Page 26 of Amaris Rejected

"Yes, Mama." Zoe chirps. "Wuv you." While Zoe isn’t as familiar with Devon’s mom yet, she knows Trish from back home, and we both trust her, so she’s not timid.

"Love you, baby." She then leaves to work in the clinic, located in the sublevel of the pack house. While our tour was interrupted that first day, and I didn’t get to show it to Amaris then, we met with Dr. Gibson yesterday and gave her the full walkthrough.

As I begin eating, a sudden wave of dizziness hits me, and I start to sweat. My stomach roils with nausea. I barely make it to the trash can before throwing up the tea and the little breakfast I managed to eat before getting sick. Wiping my mouth, I apologize to everyone. "Geez, guys, I'm sorry, I couldn't make it any farther." Black spots cloud my vision, and I feel myself falling backward, not even noticing when I hit the floor.

I wake up in the clinic with Amaris hovering over me, holding a penlight. "There he is. Come back to us, Devon."

"What's going on?" I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the blinding light.

"I was told you vomited and passed out just after I left. What have you eaten and drunk this morning?" she asks, probing.

"I had just started on the bacon and eggs Karen prepared when the nausea hit me."

"Anything else?" She presses on my stomach, and I flinch. "Anything new you might not have had before? I need to consider allergens."

I shake my head. "Wait! Jeni brought me a cup of tea this morning." Amaris stiffens. "It's not anything nefarious, just a new blend."

Amaris huffs. “I'm going to draw some blood and need a urine sample from you."

"No, it's okay," I protested, trying to sit up, but flop back down weakly. "Something probably just didn't agree with me."

"Okay, listen, Devon. I don't want to be here at your pack right now at all! But I agreed to come here so you could get to know your daughter. I'm not sure what's going on between you and Jeni, and I honestly don’t care. However, I have been warned by the goddess about her. So, for the safety of my daughter, I will be thorough.” She jabs her finger in my chest, and I drop back down on the table. "So, if it has something to do with Jeni, I will be overly alert."

I open my mouth to argue, but Amaris quickly cuts me off.

“If you are about to issue another gag order with your Alpha power, I’m out of here,” she snarls. “Got it?”

"Got it." I acquiesce. Within minutes, she has her blood sample and is shoving a urine cup in my hand. I mutely obey, barely making it to the bathroom before I start staggering. Afterward, I meet Amaris outside the door, and she then helps me back to the bed.

"It should only take me a couple of hours to analyze these, and I'll let you know the results. Speak to no one about this, not even your parents."

I nod.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I'm just sweaty and weak, but I should be fine. I'll be in my office."

“I think you need to lie here on the bed so I can observe you while I run these tests,” she insists. “You’re not well.”

I’m so weak, I just agree and lie back.

"Add another enforcer to Zoe," she instructs. "Have them make sure she’s okay and tell everyone involved, including your mother and Trish, that Zoe isn’t to eat anything they don’t prepare themselves using fresh ingredients. And no drinks except sealed bottled water."

"Will do." I close my eyes and begin to mind-link my wolves.

"If you feel worse, page me," she orders, placing a call button in my hand.

"Okay."

"And Devon, it's not that I don't trust you, but I’d like to speak with Rue." Amaris says.

I nod. Rue had gotten unusually quiet with all the excitement this morning.“Rue. Are you going to miss the chance to talk to Amaris?”I search around my consciousness and find him lying in a back corner.“Rue? Are you okay?”

He lifts his head weakly.“Something's wrong,”he whispers before his head thuds back down onto the floor.

In a panic, I jerk upright, exclaiming frantically, "He’s weak and says something’s wrong."

"I’ve been optimistic and overly cautious, hoping it just a harmless 24-hour bug. However, I’m inclined to think you and Rue have been poisoned. The clinic needs to be emptied of all employees while I work on this for the next 2-3 hours. If a patient comes in, I'll see them," she advises. "Meanwhile, get me another elite enforcer for guard duty."

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