The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 241

"Lights are here," Chase said, leading me and Kayden into a small office at the far end of the garage. We had to follow him inside so that he could close the door and show us a panel of switches on the wall right behind it. "All the bays have separate switches, but it's easiest just to do them all at once-pull this big lever on the side and it'll flip 'em all." Kayden and I nodded in unison. Then Chase said goodnight and made haste outside, no doubt eager to get back to his wife.

Grayson gave me a pointed look and nodded his head toward the door. Kayden headed back in the garage while I followed Grayson out into the parking lot.

"Just one last thing," he said, pacing slowly toward his battered gray SUV.

All the other vehicles were gone; the rest of his pack had gone back to their homes already.

"I'm guessing I know what your answer is gonna be," he continued,

"but I have to ask anyway. My wife and I have a spare bedroom in our home and space enough for another to sleep comfortably on the couch in our living room, too. We prepared the spaces for you and Kayden just in case you'd let us provide you with this much more comfortable..."

I stopped his pitch with a small shake of my head. "I do appreciate the offer, Grayson. But it's important for me to be with the pack tonight."

His mouth flickered into a small smile. He was unsurprised by andrespected my refusal of his offer. I really did appreciate him making it anyway.

"Sleep if you can." I paced between the rows of cots carefully. The men were all settling down into their sleeping bags. "If you can't sleep, rest your body anyway. Dawn is in eight hours. That gives you about five before we'll be up and getting ready to go. You will need all your strength for tomorrow's mission. Lights are going out now.

Rest well, King Pack."

I dipped into the office and pulled the master lights-off lever,plunging us into darkness. Then crept back to my cot on the otherside of the office wall and eased thy weight down slowly, feeling the cot stretch all the way down to graze the cold concrete floor below. Soon enough, sounds of heavy breathing and scattered snoring filled the warm, humid, oil-scented air of the garage.

It was very good that the guys were getting rest. I did not expect to sleep a wink myself, but I did need to follow my own advice and still my body anyway, even if my mind was not likely to go quiet.

I pulled Fi's scarf from my pocket and laid it out on the pillow under my head. My body reacted almost immediately upon my next inhale.

The familiar smell of my Luna triggered an automatic response in my muscles; I couldn't help but curl onto my side and snuggle my face into the silk, huffing that scent greedily and feeling a warm shiver of comfort surge through my body.

I didn't expect to sleep at all, but I think I actually did drift off. At least for a few minutes. Maybe even an hour or longer. When I next checked my watch, it was just about time to get up.

Fiona

Our sheets still smelled like my Alpha, even though Alex was far, far away from our home by now. I tried slee ping on his side of the bed, but it only made me miss him even worse.

I had known it was going to hurt when he left for this journey. For this distant, very dangerous battle attack. But the reality of it was worse than I could have foreseen.

My connection with Alexander was stronger these days than ever before, and being apart from him at night felt like physical pain. I could almost feel his touch on my body still... but it was only a ghost, a haunting. A vivid memory. And thinking on it only made me achefor the real feeling of his real hands on me even more.

And the worry I felt about the mission... that was a whole other, additional source of misery.

I sensed orange light behind my eyes and blinked them open.

Shit. I was in that damn forest clearing.

Every time I came to this place, though, I was more aware of what it was.

Dreamland. That's what this place was. I was in a dream...

The sky overhead was glowing with technicolor sunset hues, orange and red and hot pink. The forest was a haze of pale orange light and surreal shadows.

"This is a dream," I said aloud. "This is my dream."

I could control it. That's what I was realizing. Before the monsters could start to move on me, I realized, this time, that I was the boss here. This was my dream and I was not going to let it -

My phone was ringing.

I blinked my eyes open and this time I was back in the dim of our bedroom, feeling disoriented. Because I was on Alex's side of the bed.

And my phone was over on my own nightstand, plugged in to charge.

I rolled across the bed, wincing at the coldness of the sheets on my side, and quickly unplugged the ringing phone.

I sat up while reading the screen, and...

The caller was my grandfather's nursing home.

The time was five twelve a.m.

I swiped to answer. But found I needed another second before I could speak words.

*.Uh, hello? Fiona?"

"Yes," I finally managed to say. "Yes, hello Doctor."

He cleared his throat quietly. I knew what this familiar voice was about to say. There was no other reason for a doctor call a patient's family member at such an hour.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fiona," he began in a somber tone. "Your grandfather passed away this morning. He..."

The doctor said more words. Many more. More than I would have expected. There was a whole tale to be told, apparently, about how Grandfather's infection had spread quickly and why, about how a patient in already fragile condition can succumb quickly once in sepsis, I heard all of the details with my ears but processed very little with my brain..

I had to get off the phone. I don't know if the doctor had been done with his story or not. I told him thank you, goodbye, and got up out of bed and began pacing the room.

I didn't know how to name was I was feeling. Silent tears were streaming from my eyes, dripping down and off my face. I was sad, and deeply so, but in a way I didn't understand. I hated myself for also feeling deeply relieved for all of this seemingly endless pain to be over at last. For Grandfather, at least.

I paced the room's length back and forth with fast footsteps, for no reason other than I was compelled to do so.

At some point I woke the baby with my movements.

I called Nina before I went in to get Lexi, hoping I could avoid touching my child right now.

Nina is the best friend in the world. she had been asleep when I called, but she answered and then was at my door less than one minute after 1 told her what happened.