“I’ll certainly do that, Alpha. And once that’s done you can help to heal him, but I must caution you not to use too much of your own strength to aid him. I don’t want you to weaken yourself too much. Okay?”
“I think you misunderstood, Healer,” Sheba said firmly. “I’ll do whatever it takes to heal him, so don’t stand in my way. You won’t like the consequences if you do. This decision is simple. We live together. Or we die together.”
“Sheba!” Ray warned. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m doing what any mate would do, Ray.”
“Oh fuck!” Ari wailed again, grabbing a tighter hold of Ray.
“My sentiments exactly,” Ray grumbled.
“Let’s get started,” Sheba ordered and Tilly instructed her exactly on what to do.
Turned out it was easier than she expected. Forced exchange of blood, claimed him as hers, and voila he was her mate. It wasn’t a full mating. That would come later when he could mark her as his and they would seal their mating with the usual long love-filled days locked away together. But she’d marked him, and they’d exchanged blood so she could now help him and that’s all that mattered.
Sheba lay down next to him, her arm over his chest, and poured her power into his body as Tilly set up a drip to aid with his blood loss. It wasn’t long until she could see a slight change in the pallor of his face. It was no longer the color of a corpse, thank goodness. And it wasn’t long after that when Tilly told her to ease up . . . not a fucking chance. Sheba carried on, and on, until her muscles ached, her head felt as if it were about to burst, and her eyes drooped as she fell into darkness.
Her last thought was . . . she hoped she’d done enough to save her mate. If not then she hoped she’d done enough to join him in the hunting grounds.
Either way, they’d be together and that’s the one, and only, thing she wanted.
“Please, please wake up.” A soft plea made it through the haze of Sheba’s mind, tearing her from the warmth of her sleep.
“What? Leave me be, for goodness sakes. Can’t a girl sleep in around here?” she grumbled, slowing coming awake to find herself snuggled against a long, hard body.
She jerked, sitting up quickly and regretting it immediately as a bout of dizziness struck. Her hand shot to her head and the voice rose in alarm. “Oh shoot, no, don’t do that. Lie back down or Tilly will kick my ass!”
“Ari? What’s going on?”
“Sheba, please lie down before Tilly comes in or she’ll kill me,” Ari pleaded.
Sheba did so, gently, and felt better immediately, opening her eyes slowly to find herself in the master bedroom of the Alpha cabin. “What’s going on? Why am I not in my own room?”
Then she felt the body again and turned to find . . . her mate. And everything rushed back in like a tsunami and she knew why she’d been moved into the master bedroom. The one she’d never taken residence of since her father’s death. “Oh hell! I’ve got a mate! And he’s here with me so I guess he’s made it. Ari, tell me is he going to be okay?”
Ari leaned forward from the chair she was sitting on at the side of the bed, grinning like an idiot. “Yes, you’ve got a mate and yes, it looks like he’s going to be okay. Tilly says you gave him almost all of your power and it saved him. But, and I’ve gotta tell you, your mom, Ray, and Tilly are kinda mad at you . . . and so am I. What were you thinking? We almost lost you, Sheba. I was so scared!”
Sheba turned back to her friend, shrugging. “It’s hard to describe, Ari, but it was a case of, if he went then I was going with him.”
“What? But you’d only just met him! That’s insane!”
“I know but a soul-mate is different to just an ordinary guy. It’s impossible to explain. Just wait until you meet yours and then you’ll know.” Sheba looked around, licking her lips. “My throat is as dry as the desert. Can I get some water?”
“Sure.” Ari jumped up, going to the dresser and pouring a glass from the pitcher. She stuck a straw in and came back. “Tilly says you’ve just to take small sips, and I’m to call her soon as you wake up so she can check you out.”
“Pfft.” Sheba waved that away. “I’ll be fine.”
“Whatever,” Ari replied. “But I’m not getting on the wrong side of her and your mom is downstairs waiting too. She’s hardly slept or eaten and she’s been so worried.”
“Hardly slept or eaten? Ari, just how long have I been here?” Sheba asked.
“It’s been four days.” Ari rose, opening the door and shouting for Sheba’s mother.
“How’s the Pack? Have the rogues been dealt with? Is there anything I need to know? Where’s Ray? I need to speak with him.”
“Pack is fine and the renegades have been run off, or rather, most are dead and the rest are gone. Ray’s been dealing with everything else and the only thing you need to know is Hoyt is dead.”
Sheba sat back up, her head spinning again. “What? Hoyt’s dead? What the fuck, Ari? What happened?”
“Well, it looks like he was in league with the renegades, telling them where to go and how to evade our patrols. He was also the one laying bear traps so when this all came out, well, let’s just say that Ray and he had a little difference of opinion, and Hoyt’s no longer with us.”
“Hell, I knew that one was a bad apple, but if I had an inkling what he was up to I would’ve ripped his throat out.” Sheba couldn’t believe how low the rat had sunk.
“I
