Chapter 14.

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I turned the TV off with a heavy sigh before dropping my arm back onto the seat. I never watched the news and had just reminded myself why. If I ever felt like I was in the mood to hear bad news and have my mood drop completely, I'd watch the news again. I shut my eyes letting my head sink back against the seat while letting out a yawn. Being unable to sleep again had left me feeling lethargic, I should have just watched a comedy to try to lighten my mood.

My eyes popped open and moved towards the arch opening that led to the hallway as footsteps sounded on the stairs. I smiled feeling Karabo before he even stepped into the living room and once he reached the opening, I gestured for him to come over. He frowned slightly but accepted the invitation.

"Why do you have to be up?" The question made me chuckle as Karabo fell onto the space next to me, "Eli, what are those dreams about?" He turned to me concerned.

"Nothing. Like I said: I'm not used to travelling down here..." I gave him a smile and leaned to kiss him but he looked at the black TV screen in front of us and crossed his arms, "Seriously? You're mad because I woke up before you?" I asked in disbelief.

"I wanted to make breakfast for you," he muttered.

I laughed but quickly paused seeing that he was still pouting at the screen. Well...

"I thought your cooking wasn't that great?" I questioned.

"I can cook... Well, I can make one thing really well, so shut up." I chuckled but he still appeared to be mad so I caved leaning close to him.

"I could go back to sleep... or... What do I have to do?" I asked kissing his cheek lightly.

"Don't move. I'll make breakfast. It's not like you went to bed anyway." he said. I agreed. That was true.

I watched as my mate jogged into the kitchen before chucking to myself as I leaned back to down across the couch. I smiled listening to him move pots around in the kitchen while my eyes studied the roof above me. My nose immediately caught the smell when he started cooking and it made my mouth water. It smelt so good and the fact that I knew he was the one cooking made it all the more appetising.

When he finally walked back into the living room, I couldn't wait to eat and sat up crossing my legs on the couch so he could he place the plate of food on my lap.

"This is spaghetti." My brows furrowed at the meal. No wonder he took so long.

"I know, eat up." he replied.

I chuckled and began to lift some food while he watched intently until I placed the fork full of food into my mouth. His gaze didn't change as I chewed while staring back at him amused by the amount of attention he was giving me at the moment.

"So?" he questioned, a devious glint on his eyes. He looked so mischievous, it was adorable.

"Did-did you make this extra hot?" I asked opening and closing my mouth like a fish and fanning my fork lightly.

"Very." He smirked. The meal was his payback for the water, wasn't it? Well...

"Awesome, I love hot food." I grinned eating another fork full. I watched his smirk fall before he gave an annoyed grunt and grabbed the plate from me. "Hey!"

"It's messing with my nose: I hate hot food," he stated walking out. I laughed jumping off the couch to sprint after him, grabbing the plate back once it was in reach.

"You make it really tasty though, you weren't lying when you said you made one thing really well. Thank you, Babe." I kissed him and he quickly covered his lips, his face twisting in slight pain.

"It's so hot!" he hissed, "How are you not bothered by that?" I laughed reaching to wipe his lip in an attempt to soothe it.

"I'll make you some eggs." I chuckled putting my food down. He pouted but sat down and I watched him stare at the window while probably beginning to plot another way to get back at me for the pre-shower I gave him the previous day.

I laughed letting him be while reaching for the pan.

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After breakfast, Karabo and I headed to get cleaned up while everyone else seemed to have done that first and then decided to eat. I took a shower in colder water as that usually seemed to wake me when I was tired before heading downstairs. The noise had died down indicating that the others might had left so I was surprised but happy when I walked into the living room to find Kevin on the couch.

"Kevin!" I greeted the kid as I fist-bumped him and then sat down next to him.

"Hey, Eli. Have you seen this?" He pointed his phone toward me. I raised my brows at him after reading the description of the video on the screen.

"You're still obsessing about that crazy guy?"

"You can't call him crazy. We know he's not crazy. Plus, more humans are starting to believe him. He's promising a shift, may have convinced a wolf to shift on camera." Kevin bit his lip as he looked back at the phone and began tapping to navigate through it.

"No Wolf would do that. We all know we'll just be exploited after they figure out what weakens us. Are you really worried about this guy? Kevin, you have no reason to be."

"Look."

"Seriously, Kevin, you've got to stop scaring yours –"

"Eli, look at this." he insisted.

I held back a sigh as the screen was turned back to me and focused on what he wanted me to see. It was another video uploaded on a different website, seemingly the creator's own. I watched him talk about how close he was to figuring out how to control werewolves and narrowed my eyes as I heard a growl and smash. It was faint. Very much so as it was barely audible in the video. I rewound the video and the sound was still there.

"That's a Wolf..." I mumbled.

"I know. I think... He may have captured it. It might just be an ordinary wolf," he said.

I shook my head. "That's no ordinary wolf, he's big and that growl is definitely a werewolf's. How is he keeping them at bay? Unless..." The human already had wolfsbane. I didn't say it out loud because Kevin already seemed quite shaken by the man.

If the guy already knew what could weaken werewolves, why would he keep it a secret? Perhaps he wanted the power to control werewolves and he wanted to keep it to himself...

"You think he has the rogues that went missing around your territory?"

No... He couldn't possibly... He was just a human... How could he kidnap werewolves? Even if he did have wolfsbane, it was hard for a human to catch us off-guard.

"No way. If he has a werewolf, they went to him willingly."

"What if they shift on camera?"

"We'll create a video that shows that it was faked." I said simply giving him a reassuring smile, "It's alright, Kevin. You don't need to freak out about it. Stop scaring yourself with this. Watch some Markiplier or whatever you kids are into right now," I exited the website for him as I got up. He frowned up at me seemingly offended by the word 'kids', it made sense because I was only a few years older than him but furrowed his brows instead of mentioning that.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Gonna find out what's keeping Karabo upstairs so long," I smiled and he chuckled.

I walked out of the living room as I drew my phone from my pocket to begin scrolling through the numbers but paused and looked at my sister as she joined me in the hallway. I raised my brows questioningly.

"You calling Danté?" She asked.

"Yes," I looked down at my phone as it began buzzing in my hand and chuckled. What a coincidence. I began walking again as I answered the call. "Dante, what's up? I was just about to call –"

"When are you coming back?" his voice was hushed. I glanced at Tamia who instantly seemed as worried as I felt and walked into Karabo's office with her following me. She shut the door before turning to me, her face displaying that she had the same question I had.

"Uh... Why are you whispering? Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah. Listen –"

"You're still whispering." I cut him off, I furrowed my brows hearing coughing, "Who's coughing? Did Paps let you bring a human to the house?" I asked in shock.

Our pack shifted freely on our territory, so we were not allowed to bring humans over unless given permission, and the rest of the pack was briefed on it first. It was too much work in the end and humans rarely visited unless they were mated to one of us, which was extremely rare.

"Maybe he's at Anthony's house," Tamia said. Anthony was another human friend of Danté's.

"No, I'm home. That's Dad – the coughing, I mean. He's sick."

"Are you in a closet?" Tamia asked. It sure sounded like he was in one.

"Did you hear what I said? Dad's sick."

I looked at our sister biting my lip and saw her sit down as she gave a sigh.

"Dante, we've been over this. We can't get sick. Trust me, no one is going to die, I promise –"

"This isn't like that, Eli!" I stood taken aback by the urgency in his voice, "He's sick and so is Paps and they're trying to hide it from me. I heard them whispering about it. Something is wrong and Sean and Paps are trying to keep it under wraps, but I heard Paps vomiting last night and Dad was sweating this morning, like... like Ava did when she had a fever. I know – I know it's not the same as it was with her but something isn't right –"

"Danté, calm down, alright?" I cut him off hearing the panic in his voice, "If it was serious, Paps would contact me. You hear that? The coughing stopped. Something was probably just in his throat."

"No... No, it's too quiet. Dad?" I heard the closet door open followed by scrambling and listened to Danté's urgent footsteps hit the floor as he ran downstairs. I heard him gasp and winced back from my phone as there was a sudden smash.

"Danté?" I didn't get a response, what I did get was frantic speaking somewhere further from the phone.

"Dad! Dad! W-what happened? Wake-wake up. Wake up – Dad?!" I heard more shuffling before it sounded as though my brother was grappling for the phone, he must have dropped it earlier, "Eli – Tammy, he fainted – I-I think he fainted," he wasn't kidding or exaggerating... I looked at Tamia feeling my heart pound in my chest.

"Danté, breathe. Call Eric and just stay with dad until he gets there." I said keeping my voice level because I knew he was completely freaking out even though i was beginning to do the same. I felt terrible not being there, he sounded so scared.

"What if – what if he doesn't wake up?" I felt Tamia take the phone from my hand.

"Danté, listen to me. He's going to be okay. Wait for Eric and then go to Eli's office, Sean and Paps are probably there."

"I'll call you back in ten, alright?" I said.

"O-Okay."

We listened as Danté hung up and I looked at Tamia as she held my phone in her hands.

"Tamia?" I asked making her look at me. She chewed her lip staring at the door.

"We have to go home," she mumbled.

"I'll book the flight." I took my phone from her.

"What about Karabo?" she asked.

"He'll understand. Can you tell Ben and Ashton to pack?"

Tamia nodded and walked out and I sat down. He fainted. How is it possible for him to get sick? I knew my Dad wasn't the strongest wolf, but Danté said Paps was sick too. Whatever they had, it could not be a cold. Wait, if they were both sick it might be contagious, so...

I dialed my brother's number again and he answered almost immediately.

"Hey, Eric's home with Dad, and I'm with Paps right now."

"Is that Eli? Tell him to join you at Inferno when he's back here."

"Inferno?" My voice was laced with Danté's.

"I just told you that. Were you not listening to me, Danté?"

I laughed and heard my brother tell me to stop under his breath before he spoke up to our father, "Wait, why do I have to go to Inferno?"

"Your grandmother misses you," I frowned hearing Paps clear his throat to hide a cough. "Do I need to call Kade to pick you up?"

"Why can't I drive?" I heard Danté ask. He could, Tamia and I had taught him how to.

"Do you have a car?" I bit my lip to hold back a laugh.

"I drive better than Ashton does!"

"Then borrow Ashton's car. Oh right, that's in repairs, along with Sean's." I began laughing as our Paps did. When Tamia and Ashton were heading out, she was usually the one driving.

"Seriously, Corey? Why are you dragging me into this? That's Izzy's fault, she said Ashton's driving got better." I heard Ashton's father, Sean.

"I'll just run to Inferno," Danté sounded like he was pouting. I chuckled.

"Alright, I'll call Kade to let him know you're on your way. Eli, how's your vacation?" Paps spoke.

"Good. We're well-rested, I actually miss work." I replied, "We'll probably see you the day after tomorrow." I added.

"Well-rested?" I nodded forgetting that he could not see me, he cleared his throat as though hiding a cough. "See you then, I love you."

"Love you too, Paps, Danté." I hung up before sighing.

Alright. Book our flight and then... say goodbye?

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