going to be? How do we get this under control other than diet and stress reduction?”
The doc shook his head. “I can’t share that with you.”
“Because he told you not to?”
“Because you’re not his mate, so doctor-patient privilege applies.”
Ben took a deep breath and leashed the growling wolf within. “I’ll be rectifying that situation as soon as possible.”
“No. You won’t.” Rick leaned forward. “The doc said no stress, so I’m telling you. You will not stress out my Beta any more than you already have. I find out you’ve pushed anything on him or forced him into something, and I swear to God I will Outcast you so fast you’ll bounce down the mountain.”
Ben swallowed hard. Each and every person in the room blamed him for what was happening to Dave. Including himself. “The headaches started when he was fifteen. Why has it taken so long to figure out what’s wrong with him?”
Rick leaned back with a sigh. “You remember how much of an isolationist my grandfather was.” Rick’s grandfather, the old Alpha, had been unwilling to even discuss going outside the Pack for anything. Maybe if Rick’s father had lived it would have been different. Rumor had it Roger Lowell could talk his father into just about anything. But Roger and his mate had died in a car accident while Rick was still a baby, and Rick’s grandfather had completely closed the Pack off from the outside world. “ He thought simply shifting back and forth would solve Dave’s problems. No way he’d let Dave go see a doctor no matter how much Dave’s folks pleaded with him. Hell, I got punished more than once for trying to get the old man to relent. He was convinced channeling his wolf would fix everything that was wrong with Dave.”
It hadn’t. The headaches had grown worse over the years. That was one of the reasons Ben had been so certain they were hangovers. That and the fact that he’d caught the man drunk on a few occasions. Thinking back he realized he could count on the fingers of one hand the times Dave must have truly been drunk. Could those strange, floaty times when Dave’s head pounded and he seemed so disconnected have been associated with the migraines?
“Now that we have access to a doctor we’re finding out more and more about what’s wrong with him. It never occurred to me to take the man’s hot dogs away.” Rick winced, because Dave did love his hot dogs. Come summertime you could find him with one in his hand and a can of soda in the other, laughing and having a good time.
Despite everything Ben had done to shove Dave away the other Wolf had remained a decent human being, playful and fun-loving. He’d caught Dave’s wistful looks, the longing there plain to see, but he’d turned away from it over and over again.
No more. Dave was his mate, and he was hurting, and it was past time for Ben to do something about it.
“That’s all I can tell you without permission.” Jamie shrugged. “Until the two of you resolve your mating issues, there’s nothing more I can do.”
“And I’m telling you to stay the fuck away from him until the migraines are under control. Got it?” Rick glared at Ben again. “In fact, I’m thinking I might send you into New York for a few days. The Coyotes want to negotiate a pass-through treaty and I’m inclined to send you and Chela to deal with it.”
A pass-through treaty would grant each Pack the right to enter the other’s territory without the need to stop and make nice. It would mean more Coyotes spending time at the lodge, even becoming regular customers if it worked out. It also meant that Ben would more than likely be gone until after Dave came home and had a chance to settle in. It would also give everyone’s temper a chance to settle down.
As plans went, it wasn’t a bad one. The urge to go to his mate’s side despite the doctor’s warnings and Rick’s threats was damn near overwhelming. Having the time to come up with a way to make