“Please, Sage, open the goddamn door,” I tell her while pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. Jonah walks in, stops at the door, and looks toward the bathroom.
“Use him. That will get her to the doctor, make him fake sick, kids do it all the time to get out of school,” Donnie tells me.
“I am not using our son, and then what? Pin her down?” I ask him.
He appears to be considering it, and I huff, turning to look at Jonah.
“Is mom alright?” Jonah asks, as I hear her puke again. Jonah walks over and bangs on the door. “Mom?” Jonah calls through the door.
“Go get ready for school. I will be down in a minute,” Sage groans before puking again. Jonah looks up at me with a worried look on his face.
“Go see uncle Malik and see if he can bring the car to the front of the house and wait in the car for me,” I tell him.
“Why? Is she ok?” Jonah squeaks.
“She is fine. My keys are on the hall table. Give them to Malik for me,” I tell him, and he glances at the bathroom door quickly and then rushes off.
I could have mind-linked Malik, but I need Jonah out of the room, so I don’t scare him. Sage is going to lose her mind in a second. I listen as he drags the chair to the panel to unlock the door. When I hear the door open, I turn back to the bathroom door.
“Sage, you have three seconds to open this door,” I warn her, and she growls at me.
“One!” I start.
“Just go away.” She screams again.
“Two!” I say a little louder.
“Andrei, stop it. Help Jonah get ready for school.” She screams.
“And that would be three,” I tell her before kicking the door. The door bursts open, banging against the wall, and Sage shrieks. Walking in, she is on the ground next to the toilet.
“Was that necessary?” She snaps at me as I reach for her.
“Well, no, but you wouldn’t open the door,” I tell her, reaching down to grab her. She tries to slap my hands away. She looks pale, and her attempts to stop me were weak.
“What are you-?” She screeches as I scoop her up, going stiff as a board in my arms as she tries to escape me.
“Put me down!” She demands.
“Then stop being difficult,” I tell her, poking her in the ribs with my fingers, and she squeals. So touchy. I crush her to me, and she kicks her legs, trying to get out of my arms.
“She needs to eat more. She looks like she’s lost weight,” Donnie says, and I roll my eyes as I stomp down the steps toward the front door.
Sage’s wild mood swings and Donnie’s odd behavior that makes me look like some freak is enough to drive anyone insane. When I walk out the door, Malik’s mouth falls open. Spotting his kicking and screaming Luna in my arms, he rushes over to the back door and opens it for me.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “Duck, Sage,” I warn her.
“You fucking duck, you damn caveman!” She says, smacking me in the side of the head. Malik chuckles, rushing to the driver’s side.
“I haven’t even got shoes on,” she shrieks but ducks her head into my chest while growling as I sit down in the back with her.
She instantly moves off my lap, about to lose her shit. I recognize the look on her face. She is about to teach me who the Alpha is, and for the last week, it sure as shit hasn’t been me with her moody behavior.
“Ah, settle down, there are children present.” I tell her, and right in the queue, Jonah sticks his head between the seats to look back at us.
“Hi mom,” he says, beaming at her.
Sage’s face flushes red. “Jonah, where is your school bag?” Sage asks him as Malik starts the car.
“I put it in the trunk,” Malik lies, knowing exactly where I want to take her.
“Well, I don’t have any shoes, you will have to sign him in,” Sage says, folding her hands in her lap and closing her eyes as she rests her head back on the seat.
“Am I going to school?” Jonah asks through the Mind link.
“No, we are taking mom to the doctor, so shh,” I tell him, and Malik glances at me in the rear-view mirror.
Sage falls asleep on the drive. If she isn’t throwing up, she is sleeping, yelling at me like a banshee, or eating. Sage barely leaves the house anymore because she has been too tired the last week.
She refuses to believe us, saying it is impossible, and I even asked Kat, who said she isn’t sure because she hadn’t gone to the Moon Goddess realm to check.
However, she has been having issues with Marabella and told me she would check soon.
But Kat didn’t say no either. Despite this, it is impossible in Sage’s eyes. Donnie and I, however, know we are right. No one else could smell her changes, but we can. Her heat, yes, but not the subtle changes to her overall scent. We are so in tune with her scent we can pick up the slightest changes, even if she can’t.
The drive takes around an hour to get to Kat’s pack. I message Kat to tell Mathias to be ready, and she assures me he will see her today.
As we pull into the bustling town, I look down at Sage, where she had managed to lie down with her head in my lap. Brushing her hair from her face, Malik pulls up, and I gently shake her shoulder until she sits up.
She yawns, looking out the front window. Her expression changes to disbelief, then anger.
“This isn’t the school,” she states as Malik and Jonah hop out. Malik walks over to Jonah and grabs his hand, walking toward the doctor’s office.
“Now you have gone too far, Andrei,” Sage rants, and I see Kat walk out the doors just as Jonah reaches the steps out the front.
Jonah spots Kat and rushes over to her, and she picks him up and hugs him while he tells her something animatedly. My sister makes enthusiastic exclamations as she listens to him. I chuckle, turning back to Sage, who was glaring at me, and I sigh.
“Please, let him examine you, if you aren’t, I will leave you alone, and we will keep blaming the coffee.”
She mutters something, shaking her head and looking out the window, and my chest restricts when I see her wipe a stray tear she tried to hide. Reaching for her hand, I squeeze it.