Vince's POV

If our council meeting had run on for an extra minute, I probably would have punched or thrown something by now. It wasn't unusual for me to get these massive headaches, but the fact that the room was spinning and the lights were blinding for most of an important pack meeting had been concerning. If it weren't for my mate, Sarah, or for my close betas, I'd probably have agreed to all the pack's desires and concerns without looking into the risks.

As the betas and thetas were filling out from the meeting, Sarah had turned to me and placed her hand on top of mine.

"I thought you took your meds," she squeezed my hand before getting up and gathering the documents I needed to sign.

“I did, but it’s not helping.”

She sighed, handing me the rest of the documents, “Maybe you should see Chase, see what’s going on.”

Another wave of pain hit the back of my head and travelled down neck into my shoulders and back. I gripped the table, trying to get rid of the feeling of nausea.

“Maybe I should,” I managed to word out. I didn’t want to have to see our pack doctor if possible, he was only going to chide me for the pills I was on, saying how I really shouldn’t be on it in the first place. But this pain was becoming unbearable. If it kept going like this, I’d probably down the whole bottle of pills.

I texted Chase about an appointment before getting started on the paperwork in front of me. Most of our pack meetings consisted of approving or disapproving certain requests from members, and the occasional bigger requests that dealt with other packs and security issues. I would typically sign off on the smaller requests myself, but I would have to make sure I finalize the council’s paperwork for filing. It was a tedious process that normally takes hours on end, but Sarah would help out, organize and filing it away so it was a bit faster.

She set two cups of coffee down before pulling her chair next to mine. She grabbed half a stack and began sorting them into separate stacks to go over. I started on the simpler requests from today’s agenda, including requests for renovation on homes, permitting, as well as dispute requests like noise complaints. The pain had decreased into throbbing, but it would occasionally feel like daggers in my back. I tried ignoring it while I signed the papers.

Just as I set those aside for filing, my phone started ringing. Chase’s name flashed across the screen.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Vince. When are you able to make it in today?”

I looked over at the pile of paperwork. Sarah had turned to look at me, mouthing who. After I whispered who back to her, I mulled over how long it would take us to finish.

“Give me a couple of hours,” I told Chase. I hung up, placing my phone down, and picking up the next stack of papers. After the simple requests, I typically worked with the more important requests. These weren’t council paperwork, but these involved some careful consideration, especially pertaining to security issues and border control. Ever since my father had introduced the Rogue Control and Protection Project, or RCPP, our border control was having an issue with rogue wolves misusing and freeloading on the older “open door” policy he envisioned. Over the years of tightening it up, there were still a few loose ends that needed to be addressed.

Before, our border would allow any injured rogue who may need help, or any willing to transition into a pack member. The process had been easier, allowing anyone beyond our border. There’d be times where rogues would fake an injury to try and attack one of the pack guards at our center. Others would purposely get themselves injured so they could stay at our center to heal, receiving a free bed and food. Although it had been a wonderful idea, my father did not take into account how our pack would suffer as a result. Not only could we not accommodate all the rogues, it was becoming too stressful for the RCPP guards. It was even unsafe for our young pups to be anywhere near the center or the border at all with these potentially dangerous rogues.

The stacks of amendments and other requests for tighter security was one of the most important things that I’d have to sign off on. Although Sarah disagreed about some of these requests, I personally thought it would help in the long run. One important aspect we had discussed with the council was implementing a wait time before a rogue could use the center for injury purposes. Along with implanting trackers on the injured rogues per earlier amendments, rogues would be given a three week period for them to use the center, and have a 6 month period before being able to use the center again.

I approved most of the amendments for the security issues, except for a few that the council would need to review over again next time. Sarah had just about finished a couple of smaller requests stacks before she grabbed my hand.

“How’s the headaches?”

Now that she mentioned it, it seemed to have nearly subsided. Although my neck was sore, it could be from just looking at paperwork. I gave her a thumbs up, and she sighed in relief.

She looked at the clock above the door before turning to face me. “Why don’t we take a break and go see Chase? We don’t know why it’s getting worse, even though I took the same thing this morning”

Sadly, I had an inkling of why she had been experiencing different results, but she didn’t need to know. We placed the remaining stacks on the side before leaving the council room. Not even halfway down the stairs, my right hand man and beta, Lucas ran up towards us from the first floor.

“Alpha, Luna,” he greeted, partly out of breath. “Have you seen Jane? Or Sally? I can’t find them anywhere”

Sarah reached out and touched his arm. It was the first time Lucas had seemed this frantic in a while. He was usually the more stern and stoic of his brothers.

“What’s going on with my sister? She’s always with you,” Sarah had tilted her head slightly. We both looked to Lucas, wondering why he seemed so stressed. I noticed how he had refused to meet my mate’s eyes, which led me to believe that he was hiding something.

“I don’t know, everything was fine yesterday,” he sighed, before looking at me giving him a pointed look. His eyes wandered off before saying, “I mean we did have a small argument, but I didn’t think it was that heated”

Lucas was known for his short fuse, so this wasn’t a shock to us. Sarah had shoved his arm, “You know how Jane is. She holds grudges, she’s probably just ignoring you”

Although Sarah and I had our disagreements, Lucas and Jane could have started a reality TV show that rivaled Real Housewives. Knowing how begrudging Jane could get, they could’ve just argued about simply leaving the toilet seat up.

I patted his shoulder, before encouraging, “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be back tonight. Don’t fret about it”

“I’m not sure about that,” he stammered. “I sure hope so, we were going to watch Sally’s favorite movie. She was so excited since I don’t have patrol tonight”

“Well, we should probably head to Chase’s,” Sarah prompted. “If anything, we can reschedule your patrol shift so you can watch her favorite movie”

“Alright. Thanks anyways Luna, Alpha”

Chase’s clinic wasn’t far from the main pack house. He had another clinic stationed at the RCPP, but like the other Rogue Control guards, he had alternating shifts with his mate, Tammy, who was our other pack doctor. We had other pack nurses, but Chase and Tammy had been serving us even before they were licensed. Both their parents had been the pack doctors before, so as a result they had taken over, and helped both rogues and our members.

We headed to Chase’s office on the third floor, a few nurses greeting us along the way, when we could hear shouting from his office.

A female cried out, “What is the meaning of this? I don’t understand. You’ve been just letting this go this whole time? Does she even know?”

As we got closer, Sarah froze before peering inside from the doorway. “Jane?”

“Sis?” Jane had turned around with her eight year old daughter, Sally clutching her mother’s leg. Chase sat behind his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What are you doing here?”

“Vince had an appointment,” Sarah replied, grasping her sister’s hand. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine,” she spat. She didn’t look fine. Jane looked like she had just ran a few miles, her hair disheveled, and panting, mostly likely from her shouting. “We need to talk, Sarah”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Privately”

“Go,” I told Sarah. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before interlocking her arm with Jane. As they turned to leave, I could have sworn Jane had given me a scorn look. I had almost thought I was seeing things, when she had bumped my shoulder on their way out.

Things were definitely not fine, and I speculated somehow Jane and Lucas’s argument had something to do with me.