The drive to the airport is relatively quiet, York occasionally groaning in pain in his seat.

Avery shoots him worried looks, and when he catches on, he turns the other way, his back facing her and his head against the window.

His new position seems to make things a lot worse, and he quickly flips back over, his hand flying out to scrabble for his water bottle desperately.

Ezra, his wolf, is freaking out. He can't calm himself down, and all he can feel is his heart racing as sweat builds upon his brow and neck.

"Avery," he gasps, panting for air as his sister roars to the guards to stop the car.

She quickly drags him out of the vehicle, ripping open his shirt and tilting his head back.

"Is this a panic attack or something else?" She asks, looking into his eyes as he starts convulsing.

We don't know, Ezra links to Sonya, and she can hear the terror in his voice as he loses control of his body and stops responding to her.

Avery curses under her breath, the guards all standing around her and her brother, guns at the ready and their eyes darting around the surrounding forest.

"Somebody call my father," she commands, holding York's head still as he continues to seize.

"Deputy Alpha, we don't have any phone signal here," one guard barks back, looking straight ahead.

Avery stares at them and shakes her head.

"You're all fucking werewolves in case you've forgotten - mindlink him, and do it now - I'm keeping my link open for Ezra," she snarls, letting Sonya take control for a moment to try force Ezra to wake up.

Avery partially shifts, and digs her claws in Ezra's temples, hoping the pain will shock him awake as it has done numerous times before.

He remains unresponsive, and Avery curses, feeling slightly relieved as his seizures slow down and reduce in number.

She makes mental notes of how long he seized for, sending them to one of the doctors in their pack, who is utterly baffled but obeys orders to write down the times she's given.

"Your father says get him to the airport," one of the guards states and Avery runs a hand through her hair.

"I don't know if he can fly like this," she groans but lets three of the guards scoop him back into the car.

She stands up, biting her lips.

Get in, dumbass, the sooner you get to the airport, the sooner somebody else gets to make decisions, Sonya reminds her. Avery quickly clambers into the car, slamming the door behind her so hard that one of the guards flinches.

Mum is going to kill us, Avery groans, and Sonya silently agrees, grimacing as the car takes off at full speed, flying over bumps and rocks.

"Safety first please," Avery calls, watching York's head bob around the car.

She furrows her brows, and takes his neck rest, putting it around his throat and leaning him back, so that he's at least semi immobilised.

Now we hope he doesn't get strangled, Sonya quips sarcastically, but her tone is shaken - both her and Avery hate seeing York in any pain or distress.

Avery pulls out her phone and takes a deep breath, trying to decide between ringing her mother or literally anybody else.

Just get it over with, Sonya suggests, then she can't say we didn't try to contact her.

Avery sighs, agreeing with her wolf for once.

Dialling the number, she sits in nervous silence, feeling sweat build up on her brow as the ringing continues.

Her mother finally answers with a very confused, "Hello?"

"Hi mama," Avery mumbles, before straightening her back and forcing herself to clear her throat.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Marie asks, concern leaking into her tone.

"Okay, I want you to sit down, and then I'll tell you," Avery nods, glancing over at York, seeing his face ghostly white.

"Avery, you're so dramatic, but fine, I'll sit down," Marie groans, "You better not be about to tell me that you're pregnant or something, I don't want to be a grandmother yet."

Avery winces at the mention of pregnancy, shaking her head.

Ha, Louisa is gonna have an excited audience, Sonya snorts, slight smugness leaking into her voice.

Avery tells her to shut up and then shuts off the link, listening to rustling as her mother settles herself down, probably in the leather armchair in her father's office.

She hears more noise, and she just knows that it's the navy blanket being thrown over her mother's legs as she gets comfortable

Avery leans over and presses her hand against York's forehead, and frowns when she realises that he's burning up.

"Can we turn on the air conditioning, please," Avery calls to one of the guards, putting her hand over the speaker of her phone so that her mother can't hear it.

The guard obeys, and cold air begins shooting out of the vents, making Avery flinch at the sudden temperature change.

"Thank you," Avery smiles, nodding to the guard who did it for her.

"Okay, Avery, I'm sitting down, now would you just tell me what's happened? I hate this suspense shit, it's horrible-" Avery cuts her mother off, blinking her tears away quickly.

"York is sick," she whispers, and her mother goes silent, which is very unusual - usually the woman has an answer to everything.

"Okay," her mother simply responds, "Obviously, it's worse than a cold or flu if you're ringing me on the day you're coming home."

Avery closes her eyes, resting her head on her hand.

"I don't know what it is. He had some seizures, and he doesn't look well. He was hungover before we left the Conference, but he has just gotten worse since we started driving," Avery notes.

Her mother is still silent, and Avery's heart practically breaks for her mother. Anytime any of them have been sick, she had stayed with them all night and nursed them back to health.

Marie had been a pack doctor until her husband retired from his Alpha position, but she still consults from time to time.

Avery can practically hear the switch from mother to doctor happening over the phone.

"What does he look like now?" She demands, and Avery squints at her brother.

"Paler than I've ever seen him. Sweaty, too. I had them turn on the air conditioning," Avery responds, "he has a rash on his neck, too, but I thought it might just be from being too warm."

Avery undoes her seatbelt and carefully manoeuvres herself to her brother's side.

Just as she's about to press the rash, her mother groans.

"Don't touch his neck, leave it alone, and get to the airport as soon as you can. I'm going to make some calls and get somebody onto the plane with you guys; they'll know what to do, I might know what this is," Marie announces, and Avery stays silent.

Nothing comes through the phone, and Avery rolls her eyes.

"What is it then? And you say I'm the dramatic one," Avery grumbles, straightening her brother up in his seat.

"I want to be sure, and I don't want to guess. Just get to the airport quickly," she commands, and Avery scowls, hanging up.

Once she's sure York is still breathing and can support himself a little better, Avery returns to her seat, staring at her brother intensely for the remainder of the drive.

They arrive at the airport in under thirty minutes - which is an impressive feat, considering it should have taken over two hours.

The guards all bundle out first, two staying to help Avery move York.

They underestimate his weight and need to call a third one over, who helps shift him out of the car and onto a wheelchair seat.

Avery stays by his side, telling him what's going to happen before anyone does anything, even though he shows no signs of knowing what's going on.

A tall and skinny man walks over to Avery and throws his hand out.

"Dr Orion. Where is he?" He asks, and Avery shakes his hand hesitantly and then points towards her brother who looks more like a rag-doll than an Alpha at the moment.

"When did he lose consciousness?" The man calls, and Avery freezes.

"About twenty-five minutes ago," she nods, and the man raises a brow.

"Why didn't you turn back to the Connors' pack?" He questions, and Avery bites her lip.

"We aren't allies with them. Home territory is safer," Avery scowls, and the man lets out a little puff of air.

She ignores his huffiness and instead holds her brother's hand tightly.

"If you die and leave me alone with Louisa, I swear to the Goddess York, I will make your death a living hell," she hisses into his ear, squeezing his hand extra tightly for a minute.

"Not hell," he mumbles suddenly, and the Doctor freezes.

Avery smirks, flicking her ponytail back from her face.

"I knew that would work, you little shit," she mutters back, flicking his ear.

"Do not harm the Alpha!" The doctor gasps and Avery stares at him.

"He's my brother, and I did a better job of waking him up than you did," Avery retorts, and York's head falls forward.

"We need to get him home as soon as we can, your mother wants to run tests I haven't even heard of on him," Dr Orion nods, and Avery furrows her brows.

Who the hell is this man?, Sonya growls, Why is he the one that was sent to us?

Avery doesn't respond to either him or her wolf, and with the guards helping, she manages to get him settled into the seat.

The pilot knows the situation and promises to get them home as soon as possible.

Avery busies herself in making phone calls to different Alphas to let them know they'll be flying through their air space, reminding them of favours she did for them and of treaties they've signed.

Usually, planes stick to neutral territory, but Avery has pull in places that make a difference.