Winter's Dawn (8 page)

“Adam,” Max rasped, biting his lip for a moment as Aunt Emma continued to scrub at his chest and arms. “Why together?”

“Excuse me?” Adam leaned down closer to hear him.

“Die together?” He squinted to keep his eyes open. “S-Susie’s not hurt.”

“Oh.” Adam wiped at his eyes again and gave him a weak smile. “Pairs are always together. She’ll follow you in death. You won’t be alone.”

Max frowned as icy terror poured over him. “What?”

“She shares your soul,” Adam choked again and covered his eyes. “If you die, she will too. I’m sorry, very sorry.”

“Where are the doctors?” Max asked, finding the strength to speak clearly as a fresh wave of adrenaline hit him. “They need to fix me now.”

“Max, you’ve got a deep silver wound.” Adam shook his head. “They can’t fix you.”

“Find them!” Max growled, reaching out to grip at Adam’s shirt, jerking him forward. “Now!”

Adam surprised him by obeying as he pushed away from the bed and dashed out of the room while Aunt Emma continued to clean him, rubbing at his hair furiously. “I’m not dying,” he announced.

Aunt Emma nodded past the tears rolling down her face. “Okay, Maxwell.”

“I’m not,” he reiterated and then lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, waiting for both the doctors and Susie as he felt the poison thumping through his blood stream.

Susie reached him first, breaking out of his father’s arms and running to Max. She leapt onto the bed, clearing a large area to land on the other side of him. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the curve of his neck, sobbing hysterically.

“Tell me not to die,” he said softly, tilting his head to rest it against hers. “Tell me how angry you’ll be.”

“I-I’ll be really angry,” she sobbed, her voice warm against his neck. “You need to be with me always.”

“Always,” he agreed, looking up towards the ceiling again. “Tell me I need to stay here with you.”

“Stay here with me,” Susie said, this time more forcefully as she lifted her head to glare at him with icy eyes that swam with tears. “You are not allowed to die!”

“Then I won’t,” he promised her. “Not today.”

“Not for a long time!” Susie growled. “Not ever!”

Not ever was a stretch. At nine Max knew that was impossible, even for beings who didn’t age once they reached adulthood, but the rest seemed honest enough. “Not for a long time,” he whispered. “Make the doctors fix me.”

Susie nodded, her bottom lip quivering, her face red and splotched as tears continued to stream down her face. “They will fix you or make the queen very angry.”

Max smiled. “That’s never a good idea.”

“You look bad.” Susie tilted her head and studied him, her bottom lip quivering again. “You’re grey and terrible looking. Your eyes have lost their pretty blue.”

“Not today,” he reminded her.

She nodded, before she buried her face in the curve of his neck. Susie stretched out next to him and her fingers started twisting his hair the way they did every night before he fell asleep. Max never saw the doctors get there. His eyes closed in sleep almost instantly.

Chapter Four

The first thing Max noticed when he woke up was that he felt positively miserable. Being a werewolf meant he never got sick and rarely felt pain. Being an alpha werewolf meant he was that much stronger than others of his kind. If he was injured, the wounds healed almost instantly. To say this was a feeling he was unaccustomed to was an understatement of grand proportions.

He moaned, putting a hand to his throbbing head. Moving his hand hurt him more and touching his forehead was a bad idea. He had to choke back a scream from the pain in his hand.

“Gods Be Blessed!” a strange voice shouted. “He’s waking up.”

Max blinked awake to find a male werewolf he didn’t recognize hovering over him, feeling his forehead and then cupping his face in both hands to look into his eyes.

“Who are you?” Max asked, unnerved that a stranger was in his bedroom and touching him. He let out a ferocious wolf growl, remembering the rogues and knowing without thought that Susie was sleeping next to him. “Endanger my mate and you die.”

The werewolf stumbled back, obviously smelling the honesty of the threat. “Douglas, wake up! The king is disoriented. He thinks his mate is being threatened.”

Max heard a growl that he knew to be his father’s before his face swam into view, though Max hardly recognized him. His father looked dreadful, with dark circles under his eyes and several days’ worth of haggard beard growth on his face, reminding Max vaguely of the rogue werewolves.

Max rolled over, choking back a scream of pain to see Susie curled up near him, wearing a clean nightgown and looking very hot in it.

He was hot too, dreadfully so—he really hated summer.

Max lowered the temperature before he turned back to his father. “I don’t feel well.”

“You’ve been ill,” his father said softly. “I don’t think freezing temperatures are a good idea right now.”

“Yes, they are,” Max said, before he closed his eyes again. “I
really
don’t feel well.”

“Maxwell, you need to let the doctors look at you,” his father said in an oddly gentle tone. “You’ve been asleep for a while and we’d like it if you tried to stay awake now.”

That didn’t sound like much fun to Max, but his father had asked him to do something nicely and he couldn’t recall his father ever asking nicely for anything. “Fine,” he sighed and opened his eyes.

“This is Doctor Davis and he is not a threat to your mate,” he explained evenly. “He is trying to protect her by keeping you healthy.”

“I’m not healthy,” Max assured him. He didn’t think his father understood the gravity of how truly awful he felt. “I’m sick, sicker than human children get.”

“Yes, we know that.” His father nodded, before he backed away from the bed. “The doctor is here to help you feel better.

“Your father told us that you can control weather.” Doctor Davis gave him a wide smile as he came to stand next to the bed. “Are you making it cold in here?”

“I’m hot,” Max explained. “I hate summer.”

“Yes, well, most arctic wolves do.” He placed a cool hand against Max’s forehead. “But, you have a fever and a room this cold is probably not good for you.”

“No, it’s good for me,” Max promised him. “And Susie is hot.”

“Very well,” the doctor agreed, surprising Max. “Wolves need to be in the climate they are comfortable in to heal.”

“Wow.” Max gave him a weak smile because he had never met a wolf who didn’t complain about him and Susie enjoying the cold. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Your Highness.” Doctor Davis reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked like a pen. “I need to check your eyes. The light may bother you, but I’m going to ask you to suffer with me for a moment.”

Max agreed, but let out a low wolf growl when the doctor shined a light in his eyes. His first instinct was to close his eyes, but he suffered like the doctor asked and breathed a sigh of relief when he was done.

“You are doing extremely well,” Doctor Davis said proudly. “You are a powerful king, Your Highness. Any other wolf would be dead right now.”

“Susie told me not to die.” Max let his eyes close to recover from the light that was still making his head pound.

“Oh, yes, we know that.” Doctor Davis placed something small and metal against Max’s chest. “I should be mad at you for turning an angry alpha female loose on us. She was vicious in her insistence that we fix you immediately.”

Max gave a weak laugh. “She’s just little.”

“Yes, well, she was still scary. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like that.”

Max laughed harder when he realized that he smelled no lies off the doctor. Susie really had scared them. “Sorry.”

“Its fine.” The doctor took the cool disk off Max’s chest and rested a hand against his forehead once more. “We are grateful that you lived. Losing our alpha pair so young would have been heart breaking. We will all be making an offering to the Gods tonight in thanks.”

“I should have called my father for help,” Max admitted with a wince as he opened his eyes and looked at the doctor. “But, there was no time.”

“No, you did fine,” the doctor assured him as he dropped down on his knees and rested his arms on the edge of the bed. “I am going to ask you a series of questions and I’d like you answer them for me. We’ll start in English and then move on to languages you are less familiar with.”

Max nodded. “Okay.”

“Your full title please, Your Highness.”

“King Maxwell Charles Wellington The First,” Max replied automatically.

“And your mate’s title?”

“Queen Susan Marie Wellington The First.”

“And how old are you now?”

“I am nine,” Max said and then added before the doctor could ask. “My mate is six.”

“Very good,” Doctor Davis smiled. “Would you like the next questions in French, Italian or Spanish?”

“Any of them is fine.” Max’s eyes were heavy. “Is this going to take a long time?”

“It’ll take a while, I’m afraid.” Doctor Davis winced. “We want to see if the silver damaged your memory.”

Max realized that it was going to take a very long time as a whole series of questions were asked of him in four languages. They moved on from basics and had him answer questions about everything from math and werewolf history to Susie’s favorite foods. He was working on answering a question in Italian about how many braids Susie preferred at night when he felt her move beside him.

Max ignored the doctor and rolled over to Susie as she started to stir awake. He noticed that her hair was unbraided and he felt guilty for the small knots in it as he caressed the sweaty white blonde strands that were still moist from the hot room he woke up in. “Why didn’t you braid her hair?” he asked his father, knowing he was still in the room.

“She wanted to wait for you to do it.” His father came over to the bed. “I felt bad for letting her fall asleep with it down, but there was no arguing with her.”

Max watched as Susie hummed in sleep and rolled on her back. “It’s all knotted,” he said and then turned back to his father. “How long has she been sleeping?”

His father frowned, turning to Doctor Davis before he sighed. “She’s been sleeping for a week now. She wilted a few hours after you did and she hasn’t woken.”

“Oh Gods.” Max shook her shoulder. “Susie Bee.”

“What, Max?” Susie hummed, her forehead crinkling in annoyance. “Still sleeping.”

“No, I need you to wake up.” He shook her again. “You’ve been asleep a long time.”

Susie’s eyelashes fluttered open, revealing dazed ice blue eyes. She gave him a lazy smile as realization of his obvious recovery struck her angelic features. “Not today.”

“Not today,” he agreed, running his fingers through her hair. “Not for a very long time.”

“You’re better.” She sat up and hugged him. “They fixed you.”

Max held her to him, biting his tongue to hide the pain it caused him.

“I’m better.” He cupped her small face in his large hands and smiled at her. “I’m sorry your hair is knotted.”

“It’s okay,” she said in a dreamy voice. “You can fix it now.”

He let her go and turned back to his father. “Can you get me her brush?”

“Sure, Maxwell,” his father said, leaving for a moment and returning with Susie’s brush.

Max thanked him as he took it. He started brushing Susie’s hair, being careful not to tug at the knots too painfully. Holding the brush was hurting his hands, but he ignored the pain.

“I think he’s going to be fine, Douglas,” Doctor Davis said soothingly. “His memory is intact and the queen woke up. She wouldn’t have done that if he were still dying. Alpha pairs are connected on every level. The king has to be healing if she came out of the coma.”

“He says he still doesn’t feel well,” his father argued. “He’s in pain.”

“He had a silver wound that should have killed him instantly.” Doctor Davis snorted in disbelief. “And his hands were exposed to silver long enough that he should have died a second time. The king being in pain is a good thing. It means he is still alive.”