Kael's POV
The pain in Kael's chest was a living thing, a white-hot blade twisting over his heart, the fated bond fraying like a rope snapping strand by strand. His mate's heartbeat—her faint, stubborn pulse—was gone, and with it, the world he'd fought for was crumbling. Now, after finding her—his mate, bruised and broken, he was losing her, the bond breaking as her heart stopped.The doctors' shouts filled the stronghold's makeshift ER, their voices a frantic blur—"She's flatlining!"—as they pumped her chest, the defibrillator's hum a mocking rhythm. Kael thrashed against the wolves restraining him, their grips like iron. His silver eyes burned, locked on her frail form, her bruises stark against pale skin, her body still but for the doctors' desperate efforts. The bond's fracture was unbearable, each snap of its threads a fresh wound. He couldn't fail her, not like his father had failed them. With a primal strength, Kael tore free, his claws slashing, muscles surging with a strength born of desperation. The wolves staggered back, Holt's shout lost as Kael barreled through the ER door, the antiseptic stench hitting him like a wall. He reached her side, shoving a doctor aside, his hands trembling as he cupped her face, her skin cold, her lips parted, lifeless.
"No," he whispered, his voice breaking, the chest pain searing, the bond a faint, flickering thread. "You don't get to leave me."
Driven by instinct, by the bond's fading pulse, he crashed his lips agaisnt her and kissed her, his lips fierce against hers, pouring every ounce of his will, his heart, his claim into the act. The bond flared, a spark in the void, and he deepened the kiss, his beast howling, begging her to come back. A gasp tore from her throat, her chest heaving under the doctors' hands, the monitor beeping as her heart stuttered back to life. Kael pulled back, his breath ragged, his silver eyes wide, the pain in his chest easing as the bond stabilized, a fragile thread knitting back together. Her eyelids fluttered, her pulse weak but there, her scent—sweet, wild, laced with that primal edge—flooding his senses again. The doctors froze, stunned, one muttering, "That's impossible," but Kael didn't care, his hands still cradling her face, his thumb brushing her cheek, tears burning his eyes. She was alive. His mate was alive.The moment shattered as Holt stormed in, his face a mask of fury and fear, flanked by wolves. Kael's beast surged, his claws flexing, but he didn't move from her side, his eyes locked on her fragile form.
Before Kael could retort, a doctor—a wiry man with sharp eyes and a clipboard—stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the protagonist, his brow furrowed. "Can we talk about how nobody's questioning this?" he said, his voice low, edged with unease. "Jason's fixation on a regular human—it's not normal. Alpha wolves don't lose their minds like this over just anyone. And according Thomas, her scent, the way it's got everyone twisted, those bonds—Jason's mark, your imprint— she could be a vessel" He glanced at Kael, his expression grim. "She's not just any female. She's carrying something, maybe some kind of old magic, and it's drawing them all to her."Kael's chest tightened, not with pain but with dread, the doctor's words echoing his own sense of her.
The doctor's words hung in the air, but Holt cut through, his voice sharp. "A vessel for what? We don't have time for theories, doc." He turned to Kael, his eyes hard. "I won't ask you to renounce to her but you need to take her away, it may buy us sometime"
The doctor's words hung in the air, but Holt cut through, his voice sharp. "A vessel for what? We don't have time for theories, doc." He turned to Kael, his eyes hard. "I won't ask you to renounce to her but you need to take her away, it may buy us sometime"
Kael's gripping the bedframe, splintering wood. "How long do we have? You said yourself, it may not be that much longer." Kael was barely coherent, his thoughts a tangled mess of fear and dread.
"If Thomas didn't let Jason attack at once it means he won't be as stupid to attack without a plan" Holt hedged "Hide her in one of the remote ranger cabins that will make her scent go away, hide your scent and drive a car, lets confuse Jason"
Kael nodded and moved out from behind the bed frame, moving down the hall to the door that led outside.