The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer
Chapter 33 – Fever
(Willa)
My parents ended up extending their stay past the weekend. Caspien’s parents showed them around the city and took them to the original packhouse where they lived. I didn’t want to pressure them into anything they weren’t completely behind, but I saw them fall more in love with Crescent Moon.
I was waiting for Cali at a cafe I found that reminded me of an indoor jungle. I was hoping that it would give me the motivation to try to memorize new terms for the thousandth time. Cali rushed in and sat across from me with a smile that didn’t falter.
“What?” I asked, “Seriously, you’re freaking me out. What are you doing with your face?” I studied her.
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“I think it’s called smiling,”
“It doesn’t suit you,” I teased, “But seriously, what’s up?”
She pulled back her ruby hair and showed me her, holy crap, Holden’s mark.
“I said I still wanted a ring, even if we’re not going to get married. I refuse to be out a diamond just because you guys choose to bite people instead.” She rolled her eyes.
I laughed, “I’m so happy for you,” Her happiness was infectious.
“Can your parents move here? It’s crazy having time to myself without paying someone else to watch Loreli.”
“I’m trying to convince them.”
Of course, my parents also fell in love with Loreli and Cali. They were a bit confused by her at first, but they knew how much she helped me when I first moved here and every day since then. Especially compared to Lola, my best friend growing up, who was a bit shyer and reserved like me or like I used to be. I hoped Lola and Cali would get to meet eventually. I felt bad, I still kept in touch with Lola, but I didn’t tell her about Caspien; I didn’t want anyone from Blue Ridge to know, even though I trusted her. I knew the information would eventually get out, but I wanted to hold off as long as possible. I didn’t want to mix my old life with my new one, not yet, at least.
“Holden is talking about me taking over some duties in the future,” She shook her head, “I am way in over my head.”
“You’ll be great if that’s what you want.”
“I honestly like the business cla*s*ses I’m taking; I might see if there’s a role for me with that,” She laughed once, “I never thought I would say that; I just took it because it was easy, but there are some interesting aspects to it.”
“I’m happy to hear that,”
“What about you?” She crossed her arms, leaning back.
“What about me?”
“You’re married to a King of Werewolves.”
I laughed, “He’s a prince,”
“No s**t?” Her eyes were wide, and she leaned forward, “Seriously?”
“Yes,” I replied, did no one mention that to her yet? I guess I didn’t.
“Your majesty,” She bowed her head.
“Holden is rubbing off on you.”
“He is, isn’t he?” She smiled, “But so does that make you a princess?”
“No,” I shook my head.
“Do you want a role in the pack? What would yours be?”
“Luna,” I sighed, shutting my book, “Want to go for a walk? I have a lot to explain.”
“Or grab a drink.”
“Somewhere quiet.” I nodded.
I finally told Cali my story.
“So why don’t we burn down his pack? Bring the f*****g prince of werewolves in?” Her face was almost as red as her hair, I swear she was about to break the glass in her hand.
“They’re technically under his jurisdiction, we have different territories, and although he doesn’t command them, he speaks for them.”
“Politics,” She spat, “I say we end him.”
“It’s fine, Cali. No, really.” I placed my hand on her shaking one, “It was years ago, and I’ve come to terms with it, it took a long time, longer than I wanted to admit, and there are times that it still affects me.” I admitted, “But I’m good now; I’m happy here; he’s not really a thought anymore.”
“Whatever -” My phone buzzed.
“One sec, hold that thought,” I picked it up, “Hi, Mom, everything okay?”
“Yeah, well, a bit, but Emmett isn’t feeling well.” My stomach dropped; this had to be bad, “What’s wrong?”
“Fever, really high. He won’t eat or drink, but besides that, he seems okay.” My mom tried to downplay it.
“Bring him to the packhouse now; I’ll call a car for you and meet you there. He needs to see the doctor.” Cali looked over me, worried.
I hung up and immediately called Caspien, who a*s*sured me the doctor was on the way, and he was heading home from the office to meet him. I told him not to leave, but he insisted and said it wasn’t up to me.
“Emmett is sick,” I explained.
“Awh, I hope he gets better.”
“No,” I shook my head, “Werewolves don’t get sick, not like that. Our injuries are physical, but we don’t get the flu or cold or -” My voice broke, “Something is wrong.”
Cali understood the full extent of it now and stood up, “Let’s go then,”
The doctor said the same thing, he didn’t know what was wrong, and besides the fever, he didn’t see anything else. No infection that he could tell, and Emmett said his stomach was okay. He just felt really hot.
Caspien made him a bed on the couch and fed him ice chips while they watched some cartoons. Emmet faded in and out of sleep and only when he was deep asleep did Caspien let the extent of his worry show.
He made a few calls pacing by the wall of windows when I went to sit by Emmett. My mom and dad stayed with us at Caspiens that night.
The next morning we took Emmett to the hospital. He arranged for another doctor to run some tests and see if there was anything internal. The sight of Emmett on a huge hospital bed brought me to tears, but I didn’t let them fall; I didn’t want him to see how worried I was.
Caspien and I held his hand while they took blood. He winced but didn’t cry.
“Can we go home soon?” He asked, his voice sounding far away.
“Yes, honey,” I pushed back some of his hair damp with sweat, “We just need to finish up here, and then we can go back, okay?”
He nodded and closed his eyes; his cheeks were flushed.
The new doctor confirmed what the pack doctor said. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him. None of the scans or tests showed anything abnormal. It was a bit of a relief, but then I spiraled, knowing that it wasn’t something even doctors could solve.
His fever broke a few days later, out of nowhere, and he was back to being his usual happy self as if nothing had happened.
“Are you sure you don’t need us to stay longer?” My mom asked.
“You’re welcome to if you want, but you don’t have to. Emmett is fine now,”
Fine, I kept repeating that word. Fine. It seemed to have completely lost its meaning.
“We’re going to be back in a few weeks for his birthday anyway,” My mom nodded to herself, “But if you need us sooner, let us know.”
“We’re a phone call away,” My dad added, wrapping his arm around my mom, “We can be here in an hour, possibly less in the future,” He winked at me, and I looked between him and my mom.
“We have a lot to discuss, but we’re thinking about it. Or maybe even getting a place here for a while to transition, who knows.”
My lips tugged into a wide smile, “I would love that,” I wrapped my arms around them both.
Emmett’s fever stayed away for a few weeks and then returned with a vengeance. I had to get many of my shifts covered and only went to cla*s*ses because Caspien insisted. He slept in bed with us, and we took turns trying to get him to drink water and replacing a cool washcloth on his face almost every hour.
We mostly ended up staying at Caspiens to be close to the doctor on call. Nothing he tried even remotely helped, and he had no explanations, nothing he could find either.
Even in his sleep, he looked pained. His cheeks were flushed, and he would kick and whimper. I could barely eat, and even when I did sleep, I was haunted by my nightmares.
“I can’t lose him-” I broke down in tears one afternoon on the floor of Caspien’s bathroom while Emmett was finally in a deep sleep in his own bed.
“We’re not going to. We will figure this out.”
“It’s getting worse,” I sobbed into his bare chest, and he stroked my back.
He didn’t have anything comforting to say, he knew as well as I did that this was bad. His words sounded hollow. Nothing he could say or do would help.
My baby boy was sick, and I couldn’t do anything to help him.
The week before his birthday, his fever ebbed and flowed. His fever didn’t go away completely like it did in the past. Emmett was a shell of what he used to be, and I was worried sick. No one had answers, and I could even see on his parent’s face’s that they didn’t have much hope.
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“Good morning, sleepyhead.” I sang as I opened the door, trying to muster as much fake happiness as my anxiety let me, “Grandma and grandpa will be here soon.”
I hoped he was feeling a bit better. Last night his fever went down enough for him to get to sleep.
I would be fine canceling the party altogether, but this was his call, and some days when his fever wasn’t as bad, he could get off the couch or out of bed and play and eat. I prayed to The Goddess today was one of those days.
I was exhausted. I could see it on Caspien’s face that he was too.
Emmett didn’t make a noise. Was he still sleeping? Maybe I should let him.
I heard a whimper and laughed, throwing back the blanket, “I found you-”
I screamed, dropping the blanket and taking a step back.
Caspien came running in, almost knocking me over. He looked frantically around the room for the potential threat.
I pointed to the bed where Emmett was sleeping last night, my hand over my mouth as tears started to spill down my face. I choked on a sob.
Caspien’s eyes went wide. I have never seen him scared before, not like this. He looked completely terrified.