Chapter 590: +Chapter 590+
Asher had been headed right for a car so he paused and glared at him, fire spitting out of his eyes.
Jael just walked over and patted his shoulder, his tone patronizing. "If you’re this grumpy, maybe you should go back to bed."
He was immensely concerned about the cause of Asher’s shit mood, Asher was rarely ever genuinely pissed, it gave him bad vibes. "I’m sure Caspian would be happy to have you for a few more hours."
Asher’s expression seemed to clear up slightly at the mention of Caspian’s name, albeit momentarily, because soon the Alpha was back to glaring.
Jael slowly took his hand off Asher’s shoulder because right then, he really looked like he was about to shatter his wrist. Jael knew well that Asher could do that with relative ease, so he didn’t push it, taking a few steps back.
"Fine," He muttered, pushing a hand through his hair. "Be like that, but I’ve still got some things to do before we leave." With that, he turned around and left to personally check the mansion for any breaches or oddities.
Jael made sure to give the men a heads up to give their Mafia King a wide berth. He got away with everything when it came to Asher, if the Alpha was still this wound up around him, the men wouldn’t stand a chance.
As he meticulously did his survey, he thought about it. Asher had been perfectly fine the night before, so naturally he thought about it being his bloodline curse acting up. It was simply unpredictable and they were no closer to finding the cause than they were to finding the cure.
Jael couldn’t compare Asher to Gage because Gage had kept that side of himself under wraps, and he couldn’t even freely talk to the other because Asher was still on bad terms with him.
It wasn’t like Jael was on Gage’s side, but being on the outside looking in, it was easier to have some sympathy. Gage had also completely become a shell of his former self after Layla’s death, living alone in a small apartment in Layla’s Pack.
Jael stopped himself from thinking about the past and things that couldn’t be changed, instead focusing on the present and if he should be worried about Asher’s shit mood.
With anyone else, it would be fine, but certainly not with Asher who could probably crush the skull of a grown man with his bare hands. He would have to watch Asher closely, and if his mood only worsened, he would send him right back to his mate’s side.
Jael returned to the car to find everyone in one piece, the car included. The men were pretty smart, keeping their distance from the car their Mafia King had sat in.
He got into the driver’s seat, saying nothing about Asher getting into the passenger’s seat instead of the back like he usually did. The Mafia King’s mood still hadn’t improved, it had Jael saying a little prayer for whoever was unfortunate enough to cross him that day.
-+-
Lake sat up slowly, needing to use his arms to push himself up to a sitting position, his legs sprawled out, patterned socks on his feet.
Davian’s shirt stuck to his body wetly, it was a cool fall morning but he felt uncomfortably warm and a little woozy.
Night sweats were something he was yet to have to deal with but his luck only lasted so long. His late night snack of noodles and hot chocolate might have had something to do with that.
Lake slowly rolled over to get off the bed, Davian moving catching his attention as soon as his feet touched the ground. He looked right up into his mate’s worried eyes, the Alpha quickly crossing the bed to close the distance.
"What’s wrong?" Davian immediately asked, reaching for him.
Lake straightened up a little unsteadily, making Davian panic and hold his waist in both hands. "I’m a little warm, I want to splash some water on my face." He explained, sounding a tad out of breath.
Davian’s worry escalated to dismay as he looked him over, his unnaturally flushed skin was hard to miss, coupled with his sweating and his distracted expression, it was enough to send him to his feet.
"You have a fever," Davian pronounced, pulling Lake closer so the Omega could lean on him, a gentle hand placed on his forehead to check his temperature.
Lake reflexively tried to pull away, he was already warm enough, he didn’t want his mate’s body heat all over him. "I don’t," He denied, "It’s just a hot flash, I’ll be fine in a few minutes."
Davian didn’t let go of him when he tried to pull away, so he had no choice but to drag the Alpha along with him to the bathroom.
Lake was just relieved that he was moving and no longer going on about a fever. He splashed cold water on his face at the sink, sighing loudly in relief. Some of the water ran down the flushed skin of his neck, dampening his shirt further.
Davian had a look of mild horror on his face as he stood as close to him as Lake would allow, watching him try to cool down. "You’re stressed."
The declaration was so abruptly random that it made Lake look up from the sink, wiping water out of his eyes as he tried to focus on Davian. "What?"
Davian already had a towel in hand, gently patting him dry. "That’s why you’re having night sweats. You’re stressed."
Lake batted the towel away, he was still warm and the towel was drying up all of the cooling water. It was a little funny to see the conclusions they both came to about his random hot flash. Honestly, he had lucked out by only getting his first one now and he was confident that his choice in food had everything to do with it.
Work was far from stressful, all he did was sit in a chair and talk to a few people while Davian and Rosie waited on him hand and foot. If anything he might be getting a little lazy.
Lake glanced down at his stomach, patting it. Pregnancy wasn’t the only reason he was filling out his clothes, he was also fat. He looked back up at his spooked mate with narrowed eyes - he knew exactly whose fault that was.