Alpha’s Black Furred Slave Mate
Chapter 37

Dr. Lovewitt was over in just a few hours. We managed to sneak Mateo in through the gardens and into the manor undetected. Marlon had him lied down on his bed while Dr. Lovewitt examined him. Mateo was still burning up, and yet he was shaking to his core. I had never seen him look like this before; his cheeks were still red, and his eyes were watering without him actually crying. His lips looked a bit puffy as well. His features seemed to be thinning out a bit as well; as though he hasn't been eating. But the bottles in the fridge have been disappearing so that didn't make much sense to me.

Dr. Lovewitt knew better than to ask further questions about Mateo and ask why he was still residing in the manor. Regardless, Marlon would never reveal the truth.

I sat beside Mateo with tears staining my features as my sweet baby boy struggled to grasp his breath. Dr. Lovewitt placed a small IV of a clear liquid in Mateo's right arm; Mateo also had a breathing mask because he was struggling to breathe on his own. My body was trembling as I watched Dr. Lovewitt examine my son. I bit onto my bottom lip hard to keep myself from sobbing; I hated watching him go through this. He was only a newborn and shouldn't be sick this early on in life. I didn't want to blame Meriah for Mateo's condition, even though it was clear that Marlon was blaming her.

He yelled at Meriah in front of Mateo and me; he belittled her until she felt as though she was nothing. I didn't intervene because I was so worried about Mateo that nothing else at that moment mattered to me. Marlon was furious to the point where I thought he might start crying.

He dragged Meriah out of the shack and brought her back to the slave shack, or so he says. I'm not entirely sure what happened to her once they left the shack. I was too focused on the fact that Mateo was in such discomfort that he couldn't stop crying. By the time Marlon returned to my shack, Mateo was no longer crying because he was gasping for a breath he couldn't obtain.

A few times I had to give Mateo mouth to mouth to keep him breathing. As long as I was able to provide a steady airflow to his lungs, he would stay awake. But I wasn't going to be able to keep it up forever.

Thankfully, it was sundown, so we were able to sneak Mateo into the manor with ease and undetected. We brought him right to Marlon's bedroom; on the way to his bedroom, Marlon wolf-linked Dr. Lovewitt asking him to arrive as soon as possible.

While we waited, we tried to get Mateo to drink some water from one of his bottles, but he would choke it up due to not being able to breathe. It was almost like the water was drowning him. He threw up a couple of times and Marlon had to get supplies to clean his bedding and Mateo.

I was relieved when Dr. Lovewitt arrived with his medical equipment and got to work immediately. He was pumping Mateo with antibiotics and running blood tests.

"I've seen something like this a few times before and the outcome is never good," Dr. Lovewitt said as he ran more tests. "But I'm going to do everything I can to save your boy." "Thank you," I whispered to him.

"If he dies, I'm coming after you," Marlon hissed through gritted teeth.

Dr. Lovewitt looked shocked by that; I could tell he had many questions in his mind, but he wouldn't dare ask them while Marlon was the way he was. Even I was afraid to speak to Marlon. He seemed genuinely worried for Mateo's wellbeing.

"I'm going back to my office to grab a few more stuff. If anything happens while I'm gone reach me through the wolf's link. Meanwhile, let him rest. With the breathing mask and the fluids cleaning out his body, he should be okay for right now," Dr. Lovewitt informed us before walking out the doorway.

I sighed as though I was holding in a breath; tears ran down my cheeks as I touched Mateo's heated features.

"My poor sweet baby boy..." I whispered. I looked over at Marlon, frowning as I watched him pace back and forth through his room. "What happened with Meriah?" I finally asked.

He stopped pacing to look at me.

"She's in the slave's shack," he told me; I couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"You didn't touch her?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"You think I had sex with her? Are you out of your god damn mind?" He hissed, his face reddening.

My frown deepened; that wasn't at all what I meant, and it infuriated me that he went there.

"No..." I muttered. "I meant; you didn't hurt her?"

He sighed as he realized I wasn't talking about s*x.

"Oh, I hurt her," he said. "She hurt our son."

Our son.

"You don't know if she's the one who hurt him," I corrected him, still eyeing him carefully.

"She's been with him all day. He was fine last night and all of a sudden, he's not okay. I can't help but assume that it was her that did this to him," Marlon shot back.

"That's just the thing though; you are assuming. We won't know what's wrong until Dr. Lovewitt runs more tests," I told him.

I could tell he was wound up and wanted blood on his paws.

"I need to go hunting..." He muttered. "I can't be here right now."

I didn't blame him; if I could, I would go hunting too. I hated not being able to set my wolf free. She's been much louder since leaving the slave farm and I could tell she's in such distress and anxious to break free. She wants to be one with herself and run through the open forest. She wants to sink her teeth into the fresh animal flesh and tear through the toughest skin. She hated being trapped. I hated being trapped. But there was nothing I could do about it.

"I can't though..." Marlon breathed; he was now deep breathing and relaxing his shoulders a little though. "I can't risk either of you being found by leaving you here alone."

That was very noble of him. I know he was only doing that to cover his own a*s, but it was sweet that he didn't want any harm to come to Mateo and me. It was nice that he was there to protect us and got worked up over the fact that Mateo might be dying. The thought of Mateo dying brought a chill to my spine and I choked up a sob. As the sound escaped through my lips, he shot a look at me. It was filled with something that I didn't recognize. He was worried.

He came over to the bedside to sit beside me.

"I'm not going to let him die," he assured me.

At that moment, the wolf in me wanted to kiss him. She was practically jumping out of my body and towards him. I could feel her pulling me towards him despite my efforts at keeping her tame.

"You try to pretend that you don't care," I breathed, my face was only inches from his. I had no idea where I was going with this, but I needed to wrap my head around everything happening. "But I can see that you do..."

He breathed into me; I could see that he wanted to kiss me just as badly as I wanted to kiss him.

It was he who pulled away first before our lips had the chance of touching. I felt the heat rising into my face as the embarrassment began setting in.

"I don't need more blood on my hands; that's all," he muttered. "It's frowned upon around the kingdom to kill without any actual reason, so I'm keeping you alive. Give me a reason, and I won't hesitate to kill you."

I was taken back by the harshness of his words and the hardness of his tone. His expression was now unreadable, and I could feel him pulling away from me. I couldn't help but feel wildly disappointed in his response to me.

I shouldn't have been surprised though and I wasn't surprised. He was known to be one of the harshest men, which is why the king loved him so much. He was the highest-ranked nobleman, and I would have to be foolish to think that someone like Marlon Roessler would care that much about a dirtball slave like myself.

It was embarrassing just thinking about my own foolishness.

Not before long, Dr. Lovewitt returned to the room with another bag of equipment. He did more bloodwork, along with taking saliva samples, ultrasounds, and allergy tests.

"It seems he was given Delphinium. It's a poisonous flower that can cause fevers, nausea, muscle paralysis, and death..." Dr. Lovewitt explained. "It's a slow-moving poison, so if caught early enough the effects could possibly be reversed and then cease to exist together before death actually happens."

I frowned; panic striking me all over again.

"Poisoned? How could this possibly happen?" I breathed, tears forming in my eyes again.

"It's hard to tell. I would have to run further tests, possibly on his milk," Dr. Lovewitt said, raising his eyebrows at me.

Was he accusing me of poisoning my own son?

Before I could say something in protest, Marlon cut in.

"What can we do to save him?" He asked, bringing the doctor's attention back to him.

"Well, I could run further tests and see how much the poison has spread. I would need to pump him clean and make sure it was all out of his system and then fill him with more antibiotics and vitamins to make him strong again. It'll be a process and it will be uncomfortable for him," Dr. Lovewitt explained.

"Do what you must," Marlon ordered him.

He was hesitant for a moment but then nodded.

"The thing is, I don't know if I'll be able to get that done in this bedroom. It would be a delicate procedure on a newborn and it's major surgery. I would feel more comfortable doing this in my office with the correct tools and equipment."

Marlon and I glanced at one another. I wasn't sure how well I trusted this doctor, but what he was saying made sense. I wanted only the best for my son, and I wanted to give him his best chance at life. But Dr. Lovewitt's office was towards the kingdom's center, and if Mateo was caught, he would be sent to the slave farm.

I didn't feel comfortable risking his life like that.

"We will need to disguise him," Marlon said without looking at me.

It seemed as though he had decided without me. I frowned up at him; how could he even think to risk Mateo's life like this. I, of course, couldn't argue with him though. Especially not in front of Dr. Lovewitt.

We didn't need him being more suspicious.

"Of course," Dr. Lovewitt agreed.

"And you are to keep me updated every step of the way," Marlon told him.

He nodded again.

I wasn't sure where Marlon was going with this. I was getting nervous sitting there and watching their silent conversation. "Fine..." Marlon finally said. "Then take him."

What??