Alpha Dom and His Human Surrogate

Ella

I fall into a little daze as I watch Hank work, as I hold my sleeping baby in my arms. It’s not that I’m not paying attention – it’s just that…I don’t really understand what they’re doing or saying, so to me it’s all just quiet repetitive work.

I do pay attention, of course, when Hank deems Cora patched up enough to roll her over onto her side so that they can perform an ultrasound. Cora gives a low moan when the nurses move her, a sound which at once pains me and gives me a little thrill of hope. Because as much as I hate to hear my sister in pain –

Damn it, at least it means she’s alive. I watch carefully as the nurses hold her still, as Hank expertly spreads some clear jelly on her stomach and then begins to search for a heartbeat. Then I bury my head in my hand a few moments later when he finds it – a fast, faint fluttering of noise. My little niece or nephew, still fighting for life.

I drag my hand away from my face a moment later to see Hank nodding to his nurses and Cora lowered back on her belly. Then, Hank turns to me, pulling off his gloves as he crosses the room and falls into a crouch so that we can be almost face-to-face while I stay seated.

“You saw?” he asks, looking up at me a little from his lowered place on the floor. “Yes,” I reply, nodding sharply. “The baby is alive, but – ”

“Right,” he says, glancing back towards Cora. “It’s – it’s not preferable, obviously, for a mother to be so gravely wounded so early in a pregnancy. Frequently the body will decide…” he sighs and shakes his head, trying to come up with the right words. He looks up at me as he finishes his thought, “the body will sometimes decide, Ella, to prioritize the mother.”

“So miscarriage…” I say, looking over at my sister.

“There’s a higher risk of it right now, yes. Ella,” he says again, his voice curious now, drawing my eyes back to him. “Did Cora ever mention to you the possibility…”

nodding, knowing where he’s going with this. “I can do it, Hank but, the people who hurt us in the woods – “I shake my head, realizing that he’s not going to understand what I’m talking about if I start babbling on about priests in dark robes and the God of Darkness. “As we were getting away they they bound my gift and my wolf,” I say, giving a little shrug. “T tried to heal her

“So you can – you can actually like, use it to heal people – to heal wounds

his curiosity about the gift when we should be concentrating on

putting his hands up in a little plea for forgiveness. “I’m I’m just a doctor, Ella. It’s all I really do, try to fix bodies. The idea of being able to wield medicine like that – it’s a dream. But please

my eyes moving back to Cora, wanting to move on

to his feet and looking at Cora himself. “It would help Cora, and the baby, a lot, if you were able to…I don’t know, Ella, unbind the gift? I know a lot about wolf biology, but not a lot about the religion or the magic of it all. Is there anyway to get around this? Perhaps

eyes flash to him suddenly as I realize that – that Hank may have stumbled on something

Hank,” I say, getting quickly to my feet and looking around the room. “Can I use

course, Ella,” he says. “The entire facility is at your disposal.” He glances back towards Cora now. “I’m going to run some tests,”

to search for the contact information of the temple in the center of

Sinclair

fist out in front of him, his teeth bared in determination as he sends a sheet of flame racing towards us. Roger, in mid- leap, takes the hit first, yelping and turning away as the fire burns him, singing the

roar of attack turning into one of pain as I turn my back to the fire but feel it curling at my clothes, my skin, the back of my neck – a deep and searing touch that’s gone after an instant as

my men behind me likewise taking the brunt of the flame, I turn back to the priest and

glares at us. “I will burn you until your charred skeletons are all that are