Raised Among Alphas

43 - Hello Mate

Alora POV

The last four hours of my existence had been the worst ones by far.

I am going crazy. For real, I am losing my mind. My vision is blurry, and I can't focus on anything Thierot says. I unintentionally tune out his voice because the noise pulsates through my ears, making my headaches worse. He had the windows covered to stop the sunlight from coming in. I swear the sun's rays felt like acid on my eyes.

Other than losing all of my senses, I have been riding in pain in Thierot's bed, falling asleep or passing out almost every twenty minutes. The pain waves are lasting longer now. The last one lasted a full minute, which actually felt like an hour. Thierot has been a total rockstar, he stays by my side, and he helps me to remember to breathe through the pain. His scent was soothing at first, but now it didn't make any difference with the pain.

"My life would be easier if you marked me," I told Thierot as the pain from the last wave went away.

I was cuddled up against his chest, wrapped in the bed sheet. Thierot was trailing my shoulder up and down with his fingers, trying to soothe me.

"I already had a mate, and he was wonderful. I live every day to honour his memory." Thierot's voice turned into a gloomy tone.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that... Have you ever thought of taking a chosen mate?" I asked, unable to control my curiosity.

"Never. I already met the love of my life. The fact that he isn't here doesn't mean I can't love him until I die."

"So, just for fun, let's say you marked me... what would happen?"

"Well, first of all, what would happen if you asked Thana to take a she-wolf and mark her as your mate?" Thierot returned me the question.

"I don't think my wolf would do it," I confessed.

"Is the same for me, Terror. I was born this way. I can't simply decide one day to switch it and take a she-wolf. My wolf wouldn't do it." Thierot chuckled, and I realized how ridiculous my hypothetical proposition was.

Oh, not again... I woke up screaming in pain as yet another soul-ripping pain originated in my guts and chest once again.

It's been hours and hours of this. I can't eat, I can't walk, I can barely breathe. Outside, the sun was going down, and Thierot had already given up on his quest to feed me. I couldn't keep the food in my system. Apple, toast, juice, crackers, even the simplest things came out as fast as they went in. I have puked at least three times so far, and now my throat is in pain, too.

Twice earlier, Thierot had me in the bathtub with cold water, trying to bring the fever down. It helped for the first few minutes, but it was like a band-aid fixing an exposed fracture. Completely useless. At least it helped to get the puke off my hair. My fricking hair that I was suddenly ready to rip off my head. It is way too long and way too much hair. I can't tolerate it with this heat. I am soaked in sweat, thanks to it.

"Please make it stop, please... please," I cried myself to sleep in Thierot's lap again. This poor man signed up for the worst babysitting job in world history.

"How is she doing?" I heard Jathred somewhere near me, but even against my best attempts, I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes.

"Not too well. She wasn't able to eat anything yesterday. How are things in the packhouse?" Thierot asked him.

"I have Kasthor dose off with wolfsbane. He obviously hates me. Becker chained himself with silver in one of the farthest buildings from here. I brought Mikah to the bunker with every other high-risk, unmated warrior. The vampires have taken guard here. No one should get past them." Jathred's voice sounded so tired.