Claybourne stopped his pacing and looked at his mate, confused. “If I choke you, will you leave me alone?” he asked, sounding less mad and more curious.
“No.” Felix shook his head.
Claybourne sighed. “I’m sorry for getting so mad.” He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.
“You want to tell me why? And there is no choice in the matter, I just thought asking was more polite,” Felix informed him. He felt better when he saw a ghost of a smile on his mate’s lips.
“The short version is my dad used to publically humiliate me as a form of punishment. It’s why I’m so obsessed over the small details. I tried never to give him any reason to start on me,” he said and lay back on the bed, his arm stretched wide.
“My dad would ignore me,” Felix said in a small voice.
“Which is what I was doing in the store, which is why you like being so grandiose about things.” Claybourne pulled Felix down to lay next to him.
“You try everything you can not to become the center of attention, and I do everything I can to be the center of attention. We are perfectly matched aren’t we?” Felix rubbed his nose against Claybourne’s side.
“I’m sorry I humiliated you,” Felix whispered.
“I’m sorry I ignored you,” Claybourne said in return.
“First fight over?” Felix asked. Claybourne nodded.
“Yes! Now it’s time for make-up sex!” Felix sat up and stripped off his shirt and pants.
Claybourne quickly followed his example and began pulling off his clothes, though he hesitated before dropping them to the floor. Felix smiled and waved his finger at him.
“Remember, dirty is good.” Felix licked his lips while keeping eye contact with his mate. Claybourne dropped the clothes on the floor.
“I think I will reward you every time you’re dirty.” Felix leaned over his mate’s body.
“Could you…could you take me this time?” Claybourne asked in a rush. Felix paused, tongue out as he leaned down to lick his mate.
“Lube. We need lube, like now,” Felix said, practically spinning in circles on the bed trying to remember which dresser had the lube. Claybourne reached under the pillow and waved the tube at him.
“No wonder you’re a doctor, so damn smart.” Felix grabbed the tube and coated his fingers.
Claybourne went to turn on his stomach but Felix stopped him.
“I’d like to see your face, just try not to squeeze me with these delicious thighs of yours.” Felix ran his tongue from kneecap to groin. Claybourne moaned and pulled his knees to his chest.
“How long has it been, my mate?” Felix asked, touching the small pink star with his lubed fingers. He gently teased the opening, pausing randomly to apply pressure to the center, causing his mate to squirm.
“I haven’t been taken since medical school and even then it was a quick affair, just a way to release stress,” Claybourne admitted.
“Good, I’ll be the only one to love on you.” Felix inserted a single finger and began to push against the silken sides of his mate, stretching him slowly.
“God! I may come from just that, what are you doing to me?” Claybourne asked, gasping.
“Loving you,” Felix said quietly before adding another finger, but keeping up the same slow pace.
“Please, Felix, I need more, this teasing is killing me.” Claybourne thrashed but was careful not to squeeze his thighs together.
“Soon,” Felix said and continued his measured assault. By the time his mate was easily taking three fingers and bucking his upper body, Felix was sure that he was ready.
He removed his fingers and Claybourne let out a growl. Felix grinned to himself.
Pushy bottom. Felix shook his head, grabbing the base of his leaking prick and easing the swollen head into his mate’s tight hole. He pushed so that he was just inside the first ring of muscles and withdrew before doing it again. He repeated this a few more times, watching his mate carefully to make sure he was enjoying the slow torture. When Claybourne looked up at him with desperation in his eyes, he pulled back and slammed forward. Claybourne went wild under him. He kept up the ruthless pace, never changing speeds, just enjoying every second that he was buried in his mate to the hilt.
Felix felt himself getting close so he reached down and began stroking his mate in time to his thrusts. It didn’t take long before Claybourne roared and came, lifting them both off the bed when he lifted his hips. The sight and smell of his mate’s seed had him coming, and he buried himself as deeply as he could, filling his mate so that the smell of their pleasure filled the room.
“After our claiming, I thought it would never get as good as that, but this, this was just as amazing,” Claybourne gasped, trying to draw air into his lungs. Felix had collapsed to lie on his mate, still buried deep in his body. He felt Claybourne roll their bodies so that they were on their sides. Slowly he pulled away from Felix, causing both of them to moan in pleasure.
“I…told…you. Gingers are sex gods.” Felix stuck his tongue out. Claybourne chuckled and eased himself off the bed before going to the bathroom. Felix closed his eyes and enjoyed a moment of total relaxation. A minute later he felt himself being turned over and wiped clean. He opened one eye and smiled down at his mate.
“I should be doing that, the fact that you can still move must mean I didn’t do as good of a job as I thought.” Felix propped himself up on both elbows. He watched his mate handle his cock with care. Claybourne kissed the head of his cock before throwing the washcloth into the bathroom and climbing back into bed.
“I take that back, you just threw a dirty washcloth on the bathroom floor. I am back to god status.” Felix relaxed and allowed Claybourne to pull him into his arms.
“Sleep. I’ll make you waffles when we get up,” Claybourne promised.
Felix congratulated himself on a job well done.
Chapter 4
It was still dark when he heard Claybourne’s cell phone ringing. He picked up the phone and looked at the time. It was only eleven o’clock. He answered the phone before it woke up his mate.
“Hello?”
“Doctor, no wait, is this Felix?” A familiar female voice asked.
“Yes, this is Felix, who is this?”
“Oh I’m sorry dear, this is Ms. Tully. Can you please get the doctor? Ms. Brayburn is so much worse,” she sounded panicked. Felix flipped over and began to shake his mate.
“Claybourne, Claybourne!” Felix shoved his shoulder.
“Go back to bed, waffles in the morning,” Claybourne muttered before pulling the sheet over his head.
“Your phone rang. Ms. Brayburn is worse,” Felix said. Claybourne immediately flipped the sheet off and reached for the phone.
“Ms. Tully? Yes…yes. I understand. Take her to the clinic, we’ll be there in twenty minutes,” Claybourne said and ended the call.
Felix reached for his wrinkled clothes and pulled them back on.
“Don’t you have any other clothes?” Claybourne sounded snarky. Felix knew it was because he was worried, but he was going to nip this in the bud now.
“Yes I do, though not many since I was held against my will for over two years and have only been free a couple weeks. The clothes that I do have were bought by my friends or donated by strangers. My entire wardrobe, no matter how meager, however, is currently at the pride house. You haven’t really thought much about me moving in have you?” Felix stood at the foot of the bed in his now three-day-old clothes.
Claybourne thumped his head against the bathroom doorjamb before dropping his clothes and walking over to Felix, pulling him into his arms.
“Please forgive me. I’m worried about Ms. Brayburn, but that is no excuse to treat you like shit. Thank you for calling me on it, and for pointing out what a terrible mate I have been, ignoring your needs like this. As soon as I know Ms. Brayburn is doing better we’ll get your things from the pride house and go shopping. I’ll do anything I can to make this your home too.” Claybourne held him t
ightly.
“Then let’s get moving, slowpoke,” Felix said, pushing him back and kissing him on the lips.
“I’ll be waiting by the door.”
“Okay, baby, be right there,” Claybourne promised.
Felix smiled all the way to the front door. His mate had called him baby.
* * * *
Ms. Tully was standing outside her car in front of the clinic when they pulled up. Claybourne parked and jumped out of the car. He tossed his keys to Felix to unlock the doors and headed over to Ms. Tully’s car to help Ms. Brayburn out of the passenger seat.
Felix held the door open as Claybourne rushed past him carrying Ms. Brayburn and heading to the treatment area. Felix was shocked at the way the older woman looked. She was thinner than this morning, her complexion now a waxy gray color. He quickly followed behind Claybourne.
“Felix, get an IV started, also an antipyretic,” Claybourne said as he started to examine his patient. Felix went to the cabinets and pulled out the IV needles, a bag of fluid and some Tylenol.
“She hasn’t been awake for nearly two hours, I don’t think you’re going to get her to swallow those. I tried to get her to shift but it’s like she can’t. She’s too weak,” Ms. Tully pointed out when he pulled out the pills. He nodded before putting them back.
“Claybourne, I need your keys to the medicine storage, she’s going to need an injection for the Tylenol,” Felix said, wrapping the rubber band around the frail arm to get the IV started.
He carefully felt around for a vein and gently inserted the needle. He got the bag started and stepped away. Claybourne reached into his pocket and absently handed him the keys. Felix ran to the storage room that held the drugs and unlocked the door. He quickly found the medical-grade antipyretic and raced back into the examination room. He carefully measured out the dosage and walked back over to Ms. Brayburn. He gently inserted the needle into the IV port and began to administer the Tylenol.
Thirty seconds later her body began to convulse.
“What in the hell did you give her?” Claybourne demanded.
“Fucking Tylenol, like you asked. Why is she having this reaction?” Felix said as both he and Claybourne lay across the older woman in an effort to keep her from harming herself. Claybourne reached behind him and grabbed a bite guard which he put between the older woman’s teeth to keep her from biting her tongue.
After about a minute the convulsions stopped and her body was still.
“Is she?” Ms. Tully asked crying. Claybourne shook his head.
“She’s fine for now. We’ll let the fluids and Tylenol do their job. Hopefully her fever will break. I’ve never heard of an illness that affected a person’s ability to shift. Ms. Tully, can you go over the past couple days to see if we can figure out what led up to this?” Claybourne asked.
“Of course, Doctor. We went home just like you said to do. She changed into her pajamas and we settled in front of the television. She dozed off and on for hours. I kept giving her water every time she was awake. I helped her to bed, but then. Then about an hour ago, I heard her moaning in her sleep. I went into her bedroom and she was burning with fever. That’s when I called. She hasn’t woken up at all, even when I was calling her name.” Ms. Tully wiped her eyes.
“That’s strange, she wasn’t running a fever before,” Claybourne said, pacing the room.
“Let’s—” Felix began when Claybourne’s phone began to ring. He answered it immediately.
“Liam? Yes, actually I’m already at the clinic. Bring him in immediately.” Claybourne ended the call and looked over to Felix.
“That was Liam, Damian is out of his mind with fever. They are bringing him in now.” Claybourne looked around the room.
“Felix, get other beds ready. I want IVs and Tylenol ready at each station. Pull back the curtains, we don’t need private examining areas, this will be triage,” Claybourne said, pulling the dividing curtains back.
“You’re acting like there will be more,” Felix whispered. Claybourne turned to him, fear in his eyes.
“Maybe if we’re prepared, nothing will happen.” Claybourne turned back to arranging the gurneys in the room.
* * * *
Fifteen minutes later Liam came striding in carrying Damian in his arms. Immediately behind him were Rian and Kent. Felix directed him to the back where they had a bed prepared. Liam put him down gently and stepped back to stand beside the bed. Kent immediately moved to his side.
“What’s wrong with him, Doc? He’s so weak and can’t shift,” Liam asked as Kent wrapped an arm around his mate. Rian moved to stand at Damian’s side. Felix looked around for Sebastian. Kent saw him looking.
“We left him at home in our bed. We don’t know if it’s contagious, we couldn’t risk him getting sick, not with him being pregnant,” Kent explained, shooting a look to Claybourne.
Felix nodded. “I told him about hybrid pregnancies already,” he confirmed. Kent breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Doc, you have this room set up to receive more patients. Do you know something I don’t?” Liam asked.
“No, I just have this horrible feeling that this will get worse before it gets better. Shifters don’t get sick. Period. Now I have two shifters in here, dehydrated and running high fevers. Call me a pessimistic bastard, but yeah, I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Claybourne said.
Felix rolled up Damian’s sleeve and got the IV started. When he administered the Tylenol, Damian bucked and convulsed the same way that Ms. Brayburn did. Felix and Claybourne immediately lay across his body to hold him down to prevent him from injuring himself. When Damian calmed down Claybourne and Felix backed away.
“Liam you need to call the other leaders, we need to see how many people are infected. I pray that this is it, but I don’t think so,” Claybourne said. Liam nodded and reached for his phone when it started to ring. Frowning, he answered.
“What! Bring her in. Claybourne is here already. Bran, she isn’t the only one, there are more. Okay see you soon.” Liam stared at his phone.
“Liam? Liam! Snap out of it, what did Bran say?” Claybourne demanded.
“Kate is sick. She has passed out and won’t wake up,” Liam whispered.
“Get with Gabriel and Aleks, go door to door if you have to. We need to see how many people are sick.” Claybourne ran to the cabinets. He tossed empty vials to Felix.
“Get blood samples. We need to figure out what in the hell is going on.” Claybourne was about to turn to Liam when his cell phone began to ring. He fumbled, trying to answer it quickly.
“Hello? Fuck! Yes, bring her in. Aaron, we need you and your sons in town, it’s widespread. I need help down here. Yes. Thanks.” Claybourne hung his head. Felix went to his mate and wrapped his arms around him.
“Ma is sick. They’re bringing her to the clinic,” Claybourne whispered. He looked over to Liam.
“You need to hurry,” he said and Liam paled. The lion Alpha nodded and headed out the door with Kent. Rian stayed next to Damian.
“Doc, I can go door to door in town. Everyone knows me,” Ms. Tully offered. Claybourne nodded.
“That would be appreciated, Ms. Tully.” Claybourne squeezed Felix’s hand and stepped away from the embrace.
“I need those blood samples, Felix. We need to be sure they are labeled and kept organized as more people come in,” Claybourne explained.
“It’s going to be a long night,” Claybourne whispered.
“Then it’s a good thing we got a nap then isn’t it.” Felix stood on tiptoe and kissed his mate.
“If you start to feel weak or tired you let me know right away,” Claybourne said intently. Felix nodded.
“You do the same.” Felix gave his mate one last hug and turned to get the blood sample he needed.
* * * *
Felix was storing the blood when he heard raised voices. Someone was yelling at his mate? Oh, hell no.
“We’re not leaving, Doc,” Caleb said, h
is feet spread wide. Claybourne shook his head, sympathy on his face.
“I understand you’re a ménage mating, I respect that. But it’s one visitor per patient,” Claybourne said. Arguments erupted all around them, all aimed at his mate. He saw Claybourne’s shoulders start to slump.
Anger flooded him. He opened his mouth and a thundering roar echoed through the small waiting room. He pushed his way past the Arkadions to stand between Bran and Claybourne.
“Back the fuck off, wolf. Look around you. This is bigger than you, so stow your shit or I will personally escort both of you the fuck out of here. You’re out here distracting my mate with bullshit when he needs to be in there treating the sick, which now includes your mate, and trying to figure out what is wrong. Open your fucking eyes Alpha, we don’t have the room! We’re getting more patients by the hour…” He looked up at Claybourne and both had a moment of realization.
“We don’t have the room,” Claybourne whispered.
Caleb and Bran took deep breaths and released them, though both of their eyes were shifted to wolf.
“You’re right, Felix. Claybourne, I’m sorry, but she’s pregnant. Our wolves are riding us hard, because they can barely sense her wolf anymore. There is no enemy here to fight and kill. We’re not doing so well being helpless. We had to leave the boys at home,” Bran said and Caleb wrapped an arm around him.
“We need Ma,” Connor said brokenly. All the Arkadion boys dropped their heads.
“Or Rebecca, I bet she could help figure this out,” Felix said. Aleks growled.
“Until we know this isn’t contagious, she is staying home.” Aleks shook his head.
Felix stared at him. “She’s home, now, alone?” Felix asked. Aleks nodded. “She spent all day with Ma, didn’t she? What if she gets sick but no one is there to help?” he asked. Aleks turned white, looked to his brothers then glanced at the examination rooms where Pa sat with his Ma.
“Go! Go, Aleks, stay with Rebecca. We’ll take care of Ma and Pa. I’ll call you the second we have an update I swear,” Benedict promised, pushing his brother toward the door.