The Pack's Doctor by Cooper

Chapter 146

Warren

I've never been to Quirin’s pack. I've never been invited to cfor a visit, a meeting, a battle, nothing. When

we stepped out of the car, | wasn’t sure what to expect. Now that I've gotten a taste for the feel of this pack, I'm

even more worried about

anything BUT likeable. But being here, | realize just my daughter. | know she’s always liked Quirin, which is odd,

siner he what a struggle it must be for her.

I'm not sure how | feel about their scents being so strong on each other. On the one hand, I'm glad that they

seem to be getting along together. After barely smelling them on each other last weekend, | was concerned. On

the other hand, she’s my little girl and I'm struggling to cto terms with the fact that she’s now a grown

woman.

Quirin has always been closed off, a dark, depressed man. But seeing him now, he seems almost happy. Well, as

happy as a man like Quirin can be. I'm pretty sure he actually smiled, or it seemed like he smiled. It was the

closest thing that I've ever seen to a smile on his face. My daughter, on the other hand, seems much more

muted than I'm used to her being.

I'll be anxious to get Yara’s assessment of our daughter after spending twith her today. | don’t get the

impression that she wants to leave or to reject Quirin, but if she does, I'll do everything in my power to get her

away from him.

It suddenly dawns onthat | don’t have the force of the pack behindany longer. | mean, | probably do, but

effective six days ago, my son took over as Alpha. The pack is his, it’s no longer mine. It would be up to him if he

would choose to use the pack’s resources to protect his sister.

As | walk into Quirin’s office, | remember all those years ago when Yara saved my leg. At the time, I'd had no

idea what | would do or who I was if | wasn’t an Alpha. Today, while | definitely have more titles such as mate and

father, no longer being the Alpha to a strong pack makesfeel uneasy in my own skin. I haven't had to ask

anyone for assistance to protect my family. | always knew | had the pack for that. Now, however, that choice

would be Connor's. | expect that he would choose to protect his sister, even if it meant going to war with Quirin,

but it would be his choice and | would be bound to accept it.

As we sit in Quirin’s office, my son turns and frowns at me. He must feel the tension in me, the struggle within

myself that | no longer know who | am. My life is changing and it’s going to takemore than a week to adjust

to that. Maybe I'll take stto talk to Harold while we're here to see how he managed it. Henry's been

Alpha of their pack for over a decade and somehow, Harold adjusted.

| shake my head at Connor, letting him know that we can talk later. I'm thankful that I've raised him to the kind

of Alpha that | was, but it’s a bit unnerving to be on the receiving end of an Alpha who is monitoring your

emotions and is concerned about them. That was my job for so long that it feels strange coming from someone

other than Yara.

“So, as | mentioned to Luna Yara before, it was Kennedy who figured out what was happening. And while | can’t

confirm that she’s completely accurate in her assessment, I'd bet a substantial amount of money on the fact that

she’s right,” Quirin begins.

“You'd win that bet,” Connor says without hesitation. “My sister is smart and intuitive. So, what did she figure

out?”

| have to fight a smile of pride. My son has taken to his role of Alpha as if he was made for it, and | guess he was.

It makesfeel like | did a good job preparing him for his role and to be the amazing Alpha that | know he will

be.

“You did a great job, Dad, and thanks, his voice floats into my mind. | refocus on Quirin.

“Alpha Jasper has been using silver powder to injure my pack members and weaken my pack,” Quirin says.

“Son of a bitch! What an asshole! He's not strong enough to defeat you in a fair fight, so he has to resort to

weakening you from the inside?” Henry asks.

“Hold up. You said Kennedy figured it out. Didn't your warriors know that they had silver poisoning or at least had

silver in their bodies?” | ask.

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Chapter 146

He turns and looks at me. They did not. The powder was fine enough that it was coating the wounds and keeping

them from healing but not enough that they felt more than the injury Iself.

“And your pack doesn’t go to the hospital when they're injured?” Connor asks, remembering what Quirin said to

Yara upstairs.

“That's correct,” he says.

“So, how did she find it?” Harold asks him.

“Through a pup. He was injured and the injury wasn’t healing.”

“How did a pup get injured during a battle?” | ask, concerned that they aren't even using their safe rooms.

“Not during a battle. It happened on our pup playground. Kennelly figured this out too. If Jasper and his pack are

putting this powder on their claws, sof that silver is getting onto my pack lands. My pack lands are

contaminated with silver. That's why you can’t walk around.“-

“Holy shit. What are you going to do? Even if you clean it up, it will just be there again when he attacks again,”

Henry says. “True. Beta Kier and I,” he says, nodding at his Beta, “have sent scouts to Jasper’s pack. We need to

eliminate the silver at the source.”

“What are you going to do once you find it?” Connor asks.

Quirin gives another half-smile and looks at his Beta.

“I like the idea of spreading it around Jasper’s pack lands, giving them a taste of their own medicine,” Kier says.

“They could have pups that would get injured, just like yours,” Connor says, looking thoughtful. Then he shrugs.

“What if we just attack him.”

“We thought of that. But I'm worried that they could make us even weaker if we were on their territory and they

have a lot of silver. They could use it on us and weaken us during the battle It's a risk I'm not willing to take,”

Quirin says. | have to admit, not having spent a lot of twith Quirin over the years, I'm impressed by his

ability to analyze the situation and make a decision that is right for his pack.

“So, what's your plan and how can we help?” | ask, glancing at Connor, thankful that he seems willing to assist.

“We're going to find his supply of silver and then eliminate it. But | don’t know the first thing about cleaning up

else?” contaminated soil. Does anyone

“I do, actually,” | say. “I was just reading about a new approach to removing heavy metals from soil. It's some

chemical process that draws the metal out of the soil during a filtering process. It's expensive...”

“Money isn’t an issue,” Quirin says. | already knew that. | knew Quinton was wealthy before he died. If I'd been

so inclined, | could have chere and taken everything that | could find and kept his money for myself. But

greed is what got Quinton killed and | never cared about the money. My mate, my family, and my pack were the

most important things to me.

“If you're interested, I'll get the information and send it over to you,” | tell him.

“Thank you,” he says. | can tell he feels like he’s going to choke on the words, but he’s being more friendly to me

than | had expected.

Spending your early days of retirement with slight reading Warren?” Harold says, jokingly.

“Something like that,” | say, recognizing that he knows that I'm struggling with the transition of no longer having

a full-tjob while my mate still does.

Chapter lan

that steam the Lana cern to the area where politie ding and having fee after party safe Eunos Farrah is probably

on their right now earring to eat up the trovy des

* Did antibial turf dosen cord of the wr where we have the evening. That area will be safe Beta Rier

“What about your patride” Const Rete

“They have to are Kennedy aber then shah She clean they sans feet as they will heat the wounds get no fue to

short much while they're running, they have to eer het before the rat that. But as for it’s pura light fisting on the

ground. nothing the wolves can’t handle. If you have any other ideas for how to clean up our park lands. I'm all

eare But | wonde appreciate the information that you have. Alphs Warrens he cares me

“Happy to provide it” | say.

“Well, unless you all have anything else, we can move to the dining hall. | know that Kennedy has worked with

our omegas to create a feast for tonight and while | don’t want anyone walking around the pack lands, we can sit

our back and enjoy the cool night air after dinner.”

“Thank you. Alpha Quirin,” | say as we stand. Harold and Henry walk out ahead of us and Connor turris to Quirin.

“How are things going with my sister?”

“My personal relationship with your sister is none of your business, Alpha. But I'm sure you've realized that my

pack is nothing like yours. It's been an adjustment for her and the pack, but I think they're starting to come

around. It's hard to resist Kennedy,” he says, a small smile on his face.

“As | said before, she is her mother’s daughter,” | say. Almost as if I've conjured them, Yara and Kennedy walk

into the packhouse, laughing.

| step up to Yara, having missed her already. “Did you have a nice time?”

“Kennedy is doing a great job, not that I’m surprised,” Yara says, smiling at our daughter.

Kennedy goes to stand beside Quirin. He doesn’t put his arm around her, but | see his hands twitching like he

wants to. “It was like being back home. Mom and | just fell into our old patterns of talking about issues and

working through them.”

“You'll have to tellall about it later, Kennedy,” Quirin says to her.

This time, | see it. | see the love that he has for my daughter shining in his eyes. Quirin may not know how to

show love to Kennedy, his father wasn’t the kind of man who did either, but he absolutely loves my daughter.

| just hope that it’s enough for her.