Wolf's Fall (Alpha Pack #6)(36)

A nurse stepped forward and gently touched Tarron’s arm. Nick hadn’t even noticed her presence before, he’d been so focused on Calla. Reluctance etched on his face, Tarron allowed the nurse to lead him from the room. Then Nick held out his arm.

“Take as much as you need. Take it all, if that means the difference between life and death.”

“A generous offer,” the doctor said with a knowing look. “But as you’re mates, that will be unnecessary. Your blood will be much more potent with healing antibodies than anyone else’s in the world. Nurse?”

Another nurse went about tying a rubber strip around Nick’s arm. Then she found a good vein, slid a needle into it, and drew several large vials of blood. Nick’s head swam a bit by the time she was done, though he hardly cared. He’d meant what he said. Calla was his only concern.

With Calla remaining on her side, the nurse inserted an IV and then hooked the vials to a pole by the bed and started the flow of Nick’s blood into the vein.

“I thought you said she would be tube-fed?”

“That, too. The intravenous feed is extra insurance.”

He was all for that. A tube was pushed down her throat and he winced, wondering whether deep down she felt any pain or discomfort from that or the burns on her back. She was out cold, so he didn’t believe so.

“She’s already breathing easier,” Viktor observed.

“Thank God.” He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, a female nurse was smoothing a white ointment all over every part of Calla that had touched the silver table. Including her buttocks. Nick’s wolf growled, but was calmed by the knowledge that the person touching her was female, and had only her healing in mind. Even though the doctor had the same intentions, Nick doubted the wolf would have cut a male the same slack. Good move on the doc’s part.

Calla was still pale as they finished cleaning her up, and got her into a hospital gown, then settled her in a fresh bed with warm, clean sheets. He followed when they wheeled her to an empty room.

“You were supposed to go outside with Tarron,” the doctor said.

“Yeah, well. You’ll find out that I’ll never follow orders where my mate is concerned, except when it involves her well-being and immediate safety. Just so you know.”

“I understand. Just don’t get in the way of my treatments, and we’ll never have a problem.”

“I won’t.”

That would never happen in a human hospital, but their world wasn’t normal by a long shot—if “normal” even existed. The paranormal world was frightening, often brutal. Mates were a gift and nothing was allowed to interfere with that bond.

Nothing.

With a nod at Nick, Viktor and the nurse left him to sit with Calla. He would go get her brother in a few minutes. Right now, he was content to sit here, hold her hand, and watch. Make sure every single breath continued to get easier than the one before. That her cheeks pinked and she was no longer knocking at death’s door.

He was a lucky wolf. He’d almost lost Calla today. His new lease on life. The reason he’d be glad to wake up every day from now on and embrace it.

Deadly determination seized his gut. He was going to find and rip apart the vampire who’d done this. No matter how long it took.

In the meantime, he was going to make good on the promise he’d made to himself.

He would get his shit together. Calla deserved a whole mate.

No, he wasn’t perfect and never would be.

But he was falling for Calla Shaw like a ton of bricks.

* * *

Calla came awake slowly.

She listened to the sounds around her, unsure what to make of them. They were soft noises—beeps, talking from somewhere nearby, steady breathing. The talking between two people didn’t sound like her captors. In fact, the male voice sounded like Viktor.

Am I free? Home?

Bits and pieces came back. Nick and his team arriving at the cabin as wolves. The white wolf leading the charge and decimating the human in his path. Trying to get to her.

She was lying in a comfortable bed, she realized. Her rescuers had succeeded. She could’ve wept in joy at the realization but she didn’t have the energy. She settled for opening her eyes to determine the source of the breathing and discovered Nick, sleeping in a chair by her bed.

Her mate must be exhausted. His chest rose and fell evenly, and his body was loose-limbed in his awkward position. There were dark smudges underneath his eyes and his clothes were rumpled. She didn’t want to wake him.

She watched him for a while, and as she did, emotion swelled in her chest and began to grow. He’d come for her, just as she’d known he would. She hadn’t expected to survive long enough to see him again, but she never had a doubt that he’d find her.

Nick shifted in his chair and stretched with a groan. He tried to work out the kinks, rolling his head on his neck and arching his back. Then he finally opened his eyes and looked directly into hers.

“You’re awake,” he said, immediately scooting his chair close to grab her hand. His face was anxious. Haunted. “How do you feel?”

“Wiped out,” she admitted. “But overall, much better than I did last time I was conscious. I don’t hurt as much and my head is pretty clear.”

“Thank God.” Raising her hand to his lips, he kissed the back of it. “You gave me quite a scare.”