The Alpha's Niece (Barton Pack Book 1)

by Jane B. Night

  Remember smiled. She knew exactly what game they were playing. If she closed her eyes she could picture herself holding the key and pouring melted lead through its handle into a bowl of cold water.

  The form the lead took on was supposed to be the profession of the man she was to marry. She didn't think her lead had ever looked like the instrument of a doctor but, of course, a silly bit of melted lead couldn't have predicted her future any more than it could these girls.

  She tried not to envy their innocence. They were young. She had been innocent once too. She hoped they got to keep their innocence longer than she did. She also made a silent wish that each and every girl married a good man who cared for her.

  She might not have married an alpha but Cyrus was a good man. She couldn't imagine herself married to anyone else now that she was his wife.

  He made her feel safe and secure. In a way, he made her feel complete.

  "We are lighting the bonfire," Jeremiah called.

  The girls turned their heads to the sound but none made a move to go out to the bonfire. Each was too engrossed in finding out more about the husband they might have one day.

  Remember smiled at them before turning to head back outside.

  ***

  Cyrus was glad the boys' games had led to no incidents requiring his attention. They had stopped their games and rushed to help with the lighting of the bonfire when Isaac stepped out of the house. Once the bonfire was lit it was like a moth to flame and the other members of his pack began to gather around.

  He debated whether to sit at the log closest to the front so that Remember wouldn't catch a chill from the air or whether to sit at the log which was furthest back. She had never shown anxiety around the pack but he wanted to prevent her from feeling like she was surrounded. In the end, he chose the seat at the back. He'd barely lowered himself onto the log when Remember and his mother joined him. Remember sat at his side and his mother sat beside her. He couldn't help thinking how cozy it all felt. It was strange how much Remember completed his life. Sitting before the bonfire he felt a contented sense of family that he hadn't fully felt since boyhood.

  He and Remember might never have what people considered a normal marriage but he was happy to just have her there beside him.

  "Tonight, we remember the members of our pack who have gone before us," Isaac said standing near the fire. He took out a book and opened it. He began to read the names of those pack members who were gone.

  "Alexander Callister," Isaac said. Cyrus heard his mother take in a deep breath and he let the pain sit in his chest for a moment before pushing it away. Remember reached over and took his hand for the second time that day. He wondered if she had any idea how much of a comfort her touch gave him.

  "Your father?" she whispered.

  He nodded.

  ***

  Remember was exhausted but she forced one foot before the other.

  "Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Cyrus asked. It was almost midnight and her uncle had offered to let any wolves sleep there who wanted to.

  "No, not without you," Remember said.

  "He is so like his father. His father never wanted to be hard to find just in case a patient needed him," Tabitha said.

  "Your uncle would have brought you home in the morning and sent someone to fetch me if there was a problem with the baby," Cyrus said.

  "I know," Remember said. She hadn't even thought to worry about the baby. His movements had slowed some after she had eaten but he made sure to give her a kick in her sides every so often to remind her that he was there.

  "I am sure that your uncle would have found you a female cousin to room with so you wouldn't need to be alone," Cyrus said.

  Remember hadn't been afraid to sleep alone either. Her pack members would protect her and no one would dare harm her under her uncle's roof.

  She didn't want to sleep away from Cyrus. It was something she couldn't explain. There was just a part of her that wanted to be near him as she slept. She could have tried to blame it on her wolf but she thought that her wolf had less influence on her longing for Cyrus than she wanted to credit her with. If Remember was honest with herself, it was mostly the woman in her that wanted to be near her husband. If they were a love match such feelings would be expected, but even she didn't fully understand the feelings she had for her husband.

  She might not understand them but she didn't doubt them and she knew there was no way that she could sleep in her uncle's house if Cyrus returned to their home.

  "I prefer my own bed as well," Tabitha said, though she looked exhausted.

  "I don't want to have to spend all of tomorrow caring for you instead of my patients," Cyrus said. Remember could sense the teasing in his voice.

  "If your father was alive we would have two doctors under one roof," Tabitha said softly. Remember wondered if the mention of him at the bonfire had gotten Tabitha thinking about her lost mate.

  "He would have retired by now," Cyrus said.

  "Your father would never have stopped being a doctor. He might have complained about it but I know deep in his heart he loved it. He was so proud when you decided to be a doctor too. He thought for sure you would become a soldier instead," Tabitha said.

  "You didn't want to be a doctor?" Remember asked. This really surprised her. Cyrus seemed a man born to the calling of medicine. She could see his devotion to his patients in the way he spoke of them along with the long hours he kept and his constant concern for their wellbeing.

  "I always wanted to be a doctor but I had a heart for adventure as a youth," Cyrus said with a shrug.

  "So much so that he ran away and enlisted as a soldier at just sixteen," his mother said.

  "I thought you had to be eighteen to be a soldier," Remember said.

  "That was the policy but soldiers were needed and it wasn't unusual for them to turn a blind eye to boys desperate to defend the Union. I wasn't the only one under eighteen. I wasn't the youngest soldier either," Cyrus said.

  "Didn't my uncle forbid it?" Remember asked.

  "I didn't exactly ask. I just left him a note," Cyrus said looking down at the grass beneath him.

  "You are fortunate my uncle didn't exile you," Remember said. She had a hard time imagining Cyrus being disloyal to his pack. It was a side of him she wouldn't believe existed if he hadn't just confessed it to her.

  "Your uncle sent many pack members to the war efforts. He wasn't pleased with the way I had become a soldier but he wasn't angry at me for becoming one. Your uncle is a good man and I owe him a great deal," Cyrus said. She noticed him glance at his prosthetic and realized that there was more to his meaning. Not only had he left his pack without permission but he'd returned missing a leg and less able to perform his pack duties. Cyrus was fortunate that his alpha was her uncle. Most alphas, including her own father, would not have been so forgiving.

  "It was that war that knocked some sense into him," his mother said.

  "The war was enough adventure for me. All I wanted afterwards was to help people. The war taught me a great deal about medicine that I couldn't have learned otherwise. I was one of the most advanced students in medical school because of all I had seen," Cyrus said.

  "If only your father had been alive when you finished school," Tabitha sighed.

  "What happened to him?" Remember asked.

  "He died in a tornado," Tabitha said.

  "A tornado?" Remember asked.

  "He was called out to care for a sick patient. The storm hit sudden and fast. No one was with him so it can't be said exactly what happened but he never came home that night. When too much time had passed I asked Isaac to form a search party. They brought me back his body," Tabitha said.

  "How awful!" Remember said.

  "There are worse ways to die," Cyrus said softly.

  "We should move on to happier topics. Such sadness can't be good for the baby," Tabitha said.

  "Of course," Cyrus agreed.

  Remember wasn't sure what there was
to say. It was all so much to take in.

  Chapter 12

  Cyrus' eyes opened at the sound of pounding on the door. Remember stirred beside him. He hopped across the room to his chair and fastened his leg in the dark. He could already hear his mother on the stairs as she made her way to the front door.

  "I need Cyrus to come. Fanny and Ava are sick," a male voice said.

  "Noah?" Remember asked now sitting upright. She moved to get up.

  "I'll see what he needs. You stay here. It's probably nothing but if they have anything contagious we can't risk you catching it," Cyrus said.

  Remember nodded and leaned back onto her pillow but he doubted she would fall back asleep.

  Noah looked agitated as he sat at the table fingering the cup of tea that Tabitha always offered to late night visitors. It was rare for them to drink it but she offered it just the same.

  Cyrus went to his office and grabbed his bag.

  Noah leapt from the table and rushed to the door.

  Cyrus could tell it was taking all of Noah's restraint to slow his steps so that Cyrus remained in earshot.

  "Started as sniffles and a bit of coughing. Thought it was a cold. Then the fever started," Noah said.

  "Could be a lot of things," Cyrus said.

  "Should I rouse Aaron as well?"

  "Not just yet. Let me see what we are dealing with first," Cyrus said. Children got colds and even fevers frequently enough but something in Cyrus's gut told him this was no mere cold.

  Abigail was holding Fanny in her arms. Ava was sitting on the floor crying at her feet.

  "Her neck is starting to swell," Abigail said. He could hear the panic in her voice.

  "Let me take a look," Cyrus said taking the child from Abigail.

  Noah grabbed a lamp off the table and held it up to Fanny's face.

  As he feared, her neck was indeed starting to swell.

  "I need to look at your throat," Cyrus said softly to the child who was whimpering and reaching for her mother.

  "Be a good girl, Fanny. Open up," Abigail said.

  After a bit of coaxing the child opened her mouth enough for Cyrus to see all he needed for a diagnosis. The leather looking coating at the back of her throat gave the disease away.

  "It's diphtheria," Cyrus said. He handed Fanny to her mother and lifted Ava off the floor. She was wailing, so getting a look at her throat was less of a chore than it had been with Fanny.

  "Both of them have it. Noah, you better wake Aaron. Tell him my diagnosis. You both best put on these masks as well. If you aren't already exposed we don't want you to catch it. It will be harder to take care of the children if you are sick too," Cyrus said pulling the masks Martha had made out of his bag. They were cloths stitched together to cover the nose and mouth. There were protective runes stitched on them and they had a faint odor as if they had been soaked in something though he had never asked Martha what.

  Abigail and Noah both put the masks on without question.

  "We will need to quarantine the house to prevent any spreading of illness. As long as the children are sick you shouldn't go to the office and no one should come here," Cyrus said.

  "Of course," Noah said with a nod. It didn't take much to convince him he needed to be with his sick children.

  "And ask Martha to send a message to my mother that I won't be home for a while," Cyrus said. He would stay and do what could be done even though with diphtheria it wasn't much.

  ***

  Remember sat across from Sally and Rachel as they waited for news. They were waiting for news in the informal parlor of her uncle's house.

  Tabitha had joined them as well.

  Her uncle, Edgar, and Jeremiah stood around the room. Now and then one would take a seat but they never seemed to sit for long.

  Edgar's children were upstairs with Bethany, a local woman who watched them along with several other wolf children during the days of the full moon.

  Pack members stopped in from time to time. Many brought food with them. None stayed long. The cloud over the house was palpable as they waited.

  "Abigail just loves those girls. It will kill her if she loses them," Sally said softly.

  "Losing a child is the worst tragedy a woman can experience," Rachel said. Edgar moved forward and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. She leaned into it.

  Remember vaguely remembered hearing that there had been a child born to her cousin who was sickly. She vaguely wondered if the child had died at birth or if it had been killed by Isaac.

  Her father had told her mother about having to make such a decision.

  A child had been born to one of their she-wolves. It was clear at birth that there was something wrong about it. The face was out of proportion and its tongue was too big for its mouth.

  He had consulted with the doctor who confirmed that the child would never be a healthy contributing member of the pack.

  Her father had no choice but to put a pillow over the infant's face.

  Her hand went protectively to her belly.

  Already, she loved the child within her. She couldn't imagine if she lost the child. Not after all she had done to keep him safe.

  "It's been days without news. That has to be a good sign," Jeremiah said. Cyrus had been called to her cousin's house three days before. The first day had gone much like any other even after the initial message that he would be gone for a while.

  The next morning Sally had come knocking on the door to announce that members of the alpha family were holding a vigil as they awaited news of Fanny and Ava. Remember was kin to those children. They were her blood too.

  No one had slept the first night though Remember had dozed off a few times in her chair. Tabitha had insisted she nap around noon but the sleep was fitful. Her worry wasn't only for the children but for her husband as well.

  Could he become sick from caring for the children? How had Tabitha spent her marriage never knowing if her husband would catch the diseases he attempted to cure? Werewolves had better immunity than most but they and their young could still become sick and die from the same illnesses that killed non-supes.

  The sound of the door opening brought everyone to their feet.

  Noah, red eyed, stood beside Cyrus. Both men looked older. Haggard. Remember wanted to run to Cyrus and throw her arms around him but she held back.

  "We lost Ava," Noah choked as he said the words.

  "Fanny?" Sally asked.

  "She seems to be improving," Cyrus said.

  "Abigail wouldn't leave her. Martha and Aaron are there as well. They are helping to..." Noah began to sob. Isaac reached a hand out and placed it on Noah's shoulder. He gave it a squeeze.

  "Martha and Aaron are helping to prepare the body," Cyrus said. He wasn't crying but she could tell from his face that his sorrow was real and deep. His heart was breaking. Hers was too.

  "Can I go to her?" Rachel asked.

  "Best to wait a few more days just to be sure," Cyrus said.

  "You must think of our children," Edgar said. Rachel nodded though it was hesitant.

  "I'll go to see the Reverend to arrange the burial," Isaac said.

  "I better come with you," Edgar said.

  Isaac, Noah, Edgar, and Jeremiah left for their grim task.

  "Will you be coming home?" Remember asked taking a step towards her husband. She was surprised how much she missed him.

  "There is nothing more for me to do for Fanny," he said.

  "Eat first. Then you can go," Sally said heading towards the kitchen.

  Cyrus lowered himself into a chair and she could see his utter exhaustion. She placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to lend comfort. He laid his head against her hand and her heart exploded with tenderness towards him.

  Her husband was a compassionate man. He wasn't an alpha but he shared many of the best qualities of the alphas she knew. The most important being that he cared about his people. She could see the caring in his anguish.

  Sally brought his some bisc
uits and jam which he ate before slowly pushing himself up off the chair.

  "How's your leg?" Tabitha asked softly once they were outside.

  "I'll need to put balm on it," he said.

  "I thought so," Tabitha said.

  By the time they got home Remember had noticed the stiffness in his movements. Why hadn't she seen it before?

  "Tell me what you need," Remember said.

  "I can take care of it," Cyrus said.

  "I know that you can but I am your wife and I am very grateful for the care you've given my family," she said.

  "Even though I couldn't save Ava?" Cyrus asked.

  "We heard it was diphtheria," Remember said. Cyrus nodded.

  "Nasty business, diphtheria. Especially when they are so young," Tabitha said.

  "I just-"

  "You are just like your father. You think you are God instead of a country doctor," Tabitha said.

  "Come upstairs. You should rest," Remember said.

  "I have other patients who need-"

  "They need a doctor who's not about to fall over from exhaustion and pain," Tabitha said.

  "Is the pain bad?" Remember asked.

  "Not so bad," Cyrus said but she didn't believe him.

  "Upstairs. Get that leg off and rest a while. I'll bring up supper later," Tabitha said.

  "No need to-" Cyrus started but she cut him off.

  "Don't tell me not to worry so. I'm your mother. It is what I do," she said.

  Cyrus shook his head before starting his ascent up the stairs.

  "My heart grieves for your cousin," Tabitha said once Cyrus's footsteps indicated he had reached the upstairs landing.

  "Mine too," Remember said.

  "God willing I will die before that son of mine. When we got news of his injury I didn't know what to feel. I was glad my boy wasn't dead but I couldn't imagine how he would live without a leg. Things were already bad. He had left the pack without permission. Your uncle was surprisingly understanding but when we got word that Cyrus had lost his leg I didn't think the pack would ever accept him back. The first time I saw him I thought my heart would break. He didn't have the prosthesis then. I thought, how will my boy ever be anything now? He proved me wrong, of course," Tabitha said with a sad smile.