Silvia
I woke up in a strange room to find my mate nowhere in sight and my daughters, as well as Rebecca, quietly chatting from somewhere on the floor near the bed I was occupying. Sitting up, I caught sight of them and Rebecca jumped to her feet upon seeing I was awake. "How are you feeling?" She asked me as she, and my daughters rushed to my side.
"I'm fine," I assure her. "Where's Matt?" I ask them.
"Dad's in the Alpha's office with the beta, and our mates," Selene answers. "Dad is trying to find out as much as he can about this pack so he knows what needs to be done going forward." Lifting my eyebrows in surprise at this news, I start to wonder why Mathew felt it necessary to know about this pack.
"The Elders appointed him acting Alpha until Aubrielle can take over," Starla informs me and I chuckle imagining my mate's reaction to being made acting Alpha. That would explain why our mates had gathered in the Alpha office.
"I'm sure he was ecstatic," I joke, and the girls all laugh.
"All jokes aside," I look at each of them as I ask what was uppermost on my mind. "How's Aubrielle? I remember a lot of what took place but it was shrouded in a kind of fog."
I could see their eyes become misty and I knew they were fighting back tears. "She looks horrible mom," Rebecca informs me.
Rebecca has been a member of my pack since she was twelve years old. Her mother died when she was four, then her father died when she was twelve and she was sent to her uncle, who was one of our previous trainers. I felt a kinship with her since I lost my parents at a young age. We got close early on and she has called me mom since I learned she was Christian's mate.
"Her eyes and cheeks are sunken in," Rebecca says before she covers her mouth to hold in a sob. Starla and Selene nodded, blinking rapidly to hold back the tears that were fighting to escape. "Oh mom, she went through so much!" Selene moaned softly.
Holding out my arms to my girls, they all climbed onto the bed and I held them in my arms as we all softly cried for the hell our sweet Aubrielle had to live through. Long minutes later, we separated and took turns entering the ensuite bathroom to blow our noses and wash our faces.
"Has there been any word on her condition?" I asked the room in general once we had all freshened up.
"We have been here since dad brought you up about an hour ago," Starla informed me. "So we're not aware if there has been any word as of yet." Before I can comment on that, there was a knock on the door before it was thrown open, and Marcus came barreling in. Behind him, I caught sight of Cain and Gabriel standing out in the hall.
"Momma!" Marcus cried out, running at me with River rolling his eyes and Rio shaking his head, as they followed their little brother in.
"I told you mom was resting squirt, you didn't need to rush in yelling," River scolded with exasperation.
"It's ok honey," I assured River with a smile. Bending down I swung Marcus up into my arms. "What's wrong baby?" I asked Marcus.
"I wanna go see Bree but River and Rio keep saying I can't!" Marcus whined with a pout, tears flooding his big emerald-colored eyes.
"We all want to see her too bud," Rio spoke up. "But we wanted to wait until mom was rested."
"Can we go see Bree momma?" Marcus asked with the puppy-dog eyes that always worked.
Dropping a soft kiss on his forehead, I smiled down at him. "Ok, let's go see her," I agreed as I set him on the floor.
"Yipee!" Marcus shouted before he grabbed my hand and began urging me forward.
Marcus led us down a long hall, then down a set of stairs to a huge foyer. Unsure which way to go, we stopped and looked around for help. We didn't have to wait long since a she-wolf came out of a door toward the rear of the building and caught sight of us. "Luna!" She exclaimed as she hurried toward us and bowed.
"Please don't bow," I beg softly. "But we could use some help if you have the time."
"Of course, I have time for our acting Luna!" She cries out with a soft laugh. "My name is Tanya, what can I help you with?" She asked happily.
"We want to visit your Luna, Aubrielle. Do you know where she might be?" I ask as Marcus bounces from one foot to the other impatiently.
"Oh, the Luna was taken to the pack hospital. If you all follow me, I can take you there." She offers.
"Great, thank you so much!" I tell her gratefully.
"No need to thank me," Tanya assures me as she begins to lead us through the massive packhouse. "It will be my pleasure! But I have to warn you, the hospital is a fifteen-minute walk from here." She informs me.
"That's fine," I assure her, completely unconcerned. "Please lead the way, if you don't mind." Smiling over her shoulder, she continued walking.
Tanya was kind enough to give us a small tour along the way, pointing out places that would interest each of us. She even pointed out where the Alpha's office was and surprised me by informing me that the Luna had her own office and showed me where it was located. Tanya also showed us where the kitchen and dining area were located.
We slipped out of the packhouse through a back door. A short distance from the rear of the building, there was another large house bigger than the packhouse, and behind that, there was a play area where the pups could play, with swings, a slide, etc. A few homes surrounded the play area, one of which was vacant and had a nice yard and garden. On the next block, I noticed another vacant house that appealed to me.
We continued walking until we reached the pack hospital which was located about ten blocks from the packhouse. I was glad when Tanya guided us inside and to a nurse's station. "Oh, it's our acting Luna!" The nurse behind the desk exclaimed with a welcoming smile.
"The Luna would like to visit our incapacitated Luna," Tanya informed the nurse before turning to us. "This is Cassie, I leave you in her capable hands." With that, Tanya waved to us and then left.
"It's an honor to meet you, Luna Silvia," Cassie speaks as she's rapidly typing into the computer in front of her. "Who could have imagined that we would have the opportunity to meet the sacred vessel!" Her tone was bordering on giddy. "Here we go, Luna Aubrielle is in room two E. It's located on the second floor and I would be glad to take you there. Please follow me."
Cassie led us to a set of elevators and pressed the up button. "How many rooms does this hospital have?" I asked, unable to control my curiosity. I'd noticed the building took up two blocks and had three floors. I'd never been to a pack that had a hospital on site. Usually, there was a clinic on pack grounds and a hospital in the nearby city, or the outskirts.
"There are a total of forty rooms on the second and third floors. We also have a maternity ward in part of the basement with twenty patient rooms for the new moms. We also have a huge cafeteria down there, with vending machines and it opens at nine am and closes at ten pm." We boarded the elevator and Cassie pressed button number two. It was a tight squeeze with all of us, Cain, Gabriel, and Cassie in the small space.
"Plus we have the ER and radiology on the first floor. I'm aware that most packs don't have a hospital within the pack grounds," She went on to explain. "But given our Alphas have all been of royal blood and because the nearest hospital is two hours away, Royal Alpha Gavin Hall felt we needed a hospital and had this one built."
When the door opened, Cassie led us down a hallway, then turned left before she stopped in front of a closed door. "Here we are," She knocked softly before pushing the door open to reveal an elegant hospital room. Debbie had been sitting in a chair that was set next to the bed, watching tv when the door opened.
"How are you feeling Silvia?" She asked as she stood. She met me in the center of the room and hugged me. "I know you lost consciousness when the goddess departed from you. Are you well enough to be here?"
"I'm fine, no need to worry," I assure her, then turn to see Marcus has already made his way to the bed and has climbed in next to her. "Be careful not to hurt her baby," I warn as I move closer to ensure he is not disturbing any of the wires and then I removed his shoes. Marcus then laid his head next to Aubrielle's on the pillow and sighed with contentment.
Once Debbie had hugged and greeted everyone, she returned to her seat just as a couple of male nurses walked in carrying two chairs each. "Thank you," I was grateful to them for their thoughtfulness.
"No thanks needed Luna," One of them said with a smile. They left and soon returned with another chair, as well as a cart containing a pot of coffee, sugar packets, creamer, some cups, plastic spoons, a couple of sodas for the twins, a juice box, and some snacks, before leaving once more. Cain and Gabriel grabbed a cup of coffee each before they went to stand by the door.
"How is she, Debbie?" I asked as the twins grabbed some snacks. Rio was going to pass a pack of Ritz crackers to Marcus but the pup had dozed off curled up near his Bree.
"We're still waiting on the results of the tests," Debbie told me. She had a sad smile on her lips as she looked from Marcus who was now snoring softly, to Aubrielle's still form. "But given all her internal injuries, we might have to place her in a medically induced coma."
"Oh, dear goddess, poor Aubrie" Selene moaned softly as tears filled her eyes. Starla grabbed her hand comfortingly, while Rebecca moved her chair closer to Selene's and rubbed her back. Out of all my pups, Selene was the most sensitive and could cry at the drop of a hat.
Nearly two hours later it was dinner time and we were discussing whether we should return to the packhouse to eat or see what the cafeteria had to offer when Mathew, Christian, Derry, Jason, and a young wolf I suspected was the beta, arrived. While Christian, Derry, and Jason went straight to their mates, Mathew led the young wolf to where I sat.
"Silvia, this is Jacob Bruni, the pack's beta. Jacob, this is my beautiful mate, Silvia Weston." Mathew slipped an arm over my shoulders as I stood up to greet the beta.
"It's such an honor to meet you, Luna Silvia Weston!" Jacob reached out and shook my hand. I smiled as I remembered a time when Mathew would growl every time a male would come too close to me. I suppose time had helped Goliath to get over being overly sensitive over other males who so much as looked my way.
"It's very nice to meet you, Beta Jacob," I greet him.
"Please, just Jacob," The beta insists and I nod. "Alright, but only if you will call me Silvia rather than Luna Silvia Weston," I say with a small laugh.
"Ok," Jacob concedes. "I'm sure you all wish to stay as close as possible to Luna Aubrielle, so I asked my mate to have food sent over. I also pulled some strings and asked the cafeteria if we could borrow a long table with a few more chairs."
No sooner had he finished speaking when the two male nurses from before appeared and began to move some furniture out to the hall to make room for the table. I was so moved by his thoughtfulness that I hugged him. "Thank you so much!" Seconds later, I was being ripped away from him, then pulled against my mate.
"Just because Goliath doesn't growl as much as he used to, doesn't mean he doesn't yell at me if I allow you to touch another male," Mathew grumbled into my ear before he hurried his face into the crook of my neck to take deep whiffs of my scent.
Once the table and chairs were set up, a young she-wolf wheeled a cart in front of the door, then with the help of the beta, they carried in plates of food, pitchers filled with juice, and one glass of milk for Marcus. "Silvia, this is my mate, Kristal. Kris, this is our acting luna, Silvia." Jacob introduced us.
"It's so nice to meet you, Kristal," I reached out and hugged the young she-wolf, who was briefly startled but hugged me back nonetheless.
"It's wonderful to meet you, Luna," Kristal admitted.
"Just Silvia, please," I correct her. "I've never been big on titles."
Nodding, Kristal smiles at me. "Alright, Silvia."
Soon enough Jacob and Kristal left to go eat with the pack leaving us to sit around the table to eat our meal. We had ribeye steak with homemade mashed potatoes gravy, a garden salad, and for dessert, apple pie. The food was beyond delicious, it was divine and not a bite was leftover.
I began to stack the plates, ready to carry them out to the cart that Kristal had left in the hall when the male nurses appeared and made short work of clearing off the table. Next, the table was carried out and the furniture that had been placed in the hall was brought back in. We thanked the two nurses, whose names were Terry and George.
Ten pm came around and it was time to go. Marcus didn't want to leave but I assured him we would be back tomorrow and could stay all day. Placated, he took my hand and allowed me to lead him out of the room quietly. As we began walking back to the packhouse, I prayed Aubrielle would be alright.
After Marcus was tucked in I turned to my mate. "This isn't the room that idiot Alpha occupied, is it?" I asked. I didn't want to sleep in the bed he owned and utilized.
Mathew walked up to me, then wrapped his hands around my upper arms gently while looking into my eyes. "I requested we would be placed in any room, as long as he had not occupied it."
I nodded. "Thank you, Matt."
"Jacob did tell me there are three empty houses at the moment if we would rather not live in the packhouse," Mathew informs me as he pulls me into his arms and cradles me against his chest. "I told him you and I would discuss it and get back to him."
I wrap my arms around his waist as I lay my cheek against his chest and listen to his heartbeat. I'm not certain what the future holds but I prayed Aubrielle would get well soon and we could get back home, back to our lives. Mathew loved being retired from his Alpha duties, it would be too strenuous to perform Alpha duties as well as Elder duties.
After a few minutes, I lean back to look up into his eyes. "Thank you, Matt," I murmur with a grateful smile.
"For what love?" He asks after pecking my lips, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"For accepting me and wanting me. For always loving me even when I had no idea who I was because I had completely forgotten I was a werewolf. For our beautiful family and life together. But above all that, for being the wonderful being you are."
Gently cupping my face in his big hands, Mathew shook his head. "Don't thank me for what has always been my pleasure. You and our pups are the greatest gifts, anyone can be given. I am eternally grateful to the goddess," He states before he crashes his lips down on mine in a deep, loving kiss that curled my toes.
Moments later we break apart breathing heavily and I realize my hands are clinging to Mathew's shirt as if my life depended on it. "Do you think Bastian regrets what he did?" I ask as I release my grip on his shirt.
"I can't say for sure but I hope so. Bastian was a fool for not appreciating the gift that was bestowed upon him." Mathew tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and then allowed the back of his fingers to caress my cheek. "Let's go to bed, ok?" His hand dropped down to grab mine and I allowed him to lead me to the bed.
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