The Porch Wolf

Alpha Leo Volkov’s POV

I picked up on old scents as soon as I arrived at the aquarium, and I thanked Luna they were there.

Paying the admission, I went through the whole place. I found places their scent was stronger, all spots where you had excellent views of the sharks. None were fresh, so I kept going. I got to the exit and still no sign of them. Reversing course, I walked through again. The scents were the same, just fainter.

Walking out to the parking lot, I scented their car and went over to it. I didn’t see their bags, which meant they had a hotel room. The scents outside were old and faint; I would have to wait. I walked back towards the entrance, finding a bench from which I could see the car while all those exiting the aquarium would have to pass by me. I pulled out my phone and made a call. “Adrienne, they are here,” I told her.

“Oh, thank LUNA! Let me talk to them.”

“I don’t know where they are, but they were at the aquarium earlier, and their car is here. I’ll call you when I have them.”

“What do you want me to do? Should I rent a car and come down there? Fly home?”

I didn’t want to fly, not until we were all together. “Don’t do anything yet,” I said. “I’m going to call Brent and Ron next.” I got ahold of Ron first, telling him to head back home. I called Brent last because I didn’t expect him to hang up for a while. “Brent, it’s Leo. They are here in Corpus Christi. I found their car outside the Texas State Aquarium, but they aren’t inside. They must have walked off somewhere.”

He let out a relieved breath. “Any sign of foul play?”

“Nothing. I could tell the group spent time at the places I expected and walked through the rest.”

“Sharks,” Brent said. “Always the sharks.”

“Exactly. The place isn’t as nice as SeaLife, so I can see that she might have gotten bored. Maybe they went shopping or out to eat.” It was a tourist area, they could be doing anything. “I don’t want to miss them, so I’m waiting between the aquarium and the car.”

“I’m kind of disappointed they aren’t coming to Vegas,” he said. “I guess I’ll look for a flight.”

“No,” I said. “You two never had a time just for yourselves, not with all the things that have been going on. Let me talk to Liv first. Adrienne and I can take Vicki on an adventure, and I’ll send your mate to you.”

He didn’t say anything at first, making me think he didn’t like the idea. “I’m sure Vicki would LOVE to show her Unky Leo some aquariums between Texas and Minnesota,” he said. “I bet you could stop at a half dozen.”

I laughed; there was San Antonio, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago… probably more if I did a real search. “I’ll see what they think when they get here.” The wind was blowing off the ocean, and I thought I recognized a scent. “I have to go, Brent. I’ll call you when I have them.”

“Take care of my family, Alpha,” he said.

“You got it.” I hung up and looked around; the scent was gone with the shift of the wind. I looked at the time; the sun was going down, and the aquarium would be closing soon. The flow of people went faster as closing time came, making it more difficult to watch the lot.

“UNKY LEO,” I heard a child’s voice yell from far away, towards the back of the lot.

It was Sharkbait.

I got up, joining the crowd heading for the lot as I looked for my family. Their scents hit me as I got closer. I spotted them a row away from their car; Olivia was hugging Vicki, telling her how sorry she was, as Mike and Anita stood behind her. “NO! He’s here! I saw him!” Vicki was insistent.

“I’m so sorry, Vicki,” Liv said as I walked up.

She must have told her I was dead. “Hello, Sharkbait.” It was at this point that they all looked at me. Vicki ran towards me, and I picked her up as she jumped into my arms.

Olivia took one look at me and fainted.

Before anyone could react, she fell to the side and smacked her head hard on the pavement. “LIV,” I yelled as I set Vicki back down. Anita was already by her side, rolling her carefully on her back. She was unconscious, and there was a gash on her forehead that was bleeding badly. “Here,” I said as I pulled out a clean handkerchief.

“Apply pressure to the wound,” she said. “Mike, run inside. Have them call 911, and see if they have any medics available.” He took off running as a crowd formed around us. “What the HELL, Leo? You’re supposed to be dead!”

“The Council faked my death to get proof Luna Brenda was behind the attacks. You guys took off before we could tell you the truth,” I sent back. “The bleeding isn’t slowing,” I said.

“Keep the pressure on; head wounds tend to bleed. Vicki, I want you to sit here and hold Mommy’s hand.” She was crying, and this would give her something to do as a crowd started to gather around.

“What happened,” a medic said as he set his bag down next to her head.

“She passed out and hit her head on the pavement,” I said.

“Passed out before or after hitting the ground?”

“Before.”

“Any history of heart trouble, seizures, or fainting? Medications?”

“Not that I know of,” I said.

He pulled on gloves and prepared some large gauze pads; removing the handkerchief, the EMT took a quick look before he put the pads over it. “Hold pressure here,” he said. He put on a blood pressure cuff and took her pulse. I heard a siren as the ambulance pulled into the lot; the security people moved others back so it could park near us. “Female, early twenties, sudden onset unconsciousness followed by head trauma. BP one hundred over sixty-four, pulse seventy-two, no known conditions or medications,” he turned over to the ambulance crew.

They brought over the gurney, and we carefully transferred her into it. “Where are you taking her,” I asked.

“Christus Spohn,” he replied as they wheeled her away. “Follow us close.”

“Let’s go,” I said. I buckled Vicki into her car seat as Anita got the car started. The ambulance hit the lights and siren, and we stayed behind them. We drove across the bridge, past our hotel, and south to the hospital.

“I have to tell Brent,” I said. Taking out my phone, I called the number. “It’s Leo. Get to the airport and get a flight to Corpus Christi as soon as you can. If you can’t get here, fly to Houston or San Antonio and drive down.”

“What’s going on? Is Vicki all right?”

“It’s Olivia. She passed out and hit her head; we’re following the ambulance to the hospital. She hasn’t woken yet.”

“SHIT! I’m on my way,” he said.

“I’ll call you when I know more.”

I had just hung up when the ambulance pulled into the emergency bay. Anita dropped the three of us at the Emergency Room entrance before going to park the car. I didn’t see Liv as they rolled her in, and she didn’t answer the mental call either.

I did get to spend fifteen minutes giving insurance information and registration, while Anita comforted a rather upset little girl in the waiting room. We all smiled a few minutes later when her mental send reached us. “I’m going to be fine,” she told us. “Leo, can you and Vicki come back?”

“Ask your nurse if we can,” I said.

“Doc says after he’s done stitching me up,” she said.

“Mommy is all right?”

“I just hit my head, baby. Don’t worry about me.”

“I was scared, Mommy. You didn’t wake up!”

“I know,” she said. “Stay with Unky, Mike or Anita.”

It was another thirty minutes before the nurse called us back. She had a bandage over the cut and looked exhausted in the bed. The Doctor asked if it was all right if he spoke about her status in front of us, and she agreed. “The loss of consciousness was a concern, but she explained she had an emotional shock. Her blood pressure was a little low, so we’ll be monitoring that, and she should follow up with her doctor at home,” he said.

“And her head,” I asked.

“Eight stitches to the scalp, and a concussion. We’d like to admit Olivia for observation overnight; given her condition, it would be best to have her monitored until we are sure everything is all right.”

“Condition?” I looked at her, wondering what she hadn’t told me.

“Temporary condition,” Liv said. “I’m pregnant.”

Now it was my turn to be shocked. I sat down before I ended up in the next hospital bed. “You’re having a baby?”

She nodded as Vicki started jumping up and down next to her. “Baby sister! Baby sister!”

“It could be a baby brother. It’s too early to tell.”

“Brothers are yucky. I want a SISTER.”

I got up, walked over, and kissed her forehead. “Congratulations,” I told her. “Does Brent know?”

“No, and don’t tell him. I want to do that.”

“No one can reveal to anyone else that Olivia is pregnant,” I said with an Alpha order.

The doctor left, and a few minutes later, they came in to bring Olivia up to her room. “Say goodbye, we’ll come in the morning to see her,” I told Vicki. We said our goodbyes. “Brent is on his way, he’ll drive here from Vegas if he has to,” I said to Liv. “We’ll take good care of Vicki for you.”

“I know you will, Leo,” she said. “I’m so happy you’re still with us.”

“Me too,” I said. “It’s been a stressful weekend. I need a vacation from my vacation.”

“I need a honeymoon,” she said. “Goodnight.”

We drove away, stopping to pick up some barbecue to take up to our rooms. I talked to Brent, who was at the airport waiting for a flight. He couldn’t make it before nine in the morning, no matter how he tried. It was too late on a Sunday to get a good flight.

Vicki ate through a rack of ribs and two pieces of Texas toast before she started to nod off. Anita got her cleaned up and in bed while we cleaned the table. When Anita came back out, she just sank into her chair. “Part of me wants to know everything that happened, while the rest of me wants to sleep,” she said.

“There’s nothing you need to know tonight,” I said. “Tomorrow, we’ll pick up Brent and take him to the hospital. We can figure out the next steps from there.”

“You get the other bed in this room,” she said as she got up. “If anyone wakes me before seven, I will hurt them,” she said as they went through the connecting door between our rooms.

I took a shower and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a new day.