many choices taken from her in her short life, and I wasn’t taking this one.

She closed her eyes and laid her head back as the sobs came. Her hands covered her belly, and my hand covered hers. “I’m so sorry, love. It’s all my fault; I couldn’t protect you on my land.”

“It wasn’t your fault. The men were after me; you just got in the way,” she said. “No regrets. I was having such a good time, right until they interrupted our little moment.”

“Another reason to kill them all,” I said as I kissed her cheek. “I get to first base, and they pull a pickoff move.”

She didn’t say anything for a few more minutes. “Tell me if I have this right, Doc. I got bitten, so if you did nothing, I’d be dead soon.”

“Yes, humans die within a day of being bitten.”

“You gave me werewolf blood, which saved my life. It will turn me into one of you after a long, painful change that my babies won’t survive.”

“We think that is the case, but you’re only the second try at this. You are correct in that your babies will not survive the change; they are too far along.”

She turned her head to look at me. “Do you want me to be your mate, Carson?”

I nodded. “It’s the only thing I want now, my love. Let me bite you and make you mine as I am yours.”

“Can we run together?”

“Of course, love. You and I, together always.”

She pulled me down into a kiss. “I want you to do it, Carson. I want to live.”

I kissed her deeply, ending with my forehead against hers. “Thank you.”

She turned her head towards Doc. “You think my babies will not survive, but has a pregnant human ever turned?”

“Of course not, Luna.”

“Then you don’t KNOW what will happen. Don’t you give up on my twins, because it’s not over until it’s over. Carson, you do everything you can to save all three of us.”

We talked for a while about what she might expect, and I could feel her fever starting in towards the end. Doctor Olson arrived, and she smiled at him as he walked in. “Miss Heather!”

“Hello, Doctor,” she said warmly. They first met on the jet to Minnesota after Rori’s team snatched her from the Orlando hospital.

“You need to stop getting hurt, so our meetings are more pleasant,” he teased. He looked over Heather’s chart and saw her temperatures trending up. “It won’t be long now.”

“I’ve agreed to let Carson mate me,” she said.

“That’s wonderful. We’ll give you some privacy.”

“Now?” Doc looked at his counterpart.

“It can’t hurt. Heather’s attacker already bit her, so another bite won’t be any more harm. The mating bite now will strengthen her. Combine that with being in better physical shape than Frank was when he changed, and it might shorten the transition.” Doc thought about it before he agreed, and they both stepped out.

I smiled down at my mate. “This isn’t the romantic moment I had planned on when you agreed to be mine,” I said.

“You can make it up to me. How do we do this?”

“I’ll shift my jaws and bite the junction of your neck and shoulder. It will hurt, at least at first. If you were a werewolf, you’d feel a rush of pleasure as our wolves connect.”

She nodded, pulling the hospital gown off her left shoulder. “Do it quickly,” she said.

“I love you,” I said before I kissed her. I held her in my arms, bringing her shoulder off the bed as my teeth shifted. I kissed her neck until she relaxed. I opened my mouth as wide as I could, put her neck in my mouth, and bit down.

“Ahhhhh, OWW SHIT,” she said as her blood entered my mouth. I released her, licking at the bloody wounds as her tears fell. “That hurts!”

“I’m sorry, love.” I called for Doc to come back in, and he cleaned the wounds and helped me hold pressure on them until the bleeding stopped.

“You better romance the shit out of me with your marriage proposal,” she teased as she laid back in the bed. “I’m hot.”

“The fevers are coming on. Say what you need to, because the delirium will be here soon.”

She looked into my eyes. “Carson, if I don’t make it.”

“You’re going to pull through this, Heather. I won’t let you die.”

“IF I don’t make it, I want you to scatter my ashes on Arrowhead Lake. Invite my family and my Club friends, and have a blowout wake on my tab,” she said. “As for you, you live. You’re a good man, and your Pack needs you. Don’t follow me across because I want to watch over you here.”

“I can’t live without you now, Heather.”

“You can, and you will. For me.” I nodded, knowing she had no idea what she was asking. I could already feel the bond starting between us, tying our souls together for eternity.

Five minutes later, her fever was over a hundred and four, and there was no more talking. All I felt was her pain over the thread connecting us.