Chapter 29: Brother's Love

Nathan "we aren't going to get anything else done with you and Carter in this state." My father's words startled me from my stupor. I had apparently fallen asleep on the table where we had been working on a new version of the MRM. Carter, Dad, and I had been working for thirteen hours straight as we attempted to figure out how the machine functions and what we could to reverse its effects. "Nate, you and Carter have both been stressing yourselves out for far too long. You both can't keep going like this especially if you are going to be doing hard physical labor. You've both been dozing off for the past hour, you need to head to bed and relax. Take a few hours, rest, spend some time with your mate, build up your energy, and think this whole thing through." I knew that he was right but I dreaded trying to force Carter to leave the room and his work to fix his mate. It was going to be like forcing a lioness away from her new cubs. Carter had drifted off to sleep on the table with the pieces of the machine we had been tearing apart still surrounding him. He looked worried even in his sleep as if his body couldn't fully relax knowing that his mate was hurting even if she didn't fully realize it herself. She needed Carter just as much as he needs her and the separation was hurting both of them. "We have to get him to take a break if he keeps pushing himself this way he is going to kill himself. We both know that and deep down he knows it too," Dad stared at Carter with such great love and tenderness that I knew he wasn't wrong. But how were we supposed to help him understand? "He won't listen to us not with his mate in such a state so we will have to do it our way. There is a sedative on the top shelf of the cabinet, we keep it there in case of an emergency and I would say this qualifies. If Carter doesn't get some serious rest his body is going to shut down." I hurriedly looked through the cabinet trying to locate the sedative and after a few moments of searching, I found it near the back. Pulling a syringe from one of the emergency kits I carefully drew some of the sedative into the needle, carefully aligning it with a vein on Carter's neck. With one swift movement, the sedative was racing through his system before he could have a chance to try and stop us. Only a few short minutes later his body finally relaxed and the stress and tension freed themselves from his grasp. I glanced over at my father, not quite sure what to do now. If we simply took him to his rooms as soon as he awoke her would either come straight back to the lab or to the room that Elinn was being kept in. We couldn't risk him seeing her or being in the lab by himself, but I wasn't sure where else we could put him. "Nathan, do you still have that spare bedroom in your house or has Jennifer already started to turn it into her sewing room?" I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "No, no I don't think she has. If I take him back with me he can stay there and I can keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't go running off. You know Jen won't let him leave until his showered and fed as well, it's probably our best option." I agree with him as I begin pulling my older brother up and into my arms. "Isn't Vanda coming home today? I thought that Jennifer's parents were bringing her back a little early so that they could go see her sisters new baby. Is it going to be a problem if Carter's raging Alpha hormones make him unstable around her?" I had forgotten all about that small detail. Vanda was my only child so far though Jennifer had surprised me three days ago by informing me that I should start preparing myself for another. Vanda was four years old and had spent the majority of these past months with her Jen's parents. With everything that had been going on here, we both felt that it was safer to have her with them than anyone else. Carter had always been one with a soft spot for children and loved Vanda more than anyone had expected. The relatively quiet, firm, but distant Alpha had come alive whenever his niece was in the room with him. She brought something out in him that no one else could, at least no one until Elinn. I hoped that she could help to calm him, help him see reason and not explode when he discovered exactly what we had done to him. "No, I don't think that should be a problem. If it becomes one I'll let you know, but he has always been so gentle with her I can't image that would change anytime soon." I tried to reason with father though his eyes still remained wary. I managed to somehow get the big lug up to my apartment and into the front door without breaking to many things. Before I could do anything else Jen appeared in front of me looking very pissed off. "Do you know what time it is? You promised that you would be back before vanda got home, which was five hours ago. Not only that but you block the connection so I couldn't even mind link you to ask you what the hell was going on. Tell me, Nathan, what was so important that you missed seeing your daughter come home." She demanded pure rage burning in her eyes. "We think that we've discovered a way to get Elinn's memories back to the way they are supposed to be. Carter, my father, and I have been trying to figure out exactly how the machine works so that we can build one to counter the effects." My mate glanced at Carter as if noticing for the first time that he was lying slack in my arms. "He wouldn't stop working," I explained as I pulled him up a little higher in my arms. "We had to get him out of the lab and somewhere we can try and get him back to normal." "I see….well that is a good enough excuse I guess. Go put him in the guest room I'll make sure I have everything we are going to need when he wakes up." She murmured walking towards me and placing a kiss on my cheek before walking away. I dragged my brother into the guest room and rather ungracefully threw him onto the bed. Being the kind sibling that I am I pulled off his shoes and threw a blanket over top of him to make him a little more comfortable. When I was finally done I hear the pitter patter of little feet headed my way. I turned and found my little girl standing in front of me a large grin on her face. She ran at me leaping into my arms. "DADDY!! YOUR HOME!" She screamed throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me tightly to her. I spun her around causing her to giggle noisily, something that I was more than happy to hear after the day I had been through. "Shouldn't I be saying that to you little wolf, you have been gone for a very long time have you not?" I asked her teasingly and she shook her little head. "I have been gone for eighty years daddy, it was sooooo long." Vanda complained a little pout growing on her face. I held in my laugh at how cute she was, I was so glad to finally have her back home. "Well was it at least fun?" I asked booping her on the nose. She scrunched up her face and rubbed her nose where my finger had touched her. "Yeah, Grandma and Grandpa Warrten were really nice to me. They don't play with me as much as Grandma and Grandpa Johnson though. But they let me have ice cream all the time!" She informed me happily then glanced over my shoulder at Carter. "Is Uncle Carter going to sleep at our house?" She asked in astonishment. Carter rarely ever slept anywhere besides his own rooms. "For a little while, your new aunty isn't feeling very good and it is making your Uncle very grumpy. Sometimes he needs help to remember to be happy, do you think you would help us with that my little wolf?" She looks up at me with determined eyes as I carried her out of the room and towards the kitchen where I could hear my mate working. "I will help Uncle Carter and my new Aunty I promise." Vanda offered me her pinky and I took it with my own. Vanda never broke a pinky promise and I was confident that this wasn't going to be the exception. !