I Want Her (GxG)

26: Riley

 Horror shook through me, at the sight before me. Blood soaked my hands, my mate's blood. Her limp body was paler than I had ever seen it before and it made my wolf whine in panic. We couldn't lose her. I couldn't lose her. Joey, Mike, and Dan had arrived in minutes, covered in dirt and leaves from their run through the forests, all three looking almost as distressed as me. I clung to Mia's body, begging her to open her eyes and tell me she was okay. Tears fell freely now as Dan crouched down to where she lay. "Fix her", I pleaded with him. "You can't let her die". Dan nodded silently, his lips pursed as she approached us, trying not to spook my wolf.

 "I will Alpha", he choked, tears in his eyes too as he inspected the condition his Luna was in. It didn't look good. He looked over his shoulder at my Beta and Delta. "Get the stretcher ready, we're going to have to transport her with the arrow in, she'll bleed out otherwise - she doesn't heal like us, we have to treat her like she is a human". My lip trembled. Human? Sure, Mia was born a human, but she was a wolf now. She would heal just like us...wouldn't she? My mate's little body was gently lifted and placed on the black stretcher, I held her hand all the while, my tears falling on her chest. I had just marked her and completed the bond, and here we were, fighting death just a while later. I was in shock.

 Mike cleared his throat and began lifting the stretcher with Joey, as Dan held gauze against the bleeding wound. "Alpha Riley, you can kick the shit out of us later, but we need to get Luna Mia to somewhere we can treat her stat. We need you to go back ahead of us". I rose to my feet, my tears stopped and were replaced by determination. "You want me to leave my mate?" A growl left my body. "No, we don't want that, but, you need to go start looking for the bastard that did this - that is the best thing you can do for her right now". I wasn't expecting this demanding outburst from Dan, but it brought me to my senses. "You're right...but promise me, you'll fix her".

 Dan nodded without a moment of hesitation. "If anyone can treat this wound, it's me. You can trust me Alpha". My emotions pushed themselves to the back of my mind, despite the worry and guilt as I tore out of the house, through the woods; not bothering to take off my clothes as I shifted. Anger fuelled me and I made it back to the pack house in minutes, shifting back once I reached my office on the second floor. I threw on the first clothes I found, a sports bra and sweatpants and soon my office was swarmed by my parents. They stood in horror at the door. My mom ran forward, taking me in her arms. "What happened?" Her voice broke. I pulled away, fighting back tears again as my dad sat in one of the chairs at my desk. "It was definitely a rogue", I explained. "It has to have been someone who was trying to get to me or Don". My parents nodded as I took my seat, my dad leaning over my desk slightly. "Hey, kid", he sighed. "I'm here to help in any way I can, so is your mom. We're going to get through this. Mia is tougher than she looks".

 This made me feel a slight bit of relief. I knew my mate was tough, but wolfsbane was a tricky poison to treat. "How would you know?" I smiled lightly, trying to show my parents I was holding in there. "She got mated to you - of course she's tough". Rolling my eyes, I smoothed out a map in front of my dad. "I think whoever it was is sticking just outside the territory lines to avoid being caught by patrol. We need Don to have his men searching for any activity by the borders". My dad nodded and placed his hand over mine. "I've got this kiddo, this old man still knows a trick or two - go be with your mate now, we'll handle this". I looked between my parents as my mom pulled me up, practically pushing me down the stairs. "Thank you", I whispered, not trusting my voice.

 With that I made my way down the stairs, feeling worried glances on me from every direction. Alpha, we're in the infirmary with Luna Mia, she looks like she's regaining consciousness. Instincts triggered by Dan's voice through the mind link. My feet carried me without thought, through the heavy rain to the large infirmary building just east of the pack house. As soon I was inside I could hear my mate's agonizing screams. "WHY IS THERE STILL AN ARROW IN MY FUCKING SHOULDER?" I ran towards the chaos, busting through the first door I found, to see three familiar big men, staring at my tiny mate as she took a hold of the arrow in her shoulder, ripping it out with a string of swears and screams, falling from her lips. She looked slightly crazy in the nasty green hospital gown and socks, her hair had obviously been tied back by one of the men in the room. It looked like a pineapple on top of her head.

 Shock didn't even begin to describe how I felt, standing there. On one hand, she was injured, but on the other hand, she was coming around to her usual self. It was confusing - but reassuring. My wolf pulled me towards our mate's side. Mia writhed in pain but seemed more comfortable now that the arrow was out of her shoulder. "Baby, how did you do that?" I asked before turning to Dan, whose jaw dropped in fear and disbelief. "How did she do that? That should have killed her". He shook his head, before running around to the other side of the bed, preparing to treat the now open wound. "I gave her morphine and a light sedative to calm her down - I certainly was not expecting her to do that". 

 The doctor-in-training gave me a panicked look. A classic 'it wasn't me' look. Mia just made a weird gurgled noise, that sounded like "I dunno". That's when I saw something strange. I could see the last bits of wolfsbane burn against my mate's skin. She was burning the wolfsbane, the wolfsbane wasn't burning her. Joey and Mike stared at me. "It must be her human side. She's immune to wolfsbane?" Joey guessed. I squeezed Mia's hand as her breathing began to settle.

 "So what am I fucking magic or something? I mean I still have a hole in my shoulder", she groaned in discomfort. Her eyes found mine and she squeezed my hand back. I'm sorry for scaring you, she spoke through our new mind link. You don't have to apologize, we're gonna find the asshole who did this. She nodded, a soft smile finding its place on her lips. The sight settled me a little and I felt my muscles relax. Dan stood from his stool, peeling off blue surgical gloves and dumping them in a hazardous waste box. "The wound looks good. I was able to stitch it up, it should hurt for a while - but considering our original prognosis, this is the best news we could possibly ask for".

 I let out an audible sigh of relief, sitting beside Mia on the hospital bed, running my hands over her soft cheek, still in the sports bra and shorts that I threw on earlier. "I guess sometimes it pays to be human, huh?" She laughed, wincing at the sharp pain in her shoulder. "I need to stop being so funny. It hurts". The room erupted in light laughter, the panic fading from the expressions of my Beta and Delta as they caught my attention. "We promise, we're gonna catch this bastard and give him the worst punishment possible", Mike assured, patting Mia's leg and sending me a nod before he made his way to the door, Joey following behind him. "Alpha, Luna", he bowed jokingly, hitting his shoulder off the door on his way out.

 Mia rolled her eyes and grinned. She looked much better already. I was amazed. I turned my focus to Dan who was digging around in a cart in front of him, his slightly long hair getting in his way as he did so. "Fortunately, I studied a lot of human medicine just in case of an emergency", he mused, pulling out a box of pills. "Here it is. Luna, I need you to take this iron supplement to help your body recover from the blood you lost. It turns out, your healing time is pretty much the same as the average human, and although you will feel better quicker than a human - it doesn't mean you are recovered". Mia nodded in understanding, taking the pills. I swiftly snatched them out of her hands with a smirk. "Babe you can't even remember to drink water, I think you might need a hand with these". She snorted in response.

 "Sooooo", she pondered. "Can I go now? I was just shot with an arrow and had my romantic getaway ruined - I want to order burritos and complain about it". Dan and I laughed. I was in love with how optimistic and positive she was despite the horror she had just been through, although I do recall Lucas, Delta of the Red Dawn pack, saying that she tended to cope with humor. I could respect that. "You can go, but make sure someone is with you at all times in case the stitches open - if that happens, mind link me and come straight back here". I gave Dan a pat on the shoulder. "Thank you for everything". He smiled with a nod. "It's no problem Alpha, I'm glad our Luna is okay". With that, he left so Mia could dress herself in a pair of my sweatpants. She struggled to get the hoodie over her injury, so I assisted. My panic had all but disappeared, but I was still scratching my head at the turnaround she had. I wondered if it really was her human attributes that saved her, or something else. Nothing could explain how she pulled that arrow out of her shoulder, or her immunity to wolfsbane.

 I put the thought to the back of my mind. When my mate was finally ready, I helped her stroll out of the small single-story infirmary. We carefully made our way back to the packhouse, taking our time so we didn't aggravate her injury. Some pack members shot sympathetic looks, others gave greetings and well wishes. Once we were in the safety of the living room, Mia turned to me, dropping her smile completely and sighing. Her eyes met mine, tears already falling. She looked pained.

"I think I know who did this".