Mates 140

KAIDEN STIRLING I hurried towards my closet and pulled together the most casual outfit I could find. A pair of loose pants and a grey shirt. I pulled on a pair of converses and grabbed my phone, heading out of the house and for my car as I attempted to dial Lyra’s number. Harper called after me. “Daddy,” she yelled as she ran to the car. “Are you going to see Mommy? Don’t leave without me!” She yelled, dropping her toy as she ran.

She stopped and hurried to get it.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. I was too tense to be taking care of a child right now, but she was my child and I was not going to leave her alone. That would be bad.

I climbed out of the car and headed round to the back seat, pulling the door open. Harper ran up to me. I examined her carefully. She was breathless. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry,” I said and she gave me a nod as she climbed into the car. Aside from her breathlessness, she seemed completely fine. I buckled her in and shut the door.

I went back to the driver’s side and started the car after shutting the door and locking all sides. “Are we going to see Mommy?” Harper asked from the back seat. She seemed to still be trying to catch her breath. I glanced in the rearview mirror as I reversed out of the driveway, looking at her as well.

She seemed tired.

“Yes, princess. But we have to see someone first,” I said. “Okay,” she said, her voice small and tired. I thought it was because she had just finished running, so I just left her to catch her breath.

I started to dial Lyra’s number but I was interrupted yet again by another calm coming in. It was Dane, my beta.

When was the last time I had heard this guy’s voice? We communicated via text all the time and our schedules never allowed us to meet ever since Freda had come back to the pack. Not really.

I groaned but accepted the call. He knew that I preferred texts, so if he was calling, it meant it was something urgent. I was not sure how that made me feel. I had enough urgent situations on my hands and I did not want to start feeling overstimulated.

I raised the phone to my ear as turned into another street. I was going to Freda’s house.

“Alpha, there’s a big problem,” his voice came through the speaker as soon as I raised the phone to my ear. My heart dropped. “What?” I asked, pressing my lips together. Whatever it was, I would hear it, but it was going to have to wait because I had something more urgent to attend to. I needed to talk to Freda… Or Lyra.

“The council has called a meeting,” he said and I had to physically force myself to not freeze. “Why the fuck would they do that? What happened now?” I asked and glanced in the rearview mirror to see if Harper had heard my vulgar slip–up. She was sleeping.

“I’m not exactly sure. It has something to do with the Luna though. She’s engineering it,” he said and I was filled with 14210 288 iVouchers confusion. “Safiya is at the hospital, what do you mean?” I asked, chuckling to release the tension I was feeling.

All I wanted to do was yell and punch this steering till my fist broke. Anytime the council called a meeting, it was always disastrous. What the hell was the reason for this one?

“She’s out and she has been inciting something. The Members are requiring your presence in the next ten minutes,” he said and I furiously shook my head.

“You tell them I just left the damn pack house and I need to take care of something. I need to call someone, Dane. Hang up,” I told him through gritted teeth. “Alpha…” He said with hesitation and dread in his voice. If he told the elders in the council what I had said, both of us would be screwed and he knew that. The thing was, I didn’t care. I had more important things to take care of.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and slowed the car to a stop. I hung up on him and dialed Freda’s number. It went straight to voicemail. I dialed Lyra’s number. First ring. Second ring. Third ring…

My finger was tapping impatiently at the steering wheel and I exhaled a deep breath as soon as she picked on the fourth ring. “Kaiden…” She said, her voice cracked and shaky. Oh, goddess.

“Lyra, what’s wrong? What happened?” I asked, now filled with worry as I heard her voice. “It’s Freda…” She said and started to cry. What the fuck.

“What happened to her?” I asked. She kept crying. “What happened to her, Lyra? What’s going on?”

I asked. My anxiety and stress levels were at a hundred percent.

14-21 “Freda…Safiya…” She said and then the line went dead.

I blinked and pulled back the phone from my ear. “Lyra?” I called and tapped on my screen. The phone was dead.

“Fuck!” I roared with frustration and anger. What the hell?? I looked back at Harper, ready to apologize to her because she was a light sleeper and I had definitely woken her up. She wasn’t awake. If anything, she looked pale. “Harper?” I called, watching her for any movements. Nothing.

“Harper?” I called again, concentrating my senses on the sounds of her breathing and heartbeat.

She was breathing so slowly and so shallowly. Her heart was so slow that my own heart dropped.

I hurried out of my seat and headed round to her side. I touched her and she was icy to the touch.

“Jesus…” I whispered, hurrying back to my side to head for the hospital.

Today was officially the worst day of my life. My daughter was dying.