Chapter 114 - Artem - To The Infirmary
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Artem
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It had only been a matter of seconds since the light had faded. I think we were all stunned by the intensity of what had just happened. I saw that Star was cradling two of the boys against her and Doc was feverishly checking the boy in front of him.
The two of them sat up straight at the same time and they were both wearing matching looks of shock and awe.
"They\'re alive." The two of them said in unison.
"What?" Kent sounded disbelieving but also relieved.
"Thank the Goddess." Toby heaved the words on a sigh.
"What\'s wrong with them?" Morgan asked Doc.
"Let\'s get them out of here." I rounded them out.
"They all appear to be comatose." That shocked me. What would cause this? How could this happen? We needed answers.
Before the answers, though, we needed to take care of all the boys. Toby, Kent, Morgan, Doc, and myself all went to pick up a boy. I took Cohen from Star who then stood carrying Dalton herself.
The six of us walked with Bailey and Reed leading the way to the infirmary. The two of them held the double doors open when we got to our destination. The six of us carrying the children walked to different beds and laid them all down gently.
The boys looked like they were sleeping. They weren\'t moving. They were breathing but it was very shallow.
What could we do for them right now? What was there that we could possibly do to fix this? I needed to talk to someone about what had happened.
"Doc, can I leave this to you?" I asked him with a voice that was thick and shaking with worry.
"Yes. I am going to get them all hooked up to monitors. I don\'t know what to do here but I want to make sure I can see their vitals at all times. I don\'t want to miss something."
"Sounds good. I will leave you to that. Toby, Morgan, why don\'t the two of you stay to help."
"Yes, Sir." Toby nodded at me.
"Sure thing." Morgan was still looking at the lifeless bodies of the six boys.
"Star?" I held my hand out to her, hoping she would come with me.
I knew that this had been a shock to Star. I knew that she needed to get out of here or she would drive herself crazy. I was happy when she reached out and took my hand with no hesitation. I wanted to take her away from here and make her stop thinking about this.
But I knew that was impossible. She would think about those boys until they woke up. She would not stop worrying until we fixed this. I knew that Star was just that kind of caring person.
I wrapped my arm around Star\'s waist and held her against me, our hands still locked together as we crossed them over our bodies. With her body pressed against me I felt a little calmer than I did before.
I pulled her with me out of the room then, guiding her toward my office. No, that wasn\'t right. She was the Luna and I was the Alpha. This should be our office. I would need to have another desk and chair brought in for her. She needed to know I counted her as my equal.
For now, though, I just pulled Star back to my lap. Sitting her in the exact same position as she had been in last time. She didn\'t fight it and she seemed comfortable enough. And now that we were settled it was time for me to make a few phone calls.
I first tried to call Agent Otsana of the FBI. But she didn\'t answer at all. Then I tried calling the Warlocks at their headquarters in the mountains of Colorado. Again, there was no answer.
What the hell was going on here?
Next, I called the Alpha of the pack from the next city over. They were the Crescent Moon wolf pack that was named for the bay. This time I finally got word from someone, but it wasn\'t the Alpha. It was his Luna.
"I\'m sorry, Artem, but Will is not here. He flew to Colorado last night."
"Colorado? Why is everything coming down to Colorado?" I was so perplexed right now.
"Perhaps it\'s because more people don\'t know about your pack, but you should have received a summons too. There was a massive fight with the Luna Queen\'s pack and an evil warlock." That seemed a little too coincidental.
"Was this the warlock known as Gannon?" I had to ask even though I didn\'t know if she would be able to answer me at all.
"I don\'t know his whole name. I know that Will called him Edmond but I think that was his last name."
"So it\'s possible then? Hmm." I wonder if this battle had anything to do with the boy\'s talismans being deactivated. "I will try again to get a hold of someone. Do you have anyone that I can contact in the Luna Queen\'s pack? I don\'t even know anything about her."
"Yeah, let me get you some contact info."
There was a brief pause before Will\'s Luna came back on the line.
"This is a number that will reach their Beta. His name is Noah, their Alpha is Reece and the Luna is Trinity. Trinity is now the Luna Queen which makes Reece the Alpha King. Make sure you speak to them accordingly." Her warning was not needed. I was always polite, to those that deserved it. If you\'re a piece of scum then that\'s how I treated you.
"Thank you."
I hung up the call and sighed. I tried calling Agent Otsana again as well as the Warlocks. No one answered me. They must all have been summoned to help against the threat that they were facing. Why wasn\'t I summoned like the others?
Oh well, I could think about that later. I needed to get help for those boys. I needed to get someone here that could help me sort out this entire mess.
When I dialed the number I listened with bated breath while the phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Four now. I was just about to hang up, suspecting that they weren\'t going to answer when the line clicked after the sixth ring. Someone had picked up the call. Finally!
"This is Noah." The man seemed a little apprehensive when he answered the call.
"Is this the Beta for the Luna Queen\'s pack?"
"Who is this?" The man was instantly suspicious of me.
"My name is Artemis Cooper."
"What are you, Artemis? How do you know about the queen but nothing else?"
"I am an Alpha. My pack is the Hidden Paw, we have literally been hidden away from the world of wolves for far too long. And because of that we have suffered immensely. I think we even have a common enemy by the name of Gannon."
"How do you know that name? What do you have to do with that son of a bitch? And if you\'re an Alpha how come you did not respond to the summons that the Queen sent out?"
"Gannon came to my pack several generations ago. At that time he took many children away and they were never seen again. And I never received a summons. I think that is because most people don\'t know about us."
"That is no excuse." The man yelled angrily. "Everyone was supposed to come and help. If we had every pack within range here then we might not have lost anyone today."
"I am sorry, there is nothing I can say other than that. I truly never received anything that was supposed to call me to arms."
"Hahhh." I heard him sigh long and loud. "I know this isn\'t your fault. And to answer your first question, yes I am the Beta of the Red Springs pack, my name is Noah. Now, Artem, why don\'t you tell me everything that you know."
So I told him. I know I needed help from that pack. I know I needed them to be up to date on everything that had happened. So I didn\'t hold anything back when I explained what we had been through. From the first time that Gannon came here to the most recent issues with Howard the Coward, and of course I told him about what had happened to the boys this afternoon.
It took a long time to explain it all, but during that time, Noah never said a word. He didn\'t interrupt me. He just listened intently. When I was done, though, he cleared his throat and I could tell he was not happy.
"I can see there is much that ties our packs together. I will speak with my Alpha and Luna and set a date to come see you. I would predict that it would be around the middle of next month since we have to worry about the collective funerals for right now."
"Understood. I await your call. Thank you."
With that I disconnected the call. Perhaps now I will be able to figure some things out soon.