POV
Avery
I woke up the morning after being punished, to Shawn yelling, he was frantically shaking me awake. "Sunshine, get up! Your friends are outside, get up!" Shawn hollered. I sat up rubbing my eyes, "Huh?" I asked. "That human boy wants to see you, the girl in the infirmary is doing worse." He said, and without my control, I was moved, literally. I went from naked in bed, to dressed and at the bedroom door in an instant. "How?" Shawn asked me. "My reserves are growing," I answered and he gave me a look.
Racing out of the room, through the halls of the packhouse. "Wait up!" Shawn yelled, he caught up and grabbed my hand. "Last night. How are you feeling about it?" He asked. "I can't say I didn't like it. But that doesn't mean I'm just going to roll over for you on every little thing." I said, and he nodded. "I have no intention of controlling every facet of your life." He responded. We made our way in silence out front, Marius stood on the second portion of the deck front steps, he and Nikki looked over at Shawn and I, their eyes expectantly on me.
"Amber is doing worse, she's... Come on." Marius said, not being able to describe whatever Amber was going through.
# # #
We entered the infirmary, took the old-fashioned elevator downstairs, and went back towards Amber's room. As we were walking, Alice appeared beside me. She was only visible to me, and she appeared much clearer much more alive. Her clothes were colored and clearly tangible. ( I know the home of the one you seek) She said, floating beside me. Her voice inside my head. ( Can you go to her, ask her to meet with me?) I asked back, my friends and my mate had no idea. She nodded and vanished.
Up ahead of us, we heard Amber yelling, Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi!" She was screaming, it was way worse than the night before. We all sped up, entering the room to find Athena on top of Amber, while Doctor Beaks was sticking her with a needle. Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! Febli, sèvi! She screamed, her throat had to be raw. As her struggling slowed, Athena climbed off her and came towards us crying. "Sunshine, I'm going to check on A'mosh. The Luna is gone and I haven't seen A'mosh since late last night, Adam made me promise to make him eat, bathe." Shawn said excusing himself.
"As I was saying, Athena, the poison is close to being out of her system, she should be doing better, but... She isn't, her cells are necrotizing. She's dying but from what I can't say." Beaks said. Athena sobbed and fell into Marius. Beaks gave a sympathetic look, saying he wouldn't give up, then he headed out. "Athena, don't worry. We're gonna sell to that ... Witch. So this will all be over soon." I promised. We sat down, Athena trying to end her crying.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
POV
Shawn
I left my mate with his friends, I had to go and check on A'mosh. Adam was gone and would be gone for weeks. Entering the Packhouse, I was smacked with the smell of cleaning products. Music blared and I had to down tune into my senses so my eardrums didn't explode. I walked into the back kitchen and found A'mosh scrubbing the oven. "Oh my Goddess, you are really sad. My Luna hasn't been gone for a full forty-eight hours, and you're falling apart!" I yelled over the music.
A'mosh pulled his head out of the oven and turned to growl at me. "Leave me alone, Shawn. I took a bath, I ate... Go away." He barked. "No, I wanna talk to you, about Avery and his... Powers." I said. A'mosh closed the oven and stood up, taking a seat at the counter. "I think he's getting stronger, his scent is changing, and not because he's a C-type," I said. "Wait what's a C-type?" He asked, and I sat down in front of him. "I forgot we didn't tell you guys," I said, before getting into an explanation.
"So this breeding period, what was Avery like during?" A'mosh asked. "Slutty. Like nothing but getting fucked mattered." I explained. "Bro, Adam was like a full-blown whore when I met him, do you think me marking him stopped his breeding periods?" He asked. "I'll give you the literature Michelle gave me, but the doctors who study subhumans think some C-types are triggered early and their periods happen frequently when they aren't coupled with an A-type or in our case Werewolves. So Adam probably calmed down because you claimed him, but he'll have his period for the next sixty years." I explained.
"Holy shit, we can have kids." He said, smirking at me. "I know right, the goddess really blessed us," I said. "So what is the problem with Avery's power growing, would that be a bad thing?" A'mosh asked. "Yes, I like the submissive Avery, the one who looks all shy and innocent. What if he loses that part of himself?" I asked. "No, it's ingrained in him, I don't think you need to worry," A'mosh said. I sighed putting my head down, borrowing worries.
# # #
"She's dying, Shawn. Amber is dying, and I can't help her, Athena is falling apart and there's no way for me to help her." Avery said, his eyes were shining with tears. It was after dinner, we were in our suite, and Avery was being vulnerable. "I have some people looking for Mambo Baptiste, we'll find her, and then everything will be alright," I said, he walked over and sat down in my lap, his face going straight into my neck. "Promise me?" He whined, "I can promise to try my hardest." I said, not wanting to promise him on the off chance it didn't go well.
"Alice knows where she is. She's going to speak to her. What if she doesn't fix Amber?" He asked, taking sneaking drags of my scent. "She wants the shop, you're willing to give it to her. She should accept, but if she doesn't. What do you plan to do?" I asked. "I won't let her kill Amber, Shawnee I won't let her." He growled, and I popped his ass. "What did I say about that nickname?" I asked. "I'm serious. I have power now, and I'll find a way to stop her." He said. "At what cost?" I asked, and he pulled back to look at me, his eyes glowing faintly than going back to normal.
"They are my friends, my family, I'm not letting any of them die, and if you have to punish me because of that, then so be it." He said, and his convection was undeniable. "So long as you're aware you'll be punished, it's up to you to decide whether or not to disobey me," I said, squeezing his ass until he whined. "I gotta protect them... Shawn my life hasn't been as easy as Adam thinks. Those people, they may be strangers to you, but they are my family." He said, and I swear I understood, but Avery was my family, my mate, and nothing would harm him.
# # #
Early in the morning, Avery woke me up, "The Mambo agreed to meet, she wants us to come to her restaurant. Tomorrow at six." He said, and I cuddled him. "Okay, come on, it's two in the morning, sleep Sunshine," I commanded. He grumbled something as I pulled him into me, cupping his mark between my teeth. He stiffened up then his body went slack, his spicy-sweet scent evened out as he calmed down.
We fell back asleep, him before me, tomorrow would go one of two ways, Avery would get what he wanted or the Mambo would refuse and his friends would have to go. I know they're important to him, but they aren't Pack. So if they are a threat they have to go. It was that simple. At least it should have been. The day was filled with prep, A'mosh was coming, along with Keaton and Brandon, who promised to be on his best behavior.
Avery was so nervous, he didn't eat anything until I had to fight a sandwich down his throat. The girl in the infirmary, Amber, I think her name is. Her girlfriend refused to leave her side, so that left Avery, two of his friends, A'mosh, and the guys plus me to go and meet with Mambo Baptiste. That night would change my life in so many ways, it would change my mate and shape our future.