"How are you feeling, Liz?" Alex asked with a clear concern on his face as they walked about the hall of the hospital floor that had temporarily become her home. He taking the reigns from Jason momentarily, so the Alpha could shower and report to his leadership in private, now that Elizabeth seemed to have progressed in her healing.
"I'm feeling much better. I can't wait to go home." She said honestly. This territory left her feeling uneasy and there were not many good memories she had within its depths, her eagerness to leave the region outweighed her vested interest in recovering.
"It's funny, you know." He said with a sigh. "Not too long ago, all I wanted you to do was come back, and now I find myself not being able to wait until you go home." A soft smile emerging on his face, as he shared a mutual understanding with her, the two of them would only be able to comprehend.
"I know what you mean... But I want you to know, I did truly love you." She said with her own soft smile. "At one point..."
"I loved you too... but things are the way they should have been all along. I'm so glad Jason found you." He said with a nod, giving a light squeeze to her shoulder. "He's so good for you, Liz."
"Too good." She said with a soft laugh as her eyes looked down. "We all have come along way, and in rapid fashion. I just kinda wish I would have known what it would have been like without the others..."
"Me too, but I think it was meant to be. I don't think any of us would have found the strength we needed for this life, without them... like fate, you know?" He said with his head tilting, his blue eyes searching for her understanding, only meeting another laugh.
"You wolves and your talk of fate and destiny." She said shaking her head with a roll of her eyes, still wearing her small smile.
"Well.. don't forget you're a wolf too, my dear." He said giving her a gentle nudge with his shoulder, causing her walk to become slightly uneven for a few steps before he gripped her bicep and leveled its measure.
"Ah yes.. the noshif who disrupted the lycan nation." She said with raised eyes, holding a sort of a dejection in their twinkle despite the grin on her face.
"Noshif or not. You still got an unmatched prowess. You're strong, Liz. So, strong. And who knows, you've shifted before, you might be able to shift again." He said with a small shrug, not putting it out of the realm of possibility.
"That was Mathias, not me." She said with a firm shake of her head.
"It may have been him, but your body proved its capable. Don't discredit your own ability." He said back in his own confidence of her.
"I'm perfectly comfortable staying in this form. Shifting or delving too deeply into my other senses, never did me any favors." She said looking over to him with soft hazel eyes, showing her own tired weariness. "I'm just lucky I have the benefit of an overbearing mate who will not let me stray too far. I'm sure I'm going home and going to be locked away again, and I'm kind of looking forward to it."
"Oh, he's definitely going to tuck you away for a bit. But I doubt for long. He's way too proud of you to dim your shine... he's definitely going to want to show you off in a matter of time." Alex smirked with a shake of his head, knowing if he was in the Alphas place he would want to do the same thing.
"Are people really talking that much about this whole ordeal?" She looked over to him, her forward progress stopping.
"Absolutely. I think they're more impressed with you than him, considering your backstory filled with your obscurity from it all." Alex nodded as he nudged his head in the forward direction, wanting her to continue her exercise. "You're an impressive force all on your own. The men are fawning over you, and the women either want to be you, or loathe you entirely, my mate included, though she has fair reason." He said with a laugh as they continued forward.
"Is she coming around?" Elizabeth questioned in concern for his situation.
"She's coming when you leave." He said with another nod this time softer in its motion. "She was quite angry, but now the idea of being mated with an alpha has made her father begin to plead for her to see reason... She was being more gentle in her words before the news broke out of my inevitable ascension, her father is now only aiding in the efforts. I understand her anger though, I was a complete dick to her."
"I feel like that's a lycan male trait." Elizabeth said with another eye roll, this time being the one to nudge him with her own shoulder, his frame barely shifting from the movement.
"Rude." He laughed lightly as they were making their way round to her room. "Speaking of lycan males, I'll need your assistance with the other Alphas. More specifically with the allies Pinecrest utilized and Jason's pack... we need to smooth things over with all parties, so I can seamlessly slide into place. It appears your mate is not being as cordial as we had hoped, and we'll need some femininity to soften the tides."
"It's not in Jason's nature to be forgiving." She said with a head shake.
"Well.. I'm sure you can play a hand to help with it. Believe it or not, the other Alphas, Terry, Skylar and Keith, have all taken a liking to you. You can use your peacekeeping ways to sway Jason and help the dust settle." Alex mildly suggested as his blue eyes searched hers once more, but this time for confirmation that she was agreeing to the task
"I'll try." She said softly. "But you owe me. It's going to take a lot of sex." She joked, but in the back of her mind there was a knowing certainty that it would most likely be the case.
"Isn't that the way women always garnered power?" He laughed with a shake of his head before receiving a slap and a glare at his arm. "What? I'm serious! It's built and crippled empires, don't blame me for the almighty vaginas power in male dominated societies." He earned another slap before she laughed.
————————
"Are you still fighting with the other packs?" Elizabeth asked abruptly, as she began to change for the meeting she was just about to walk into with all the Alphas who were involved in the war efforts in attendance.
It had been a few days since she spoke with Alex in the depths of the hospital wing, and she had been discharged with a clean bill of health allowing her to finish what was once started. Within a few more days, she would be able to officially turn over the Alpha title to Alex through some weird ceremony that had been relayed to her and she could return to her life of normalcy, but not until everything had been settled in regards to Pinecrest.
"I'm not fighting with them." Jason said dismissively, giving her a side glance but not making eye contact.
"Oh, so you're just being a dick?" She questioned with a firm gaze on his frame, as he continued to dress himself, at the moment tucking his white shirt into his dress pants. "I just want to be clear on what I'm walking into."
"Watch your tone, Elizabeth. They're not our allies. In fact, they were actively working against us. Jacob and I gave them fair warning what that would mean if they opted to not align with our interests." Jason replied just as firmly, his deep green eyes falling onto her hazel ones as he began to fix on his belt.
"Jason." She scolded him sternly. "I'm tired, and I'm exhausted. I want peace and I want to go home without a worry."
"So don't worry, let me handle it." He said with a shrug, his eyes honing into the red laced shirt she was putting on, before he searched for a matching tie in his luggage.
"I don't want another war, especially not if I can help it." She said sharply, disliking his demeanor and how quickly he was willing to leave her out of that decision.
"I cannot allow their disregard of my word to go unhandled." He said as he was wrapping the tie in a tight knot, immediately getting frustrated as she began to change her shirt, her actions almost seemingly purposeful. She now putting on a long sleeved olive green shirt, and he huffing as he began to remove his tie. "Just pick something." He sighed out, withholding his effort to select a new tie until she made her final decision.
"They could be our allies." She said holding the bottom of her shirt as if she was tempted to change it again. "And then we could be at peace.. if you know, you caved a little in your stubbornness."
"I don't cave." He said, hands going into his pockets, still waiting for her decision to be final in her outfit selection.
"Well, then I guess you're forcing my hand... I don't see how I could ever want to raise a child in a world at constant unease." Her words carefully being selected, in her own firm resolve, showing an immense amount of thought having been placed behind them. "Can you call Dr. Hamilton and ask for a prescription refill? I'm almost due for my next dose. I can't remember what I did with the last injection, but I'll be needing one soon." She said turning away from him as she decided to keep with the olive green shirt, and her hands beginning to rummage for a suitable pair of shoes to wear with the outfit.
He stared at her intensely for a few moments, trying to follow the context of her words, his own voice being lost for a moment as he took in the gravity of her statement. "What are you saying, Elizabeth?" He questioned quickly, as his brain ignited at the eluding nature of what had just slipped past her lips.
"It's was a fleeting thought. Don't think about it." She said with a shrug as she began to slip on some tan wedges, one foot a time. "You have packs to fight."
"What. Are. You. Saying. Elizabeth?" He questioned again in a slower more firm manner.
"Well..." she said looking over her shoulder for just a moment to take in his deep green eyes and their fixated stare on her form. "I just thought after everything we've been through, we might be ready to start trying.. but seeing as how you'll be inundated with other responsibilities. It's probably best we wait until the dust has settled. Therefor, I'll need a prescription refill." Her head slightly shaking as she straightened her posture and began to fuss with her outfit to make sure it was sitting right on her frame.
"Are you fucking with me?" His words coming out sharp and deep, as his eyes darkened and she could feel their gaze burning against her back.
"No, Jason." She said softly, her voice almost carrying her own deflation. "I'll be ready when you are." As she began to walk to the bathroom so she could fix her hair and set her makeup. She being immediately gripped from behind with his strong arms about her waist after only a few steps progress made.
"Let's start now." He said lowly, as he carried her back to the bed.
"You have battles to fight." She said in protest as she was thrown with her back crashing into the bed.
"This is the only battle I care to win." He said as he began to quickly undo his shirt, deciding they both would be late for the meeting right in this moment.