--Allison--

Within the past week, seven more people had died. All had been perfectly healthy, then all of a sudden they seemed sick. 

We were werewolves, we didn't get sick. 

What was worse was that we had no idea what this was. It seemed to sneak up quickly on the people. They all had the same symptoms as that man the first day everything started to happen. Alarik had been working with the doctor to figure out what was wrong, but we only had one doctor. When werewolves didn't get sick, we only really needed one doctor for injuries that were beyond our typical healing. 

He wasn't well versed in the field of disease. He had never needed to know that information. Now he and Alarik blamed themselves for what was going on. 

The doctor has been saying he should know what it is, that it's his job. Alarik has been on his 'I'm the Alpha. I should be able to take care of my people.'

Alarik had put me under house arrest. He didn't want me going out there around the people until we knew what was going on. I'd tried to point out that it was pointless to keep me in here. I was already around people that had gotten sick... and died. If it was something that was air born I think I would have gotten it by now. 

He still wanted to play it safe, so here I was stuck in the house. 

Alarik was in his office, the same place he's been for the past week. When he isn't in the doctor's office, he's in his own office. 

I walked down the hall, stopping for a moment outside the door to his office. I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open slightly. 

Alarik looked up at the noise. "Hey," he said. 

"Hey." I stepped into the office and sat down in one of the chairs opposite his side of the desk. "Have you found anything?"

Alarik sighed and sat back in his chair pinching the bridge of his nose. 

"Nothing so far. We can't find anything. There's no reason for this to be happening. We have noticed a trend so far though."

"And what's that?"

"All the first people to go... to die, they were all people who came up to me the night that we joined the packs."

"So what does that mean?" I asked. 

"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems odd. There was that man, the woman who owned the boutique, and the others, they all came up to me that night."

"How do you even remember that? There were so many people."

"I don't know. I just remember."

He sat back up and started looking through the piles of papers that had come from him and the doctor. They had started looking through everything, every disease that had similar symptoms. They hadn't been able to find anything that consistently worked through as fast as this was going through people. 

The phone rang and Alarik picked it up. 

"Yes," was all he said. 

I could hear the muffled voice on the other end. I decided between listening in on the conversation or just letting him have it to himself. 

Before I could even make up my mind though he was hanging up the phone and growling angrily. His fists gripped the edge of the desk, his knuckles turning white before he finally just went completely still. His arms went limp at his sides and he slumped over in defeat. 

I quickly got up and went around to him, standing behind his chair with my hands on his shoulders. 

"I should have known I couldn't do this. I'm not strong enough to do this."

"What are you talking about? You have everything you need inside you. You are a good Alpha, Alarik. You're a great Alpha. You can't let what's happening tell you otherwise."

He spun around in the chair and looked up at me. 

"Allison, the one thing I'm supposed to do is keep my people safe. Four more people were just taken in with the same symptoms and three that were already in there have died."

"You can't help that."

"But I should be able to figure out what this is so I can try to come up with a solution. So far we have nothing."

I crawled onto his lap, straddling him and rested my head on his shoulder while putting my arms around his neck. He put his arms around me holding me close. 

"Allison, I need to get back to work," he said quietly. 

"Just a few minutes. You've been working non stop."

"That's because this isn't something that I can just push off. I need to figure out what's going on as soon as possible."

"You're not going to be able to do that if you work yourself into the ground."

"I can't just do nothing though." 

I could feel his body shaking with the tension. I could feel his emotions through the bond. He felt completely hopeless. I wondered if this was how he'd felt when I'd been taken, when he couldn't find me. 

Alarik sneezed and I went rigid. 

I slowly pulled back. "Why did you do that?" I asked quietly. 

"Do what?"

"You sneezed. Why did you sneeze?"

"Because I had to sneeze. I really need to get back to work Allison."

I got up off his lap but didn't let him turn his chair back around. 

"Allison, please. I need to work."

"You just sneezed Alarik. Just like that woman with the boutique. Do you remember what happened to her?"

"Allison it was just a sneeze. we have heightened senses. It was just a sneeze."

"And what if it wasn't just a sneeze, Alarik? What if it's whatever has been going around the pack?"

My heart was pounding at double time. Alarik could have whatever this is going around the pack. He could be the next to die. My chest tightened and my breathing became shallow. Panic was gripping at me. He didn't want to believe it, he was trying to brush it off, but somewhere inside I felt that something wasn't right. 

I didn't know what else to say though so I stepped back. Alarik turned back around and ran a hand through his hair as he sifted through the papers again. I stood there looking at him for a few minutes before I turned and left the office. 

Alarik was getting whatever this was. If past events had been any clue, he only had a day or so. 

I felt the panic rising again. I had to do something. He wasn't going to stop working on this case for the others and he wasn't going to admit that he was getting sick. 

The image of that man he'd helped came to mind. They way he'd been convulsing and the way the blood had been coming from his eyes and nose. Was that going to happen to Alarik?

No. Not if I could help it. 

He was too into the case. He hadn't had the chance to step back and look at it. Maybe a fresh pair of eyes, ones that haven't been buried in paperwork for a week could do something. 

I just had to decide where I wanted to start. The doctor seemed like the most likely choice, but then again, he would probably tell Alarik that I went to him. 

Did I really care though? It was a chance I was going to have to take. If I didn't then there was a chance I could lose Alarik. I could deal with him getting a little angry because I went behind his back as long as I was able to save him. 

I grabbed my jacket and went out to the medical center. When I walked in there were more people than last time. More patients and more staff. Alarik had said they'd been bringing more people to help in the center but I hadn't realized just how many. 

I walked through the building and I passed a room where I saw a small girl. There was blood coming from her eyes just as the man we'd brought in that day. 

I wanted to look away but I just couldn't. All I could do was stand there and stare in horror as the blood poured down. A shiver ran down my spine as a staff member tried to assist the girl. I knew what was coming next though, and as far as I knew they had no real way to help her. The little girl was going to die. 

I had to look away. I couldn't watch her die. I just couldn't. I needed to find the doctor. 

"Allen, I was wondering if I could look at the notes that you have here," I said to the doctor. 

"Mrs. Trenton what are you doing here?"

I wanted to correct him. Alarik and I weren't married, not yet. Even if we were married, I was not Mrs. Trenton, that was his mother. I had to chose my battles though, and I figured I was going to need that fight to get this information. 

"I'm here to look at your notes. I'm looking things over and I'd like to see the notes that you have here."

"Alpha Trenton should have a copy with him."

"He does but I thought I'd come here and talk to you about it."

"I don't know ma'am. I'm not sure how Alph-"

"He doesn't matter right now. I'm giving him his space to look over the notes. I'm the Luna and I would like to look at the notes that you have and I would like to know everything you have on the patients." My voice was level and judging by the look on Allen's face, it seemed to do what I wanted it to.

"Right, of course Mrs. Trenton. Right this way." 

He turned around and took me down to the room all his notes were in. 

"This all started with the man who was brought in. Two days after the packs joined."

I nodded flipping through pages. 

"Alarik said they were all people that he met that night so far."

"Really?" 

"He didn't tell you that?"

Allen shook his head, his brows pulling together as he thought about whatever it was in his head. 

"Yeah, he said they were all people that came up to him the night we brought the packs together. The night that his father gave the pack over to him."

"They were all people that came up to him," Allen said as he rubbed his chin. 

"What are you thinking?" I asked stepping over to him as he sifted through more papers. 

"I'm not entirely sure but something isn't right. This isn't a sickness like anything I've seen or read about. But it seems odd about the time that it occurred."

"There's something else," I said looking down at the table with the papers. "I think Alarik has whatever it is."

"Are you absolutely certain?" The doctor asked staring at me intently.

"I- I think so. He sneezed earlier. The woman in the boutique sneezed the day before she came in with the same symptoms as those other people."

"You need to get him in here as soon as possible if that's the case."

"It's pointless. He won't admit that he has it."

"Allison, if he has it he needs to get in here."

"What's the point? It's not like you know what it is. What can you do?" 

That panic was starting to creep up inside again. It was gripping my heart like a fist around it. 

"We've never had anyone come in during the early stages. We can monitor him-"

"You just want him in here to study him?" My voice rose up with my anger. He just wanted Alarik to come in so that he could be a test subject. Someone to put tubes and needles in so they could watch him to see what happens. I was not bringing him in here just for that. I wouldn't be able to get him to admit it anyway. 

"I'll see what I can do," I said before turning to leave. 

I really hadn't gotten much more than I already knew, but I was worried about Alarik. I was worried that he was going to keep working himself and whatever this was, was going to sneak up on him. 

I needed to figure out what was going on. 

When I got back, Alarik was in the kitchen. His back was to me, his head leaning against the fridge. 

"Alarik?"

He turned around and he didn't look good at all. He was looking pale and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. 

I went around to him. 

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, Allison."

"You don't look fine."

He tried to step around me but I grabbed his arm and put my hand to his forehead. He was warm, too warm even for a werewolf. 

"You are not fine."

"I'm completely fine! I just need to go back and look at the notes."

"Alarik. You need to rest. You're sick."

"Werewolves don't get sick," he said brushing it off. 

"Well apparently they do. We have proof of it. And this sickness is killing people. It's not something we can just mess around with."

"I know that! That's why I'm trying to figure out what's going on so I can fix it!" Alarik shouted. His eyes shifted slightly and a thin line of blood started to drip form his nose. 

My eyes went wide and he wiped the back of his hand to clear away the evidence and stormed out of the room. 

I turned after watching him leave. I didn't know what to do. There wasn't anything I could do. He wasn't going to listen to me. I was completely at a loss.

*************

Well shoot... 

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