3. Awake

As he promised, the elf, Teárlach, was there when I woke again. There was no telling how long I’d been resting, but I felt marginally more alert than before. My body ached, my muscles stiff from lying still for what was apparently weeks.

There were more people in my room. More elves, too. “Axel, this is ívarr, he is taking the lead on the investigation into the sickness. You, of course, already know Aldrin and James. Hakeem and Teagan have been working in the main house…” Dakota was speaking, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

Everything felt fuzzy at the edges. Not quite in focus. The only person who I could see properly was the elf. He was a bright star on a cloudy night.

Internally, I rolled my eyes at the sentimental thoughts. I was just awake after a month long coma and waxing lyrical about a pretty elf I’d just met. Ridiculous. My wolf chuffed an amused sound at me, but he was just as interested in the elf. He liked the way he smelled.

I was aware of the passage of time as I floated in and out of consciousness. Chase stayed by me, chatting away with the elves, the nurses, anyone who would listen. His excitement was draining the little energy I had.

Chase looked different. Acted differently, too. He was still the hyper brother I was used to, yet he was also more steady. More like Blake. This was the side of him we saw when he was in work mode. Outside of pack business, he was the fun twin.

Honestly, when I looked back at that time, the hours and even days after I woke, all I could recall was the hold sleep had on me. I was more tired than I’d ever felt in my life, despite my month-long nap. At the same time, I felt restless, like I needed to go outside, be under the moon in my wolf form. My body just wasn’t able to give me what I craved.

Blake visited for a while with Kade, before he got Kade settled back at home. He, like Chase, wasn’t quite the same brother I remembered. The sickness haunted him. He was constantly worrying about the long-term effects of it alongside battling the guilt of being separated from the pack. All the challenges of running a pack at a distance had eaten at him as he tried to protect his very pregnant mate.

My time with the sickness hadn’t robbed me of seeing Kade pregnant, at least. For that, I was grateful. I couldn’t wait for my niblings to be born. They would be so treasured and likely very spoiled.

The days after I woke remained blurry with only the memory of Teárlach admitting he was staying close while ívarr left Dakota’s house, sticking out to me. My relief at not losing the strange elf felt odd to me. We had just met, but he was already such an important, fundamental part of me. I didn’t know what I would have done without him.

To an outsider, we wouldn’t have had much to talk about, yet we spent days talking to each other about anything and everything. I told him about my work, my family, things I liked to do when I was off the clock, like playing music and reading fantasy books.

Teárlach told me he liked to play the flute, was fascinated to know we had read the same author, and told me many stories about his time in the army.

Under his care, I took the time and rest needed to get strong enough to get out of bed. Once I was stronger, there was talk of moving me back into my rooms in the main house. I didn’t want to go back to the noise and chaos of the main house and wondered if Blake would spare a home for me in the beta housing. Though it was unlikely there was space thanks to the elves and medical personnel.

“Would you…? I wonder…” Teárlach tried several times to ask me for something.

We were relaxing after my morning physical therapy appointment and a much needed nap. I was always so exhausted after the exercises Aldrin and ívarr had drawn up for me. There was only so much magical healing could do, and with so many betas in a similar position to me, we had to let nature and our shifter sides do their thing. Frustrating as shit, but understandable.

“What is it?”

“I wondered if perhaps you would like to take a walk with me. I know you have been outside in the yard, but I feel the forest would be more rejuvenating for you. It is for me.” He ended his speech with a blush, as if he was ashamed of the admission.

“A walk?” He seemed to deflate farther. I hated that expression on him. “I’d like that. It would be nice to get away from the others.” I grinned at him, unable to keep the smile off my face. I wanted to spend time alone with him. Here, there was always someone lingering nearby.

His answering smile was bright. “I am glad. I shall find you something warm to wear. It is colder out today and we do not want you catching a cold.”

Fall was fast approaching and the area had hit a spell of poor weather. Nothing too drastic, just a lot of rain and cooler temperatures. Dakota and Blake had asked about magical assistance for the orchards. We didn’t want to lose too many of the apples for our cider production.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. As much as I loved my family, extended and all, I hated how they had treated me since I woke. Chase was constantly on edge, like I was about to fall back into a coma again if I slept too long, or showed any signs of illness. They would absolutely try to prevent me from taking a walk with my elf friend if they thought I wasn’t taking proper precautions.

Telling Teárlach that, as a shifter, I ran hotter, was likely pointless. He had heard how my family fussed over me and would pander to them if that’s what he needed to do. At heart, he was a peacemaker, despite his role in the army back home.

He left the room to return a few minutes later with a ghost of a smile playing around his lips, a zip up hoodie and shoes for me in his long-fingered hands.

I’d had daydreams about those hands, okay? They were one of the first things I noticed about a person. Unlike Blake, I wasn’t particular about gender but nice hands and kind eyes were always a must even for a brief hookup, which was all I’d had in the last few years, especially since we lost our parents.

My brothers came before anything else. We were, or used to be, the only family we had outside of our cousin, Deke. Now we had Kade’s parents acting like we were theirs, too. His grandparents had adopted me and Chase as their extra grandchildren. We had new siblings in Hayden when he arrived in a couple of months, and Angel.

It made me feel less… alone, like I was fighting for my brothers against the world. Now I had backup, I had people I could go to for advice. Though it was going to take a bit of getting used to.

“They agreed that some fresh air and light exercise would be beneficial. They thought a scarf and hat may be necessary, but I convinced them I would use my magic if I felt you were getting a chill.” Teárlach said as he helped me zip up the hoodie. I might have felt like a child being dressed by a parent if it wasn’t for the heated look in his eyes or the way he dragged his fingers up my body along with the zip.

Never had dressing felt erotic.

After quickly putting on my shoes, I was ready for a trip outside. I tried to restrain my enthusiasm for time alone with Teárlach. I didn’t think I was any good at hiding my feelings, because his eyes danced with mirth every time they met mine.

Whatever this was between us, I knew he was feeling it too.

We escaped the house with minimal fretting, and soon I had to shed my hoodie, as the late summer air, as cool as it was, had me sweating.

Just the short walk into the woods that bordered Dakota’s home had me slightly breathless. I tried to pant without letting the elf know I was struggling. Pretty sure I failed.

“Let’s take our time,” Teárlach suggested, slowing his pace. He held out an arm for me, which I took gratefully as we began to ascend the incline of a hill. It wasn’t steep, but by The Luna, it felt like it. My muscles screamed in protest as we climbed.

“There’s a viewpoint up there with picnic benches. I don’t think many go there,” I managed to get out around heaving breaths.

“So it is the perfect place for us to rest for a moment and enjoy one another’s company?”

“Yes.”

He led me around the bench and I gratefully took a seat next to him.

The air was filled with the sounds of my heavy breathing. “Sorry…”

“For what, Axel?” he asked looking genuinely perplexed. “You have been gravely ill. Your body will need time to recover the vitality you had before.” He was so matter of fact, it soothed me.

Teárlach fully expected me to recover, to be who I was before, or close to it. Unlike my family, who seemed to fear a relapse at any moment.

I was being unfair. Being cut off from the pack for a month must have been impossibly difficult for Blake and Kade. And having to watch me still trapped in a coma for two weeks after he woke from his must have been traumatic for Chase. I couldn’t have done it. I preferred having something to fight.

“Thank you,” I finally whispered.

“For what?”

“Your… friendship… whatever this is. I think you came at just the right moment.”

“I think I did, too.”

It was a long time before Teárlach suggested I might be getting cold and that we should return to Dakota’s house. He warmed me with some magic, even pushing in some healing to help with my exerted muscles. I pulled him into a grateful hug before taking his arm for the homeward journey.

His shocked but pleased face would stick with me for a while.

We didn’t talk about much. That was one of the easy things about spending time with Teárlach, we could just be quiet together. All we talked about was the differences between how each of the shifters were recovering from the sickness. I was doing better than little Angel, but not as well as Grady and Trey.

While I didn’t understand a lot of the research being done on us, I was fascinated with it and how dedicated Teárlach was to helping his people.

The walk home was peaceful. Our pace was slower, as if we were both reluctant to return to the house where, no doubt, my family would be ready to treat me like a child. I knew they meant well, I just struggled with feeling so weak.

“Teárlach, I heard Dakota call you T, I was wondering….?”

“If you could do the same? Of course, Axel. It would please me.”

“Please you?”

He paused just shy of the door from the yard into the house. “A nickname, or shortening of a name, is a… rite of friendship, is it not? A sort of endearment that suggests a close friendship? I must admit, initially I was not sure of how my name was altered, but given how some pronounce my actual name…”

We both chuckled. His smile lingered even after his laugh faded. “It truly made me feel welcome here that Dakota would bestow a new moniker on me. I have come to like it.”

I grinned, pleased for him. “Yeah? That’s cool. Now you’ll have to find something for me.”

He thought for a moment as he reached for the door. “I hardly think A would suit. A what? I would be thinking. I need to speak to A. A who?”

A laugh burst from me, quickly joined with T’s own as we crossed into the house.

My back stiffened at the disapproving expression from Kade, which turned conflicted in a flash. I knew they didn’t exactly approve of my friendship with the elf, the relationship that was building between us.

Neither of us were hiding our feelings very well. Not that I cared to. I wanted to see what this was growing between us. What my family thought be damned.