The Alpha's Niece (Barton Pack Book 1)

  The Alpha's Niece

  By Jane B. Night

  Copyright 2018 Jane B. Night

  Published by BZ Publishing LLC

  This book may not be reproduced or redistributed without the permission of the copyright holder.

  All characters are fictitious. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is a coincidence.

  Chapter 1

  Cyrus Callister had just taken the bowl of potatoes from his mother, when he heard the sound of knocking at the door. He placed the bowl on the table before him and rose slowly. He grabbed the cane which helped him keep his balance on his artificial leg and made his way to the door.

  As a doctor, he was used to being called upon at all hours. Dinner time was not sacred when a loved one was ill.

  Cyrus opened the door and was surprised to find his alpha on the other side.

  Isaac was old enough to be Cyrus's father. In fact, Isaac's oldest son, Edgar, was only four years older than Cyrus.

  "May I come in?" Isaac asked.

  "Of course you can. Should I get my doctor bag?" Cyrus asked. As far as he knew, Isaac's family were healthy as horses, but it was always possible for sudden illness to strike. He hoped it was nothing serious.

  "I came here for a different purpose," Isaac said.

  "Will you join us for dinner?" Cyrus hadn't even heard his mother come up behind him. She smiled sweetly at Isaac. He'd been the alpha of their pack since his mother joined it by marrying Cyrus's father.

  "Thank you. I will," Isaac said. Cyrus's mother set another place at the table and Isaac spooned potatoes onto his plate before passing the bowl to Cyrus.

  "Are you here on pack business?" Cyrus asked.

  "I am here on a family matter. I received a telegraph from my sister. She lives in Philadelphia. My niece is in trouble. She asked if I would bring her here and find a wolf from my pack for her to marry," Isaac said.

  "The beast who got her into trouble won't marry her?" Cyrus's mother asked. She was obviously appalled at the idea.

  "The father of the baby is eager to marry her but my sister and her husband have decided against the marriage if an alternative can be found," Isaac said.

  "What is wrong with the gentleman in question? Is he not a werewolf?" his mother asked. Cyrus wished she would stop interrupting so Isaac could finish the story.

  "Oh, he is. He is the heir to a large pack outside of Baltimore," Isaac said.

  "He sounds like a good match for the girl. Why are her parents reluctant for her to marry him?" his mother asked. She passed Isaac a basket filled with biscuits. He took two.

  "The reluctance is from my niece. She begged her parents not to force the marriage. According to her, she didn't become pregnant by seduction," Isaac said. He lowered his eyes to his plate.

  Cyrus's mother made a gasping noise.

  "It is good that her parents aren't forcing the marriage. Some would think it better for a daughter to be married to the man who attacked her than to be an unwed mother. Of course, there is that delicacy of the pack situation. The father has a claim on his pup no matter how he put it into the mother," Cyrus said.

  "Unless she is married to another. If she is married, it is her husband who can claim the pup for his pack," Isaac said. He brought his eyes back up to meet Cyrus's.

  "You want my boy to marry her?" his mother asked.

  "I want to be clear that this is only a request. I would never issue an alpha command for such a thing," Isaac said quickly.

  Cyrus was glad of that. If Isaac issued an alpha command he would have no choice but to obey. Some alphas ran their packs tightly as dictators but that had never been Isaac's way. On the other hand, there was weight to the request. Cyrus owed Isaac a debt beyond what he could ever repay.

  "Why me?" Cyrus asked. He certainly wasn't the most eligible bachelor in the pack. He was just shy of thirty and had lost his left leg in the war. He supported himself and his mother by working as a doctor but he was far from wealthy. Certainly, the alpha's niece would not want to become the wife of a country doctor. Not when she had the pack status to marry an alpha or his heir.

  "You are the oldest member of the pack who has never been married. By rights, I should have found you a wife long ago and I would have if you ever requested it," Isaac said. Cyrus hadn't requested it. He didn't have anything to offer a woman. It wasn't as if she-wolves were abundant. When the war ended there were too many single women but over time many had been sent to make alliances with other packs. Some had died bringing new pups into the world or from diseases passed on from husbands who caught them as soldiers. Syphilis had been rampant after the war and Cyrus was exhausted at seeing the damage it caused to innocent women years after their husbands came home.

  "I suppose his medical background doesn't hurt either," his mother said.

  "Martha would be the one to deliver her. I only intervene if there are complications," Cyrus reminded. Martha was the town midwife and also the wife of his dear friend Aaron, the druggist.

  "I won't deny that your medical background played a part in my choice. If she was forced, as she claims, I worry there could be other damage to her," Isaac said softly.

  "It can happen but if it was anything serious her physician would have found out by now," Cyrus said. He had only ever met one woman who had died from a sexual assault. She was a southern woman who'd been raped by several Union soldiers. His commanding officer had called the soldiers off her and sent for a doctor but there was no saving her.

  Cyrus was glad that hadn't been the fate of Isaac's niece. It was too cruel a fate for any woman.

  "Can I send my sister a message saying that I have a wolf who is willing to marry her daughter?" Isaac asked.

  "Of course you can. I've been saying I want to see my boy married before I die. Without a wife, who will cook and clean for him once I am gone? I won't live forever," his mother said, though he expected she had a long life ahead of her. She was nearing sixty but still in good health. She had the strength of a woman of twenty most days though he noticed she was showing early signs of rheumatism. He'd meant to speak to her of it but he never found the right time to bring it up. If he married the girl, she would be a help to his mother even if she was never really a wife to him.

  He didn't know how much damage had been done by her attacker but he was certain the girl would want little to do with his bed and he couldn't fault her for that.

  He could give her a name, a home, and a new pack to call her own. He didn't know if that would be enough for her, but it was all he had to offer. And, it would be a step towards repaying Isaac.

  "You may send a message to your niece and ask if she will consent to a husband such as myself. Make sure to tell her everything," Cyrus said, looking down at his leg. He wouldn't have her arrive from Philadelphia and be shocked to find that she was marrying a man who had lost a leg. If she consented to the marriage, he wanted to be sure she knew up front what she was agreeing to.

  "If she consents, I will have my sister send her out on the next train," Isaac said. Cyrus nodded solemnly. Isaac was a good alpha and a good man. He had shown Cyrus mercy when he deserved none.

  A wife would be good company and help for his mother. The baby that the girl would bring into the pack would be a valuable asset. If the child was a girl she would be the mother of future wolves. If it was a boy who showed any aptitude and interest in medicine, Cyrus could help him be the pack's next doctor. He had followed in his father's footsteps. When his father died he had taken over his medical practice. Cyrus hadn't ever given a thought to who would take over for him someday. That day seemed so far away now but he knew from his patients that old age eventually caught up with everyone whethe
r they were prepared for it or not.

  ***

  She-wolf, Remember Pritchett, sat up in her bed with a start. She was covered in sweat. Her whole body trembled as she leaned over to grab the basin which was pushed under her bed. Her stomach rumbled and she had barely gotten the basin onto her lap before she felt the spasms and started to retch.

  Her mother was by her side within moments, rubbing her back, as Remember's stomach emptied against her will.

  When she was through her mother gave her a damp cloth for her face and then went to fetch a fresh glass of water.

  Remember sipped at it carefully. She didn't want to risk upsetting her stomach again.

  The doctor assured her that her stomach would settle as the baby grew but she thought that it was the nightmares and not the pregnancy which brought on the bouts of sickness that she'd been experiencing ever since the day Jordan raped her.

  She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to remember it. She wanted it never to have happened.

  "I brought you some crackers. They soothed my stomach when you babes were growing," her mother whispered. Remember took a bite but it made her gag. She put the crackers on the table beside her bed.

  "Should I ask your father to get the train ticket for a later date? I am not sure if you are well enough to travel," her mother said.

  Remember shook her head.

  "The doctor said it wouldn't hurt me or the baby to travel even if I felt unwell," she said. She knew that most women in her condition would have loathed the child that was forced on them but she couldn't bring herself to do so. The baby was as innocent a victim as she was. Since the moment she had found out she was carrying a child she had felt protective of him. She didn't know how she could be sure the child was a boy but she was. She had known from the moment the doctor had revealed her condition that she was carrying a son.

  "The sickness usually passes in time," her mother said.

  "Jordan knows how to find me here. I'm not safe and neither is my baby," Remember said.

  "Your father would never allow you to come to harm," her mother said. Remember appreciated how her mother tried to reassure her but she knew the words were empty.

  Her father was the alpha of a small pack. He owned a few coal mines but he wasn't a man of much power or standing inside or outside of the werewolf community.

  Jordan's father owned several factories. He had more money and social standing than her own father. When news of her pregnancy had reached Jordan he had demanded that she marry him. She had claimed he was not the father and that she was engaged to another but Jordan hadn't believed her lie and she knew it was only a matter of time before his father found a way to force a marriage between them.

  Her uncle had found a man willing to marry her and raise her child.

  The sooner she got on the train the sooner she would feel safe. Her parents wouldn't tell Jordan's father where she had gone. If he inquired he would be told only that she had married the man she was engaged to. She hoped it would be enough to keep Jordan from looking for her. Iowa was a long way from Philadelphia. She hoped it was far enough to keep her and her baby safe.

  "The sooner I leave the less people will know of my condition," Remember reasoned. She didn't want to bring added shame to her family. It would be better for everyone when Remember stepped onto the train and let it take her far away into the unknown.

  "You should see if you can get more sleep. I doubt there will be much rest on the train," her mother said.

  Remember nodded. In one more day she would leave behind the only life she'd ever known.

  She felt her stomach convulse again and she leaned over and heaved.

  "My poor child," her mother whispered, gently pulling her hair back so it would remain unsoiled.

  Chapter 2

  Cyrus opened the door to Aaron's drugstore and waited at the end of the counter while Aaron put gum drops into a brown bag and handed it to a child of ten. The child handed Aaron a coin and scurried out of the drugstore.

  The drugstore had long shelves of ingredients for mixing medicines. There was a stand in the back where Aaron put the ingredients together and used a simple machine to slice them into pills for his patients.

  Aside from medicines, the drugstore also sold candies, soaps, tooth brushes, tooth powder, and other imported items. Aaron was the main competition against the general store. In a normal town, he and Cyrus would have been in competition for patients as well, but that wasn't the case in Barton. Cyrus, Aaron, and Martha worked together to keep everyone in Barton healthy whether they were witch, werewolf, werebear, or non-supe.

  "Widow Maude needs something more for her breathing troubles," Cyrus said.

  Aaron motioned him to come into the back of his shop.

  There were two chairs in the back room where Aaron's mixing table stood.

  Cyrus sat down wearily and rubbed his thigh. His prosthetic leg was causing him to ache. He expected that meant it would rain soon.

  "I will see what else there is to do for her. I've tried the most common remedies," Aaron said. He took a book off the shelf and began to finger through it.

  "Can you check in on Sarah Stump? I'm worried her baby isn't growing as it should," Martha said joining them from the storage room.

  "I have three other calls to make but I will try to squeeze her in as well," Cyrus said.

  "Is everything ready for your wedding tonight?" Martha asked.

  "I left all of that up to my mother. I assume she has it under control," Cyrus said with a shrug. In truth, he hadn't given much thought to either his wedding or his bride since Isaac had spoken to him at supper more than a week before.

  "Will Isaac be getting her from the train?" Martha asked.

  "I can only assume," Cyrus said.

  "And you won't be going with him to meet the girl before the wedding?" Aaron asked.

  "I don't see any reason to. I have far too much work to do here," Cyrus said.

  "I bet the poor girl is terrified," Martha said softly.

  "She had nothing to fear from me," Cyrus said. Aaron turned the book he was paging through towards Cyrus and he looked at the recipe it contained. He nodded. It was worth a try. Widow Maude wasn't a young woman and her lungs were delicate. Still, he wasn't about to give up on trying to cure her.

  "I'm excited to meet her even if you are not," Martha said.

  "What is there to be excited over?" Aaron asked.

  "Cyrus is getting married. He is going to have a wife before he goes to bed tonight," Martha said.

  "And, in the morning, I will be out making rounds on my patients like every other day," Cyrus said.

  Martha made a sound of disapproval which he tried to ignore. His mother was acting the same way. He hoped they wouldn't find his new wife a disappointment. She wasn't likely to be happy about her new living situation and only tolerable of her new husband. Why did Martha and his mother keep acting like he should be excited about a marriage which wasn't really any marriage at all?

  ***

  Remember felt a wave of relief when the conductor announced that they were pulling into the station. She had been on the train for three long days and was absolutely sick of it. The frequent stops did little to ease the discomfort of the cramped train car. The motion had made her sick again and again however she'd thrown up far less than before leaving Philadelphia. Her mother would say it was just the baby growing but she knew it was the distance between herself and Jordan. She'd been sure as she was boarding the train that Jordan and his goons would jump out of the shadows and drag her away. She'd feared the same with every subsequent stop the train made but the fear was less now that her journey was almost over.

  When the train finally stopped she waited for the other passengers to push their way through the aisles. She was in no hurry.

  She'd just stepped onto solid ground when she heard her name being called. She turned to the voice.

  "Uncle?"

  She had me
t her uncle only a dozen or so times but he had the same blue eyes she and her mother did.

  "How was your journey?" he asked.

  "As well as can be expected," she said.

  "I hope the train ride wasn't too difficult," her uncle said.

  "It wasn't bad," she said.

  "Is this all of your things?" he asked indicating three trunks which contained all she was bringing from her old life into her new. She nodded.

  He motioned for his two companions to grab the bags. She decided they must be her cousins though they looked much different than she remembered.

  "Edgar. Jeremiah. How are you?"

  "Well enough. I am just glad you arrived safely. I wouldn't have wanted my wife traveling in your condition," Edgar said. He was the older of the two men and married to a she-wolf named Rachel. Remember had been invited to the wedding but she and her parents had been unable to attend due to a mine collapse that had almost bankrupted her father.

  "We will get your things loaded into the wagon," her uncle said.

  "Wagon?" Remember asked. In the city, wolves usually used bicycles to go where they needed. Horses could be skittish around werewolves, even in human form.

  "We got them from the local bear clan. They raise horses which don't mind were-creatures," he said.

  Remember nodded. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She was going to go through with it. She was going to marry a stranger so Jordan couldn't touch her or her baby.

  ***

  "Are you excited for the wedding tonight?" Bart asked as Cyrus listened to his heart.

  "I don't suppose I am any less excited than I should be," Cyrus said.

  "Marriage is a blessing. Even when it isn't all a marriage should be," Bart said. He and his wife Lydia were members of Cyrus's pack. They had been married just over three years but, due to Bart's heart condition, hadn't managed to consummate that marriage.

  "I'm sure my mother will enjoy the companionship and having a pup running around the house. She was starting to lose hope of ever having any grandchildren to dote on," Cyrus said.