Liam & Alexander


    Liam


    Liam was just heading back to his room when he heard themotion. There were muffled shouts upstairs, and then a doctor swept into the house-the same doctor from the hospital.


    Curious, he followed the sounds and was nearly bowled over by a thunderous Alexander, who came barreling out of his bedroom with his Beta on his heels.


    Liam froze. “What happened?”


    But Alexander wasn’t listening. He stormed away, shoulders tense, fists clenched. The Beta was saying something to him quietly, although Liam couldn’t hear it. And then they were


    gone.


    Frowning, Liam approached the bedroom door, reaching out to grab the handle. But before he could open it, he heard the muffled voices within.


    “How bad is it?” Lilith sounded like she was crying.


    “Worse than I hoped,” Dr. Evelyn’s voice replied. “The dormancy is progressing faster now. Her body is essentially shutting down because her wolf has been dormant for so long.”


    Liam’s hand dropped to his side. Dormancy?


    “But she should have had months left,” Lilith sobbed. “How is this possible?”


    The doctor sighed. “I’m not sure. This disease-if we can call it that-ispletely new to me. There have only been a few cases of someone losing their wolf due to their mate not marking or rejecting them in recorded history, and none of them are detailed enough. I don’t know how the symptoms will progress—all I know is that she’ll certainly die within the year.”


    Liam staggered back against the wall behind him, each word like a gunshot. E was dying?


    Lilith’s sobs within the bedroom were enough to make tears spring to Liam’s own eyes. E was dying of some… mysterious disease. Something to do with her wolf going dormant due to Alexander not marking her or rejecting her.


    But the mating mark he’d seen in those pictures… Was that fake?


    It had to be; E had told Liam that Alexander didn’t love her. At the time, he’d thought she said that out of lovesickness, but now he realized that it had little to do with that and everything to do with her very life.


    “He has to mark her or reject her,” the doctor said. “Otherwise, she will die. And it might be sooner than we thought.”


    Fury washed over Liam as he heard those words. If it was true and Alexander had refused to help her, Liam would kill him with his bare hands He wouldn’t even hesitate.


    “Can we tell him?” Lilith asked. “Surely if he knew-”


    “That’s not my decision to make,” Dr. Evelyn said. “E begged me not to tell him. I may be her physician, but I have no right to make her personal choices.”


    Liam’s mind spun, fury turning into confusion. So Alexander didn’t even know…?


    Lilith’s sobs continued inside the room, and all the while, Liam’s chest ached. But his mind also made itself up, too. If Alexander didn’t know then how could he help E?


    No. Liam wouldn’t let his best friend die because she was too afraid to tell Alexander the truth. Liam had made a vow to help and protect her; perhaps she would be angry if he told Alexander without her permission, but at least she would be alive to feel anger.


    Without a second thought, Liam pushed away from the wall and headed downstairs to find Alexander.


    He found him in the parlor, standing by the window with a ss of bourbon in his hand.


    “Alexander,” Liam said from the doorway. “I need to talk to you.”


    Alexander turned, and Liam could see the worry etched across his face. “If it’s about the evaluation-”


    “It’s about E.”


    Alexander


    Liam stepped into the room. “I overheard the doctor talking to Lilith. Alexander, E’s wolf is dormant.”


    “What?”


    “Her wolf has been asleep for months, maybe longer. And if it stays dormant too long without the mate bond beingpleted…” Liam’s face was grim. “She’ll die.”


    The words didn’t make sense at first. Die? From what?


    “That’s not possible,” I said. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”


    “Me neither.” Liam’s face darkened. “But I heard the doctor saying it just now. She said that if you don’t mark or reject her, she’ll wither away and die.”


    For a long moment, I just stared at Liam. Was he messing with me? In all my years, I’d never


    heard of-


    “Yes. You have.”


    My wolf’s voice was like a gunshot in my mind, and then it hit me. Nearly three months ago


    now…


    I recalled E storming into my office unannounced. She had been more righteous than I’d ever seen her, and she had told me exactly what Liam just did. It had been the day she had asked for a divorce…


    And I hadn’t believed her.


    At the time, I thought she was lying, that she just wanted attention because she was unhappy in our marriage. I had never heard of such a disease, so how could it be real?


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