Repost for those who missed it late last night... And because I know the notifications have been going all weird.

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I sent a message to Jason to meet up with me outside the house. I left again while Alarik was in the office to go out to meet up with him. 

"What's up?" Jason asked as I went up to him. He looked horrible too. Only he didn't look a sick horrible, he just looked a completely and totally exhausted terrible. 

"Have you gotten any rest at all?"

Jason shook his head. "Haven't had the time for rest. Alarik has had me going around to make sure people who aren't sick stay inside and find the ones who are coming down with whatever this is."

"You realize that doing that puts you at risk if this is air born right? Shouldn't you be staying in too? We don't know what it is. We don't have a cure for it!"

I was getting slightly irritated. They were telling people who weren't sick to stay inside and yet here he was searching out the sick people. He was putting himself right in the middle of all of it.

"Allison, it's what Alarik has me doing. I need to get the people who are sick to the medical center so they are away from those who are healthy. It's better one person than the entire pack."

I bit my bottom lip. I knew he was right, but I still didn't like him risking himself for all this. 

"I think Alarik has it," I said finally. 

"Shit. You've got to be kidding. Are you sure?"

"Not entirely," I said shaking my head. "But I'm about ninety percent sure. He sneezed earlier. When I went back he was pale, running a fever, I mean really hot. He also had a bloody nose."

"That's odd. It's the same symptoms, but it's not really how it's happening with the others. If he is showing those symptoms he should be-"

"Dead. I know. He was still working away in his office but I don't know what to do. He won't admit that he's sick. He won't put down the damn papers and go to the doctor, not like he would be able to do anything for Alarik anyway."

I ran a hand through my hair frustrated. "I'm scared, Jason."

Jason pulled me into a hug and I felt myself start to shake a little. 

"It's going to be okay, Al."

"No it isn't. He has whatever this is and there isn't any way to cure him."

"Then we just need to figure out what it is."

"Figuring out what it is doesn't make it go away."

"Well if we find out what it is then we will be a step closer to figuring out how to cure whatever it is."

I'd started to get my shaking back under control and I stepped back. 

"Do you think maybe that warlock would be able to help with this? Do you think he could figure out what it is?"

Jason looked thoughtful for a moment. 

"It's always worth a try."

"Where is Alarik's father?"

"Both of his parents are at their house. I made sure they were there myself."

I turned in the direction of the house and started running. I could hear Jason right behind me. 

"Allison, wait up."

"No time."

I ran until I was at the door. I knocked and waited for someone to answer it. Alarik's mom opened it looked flustered. 

"Allison, is everything alright?"

"No, Mrs. Trenton. Is your husband here? I need to talk to him."

"Right here," he said coming through the doorway to meet us. "What's going on?"

"Can you get that warlock here? Quickly."

"Zachary? I could see if he could come but why?"

"I think Alarik might have whatever this is going around. I wanted to know if maybe he could help figure out what it is. If we can't-"

I couldn't finish the sentence because I didn't want to believe it could happen. Everything had just started to settle down. Everything was just starting to look up. I had Alarik, we were finally together. He had just become the Alpha of his own pack, and now this was happening. 

His father seemed to understand what I was saying though because he left the room straight away. 

"Is Alarik alright?" His mom asked. 

"I don't know. It seems to be moving through him slower."

I was staring at the wall blankly. I could feel Jason directly behind me. 

"I'm sorry. I should go check on him to make sure he's-"

"Yes, yes. Of course, dear. Do you want me to come with you?"

I could tell that she wanted to, but I didn't know what I was going to find when I got there. I wasn't sure if she would want to be the one to walk in to what the possibilities were. He could be lying dead on the floor...

No, if he were dead I'd know... Wouldn't I?

I hoped that I'd know. 

I just shook my head. "I'll call you with news." 

"Alright."

Jason ushered me out the house and escorted me back. 

"You really don't need to do this Jason."

"Yes I do. I'm his Beta. I need to keep you safe and I need to make sure that he's okay. You can't convince me otherwise."

Despite everything I was feeling, I smiled slightly. Jason was one of the best friends I could have. 

"You made sure that Cassie was okay and that she stayed inside, right?"

"Yes. She's perfectly fine. She was showing no symptoms at all. None of them were."

"Good."

I needed time to go see her again. It seemed like everything had just been happening so fast. 

I opened the door to the silent house. I started to feel a dull ache in my hand and I closed it into a fist. 

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I think it's from him. I'm feeling it through the bond."

"Well, that means he's still alive," Jason offered. 

I knew Alarik would be in the same place he's been the past week. I made my way up to the office and slowly opened the door. 

He looked even worse than when he'd stormed past me earlier. 

"Alarik."

He looked up from the paper. 

"Why don't you give that a rest for a little bit. You're not going to find anything in there. You've been looking at the same stuff for days."

"I got new papers. Something has to be in here. I can't stop looking until I find it."

"Damn it, Alarik! Look in a mirror, you're sick!"

"I'm perfectly fine, Allison. Now I suggest you either sit there quietly or you leave."

My mouth dropped open and I turned to Jason. I couldn't believe he'd said that to me. 

I turned back to him with a new determination. He was going to listen to me one way or another. 

I completely opened up the bond between us, leaving no barrier. I stared at him and in that opened bond I let him see himself the way I was seeing him. The pale, scraggly man that was sitting, looking over a desk with papers strewn everywhere. They way his crazed eyes made him seem that much worse. 

He just shook his head as the image filled it. 

"Allison, stop."

It was a warning, I knew it was, but I couldn't stop. Not until he listened to me. 

I pushed the image more, taking in every little detail of him. 

His eyes flashed that wolfish glow dancing there. He stood up with a force that slammed the chair back against the wall and he stormed over toward me. Jason stepped in front before Alarik got to me and he pushed Alarik up against the wall. Jason's arm went across his shoulders holding him against the wall. 

If it weren't for Alarik being weakened by whatever this was, Jason wouldn't be able to hold him back. 

"He wasn't going to hurt me," I said quietly. 

"I wasn't about to take that chance. I'm not going to let him do something that he would regret later." Jason's jaw was set in determination. 

Alarik tried to fight back against Jason. Once again a thin line of blood trailed from his nose. Jason finally let go and Alarik nearly dropped to the ground. 

I walked over to Alarik who was starting to stand up and I pulled out a syringe and stuck it in his neck. 

It was a syringe I'd taken from the doctor's office before I'd left. I'd hoped I wouldn't need to use it, but I'd taken it just in case. 

Within minutes Alarik was unconscious on the floor. 

I hoped that his father would be able to get Zachary here and soon. I wasn't sure how much longer Alarik was going to be able to hang in here. 

The phone rang and I picked it up. 

"Zachary should be here within a half hour," Debra said. 

"Thank you."

"How's Alarik?"

"He's... as good as can be expected."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Not at all."

"Well then I guess we better hope that Zachary can figure out what's going on."

"I guess we better," I agreed before hanging up the phone. 

"Help me get him into bed."

I leaned down and started lifting him but he was just a big mass of dead weight. Jason helped me, taking far less time with his help. We got him lying down in bed when there was a knock on door. 

I went down and opened the door to find Zachary already here. 

"That was fast."

"We have our own ways of transportation. I heard you had a bit of a situation."

"That's an understatement," I said stepping aside to let him in. 

"I can feel it," he murmured. 

"People are getting sick and dying. Werewolves don't get sick."

"No they don't," he agreed. 

"Can you help us figure out what's going on?"

He kept walking ahead of both Jason and me. 

"Can I see Alarik?"

He didn't wait for an answer, making his own way to the room where Alarik was drugged out on the bed. 

Jason and I stood off to the side watching. 

Zachary walked around and looked Alarik over. He held his hands out over him. He put his fingers to his neck, checking his pulse I assumed. 

Zachary started to chant something over him. I wanted to ask what he was doing, but I decided it would probably be better not to interrupt whatever was going on. Who knew what happened when you interrupted witches or warlocks in the middle of whatever it was. 

Finally Zachary grabbed Alarik's hand like he was going to shake it. He then turned the hand over, examining it closely. 

He muttered another phrase and a faint glow spread across Alarik's palm. 

"What are you doing?" I asked sounding suspicious of him. 

"This is what's wrong. It's magic. He's had a curse placed on him."

"Magic? A curse? So you mean a witch did this?"

"It would appear so. One that had to have come in contact with Alarik. It's the only way this particular curse could have been placed. This curse is designed so that the bearer outlives the majority. Whoever placed it wanted to make Alarik suffer. They know the only thing an Alpha wants to do is protect his people. It's designed so he has to sit back and watch while his people die, slowly eating away at his mind while the disease slowly eats away at his body."

"Who would have wanted to do something like that?" I asked horrified. 

"There was only one other person who came into direct contact with Alarik. Zelena."

"Who is that?" I demanded. 

"The other witch that shook his hand. I'm not sure why she would do such a thing though. It doesn't make sense."

"Can you reverse the curse?"

"Only Zelena can end it."

"Well then get her here!" I shouted.

"Chances are she's hid herself in a way that the only way to get her here is through a summoning."

"Well then summon her ass here right now and make her reverse this!"

"It's going to take some time. I n-"

"We obviously don't have a whole lot of that. People are dying. Alarik is dying. Get her here right now."

A sound of authority started to creep into my voice as it went cold. Zachary stopped suddenly, his eyes wide. He was dealing with a pissed off wolf now. One that would do anything to protect her mate. He was going to summon that bitch here and make her fix it, or I'd tear both their throats out. 

"I'll get started. I just need a few things." 

Zachary quickly rushed past me leaving the room and I felt Jason touch my shoulder. I jumped slightly, turning toward him. 

"It's going to be okay."

"How can you say it's going to be okay?" I asked incredulously. 

"Because it's going to be okay. He's going to get her here and we will get her to reverse whatever she did."

"Why would she even do this to begin with?"

"I'm not sure."

I felt the tension radiating through my body. It was thrumming with all the pent up rage and tension. I needed to release it somehow but running was the only way I knew how, and I wasn't about to do that. Not while Alarik was lying on the bed unconscious because of a curse. 

Well, he's unconscious because you drugged him, but that's beside the point. 

I crossed my arms and started pacing waiting for Zachary to come back. We needed to get this moving as soon as possible. I wasn't sure how much longer that drug was going to last on him. 

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So there's that. 

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