"I may be your second chance, Wade, but I will not be your second choice."
Reeling from the death of his mate, Alpha Wade tried everything in his power to bring her back to life. So consumed with raising her from the dead, he almost missed his secon...
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IT was only a few short days until Henry was back to full health, beaming with his alarming smile. Many times in my life, I had wanted to wipe his smile clean right off his face, but I couldn't be happier to see him alive and well, no longer stuck in a coma.
Henry had narrowly escaped death, and I was not soon to forget it. Partly because, well, he too would not let me forget such a life-altering occurrence, but also because it had brought me so close to the pain and misery felt when Mom was taken far too soon from this world.
However, instead of being in mourning, our family had cause for celebration. Henry was alive and well, and Grandpa had made sure the rest of the world knew it.
Somehow, Grandpa had convinced Dad to hold a small party for my brother. Dad, who was still recovering from the near loss of his son, had just been grateful for Henry to be alive—we all were. So Grandpa thought it best to celebrate.
In the span of a couple hours, our family had gone from planning a funeral to planning a party.
However, the devastation of Lupoxia was not lost on us. Many pack members, like Spencer's cousin, had lost their lives to the disease. While all the patients in the hospital had a similar recovery to Henry's, the longevity of this "cure" was unknown.
I knew from the tension of the bond between Wade and me he felt this reality more than anyone. We hadn't had time to talk about what had happened—the reality that the pack had been as strong (or weak) as its Alpha. I wanted to assure Wade it was not his fault, but I had been so preoccupied with Henry and then filling Olivia and Spencer on everything that Wade and I hadn't had any time alone.
As it turned out, our family was not the only one with the idea to celebrate. Many other households—even those untouched by Lupoxia (if even such a situation could exist)—had the same idea. In light of this, training had been suspended, and pack members were back home to celebrate.
Spencer had already been back home for his cousin's funeral, which had occurred a couple weeks ago. However, right after the funeral, Spencer came back to the Training Grounds. With news of the "cure" of Lupoxia, he boarded the first train back home.
"Now that you've found your mate," Olive sighed, slinging her arm around my shoulder. "I need to find mine."
"Orrrr," Spencer's voice trailed off, but Olivia shoved him with her elbow. "Ow. Fuck, Olivia, that hurt."
"It was supposed to." She smiled.
Spencer, Olivia, and I sat around one of the many white foldable tables we had set up in the driveway earlier in the day. Several of the same tables were set up in the backyard to create a delicately placed line for the buffet of food both Grandpa and Dad were cooking. Or, more accurately, barbequing.
The wafting smoke traveled from the grill in the backyard all the way to the driveway in the front, intermixing with the similar scent of various foods being prepared in nearby houses.
