The Alpha and the Oracle (The Belesone Pack #1)

Chapter 36

Milo walked into the living room frowning to himself. He couldn't understand why the doors were locked.

"I don't like this, Milo." Katarina said, clutching his hand.

He tried to ignore the instincts that told him she was right. "Leo's probably just depressed and getting drunk." He told her, after being warned that the mysterious package had arrived and a guard had spotted Leo locking himself in the living room. But the further away from the door he moved, the more he saw that things weren't right.

The sofa on the right of the room was tipped backwards and the coffee table was on its side. It looked like there had been a fight.

Without thinking, Milo raced over to the tipped over sofa and found Leo lying on the floor, not moving.

"Katie. Call the doctor." He begged as he moved his hands to his Beta's neck and attempted to find a pulse. It was weak but it was there. He let out a sigh of relief and lifted Leo into his arms.

He was on his way to the second sofa in the room, the one still upright, when he noticed that Katarina was kneeling on the floor, next to the coffee table. Not phoning the doctor, but staring at a piece of paper.

"Katie," he called on her, to find out what was wrong, but she didn't respond. He dropped Leo onto the sofa and moved over to his mate, to find her staring at the piece of paper unseeing.

"Damn it!" Milo swore when he realised that she was in a trance. "Algar!" He shouted on the guard who had told them of Leo's seclusion and was thankful when he ran through quickly. "Call the doctor. Leo's unconscious with a weak pulse and Katie's having another vision." He sighed, brushing the hair back from her face as he spoke.

There was nothing he could do for her until it was over, so he returned to Leo's side and set about undoing the top two buttons of his shirt, to give him space to breathe. The poor guy looked deadly pale and he didn't want to have to think about how weak his pulse was.

"Milo!" Katarina's voice made him jump and Milo swore again.

Milo glanced over his shoulder to see her rushing to his side, seeming none the worse for wear. So she had been right; accepting her fate had saved her from the weakness her gifts gave her. It made him smile, even if it was just for a moment.

"Here, I think this is what happened to him." She explained, handing him the note.

Milo read it, growing more confused and angry by the second. "Why would your fool grandfather tell him to make sure he's alone, if the thing could bloody well kill him?" He asked angrily, unsurprised to feel a light kiss on the side of his head. He wasn't sure there was another girl like Katarina, who would listen to him rant and rave at her and understand that it wasn't her he was angry with.

"I don't think we need to ask him. I saw something...interesting. He almost died." Katarina explained to his growing frustration.

He wasn't surprised to hear that Leo almost died since he could tell that from the paleness of his face and his weak pulse. But he did hope that her vision had told her something more.

"He found his mate, Milo. She's my sister." She burst into a giggle of surprise.

Milo frowned at her for a moment. "Josanna?"

"No. Bricia." Katarina disagreed.

Milo sat back on his heels and rubbed his forehead. He wasn't awake enough for this. They had spent two hours in the clearing in the forest and enjoyed a nap, but now that they were back, as humans and wearing clothes, he felt that the world had confused itself.

"I didn't know I had another sister. She's my real father's heir." She revealed, smiling to herself.

"Heir?" Milo wasn't sure what she meant.

"Alpha, remember?" Katarina giggled, reminding him of the brief conversations they had about her real father before.

He recalled Carlton and something about how he was Katarina's real father but that she didn't know the whole story. He guessed that was still to come, since she wasn't explaining.

"Oh. But you're the oldest!" He protested indignantly.

Katarina smiled and kissed him sweetly. "Not really the time to argue that point, darling. But yes, technically you're right." She said. "Except that my father saved my life by not keeping me with him, so you should be more grateful." She politely reminded him of the fact that her father could have taken her back to his people and raised her as his own.

Milo had the grace to agree and smile. She had only started calling him 'darling' during their time in the clearing. He had wondered at the time, if it was something she would keep for that special place, or if she was just so happy that she could face giving him a pet name, since he had so many for her.

"And I am grateful, little wolf. But what is wrong with my Beta?" He asked nervously, glancing down at Leo, who remained unconscious.

Katarina explained the part of the vision she had seen and how Bricia had told him to wake himself before he dropped to the ground or else he would die in both the dream and reality.

"From my own experiences of dreams and visions, I'd say he needs one of my shakes, force-fed to him for the next hour." She said, quite seriously. "His body isn't cut out for this sort of...exploration...whereas it seems more natural for my people." She explained gently.

Milo was about to get up and go make a strengthening shake for his Beta when Katarina laid her hand on his arm.

"I'll go. There's still two in the freezer and the longer they've been in there the stronger they'll be. They should be enough for now. If he needs more, I'll make it now and let them gain strength." She kissed his cheek and got up from the floor to leave the room.

Milo sighed and looked down at Leo, looking so helpless. "You better wake up, you bloody fool. Just so I can kill you for being so stupid." He complained, keeping his fingers on Leo's pulse so that he knew what was going on, at least until the doctor or Katarina got back to him. He couldn't understand what had made Leo so stupid that he would risk going into some kind of dream world alone. With no back up. With no-one there to look after him.