Chapter: 14
******

River Bay Pack has been in its worst state since the Alpha took ill. The pack is in shambles, and as a result, no one has gotten much sleep for weeks. It's not only the fact that the Alpha has taken ill - he's also dying, or so they've heard since Luna's visit. The Weretiger Clan has gone into hiding and search parties have been sent out to discover their new home. They have yet to find any trace of it, even after days of searching. Some have ventured into the nearby mountain range, but there isn't anything there, either. It has been six months now since River Bay Pack lost its Alpha to an unknown illness. The Luna Phoenix has assured his Betas that if they could find the Scarred Witch who cursed his son then she will lift the curse and the Lycan will recover and if the Witch isn't found then they must have to restore the Alpha's Omega to his true form but without the Alpha, the little Cub sleeps still.

The Betas could not take it anymore.

This all started when their Alpha met that Weretiger. Their lives have turned upside down since then. It went from one chaos to another death. It's no wonder Conri doesn't want to be associated with the Weretiger.

He seems to bring trouble to their once peaceful Pack.

Luna Phoenix saw the Scarred witch put the curse and the reason behind such drastic action. She thought it was they who had attacked their Clan and not only that, she thought her son had died in the hands of the Lycan which may not be far from the truth since the Luna said, once the Cub awakens, he will not remember a lot of things before his death and if he doesn't remember, then the Scarred witch may have lost her only son forever.

Conri had acted foolishly too.

Causing pain and shooting at his Omega.

He should have thought properly about his decisions.

Now they all have to suffer from it.

*****

The Betas drove on the highway slowly, they were returning from yet another fruitless search for the Weretiger Clan. Colleen had too many thoughts swirling around in his head while Dom sat silently beside him, the only ones making a fuss in the vehicle was the dumb twin Beta.

"Pull over!" Mano yelled and Colleen immediately brought the car to a stop then snapping his glare to the back seat he seethed.

"What?"

"I need to shit," Mano mumbled, undressing quickly.

Frowning, Colleen glared wickedly at him. "You asked me to stop because you needed to take a shit?"

"Yeah!" Mano snapped. "You don't understand what I'm going through."

Rolling his eyes, Colleen sighed before turning the engine off. "Why are you getting naked then?" He demanded, seeing that the Beta was nearly half naked.

"So, I can shift, duh..." Mano rolled his eyes and then he shifted, showing his elegant white wolf to Colleen.

"You want to go as a wolf?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's easier to sniff out the best spot to shit in and faster too." Mano rambled on.

Colleen's face screwed up in disgust and he groaned before shaking his head and sighing again. "You're disgusting!"

Mano growled defensively. "I'll make it quick, you can come with me if you want to."

"In your dreams," Colleen turned to the other twin who was starting to look pale sitting there alone as his Half jumped into the woods, howling loudly, the sound echoed around them. "And I presume you want to go too, don't you?"

Reece nodded with a little bubble pout sitting on his lips. "You know, it's always like that, whenever he needs to go I automatically want to go too," He muttered, blinking innocently.

"You both are disgusting and stupid, get out of my car!" Colleen snarled and Reece giggled then shifted into an identical white wolf as his twins and ran off in the direction his twin went, howling for him. Dom chuckled when he heard Mano howl back.

"You know if they aren't so cute, I would drown them already," He told Colleen and both Betas shared warm laughter. "I know you're worried about our Alpha but I'm sure he can beat this, remember what Luna said, he said if he wasn't the Alpha of Alphas he would have died the day we found him, if he had fought until now it means, he will get better soon," He said softly, looking at Colleen earnestly.

"Yes, you are right, Second, I believe in our Alpha and I know he can beat this, but I also have a crazy idea..." Colleen trailed off.

Dom raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well... I think I know how we can break the curse... Heal our Alpha quickly..." Colleen explained nervously.

Dom raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How do we do that?" He asked suspiciously.

"Remember what Luna said about his Omega?" Colleen prompted and Dom nodded. "I think we should put the sleeping Cub close to the Alpha's sleeping body, the Cub's warmth and scent could help heal the Alpha and might wake him up faster too..."

"Are you crazy?!" Dom exclaimed, almost shouting in his surprise. "The Luna warned that the Alpha should stay away from the Cub until the Cub comes to them. This idea is rather too dangerous."

"It's only a possibility, it could work... Luna has tried everything, we can't find the Weretiger Clan to bring the Scarred witch in, this is our only option!" Colleen argued and Dom sighed deeply.

"Fine," He said reluctantly. "But this must remain a secret of ours, only if it's a life and death situation are we allowed to tell another ear of this plan, get it?" He ordered sternly and Colleen nodded hastily.

"Got it." Colleen grinned triumphantly.

"Good, we will do it tonight, I will make sure that no Wolf is present in the Manor and you can bring the God to the Alpha, we will keep watch by the door and be ready to separate them should a problem arise and should it not then come morning we must return the God to his sleeping bed," Dom stated and Colleen nodded solemnly.

*******

Dom sent all the workers to the Annex, even the Betas were not within the Manor leaving just him and his First. Colleen stood at the entrance to the God Xiher room, the little Cub lay calmly asleep on a soft pillow, he looked so small, so fragile, Colleen almost had a second thoughts about their plan.

"Stay away from him. I can not emphasize this enough, you both must stay away from him."

Luna's warning flashed through Colleen's mind in rapid succession before he turned toward the bed once again, his face impassive, "We can't let our Alpha die from whatever curse he suffered... If this will help then this we must do." With that said, Colleen entered fully into the bedroom and began to walk toward the bed. When he got to the bed, he gently scooped the Cub into his arms and carried him out of the room. Dom spotted his Second approaching and stood up and waited until he reached him.

"I cleared the Hall, go ahead, bring him to his Alpha." He told Colleen who nodded and walked through the open door.

******

The Alpha's room was simple but still elegant and well made, with its white curtains surrounding the large four-poster bed covered by a red silk sheet and the pillows scattered across its surface. The bed had a matching canopy covering it along with matching dark red blankets. A glass of water and a bottle of honey sat beside each bedside table and on another held a basket of untouched fruits. There were no other decorations, the walls were painted a light beige color with black wooden furniture in between them. In one corner was an ornate dressing mirror that stood taller than both men standing in the room together. The Alpha's smell had changed and it clouded the air around the room. When they arrived near the Alpha's bed Colleen paused briefly, he took a deep breath, "My Alpha is sick, he needs your help." He spoke softly as if afraid to wake the sleeping Cub.

Xiher stretched in the Beta's arms and began to stir, which nearly had both Beta jumping out of their skins. Before Colleen could do anything, Xiher blinked awake and looked up. His eyes widened when they landed on the Beta holding him. His hands instinctively wrapped themselves into fists in panic as his breathing quickened and his ears flattened against his skull, he tried to free himself from the Beta's hold but was unable to. Colleen watched with interest as a blush crept over his face, his tail wagging behind him, and his ears flattened more. Then, the Cub's head turned, and his gaze landed on Dom standing next to the Beta, his brow furrowed and his lips parted slightly. It was a long moment where Dom stared down at the Cub as he kept looking at him, his face a perfect mixture between horror and confusion. Finally, Dom's expression softened and a gentle smile appeared on his lips.

"Hello, Xiher," He greeted quietly. Xiher froze, his mouth remained agape for another few seconds before it closed again, he slowly looked away and hid his face in Colleen's palms. He trembled violently with anxiety and fear while Colleen simply waited patiently, letting the Omega settle in before speaking up.

"He'll need your help, our Alpha is very sick and may need your assistance." He explained. Xiher only shook in response, tears gathered in his eyes and he squeezed his eyes shut. Colleen felt helpless as the omega's distress grew stronger and tighter. Xiher was clearly frightened at the mention of the Alpha and this does not pose a good sign. He shifted his hold slightly to allow the Omega to relax, Xiher continued trembling. Dom's smile disappeared and concern washed over him, and immediately he began to question their plan.

"We should stop here, he is clearly frightened by this," Dom pointed out and crossed his arms. But his voice betrayed his true thoughts, he really wanted to keep the Omega close to their Alpha, see if that would help.

"We can't stop now, Dom..." Colleen said, trying to reason with his Second, "Our Alpha may die without our help.

"What if he doesn't?!" Dom protested quickly, but Colleen just glared at him. Dom sighed, defeated, and gave into his First, "Fine." He turned toward the bed and nodded for Colleen to lay the Cub beside the Alpha.

Xiher chirped when he was put down beside the Alpha but did not make an attempt to escape, rather he crawled into the Alpha's side and lay still. Colleen smiled and returned to stand beside Dom, both watching the Omega cuddled up against the Alpha. Xiher seemed to get less fearful as time passed and his breathing slowed. Eventually, the omega relaxed and finally fell asleep. Dom turned to Colleen and raised an eyebrow, Colleen nodded with a smile. They had only turned to exit the room when they heard a ruffle on the bed, Colleen and Dom turned back to see their Alpha waking up with a start. Their eyes bulged with shock and awe at the sudden movement. Xiher stirred uneasily from the Alpha's movement but quickly calmed.

This was the first time their Alpha had woken up in six months. They didn't know how to feel about it. On one hand, they're ecstatic that their Alpha was finally conscious. On the other hand... They don't know how to deal with the fact that Xiher had fallen back into his sleeping state nor that they had disobeyed the orders of the Luna. They came closer and their eyes fell into the face of their Alpha, his chest rose and fell in shallow, slow breaths. His eyes flickered from Colleen to Dom, they could see clearly the many questions swirling around in those golden eyes. His fingers twitched to move but it was fruitless. As the Alpha's eyes settled on the Omega he froze. He stared at the tiny creature resting peacefully in the nest of his arms and the look on his face was unreadable, staring blankly down at Xiher, his face devoid of emotion, he stared at the Omega with unblinking eyes and a tight frown plastered over his features. Xiher lay completely still on the bed like a doll in the arms of his Alpha, his ears flat against his head and his tail curled underneath him. The room became silent apart from the Alpha's steady breathing and Xiher's small heartbeat. They stood silently like this for a while, neither man daring to break the silence.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity Dom took a deep breath, "Can you... Can you hear us?" Dom asked hesitantly.

At his words, Xiher's ears perked up and the Alpha took notice, his eyes bore down into Xiher, whose eyes were starting to slowly unwrap like petals, revealing the pup inside. His blue eyes shone brighter than ever. The Betas took a step back, their mouths hanging open. Xiher's eyes didn't shine that brightly when he had woken up before. His ears drooped forward, they dropped low and flatten onto his head, his tail curled behind him tightly. He looked up at the two Betas and tilted his head towards the Alpha, his eyes pleading.

Xiher's eyes were wide and filled with fear, his pupils dilated and his breathing quickened. He looked terrified, his body tensed and his tail flicked nervously. Xiher's eyes lingered on those golden ones that were slowly starting to blend into red. The Alpha's eyes bore into Xiher's, unmoving and unresponsive, his eyes fixed firmly on the Omega, his heart beating loudly within his chest. His lips parted and the tip of his tongue darted out of his mouth anxiously, wetting his lower lip slightly. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared back in shock. His breath hitched for a brief moment, a single tear slipped out of his eye as the Omega whimpered helplessly.

Both Betas were starting to regret their life's choices at that very moment. None had the slightest idea what they should do next. A smell began to fill the room, clouding the air. It was heavy and overpowering, a sweet and spicy scent mixed with something else, something that smelled of burning woods and Salty seawater. Both Betas shivered, recognizing the smell instantly. It was the unmistakable scent of their Alpha's pheromones. Dom's nose crinkled in distaste as he noticed the change in the air. Xiher whimpered once more, as he buried his head deeper into his Alpha's arm and he struggled to control his breathing. The Omega's skin crawled uncomfortably and his tail curled tighter around himself. Dom let out a quiet gasp, his eyes widening at the scent. His mind went completely blank. The heat and energy in the air began to grow stronger and hotter. The Alpha's scent was intoxicating to the point of making Dom forget his purpose. His eyes snapped open and landed on Colleen.

"Xiher, he is causing Rafa to secrete his lust, we have to separate them, NOW!" He exclaimed, his breathing became labored as sweat rolled down his neck. Colleen looked over to Dom, his green eyes filled with concern, "What?" Dom demanded and Colleen pointed at their Alpha's now healing wounds.

"He is starting to heal, very quickly too..." He told him and Dom hissed.

"Then we must get HIM out before he fully heals," Dom stated, determination shining bright in his amber orbs.

"Mm." Colleen nodded and they both got close enough without warning, Dom grabbed the Cub and bolted for the door and Colleen followed while Rafa charged at both of them but fell to his knees when he landed on his still-healing broken leg.

Colleen shut the door behind them and they began to rush down the Hallway, Xiher whimpering uncontrollably in Dom's arms, he didn't want to be separated from his Alpha anymore than Rafa did and the Lycan was going mad as seconds ticked by.

Once the Cub was returned to his bed and his door locked and sealed with a barrier so that he couldn't leave or the Alpha got in, they returned to their Alpha's door to check on him but paused when they heard a guttural growl escape his lips. They weren't expecting that. They couldn't believe what they had just heard.

They only heard him growl like that once, on the night he had disappeared while they patrolled the grounds and they had found him the next day, distorted and couldn't remember what had happened the night before.

The Alpha sounded feral!