* * *

Since the time that she woke up, Sage had been pampered and asked by dozens of pack members if she was feeling okay or if she needed anything—that she should let them know.

But her drug-induced mind couldn't concentrate long enough, though she was a giggling mess in the wheelchair from her room to the parked car outside.

There had been dozens of pack members waiting at the packhouse, and she heard Remus' firm voice address those there in waiting. And she offered them all a smile and a small wave as Remus carried her into their house.

She didn't protest when Remus went to go put her upstairs, she craved the bed and decided that she would sleep better there. Though she ended up cuddling Remus' pillow pressed against her nose, a sure indication that he needed to join her soon.

He just had a million questions that needed to get done and while she was napping it was the perfect time to do it.

The number of people in his house was stressing out his wolf, but Birdie and her people had arrived. But Jack was eyeing a witch—A male, in suspicion.

"Nice to see you again, sir." The young witch smiled, and Jack growled.
"He was at the mall when we went." Remus eyed his Delta, wondering why that hadn't been mentioned. But then again Sage did say she found the coven's store.

Aurelia smiled but looked through the given collection of things that needed to be analyzed, while her other members of the coven fixed the wards.

"Alpha, I can tell by the make of the gun that these humans are bounty hunters. The insignia is—Well, mind the blood. States their clan...You said there was a child with him?" The only response she had receive was a nod from the Alpha as he was too focused on the symbol.

"We can take this two ways, Alpha. He and his clan happened to stumble upon information on the pack or he was hired. But the child being with him makes me believe that it was a practiced hunt. They wouldn't try and tackle a whole pack with just one male human—Even if he does have a bit of strength in him."

Eli uncrossed his arms and looked off towards his mate in confusion, "What do you mean strength?"
"While I don't think they are affiliated with places like the underground, I wouldn't it past them to buy the...Products that come out of them." Remus' growl settled the onset of whispers in his home, his wolf so badly wanted to cuddle up against his mate and heal her.

But this was time-sensitive, and his wolf demanded answers just like the rest of his pack.

"The bear trap is where I'm most concerned, Alpha." He closed his eyes and nodded for her to continue speaking, but she needed a demonstration and so he quickly offered his blood to see what she meant.

"What the fuck?!" Jack whispered under his breath, watching his Alpha's blood turn morph into a new shade of green.

Aurelia hadn't wasted any time in ordering her witches around. "It's been in her system for almost twenty-four hours Alpha, we need to get it out." She stated, almost in a panic herself. So he nodded and allowed them to do what they needed to do, and while he wasn't allowed in the room with her again.
He waited outside the door.

It should be a quick process, or so Aurelia claimed. She unhooked the sling and unraveled the bandages before extending Sage's arm out and into a makeshift basin for it to soak in.

"Birdie?" Sage said in a groggy voice, waking up in a haze that was more or less being inflicted by the poison. "Hey little Luna, I need to clean this, alright?"
"Smells funny. Like bear trap."
"That's what I'm worried about Sage, it's harmful to you." The coven leader explained, thus causing the Luna to become intrigued. Looking at the slight oozing of things coming out of the jagged cuts.

"Heal faster after?"
"We'll be leaving everything so you can heal hun, close your eyes for me. It's going to take a bit." Sage's exhaustion was an understatement.

While it wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world, she remained decently calm. Slipping in and out of sleep, while Birdie didn't waste a single moment in trying to bring Sage back to her former self.

However silver scarring will never heal pleasantly, she hoped that it would shrink just a tad. And to settle Sage even further, Aurelia began to hum.

It caused the Luna to smile in her sleep, but lulled her further so that she wouldn't feel anything after this point. Rolling up her sleeves, the witch rose from her position on the bedside and held her hands above the arm.

Keeping up with the tune did sway her arms back and forth, trying to collect the poison and not the infection.

"Alpha, I need a jar—Something with a lid." She spoke through the door, which Remus linked for someone from downstairs to fetch it.

Opening the door did he hold out the jar open jar, but it was clear Aurelia didn't have enough hands for this.

"I am trying to remove the poison Alpha, when it's all transferred you need to close the lid. Quickly. There are too many supernatural beings in this house for it to latch onto." He nodded, offering her the best angel to direct the substance into.

But Remus had no warning, and managed with the quick instinct he and his wolf was blessed with. What he didn't take into account was that the substance would have a mind of its own and try and break its way out of the lid.

Aurelia simply waved her hand over it, the lid flashing a solid gold color—Sealing the contents so it wouldn't open with her or another witch's say so.

"That's what was...Poisoning her?"
"It's poison to all Lycans, the scent can be hidden in silver. Touching the silver won't enact it, it needs to be in the bloodstream in order to survive off a host." Aurelia explained, and a smile formed on Sage's face.

"Parisite."
"Well I'll be, look at you little Luna. Yes, it's a Parisite. A wolf parasite." Remus felt both proud and defeated, all in one single moment.

"But it wouldn't have killed Sage, the mutation and the unknown blood are still in her system. I want to talk to your pack healer, Sage's wolf is still at risk." A whine escaped Sage, though she didn't miss a beat in putting her free arm to the mark on her neck.

"Lo—Lose her wolf?" Aurelia nodded solemnly, she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Yet the witch broke her expression when Sage started to cry.

"Oh no sweetheart, we would let that happen. We are going to monitor it and see if there's any left. I don't know if it's a regenerating parasite or not." Remus was in awe that the woman was comforting his mate, but perhaps he was just feeling ill at the prospect that if he didn't call the witches then Sage's wolf would've died.

"Thank you, I don't like parasite. It's cold."
"That's what your wolf is feeling, usually when wolves feel silver it burns." Sage nodded to Birdie's explanation, and when her hand was allowed to move from the soak. The witch bandaged it before resting the injured arm back over her chest.

Soon after, Remus was left alone with his mate for the first time in a while, and with the parasite no longer in his hands, he was able to hold her like he wanted to.

"I'm okay, Remmy."
"Goddess, I've never been so scared in my life. Why didn't you tell me you smelled something strange—Why didn't you tell me?" Sage had been overwhelmed, she had never been on the receiving end of her mate's breakdown.

So she nuzzled in his chest and neck, mindful of her own injury as she settled his nerves with a kiss.

"I want you to know I can be Luna...And I can be Alpha when you not here." He should've known, he should've known she wanted to start tackling things on her own. Her wolf was preparing for him to leave, it was normal—Natural.

It was instinctual.

"My wolf is scared."
"You're both going to be fine. And in two weeks this is going to be behind us, I promise." His voice still appeared rasp, however, when a tear escapes him, she wiped it away.

"You still have Alpha meeting."
"No, I'm sending Eli and Jack. I need to stay—"
"No. You have to, Crescent Moon is strong. You need to show other packs." It was such an opposite reaction.

While Sage didn't want him to go, it was the mate pull that fueled that. Kelly would always managed to guilt-tripped him in the past, saying that it was pointless and that Eli could handle it.
In reality, it was because she knew that her status as fill in Luna wasn't accepted unless Remus was around. Her reasons were selfish and the majority of their relationship was evidently her wanting the title that came along with dating Remus.

She abused the power, disregarding a she-wolf who had no background or pack wasn't the eye-opener. It was when Kelly challenged her for Luna that Remus realized that he was indeed mesmerized by the Omega in his bed.
He wanted what everyone else had.

And every day Sage made him proud with the strives to improve herself when she already checked every mark in the box.

"Goddess thank you, you were worth the wait munchkin..." She didn't understand why he was thanking the Goddess, so she continued to soothe him. Running a hand through his hair and reminding him that she awake and alive.

But she didn't have enough in her to talk anymore, she was tired and starving. And at the mention of the Luna being hungry, Gigi didn't waste any time before setting the kitchen to mass-produce anything, everything.

And Sage sat at the table in a slight daze, but was scarfing down everything in sight.
"The parasite was feeding off her, she'll need to regain her strength until it's completely flushed. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours." Sage listened intently as Aurelia explained, but she felt so warn and beat that she almost had difficult eating without falling asleep—Until the young witch from the store made her a cup of tea.

"Hello again." A silly smile graced Sage's face. "I knew you a witch...I smelled it." Derek had looked over to his coven leader but then proceeded to smile, claiming that he knew she was supernatural due to her knowledge that sold tea.

They didn't sell it to the general public.

With the burst of energy with the tea, she was able to enjoy the last full day of Remus' being at home. But his wolf was thankful in terms of being able to feel her wolf.

Weak, but still there—And the wolfsbane wasn't helping her heal, but it ended up protecting her wolf from the parasite being able to latch on as it intended to.

The house was filled with people, Blake refused to go home alone. Both Eli and Luke were staying the night with their mates as it was going to be this way for the days following Alpha's departure.

Same with Jack.

The next hours consisted of Sage eating, napping, or being drained of the poison. Yet now Sage was curled up underneath the blankets watching her mate pack her bag.

"I don't have to go munchkin, I can still tell—"
"No. Stop it. You're going." She grumbled, sneaking a small snuggle into his pillow before taking it entirely under her arm and watching him intently.

Almost making sure he was packing.

"Sage..."
"I'll call Harlow." The last thing he wanted was for the Alpha of Mystic Grimm to laugh and demand his attendance so he took his losses and threw in the clothes he'd need.

"Can I have your sweater?" He turned from his place in the closet and took it from the hanger. "I guess I won't take your favorite hun, but you have to promise me something."
"Easy promise?" He bobbed his head before kneeling down onto the bed beside her, noticing she stole his pillow. Again.

"That you take it easy, no shifting until Kenzie says it's okay. Eating every day, drinking lots of water and tea."
"Okay, I promise."
"And, no homework." Sage gawked up, lifted her head from the pillow as she pouted.

"But I'm behind."
"No homework, you need to heal. Even birdie said to take it easy. So no homework, you can read all you want. But no homework." She let out an annoyed huff, but then looked off towards the hoodie in question.

"And no training?"
"I will take all my sweaters onto the plane Sage, no joking here."
"Okay." He eyed her in suspicion, wishing now more than ever that he could peek into her mind, even just for a moment.

But she smiled brightly off towards him.
"I promise Remmy, and you promise for no fights at Alpha meeting." He offered up his sweater and helped her get into it as both her shoulder and arm were still compromised in movement, but when she popped through the hole, he surprised her with a kiss.

"There's no promises with that munchkin, I still have an issue with some of them. You're right hun, Crescent Moon is strong. And to stay strong you're going to make some enemies." She blinked up towards him for a moment, and while he assumed that it was something was going to be passed over her head again. A smile grew and she nodded.

"Alphas don't like powerful Alphas."

"No they don't, that's why we're ranked three."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to be ranked one." He growled, shutting off the lights and conforming to whichever hold was most comfortable for his mate to sleep in.

There wasn't a moment where he wasn't inhaling her scent.

This was going to be a hard few days.

Sage regretted her decision in pushing Remus to going to the meeting the second his alarm clock started to ring. She had already been long awake, not being able to get any sleep once she realized what day it is or the duffle bag taunting her in the corner of the room.

A guttural growl escaped Remus and it only caused Sage to snuggle further, clutching on him for dear life.

"You're making it really hard to leave this bed munchkin." He cooed, nudging her in the side. It was one of her many tickle spots that Remus vowed to find them all, and it was just her luck this one was always accessible.

So when she let out a squeal, her smile didn't fade—Not when she saw that amount of worry in his eyes.

"I'll be okay. Big sleepover party."
"And those promises we made last night?"
"Blake doesn't let me sleep if I don't eat." It was true, the male was like a mother hen making sure her child ate enough.

"So you listen to him and not me when I tell you to eat?" She perked her lips to withhold a smile, only ending in another cuddle as she hummed.

"Blake makes good soup."
"I'll remember that Munchkin, do you want to wake up too?"
"I say goodbye when you leave."
"Nah hun, I want you to stay here. I might smuggle you onto the plane." She knew the term well enough and so she grinned widely.

"I like to be smuggled please." Perhaps she didn't know the term as much as she thought, because Remus' laugher was light hearted—Earning her a soothing hand through her knotted locks.

"No Luna's at the event, but I'm coming right home hun...I want you to take it easy." She nodded her head and hid in his hoodie so her nose touched the fabric.

"Don't take your hoodies."
"I won't hun, I even have a surprise for you when I'm gone." She gasped, lately Remus' surprises were little gifts—Was it because they went through their first mating and Remus forgot about Valentine's day? Yes.

But to be fair, Sage wasn't a fan of chocolate. Though he was sure she would've loved another stuffed bear.

"Alright, how about you join me for a shower and we'll head downstairs?" She nodded, attempting to get to her feet all before she was stopped by her mate as he lifted her from getting up herself.

"I can walk Remmy."
"I know, but let me spoil you before I leave." She rolled her eyes, making his wolf growl as it was a playful showing of disrespect.

They didn't take their time in the shower as Sage's stomach growled and thus, they went ahead downstairs to see that either Liam and Blake were already up.

Cooking a feast as well.

"Aw damn, Liam pulled the short straw and was suppose to knock on the door." Blake teased, which Sage didn't understand was such a punishment—Only making her brother blush further at the idea.

"Good thing he didn't, would've lost his arm." Remus eyed, making Liam lower himself further into his cup of coffee.

"Remmy don't be mean." She said, yawning into the oversized sweater but smiling up towards Blake as he offered up a tea.
"It's peach." He said, but she still eyed him in suspicion of what else was in this.

"Is peaches drinking peaches? Is that considered cannabilism?" Sage paused at hearing the new word, and frowning when she couldn't place it properly.

"It's when a species eats it's own kind, bears eat bears—Shark eats sharks." Liam said, allowing Sage the knowledge without having to ask. 

"Is birdie here?"
"They're working in shifts on the shields, it's a lot of land hun." She nodded, eyeing Remus to eat the feast Blake and Liam had prepared.

There were so many times where Sage offered to cook instead, even Remus said it wasn't necessary. But it was a sense of payment, to feed his Alpha and Luna—Before he did it as a job while now it was a natural habit.

Besides, Sage needed to start eating more after losing some weight over the past few days.

The morning passed by quickly, and when Remus returned from upstairs with his duffle bag. Sage pouted.

It's three days Luna, I'll keep you entertained. You won't even know he's gone.

Jack teased as he took another swipe of bacon, but Sage went straight up to her mate and demanded a kiss.

"I'll text you when we land hun. And tonight."
"Okay. I love you." Sage didn't say it outloud often, but with the mates surrounding her, she started to recognize it as a term of endearment, and if a wolf could blush he would've.

So he simply distracted the thought with another kiss.

And then...He was gone.

The others were awake and eating while Sage sat amongst them, they had hope for a total of ten minutes—But it was clear that Sage felt her mate leave which caused her to whine.

"Three days, and Arabella's coming tomorrow!" Julia cheered, and while Sage was surely happy about that. She still felt the dread and coldness of the lack of mate on the property, it made it worse than what Remus had felt during the Luna meeting.

They weren't mated then, this was new grounds for either of them.

Jack stayed true to his word, he brought Sage out with a bucket load of her paints. Her, Ellie and Julia were in a circle trying to paint a scene from a raffle off subject that the males created.

Course Jack and Eli had work to get through, but they used their Alpha's home office.

The other males were—On the job basically, they were off the patrol schedule to stay with Sage. Especially after what happened, so it was a win-win.

In addition to getting some of Blake's cooking.

"Almost done ladies?" Liam teased, and he was quick to get a glare from Sage.
"Art takes time, brother," Ellie said, dabbing her brush back into the red before stroking the brush back onto the canvas.

Sage did have fun, but she had barely made it to lunch before passing out on the couch underneath her bear blanket. Leo had made it a mission to get her blanket done as early as possible, even now it was an adorable picture to send to the Alpha of Sage leaning into the head of the bear as a pillow.

"Did you send it?" Eli whispered off to Jack, and he nodded. The whole house had turned silent at the fact that Sage fell asleep in the second living room.

The television was on in the background and the curtains were drawn closed in an attempt to keep it dark and calm.

Ellie even put on the fireplace for noise, just didn't allow it to expel any heat.

"Remember when I said we might be spoiling her a little too much?" Luke said to the group, and Ellie crossed her arms. "I can hop on a plan right now Elwood to go visit my parents." A territorial growl settled his dispute as he pulled her down into his lap and trapped her.

"No."
"So is Sage being spoiled?"
"Nope." Liam was laughing beside Jack, the two unmated males were cracking at the idea of Luke Elwood being controlled by a female, but it was settled by one look on his part.

He'd get them back later.

Remus, on the other hand, had been sitting in the same damn meeting hall—Facing the projector for the past three hours and he would rather hug a bar of silver than suffer another minute of it.

The only decent part of it was that he was seated between Issac and Harlow with Drake on the other side of the table, Shawn was elsewhere in another type of meeting.

It was one thing for the Luna's to be focusing percentages of she-wolves and children during their discussion, while the Alpha's placed their attention on rogue attacks and all the above.

However, the second Remus got a text he opened the picture from Jack and smiled. "Humor me, please, before I fucking lose it," Issac whispered, and Remus turned the phone and he made a rather delicate sound.

Catching Harlow and Drake's attention.

"I've never been more jealous right now—Goddess," Harlow grumbled, gnawing on the back of his pen while Drake chuckled.

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Date: 07-23-2021

Time: 10:11

Words: 3820