A Love That Lasts Forever

Chapter Thirteen

The next couple of weeks passed pretty much without incident though Caleb had the oddest feeling that Quinton was trying to avoid him as much as possible. He might have just been over reacting but ever since the incident with Shelby things seemed...strained. Quinton always seemed to have somewhere to be, more work to do, and would often come home late. More than once Caleb had gone to bed after eating alone and leaving a covered dish in the refrigerator for Quinton to heat up when he did finally return.

Caleb understood that as the pack Alpha, Quinton was pulled in many directions and had more responsibilities than what the average shifter had but his avoidance seemed more than just his busy work schedule. Caleb may have just been imagining things. He'd always had an over active imagination and with his own insecurities in play it seemed logical that he was just making more out of it than it was but still, it worried him. Was Quinton already sick of him? Did he finally see his mating as a mistake and now wanted to take it back?

"Oh, for wolf Gods sake knock it off!" Caleb told himself. "Get yourself together." He'd just finished cleaning and drying the dishes and had started putting them away, his mind lost in his own anxiety, when he suddenly heard the front door open and Rusty came rushing into the house in a complete panic.

"Caleb!" He called out. "Caleb, where are you?"

Caleb stepped out of the kitchen, immediately running to his friend when he saw the look of horror on the young omega's face.

"Rusty, what's wrong?"

"Oh, thank wolf God!" Rusty shouted as he ran towards Caleb full force. It was then that Caleb realized Rusty was clutching a bundled up pup against his chest and tears were streaming down his face.

Caleb felt Rusty's panic as the two collided and Caleb wrapped his arms around Rusty, leading him to the couch in the living room.

"It started with just a sniffle." Rusty explained through exasperated gasps and tears. "Then the fever hit. He was fussy last night, still fighting the fever, but it was low grade and I thought he was getting better but this morning it got worse. Caleb, he won't wake up and I can't get a hold of Malcolm, there's no one at the clinic and I don't know what to do so I came here."

"Malcolm and one of the nurses, Naomi I think, went to the Cabot's place early this morning. Sarah went into labor last night. Do you want me to go get him?"

"I don't know." Rusty was shaking as he held the pup to his chest. "I don't know how serious it is. I thought maybe...I'm sorry Caleb, but I have to ask. Is there any truth to what they were saying about you in Silver Moon? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, I hope you know that."

"It's fine, Rusty, really. And, honestly, I don't know. I don't know what happened to me in Silver Moon. I should have been dead but then I wasn't. But none of that is important right now. Even if I do have some kind of healing ability I don't know how to access it. It just kind of happened."

"Please, Caleb. You have to try. I'm so scared." Before Caleb could protest, Rusty was pushing the pup into his arms. Caleb unwrapped the blanket and looked down at Shay's tiny face. He was nearly a year old but still so small and at the moment he looked so frail and helpless. His color was off and he was sleeping but his breathing was raspy. Caleb placed his hand on the child's head and frowned. He was hot. Way too hot, even for a shifter.

Logically, Caleb knew that the child needed medical attention, and quickly. His instincts and experiences telling him that the condition was serious but he wasn't sure what to do. If there was no one else at the clinic then that meant that the only other nurse available, Alice, was probably on rounds checking on her elderly patients. There was no way to know whose house she was at now. He could go to the Cabot's but would Malcolm leave a woman in labor for a sick child? Probably not.