Chapter 32
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I asked Jackson, crossly. I was so indignant at his actions. I was even more enraged when he refused to take his hand away from the middle of my back.
“Calm down, Julia. Please. I merely wanted to escort you into the office, seeing as this whole thing is about the two of us.”
I sucked in a shocked breath, “There is no, two, of us. You made sure of that with your rejection. So please, stop touching me. You have no right whatsoever to do so.”
I sped up, to make sure I was the one that broke contact. I was trembling with suppressed anger. My heart was pounding and I could feel the start of a migraine coming on. Most werewolves were not afflicted with human conditions, such as a headache or the common cold. But, as I was wolf-less, I was prone to the illnesses.
I heard my name being called, and turned my head to see Reece hurrying down the corridor. Although he was smiling, he had tension lines around his mouth and eyes.
I hated seeing him so stressed, especially as I was the subject of his worry. I returned his smile and waited for him to get to me. We were standing just outside the closed door of the office. After I had stalked away from Jackson, he had entered the room by himself.
Reece brought one hand up to hold my upper arm. The sparks that shot up my arm were stronger than the tingles I felt with Jackson. That made my smile a little brighter.
Misunderstanding my emotions, Reece pulled me into his arms and whispered, “you are going to be fine. I will be in there with you. You don’t have to speak to any of them. Okay. Just remember, you are home. This is where you belong.”
He pulled away from me, the loss of contact was almost a physical ache. I would have loved to have stayed in his arms for longer. But I knew that whatever was about to happen, was important.
I gave him a tight smile and used my hands to try and stretch out the wrinkles in my trousers and top. Hours of bending, squatting and leaning over a hospital trolley had certainly taken its toll on my clothes.
I let out a determined breath, then walked through the door that Reece was holding open.
As soon as I walked in, the dr, Dr Wallace, and Nurse Walters, stood up. ‘Wow’ I thought to myself. This pack was so polite. Their manners were impeccable.
Dr Wallace was the first to speak, “My lady. Please, take my chair.” And he gestured to the leather chair that sat behind his neat looking desk. I felt myself reddening, being addressed like this in-front of my old pack members. And quickly declined the Dr’s offer. I slipped on to a hard backed chair, positioned toward the back of the office.
“Thank you Dr Wallace, but I am fine right here. Maybe we should start the meeting. Nurse Walters and I, still have a lot of tidying up to do.”
The Dr, glanced around at everyone, getting their approval to start the meeting. He looked at Reece last of all. He was his Alpha, after all. Reece had declined a seat, saying he preferred to stand. I was just happy he chose to stand by me.
Once Reece had nodded his approval, the Dr dove straight in.”
Dr Wallace POV
To say I was shitting myself, would have been a total understatement. I had some powerful people in my office, their combined auras were almost overwhelming. I knew that my Alpha, Reece, was keeping his aura as controlled as he could. I had to make him promise me that he would allow me to say all I needed to say, before he reacted.
Although I had my Alpha’s assurance, I didn’t get one from the visiting Alpha and Luna.
Dread filled me as I told everyone, we would begin. Reminding them to let me speak first. And leave all questions until I had finished explaining the need for this meeting.
“Just get on with it, man!” Boomed Alpha Maximus. The fingers on his right hand tapping out an impatient rhythm on his knee. I watched as his Luna grabbed the fidgeting fingers and hold his hand in hers. Alpha Maximus gave his luna a loving look, before returning his gaze to me. It was a personal gesture I had not expected to see from the brutish man. He obviously has a more tender side. At least, that is what I was hoping. There may be a chance of getting out of this meeting unscathed, after all. I thought, sardonically.
“Okay, well. Firstly, I would like to thank you all for coming here at such short notice.”
I bowed my head, as a mark of respect, to the members of the Moons Wane pack.
“The reason I have called you all here is to disclose to you something which I believe has affected both our Lady, Julia. And Alpha- to-be Jackson.”
I sent a quick glance toward Reece and saw the slight shake of his head. I understood this, and reminded myself I was to refer to Our Lady, as Julia.
As uncomfortable as this made me feel, I would respect my Alpha’s wishes.
“When Julia first arrived, she had been injured in a car accident, and was immediately brought here, to this hospital. As a matter of standard practise, various test were run. Including a standard blood test. When the results came back I was puzzled by the finding, and ordered another round of blood tests. This time I ordered a full work up.
Again, the results came back to me. And again, they made no sense. As I had no other sample to refer to. I simply treated the infection and when Julia felt stronger, I discharged her. We run a busy hospital here. As we include Midway, as one of the areas covered by us. Nevertheless, I couldn’t get Julia’s results out of my mind. It puzzled me. So many different things were found in the small sample I had taken. I determined, along with our phlebotomist, that the level of toxins within the sample was the result of many years of exposure to a substance.
My team and I didn’t know where to go from there. We had little to no experience in dealing with such a thing, so I made the decision to send part of the sample to a herbalist.
I received the results from them this morning.
Then, to my surprise, Alpha-to-be Jackson, came to find me earlier, and asked me to give him a blood test. I was shocked at the random request, and genuinely intrigued as to why he felt he needed one.
The test itself, is an easy one to perform. We do hundreds of blood tests every week, so I thought nothing of it and continued to work on the people who had been caught up in the attack on Midway.
It was only when I was alerted to a problem with the test, that I made my way to the lab to speak to the guy that had run the test. What I saw in Jackson’s blood, shocked me. I picked up the phone and immediately sent for the herbalist. If you would permit me. I would like to turn the meeting over to Nurse Walters.”
Dr Wallace stepped away from the front of his desk and was quickly replaced by a white faced Pauline. I knew I had a frown on my face, I wasn’t the only one. I admit, I didn’t understand. But then the penny dropped, and I realised that the specialist herbalist was none other than my new friend, Pauline Walters.
Pauline gave a small nervous gesture, that I think was supposed to be a wave, then started speaking. Although I had not been in this pack very long, I was still a proud member. And I felt my chest puff out with pride, when Pauline thanked Dr Wallace for his introduction. I could see I wasn’t the only one , when I noticed Luna Lilian, nod her head. As though she appreciated the show of manners, too.
“Hi guys, um, sorry. Hi Alpha and Luna, and Jackson, of course.”
I saw Pauline flush a bright red at her mistake, saw her eyes cloud over for the briefest of moments, then I watched as she gave a small smile and stood up straighter.
“As the Dr just explained. I am the herbalist that reviewed the blood work taken from both Julia and Jackson. It took me a while to break down and identify each component. When I managed to do it, I was shocked and troubled at my results. So much so, I ran all the individual tests again. That was why it took me so long to send the results to you. I wanted to be one hundred percent accurate.
When you sent me Jackson’s sample earlier today, I ran a very easy batch of tests that allowed me to confirm that the substance in Julia’s blood, was also present in Jacksons blood. As I now had something to compare it with I was again able to determine that although the substance was the same. The quantity was very different.
You see, I believe, that to have this level of toxicity in the blood, you would have had to have been exposed to the substance over many years. Jackson has the same substance, but not the same quantity. It is my belief, that Jackson has not been exposed to the toxins for very long. The level suggests that it is likely to be around a years exposure. Like I said, previously. Julia has been exposed to the same toxin for many years.”
There was a stunned silence in the room. Alpha Maximus sat as straight as an arrow, where as his Luna, was in a sort of slumped manner. Jackson had shot out of his seat, but had said nothing. He just paced around the room with his fingers raking through his hair. I felt tears cloud my vision. What the hell was happening?
What substance? I knew, with absolute certainty, that I had never ingested any form of toxin. I knew that some of the younger wolves like to dabble in the use of some herbs that gives the user a feeling of euphoria. But I had never participated in anything like that.
Reece put his hand on my shoulder, and I immediately felt my heart rate settle. I patted his hand, sending a silent, thank you. Reece gripped my shoulder gently, reciprocating my intention. I waited with bated breath, for Pauline to resume speaking.