Beta's Second Chance

Hospital

Maverick and Rickon arrived at the pack's hospital, where the pack's doctors were informed of the situation through mind link. Everyone, including the medical staff, was horrified at the poor boy's state, and he was taken away from Maverick's arms. Maverick stood still in shock as he was still processing everything that had occurred. He slowly looked at his arms and shirt covered in the boy's blood. Some pack members changed into human forms and stood behind their Beta, awaiting orders.

However, like their Beta, they, too, were trying to comprehend everything that happened. The image of the slaughtered rogue family deeply affected them, especially the children who had done nothing wrong. When Maverick got to his senses, he went to the waiting room for any news about the child's condition. Rickon followed suit, and both men sat and waited for two hours. Rickon then ordered the pack members to go and keep watch of the pack's territory. As they left, Alpha Matthias arrived at the hospital and found the Beta and his brother in the waiting room. 

The Alpha noticed the blood stains on Maverick's shirt and sat beside his friend. "Maverick, you should get home and rest. Rickon and I will be here for some news."

"How can I go home, Matthias? An innocent family has been ruthlessly slaughtered, and the surviving child is in surgery. I may be second in command, but I also care about the well-being of this pack and rogues who want a chance to be part of a pack."

Rickon was pacing back and forth and stopped. "Brother, do you think the pack needs to know the situation? The bullets that killed that family were made of silver; this might be a message and threat toward our pack."

Alpha and Beta sat silently, thoughtfully. However, their thoughts were interrupted when they saw two doctors and a nurse walking out of the ER. The werewolves stood by Rickon, awaiting the news. "How is the boy?" asked Maverick.

One of the doctors sighed as he took off his face mask. "He is alive, Beta. It's good that you arrived when you did, or the boy wouldn't have survived. We were able to get the silver bullet."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, but Maverick couldn't help but notice the grim look on the doctor's face. "Doctor, the boy survived, but by the looks of it, there is something else, right?"

The doctor nodded and sighed. "Unfortunately, the bullet hit the Broca area of the brain. The Broca area breaks down a person's thoughts and language abilities. Because the bullet damaged the Broca, he now has Broca aphasia, a non-fluent aphasia in which spontaneous speech output is markedly diminished, and there is a loss of normal grammatical structure. This means he will have limited language use."

Everyone was silent. Maverick was happy that the child survived, but the boy would struggle using his speech and language, which could affect him for the rest of his life. However, it didn't mean the end of the world for the boy; he would still have a chance to live. "Thank you for saving his life, doctor. When can we see the child?"

"He just got out of surgery, and it might be a couple of days, weeks, or months for him to wake up. I would suggest that you all go home and rest. We have nurses that will keep a watch on the child. We will call you for any updates." The doctor and the rest of his colleagues went on their way.

Alpha Matthias sighed while massaging his head. "That poor boy. He lost his family and his ability to use his language and speech."

"So once the child is out of the hospital, where will he go? Does he have other family?" asked Rickon.

"It doesn't say in the paperwork. The parents didn't use other connections just in case of an emergency; he probably doesn't have other family members. I don't want that child to be put in the system, so we can't have the actual police know of the murders, or else they will find out about our kind. We-"

"I will take care of the child," said Maverick.

Matthias and Rickon looked at him. "Maverick, that's crazy! Do you even know how to raise a child!? The child should be put with an actual family with experience! You-!" Rickon was interrupted.

"I know, but no other family knows the meaning of the loss of a loved one who was killed; I do. I can relate to the boy, and we have similarities."

"What about Iris? You are still trying to gain her trust; she doesn't know our kind yet. The child might be a distraction and-"

"I can manage, and Iris is very understanding."

Rickon looked at his brother, who stood in silence. "Brother, are you going to let this happen?"

Alpha and Beta looked at one another; Matthias saw Maverick's determination and knew that nothing would change no matter what he said. "Alright, I will allow it. You can come to me and Laura for help, and we will provide you with resources to help you with the child."

"Thank you, Alpha."

"Hey guys, since there is a crazy and murderous hunter or hunters in our mist, this puts our pack at risk and our mates who will move into the pack's apartments soon. Should we still let them move?"

"They will be close to our pack since we have watchful eyes everywhere. They would be in more danger if they were not close to us," answered Maverick while focusing on Matthias. "Were the bodies taken to Priestess Hecate?"

"Yes, she is doing the ritual rites on the bodies and trying to get a vision of what might have happened to the family. After I get the reading from her, we need to gather the pack to tell them the news."

Maverick and Rickon nodded; the three werewolves left the hospital and got into their vehicles to return to their pack location.