Marked

Chapter 1: Find Someone To Help

I held back Addie's hair as she wretched for the seventh time that morning. I'd only seen her cry two times ever, once after a misunderstanding with Xander and again after he was shot, but this had been going on for eight weeks now and she was losing way too much weight, her skin a sickly pale, her throat constantly sore from the vomiting. Morning sickness wasn't just morning for her, she was constantly sick with that and the headache that would never seem to go away.

So, in that moment, I saw my Luna cry for the first time in two years. She kept her head down and her shoulders shook as she set her hand over her stomach.

"Everything's going to be okay," I murmured, rubbing her back. "I'll call Xander."

"No," she sniffled. "There's too much to do for the pack, he already missed over six weeks because of this."

"What can I do?" I asked, holding back the whimper.

It hurt to see my Luna suffer so much. She was an incredible Luna, so strong and such a good leader. I never saw her break, she always had it together. But I knew she was scared and frustrated. Frustrated because she'd spent most her time in the bathroom or in the infirmary. Scared that she would lose the baby because she couldn't keep any nutrients in her body.

"Nothing," she cried, sinking down to the floor.

I set her head in my lap and brushed back her hair as the tears streamed down. I wished I could help her. I wished I could do anything to ease her pain and sickness.

"I'm so scared, Tess," she admitted, hiding her face with her hands. "I don't want to lose our baby."

"You won't," I assured, though the doubt was creeping through my mind as well. "Cassie is trying to come up with a new potion. This one will take."

I also wasn't sure if I believed that. Cassie was a strong witch but the last three brews which helped even the sickest pregnant women did nothing for Addie. It didn't make it worse, didn't make it better, just did nothing.

She threw up two more times and laid on the floor for a while before she thought she could make it to the infirmary. I carried her over and Anna immediately put IVs in her to get fluids and nutrients into her system. Addie's blood pressure was too high again despite the medication she was on. She passed out, sweat glistening her forehead, absolutely no color in her cheeks.

"Something has to help," I said, shaking my head.

"I've tried everything," Anna said, her face crumpling.

"I know. I'm not blaming you," I said, setting my hand on her shoulder.

"Has Cassie come up with anything new?" Anna asked.

"She's working on something but... I think she's lost hope she can help her," I sighed. "She's suggesting we go to that national meeting of all supernaturals so she can ask for advice from other witches, maybe even some fae."

"Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea," Anna said, biting her lip.

"Yeah. We just have to convince our Alpha of that," I frowned.

"I think he'll crack easier now," Anna whispered, looking over at Addie. "Addie changed him and he would do anything to help her and his pup."

"That's true," I agreed. "I'll talk to him."

Even the thought of trying had my stomach twisting. He hated those meetings. He stayed far away from them as we always got in trouble for not quite following all the rules and they always seemed to happen at the worst times, when someone needed help. In our defense, they had a lot of rules and some of them meant putting law above people and the reason I loved Xander as an Alpha was he would never put law above people.