Phoenix Reborn (Alpha Pack, #7.5)(4)

When the tiger finally began to relax, Nix looked around the room. And spotted the streaks of crimson blood that left a stark trail across the tiled floor until it disappeared under the bed, which was shoved against the far wall.

“Here, put these back on.” Glancing up, Nix saw Aric standing there holding out his cargo shorts. He quickly pulled them on and returned his attention to the blood trail.

Heart pounding, Nix crawled over to the bed, telling himself that it couldn’t be Noah under there. The man was probably off somewhere else, attending to other duties. Steeling himself, he peered underneath and his world fell out from under him.

A familiar slim figure wearing scrubs was curled on his side facing Nix, blond hair falling into eyes that were closed. His arms were wrapped around himself protectively, though it was clearly too late for that. Noah’s left shoulder, arm, and what Nix could see of his side all the way to his hip was flayed open, and his mate was literally soaked in blood.

“Noah,” he gasped. “Oh, God.”

Scrambling up, Nix shoved the bed out of the way. His only thought was to get to Noah, and he dropped to the floor, taking the smaller man in his arms. Noah’s head lolled back and Nix tucked him against his chest, panic nearly choking him.

“We need help over here!” he yelled. Hands shaking, he smoothed a few wayward strands of hair from Noah’s sweet face. Then his mate blinked slowly and gazed up at him with dazed blue eyes.

“Nix?”

Clutching his mate tighter, he pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Hang on, baby. Help is coming.”

Another blink. “Did you just call me baby?”

Crap. “I didn’t mean—”

“You did. Can’t take it back.” Noah smiled up at him, which caused funny things to happen inside Nix’s chest. Then Noah’s pain-filled eyes slowly closed.

Nix shook him gently. “Noah? Come on, stay awake! Noah!”

“Here, let’s get him onto the gurney,” Melina said from beside him.

Nix hadn’t heard her approach, and he glanced at her, noting the worry etched on her face. Apparently the shifter had been dealt with and moved, because he was no longer in the room.

Good thing, because Nix would be tempted to rip the bastard apart for hurting Noah. He still might, if they didn’t keep the f*cking tiger out of his path.

A pair of hands reached down, intending to take Noah from him. In an instant, Nix’s fangs dropped and he snarled, nearly taking a hunk of skin out of the offender.

“Whoa!” Aric exclaimed, backing up. “I’m just trying to help, man. They need to get him into surgery.”

Melina fixed him with a hard stare. “Now. He’s losing too much blood.”

Nix shook himself, mortified that he was keeping them from helping his mate. Standing, he let Aric assist him in placing Noah on the gurney. Then he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Melina and several other staff members wheeled him swiftly from the room. In a daze, he followed them into the hallway and watched until they disappeared around the corner.

“He’ll be all right,” Jax Law said, clamping a hand on his shoulder. “He’s got the best possible care around.”

When had Jax arrived? The big, goateed grey wolf shifter was the Pack’s RetroCog and Timebender—he could touch an object belonging to a person and “see” a past event connected with it. He could also bend time backwards by a matter of moments, and had done so once with almost catastrophic results for Aric.

Nix wished Jax would go back and keep Noah from being attacked. But he couldn’t ask, no matter how much his heart begged him to. Not after how the last time turned out.

“Did you see him? That motherf*cker laid him open! He’s human, Jax! He won’t heal like us.” Suddenly something occurred to Nix and he grabbed Jax’s arm. “Where’s Zan?”

“He’s on the way,” his friend reassured him. “He was headed back from town when this happened.”

“How long?”

“Any minute.”

Zander Cole was the Pack’s Healer, and his skills were damned good. He’d saved their asses on many an occasion, and this time would be no different.

Any minute, however, turned out to be almost ten while Nix paced the floor outside the OR. The need to get in there and see his mate, check for himself that he was alive and would recover, was quite literally a living thing with his wolf snarling and clawing at his guts. He had a sinking suspicion, however, that it wasn’t just the wolf’s feelings at play.

Zan hurried through OR doors without stopping to speak to anyone, and a hand on Nix’s arm restrained him from going after the Healer.

Several of Nix’s Pack brothers were lounging around while they waited on news about Noah, and Nix appreciated the show of support. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for his friends, and he knew the sentiment was returned. Plus, they all cared about Noah. The bubbly nurse had been hired going on two years ago, while Nix was being held in captivity and thought to be dead, and had quickly wormed his way into the hearts of everyone at the compound.

For him to be attacked was unthinkable.

More than three hours later, Melina finally came through the doors of the surgery, followed by Zan. They both smiled at Nix and the team in general, and Nix’s knees nearly went out from underneath him, his relief was so great.