Chapter 99

THURSDAY NIGHT — SEPTEMBER 26

Jeff, Dave, Frank Wainwright and Captain Madison chatted as the Expedition powered up the mountain.

Jeff drove with Dave riding beside him in the front passenger seat. Bill Madison sat slumped against his side of the vehicle in the second seat, his eyes closed. Wainwright, almost constantly grinning, sat on the other side, but alert.

Bill had four beers, more than he had at one time since the first year of college. Wainwright had considerably more.

"So, I didn't think you liked beer," Dave said just to mess with Frank.

"I don't. Uh, well, until after the first couple, then they tend to taste better," Frank said, but the last word sounded more like butter, than better.

"I thought it was us that were supposed to be celebrating, or whatever," Dave said, grinning over at Jeff.

Madison, having heard the remark, opened one eye, "If I have a headache tomorrow I am going to be displeased, my illustrious boss," he said glancing to his right.

Wainwright, now slumped back in his seat, let out a snuffling snore in answer.

"I am not carrying him in the house," Dave declared.

Jeff wound up with that chore, but to expedite things, he parked in the inside garage at the other end of the retreat, much closer to Frank and Margaret's suite. Dave did help Jeff get the snoring Frank out of the SUV. Shortly, Jeff was walking down the hall with Frank casually draped over his shoulder.

The women had obviously been watching the security monitor. Margaret met them at the suite, holding the door open with her back as Jeff came through with Frank. Margaret waved her hand in front of her face as she caught a whiff of Frank's breath.

The pressure on Frank's stomach from lying across Jeff's shoulder, or possibly hanging with his head down as Jeff walked along with him, had its effect, not to say anything about the beer he drank. Feeling the heaving beginning, Jeff sped up and at least got Frank to the bathroom before the inevitable happened. He didn't, however, get Wainwright completely clear of his shoulder. The first, "Baaahhhp," went down Jeff's back, the second one caught him on the back of his neck, shoulder and part of his chest before he got his friend turned toward the commode. There were several more almost projectile vomitings as Frank Wainwright knelt before the porcelain bowl.

"I'll stay with him," Margaret said as she took over from Jeff in supporting her heaving mate.

"Ah, shit," Wainwright sighed in a trembling voice as Margaret accepted a wet washcloth from Jeff and wiped her lover's face with it. "Now I remember why I don't drink beer. Oh, shit ... uurp," he gagged as his empty stomach tried to turn itself wrong-side out again.

"Get your shirt off and toss it in the shower," Margaret said, fighting to not giggle at Jeff, who was turning a lovely shade of green.

Jeff quickly followed her instructions while trying to hold his breath. There were disadvantages to having a super keen sense of smell. Jeff was wearing a long-sleeve pullover shirt with a tee-shirt under it. Pulling them out of his pants, he leaned into the shower, and bending forward, rapidly stripped both shirts off at the same time, dropping them to the shower floor. Realizing his mistake just in time, he snatched a towel and threw it around his shoulders to conceal the healer.

As Jeff stepped into the hallway, Bill, who had been trying to see past Dave, asked, "Is he okay? First he was fine, then suddenly asleep, then projectile vomiting. I've seen him drinking before — well, at least drinking wine — but I've never seen him do that. Hell, I've never even seen him tipsy."

Jeff, admonishing himself for almost allowing Bill to see the healer, said, "Well, I guess we now know why he doesn't drink beer. And I'll bet he's really going to pay for it in the morning when the hangover hits."

Dave sniffed, exaggerating the action. "One of us smells a little ripe," he said, pointedly looking at Jeff.

"Well, it might have something to do with having puke down my neck, Smartass," he grinned. "I'm going to take a shower and change clothes. See you guys in the morning."

As Jeff walked quickly down the hall toward their suite, {{{ I do not understand why your friend continued to drink beer if he does not like it. }}}

Well, Jeff thought to Little One, that's a good question. I suspect that he did it to show his friendship and trust for us, to celebrate with us and to show his support. And like he said, after a couple, and the alcohol starts taking affect, the rest go down easier. But he's going to pay for it in the morning.

{{{ Why should he 'pay for it' in the morning? }}}

That's just a figure of speech — uh, like some of the other things that we've talked about before. I meant that he will probably have a hangover in the morning and feel bad. He'll regret drinking all that beer, no matter what the reason, Jeff said, fighting to keep from sniggering.

{{{ But why should he have this ... hangover? }}}

Well, we all do if we drink as much as Frank did. Some of it is our body telling us the alcohol wasn't good for us, and some of it is caused by our body being dehydrated. The beer is a diuretic, and most times we urinate out far more of our fluids than we replace with water, because we're too busy drinking alcohol, he said with a mental grin. If Margaret thinks to get a couple of glasses of water into him — assuming his stomach will allow it — he probably won't have as much of a hangover in the morning.

{{{ But he will not... }}} Little One started, then cut off communication without completing the thought, leaving Jeff wondering.

Arlene brought Joyce and Caitlin to the Matthews' suite. Diana was seated in one of the luxurious seats near the bed. Both young women were wondering what was going on when Arlene came to summon them, and now that they saw Diana, seated, waiting for them, their apprehension level went up dramatically.

Seeing the turmoil on their faces, Diana quickly got up and grabbed them both in an awkward hug. "Oh, my. You two look like you're going to testify in court or something. I apologize. I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, and thought this would be a better place to do so."

"Well, we are going to marry your husband tomorrow night, so when Arlene said that you wanted to see us in your suite..."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I guess I didn't think, either, and I didn't pay much attention to their faces as we walked over here."

"Sit," Diana said, "This isn't the Inquisition," her tinkling laugh bringing a smile to Joyce's and Caitlin's lips despite their previous worry.

Diana hesitated, waiting as Jennie handed the women, including Diana and Arlene, glasses filled with ice. Melissa and Ann poured Coke for them.

Now that everyone was seated with a drink and comfortable, Diana continued, "We've planned our weddings, and everything seems to be set. Things have been happening quickly in the last few days, and although many things have happened since you two have come to live here, little actual time has passed. So I guess that what I'm trying to say is that things might well have happened a little faster than you might have wished.

"All of us, including our Alpha, have been under stress — a lot of it. You were almost killed, Joyce. And you, Caitlin had to go through the terror of nearly losing the person that you loved most on this earth. Our Alpha has kissed, teased, and made love to you in most every way, other than actually entering your bodies. Without a doubt, he has called you to be his mates ... But still, I have to ask if all of this was too fast for you? If you had rather wait a week or two, or however long you need until you feel comfortable with this, we will fully understand..."

"No," Joyce broke in with her eyes locked to Caitlin's. When Caitlin nodded, Joyce turned to fully face Diana. "True we're still torn up about Ben, but Caitlin has ... spoken with him in her dreams." Then quickly, "Oh, I know that sounds..."

"It does not," Helen interrupted. "The hea ... uh, the changes that were made in us have produced several unexplainable occurrences. Also, Fred has... talked to his recently dead wife. And... Jeff knew you were in trouble that night, Joyce. Knew it. None of us here will ridicule either of you in the slightest way. We might deluge you with questions, but so far, out of respect for your loss, we've managed to curb our curiosity — well, at least to reasonable proportions."

"Thank you," Caitlin said, entering the conversation. "But Daddy has given his blessings to our, uh, union — our marriage. I've talked to him several times recently and will try again tonight. He says that all of you are good people and he has approved of Jeff for our husband. He even joked that we shouldn't have to worry about money," but there were tears in her eyes, despite her trying to make light of the situation.

"So you two are positive that you are ready to go forward with the wedding?"

"Absolutely," Joyce said.

"Definitely," from Caitlin.

"Good," Diana said. "Now, I suspect that our mate will drop by to talk with you two before bedtime. By now, he's probably figured out that he won't get to see either of you until tomorrow night, and I imagine he'll have similar questions of his own. Since he has gone through this before a few times," she said with a grin as the other wives joined in with a chuckle or giggle, "he isn't as ... shall we say, disturbed about a woman's sudden compelling need to be his mate. Poor Dave is another matter altogether, though.

"Evie called me a few minutes ago and told me that Dave is worried sick that Kim didn't have a real choice in this, since he had called her, and is worried about Linda as well. Evie said that she had repeatedly reminded him that Kim and her whole family had loved him for years, and it was only logical that Kim would fall deeply for him after puberty hit. He is even worried about Bill giving in so quickly about his marrying Linda, wondering if he (Dave) might have had something to do with that, too.

"She reminded him that Bill respected him and has had plenty of opportunity to communicate any concerns about his daughter marrying Dave.

"I told Evie to tell Dave that Joshua gave his blessing quickly, in part because Dave was an Alpha, but he had not compelled Josh — that had come out of love and respect for both Dave and Evie by people who had known them for years and, indeed, even considered them to be part of their family. Being an Alpha was just part of it.

"But, nevertheless, I expect that Jeff will come by to see you two one last time before you become his mates. He'll probably be a little shook, so make allowances for him," she smiled.

"But he's done this so many times..." Caitlin started.

Diana broke in with, "And your two marriages are just as important to him as any of the others — mine included. Never doubt that he loves you with all his heart. He frequently tells us that this calling thing that an Alpha does is two-way. He loves us just as much as we love him; although, I can't imagine how that is possible, considering how we all feel about him. But from the way he treats us, makes love to us, and gets upset when anything happens to us, it is true."

Caitlin glanced at the bed. "I can't believe that in a couple of nights I'm going to be lying on that enormous bed with my new husband making love to me — with all of you watching," she said winding down, her face flushing.

"We'll be doing more than watching, " Laura said, a smirk on her face. "You might not feel it so intensely the first few times, but soon you'll be feeling him making love to each of us — well as long as you can remain conscious. The ... connection has increased lately. Although we can't feel you — yet — the way we can one another, we'll probably know when you orgasm, even as far away as the honeymoon suite is. Next to him with a hand touching him or the woman he's making love to, it's almost as intense as when he's actually making love to us."

They continued to talk for a while, laughing and cutting up until, "Now shoo you two. You want to be there when your future husband comes by to kiss you goodnight."

After hugs all around, laughing, Joyce and Caitlin hurried back to their suite to wait for their fiancé.

A little earlier, just before the men got back, Evie, Linda and Kim stood in Evie's bedroom. "Okay, since we're basically the same size, this should fit you," she said pulling out a soft pink teddy and holding it up in front of Kim. "And I have a new pair of sexy panties that you can wear, too."

"I guess I should have gone home and packed, but..."

"No way," Evie laughed. "We weren't letting you out of our sight."

"I have a new panty and bra set that I want to wear on my — uh, our — wedding night," she said, grinning at Linda. "I bought them a few weeks ago and put the set in my special drawer that I call my hope chest. The only problem is, that's just about all there is in it," she said, laughing. "I can't believe this is happening. It's like a dream.

"I've dreamed for years of marrying Dave," she said looking down and clasping her hands in front of her. "Heck, since I had my first period, I guess. It started out as a little girl's dream, but now..." Her voice broke and her eyes welled up.

Before Evie could grab her, Linda did. "Same with me," she said. "Well, not about Dave, it was just my knight in shining armor type of thing. But when I met Dave, it wasn't long before I knew who the knight was. But I guess I'm just as amazed as you that this is happening to me — and that my father would go along with it. I know that they're all Alphas, but..."

"Wait, wait," Kim said sitting on the bed and looking at the other two. "I keep hearing about these ... Alphas. But what are Alphas? This is ... strange, to say the least."

"We'll spend some time with Diana after the wedding. But just to give you a little of the idea, Alphas are special men who have abilities that most other men don't have. Most of the abilities have lain dormant, or have atrophied throughout the ages until the powers are only a faint shadow of what we think they once were."