Semua Bab The Wolfless Doctor: Bab 121 - Bab 130

I woke up in the medical wing at coalition headquarters with no memory of how I got there, the last thing I remembered was collapsing after the renewal with Owen's arms around me. Now I was in a comfortable bed with IV fluids running into my arm and monitors beeping softly beside me."You are awake," Juniper said, appearing at my bedside with that professional nurse expression that meant she was worried but trying not to show it. "How are you feeling?""Like I got hit by a truck, then the truck backed up and hit me again, then maybe ran over me a few more times for good measure," I croaked, my throat dry and painful. "How long was I out?""Eighteen hours. You, your mother, and three of the other bloodline representatives all suffered severe magical exhaustion from the renewal. We have been monitoring everyone closely but you are all recovering well." She adjusted my IV and checked the monitors. "Dr. Whitford wants to keep you under observation for another twenty four hours minimum, yo

Three weeks after forming the Council of Seven, I woke up feeling nauseous in a way that had nothing to do with magical exhaustion or stress. I barely made it to the bathroom before vomiting, and I spent the next twenty minutes hunched over the toilet trying to figure out what I had eaten that might have made me sick."Are you okay?" Owen called from the bedroom, his voice concerned. "I felt your distress through the bond.""I think I have food poisoning or something," I called back weakly. "I feel terrible.""Do you want me to get Juniper?""No, I am sure it will pass. Just give me a few minutes."But it did not pass. For the next week, I woke up nauseous every morning, sometimes vomiting, sometimes just feeling queasy until midday. I pushed through it because I had patients to see and work to do, but Juniper noticed during one of my shifts at the healing center."You look pale," she observed, studying me with professional scrutiny. "And you have been running to the bathroom a lot. H

Four months into my pregnancy, the Council of Seven faced its first real test when reports came in about a new organization calling themselves The Restored Order. They were claiming to be the legitimate successors to The Covenant, dedicated to "restoring proper supernatural governance" after what they called the coalition's "anarchistic destruction of social structures.""They have been recruiting aggressively in territories where coalition presence is weak," Lucas reported during our emergency Council meeting. "Their message is appealing to supernatural beings who miss The Covenant's stability, who feel lost without the old hierarchies and rules.""How many members do they have?" River Song asked, his practical nature focused on concrete numbers."Best estimates put them at around two hundred, spread across ten territories. Not large enough to be a military threat but definitely enough to cause problems.""What kind of problems?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. At four m

The nightmares started in my sixth month of pregnancy, vivid and terrible dreams that left me gasping awake in the middle of the night. I dreamed about Dr. Torres using extraction devices on my baby, dreamed about The Restored Order burning down the healing center with patients trapped inside, dreamed about the renewal failing and The Architects breaking free while I was too pregnant to fight back."Another one?" Owen asked quietly as I sat up for the third time that week, my heart racing and sweat dampening my nightgown despite the cool autumn air coming through our window."Same themes, different variations," I said, rubbing my face tiredly. "My brain keeps inventing new disasters where I cannot protect the people I care about because I am pregnant and useless.""You are not useless, you are growing our child. There is a difference." He pulled me back down and wrapped his arms around me carefully, mindful of my growing belly. "These dreams are just anxiety talking. Dr. Torres is sti

Owen's POVThe morning of the second renewal arrived with weather that felt deliberately ominous, dark clouds gathered on the horizon and the air had that heavy quality that suggested storms were coming. I stood at the window of our quarters watching the sky and trying not to think about all the ways today could go catastrophically wrong.Behind me, I heard Mary moving around carefully as she got dressed, the sounds slower and more labored than they used to be. Eight months pregnant made everything harder for her, and I hated watching her struggle with simple tasks that used to be effortless."Stop brooding at the window and help me with these boots," she called, a hint of amusement in her voice despite the stress we were both feeling. "I cannot bend over far enough to reach my feet anymore."I turned from the window and went to help her, kneeling down to carefully pull comfortable boots onto her swollen feet. "Are you sure about this? It is not too late to sit this renewal out and le