The Scarlet Hunter

Chapter 40-1

"Are you disappointed that we have different boundaries with her?" Damon asked Galan. Isla fell asleep before they had a chance to get her any food and he wondered if they should wake her.

"It's not bad." Galan repositioned so that her face was pressed against him and she could listen to him through his chest. "It shows that she was lucid and set the boundaries where she was comfortable. And maybe I should be disappointed, but she spent so much more time with you. She trusts you more. It only hurts to think that she would have more affection for you. I never stood a chance with her." He looked up at Damon. "She was whisked away from us so fast. You got in there somehow, into the circle of trust, but I'm not. What if she was in my patrol area instead of yours that first night?" His hand absentmindedly massaged her neck. "But it doesn't help to think about that. I have this, which is more than I ever thought I would have with her. I have her trust, I am protecting her, I am serving her."

"What if one of us is her mate? How would we even be able to with Alpha Alec?" Damon felt his stomach tighten as he asked that question. "I'm sure he's already thought of them being chosen mates. Would she reject her fated mate for him, you think? Would she reject her fated mate if he's just a warrior in the pack?"

"If she didn't reject him, they might have to leave." Galan took a swig of the sports drink and leaned his head back against the wall. "How could you stay?"

"Unless he too found his fated mate." Damon offered. His eyes dropped from Galan to the cluster of red hair on his chest, covering a face in there somewhere. "Then, maybe, he'd be able to move on."

"It would be worth it, though," Galan lifted his head from the wall to look down on her, "To be with your fated mate, it would be worth everything you had to do to make sure she was safe and happy and with you."

"I bet you if he found his fated mate before she did, he would reject her and pursue Isla," Damon said as he inspected her. "She's getting hot again. We have a couple more hours of this."

"A couple? We have seven more hours of this." Galan said.

"Suddenly, it doesn't seem that bad, does it?" Damon smirked.

"Let's see if all those things work, Magic Tongue before you get too excited." Galan pulled her in tight, feeling her sweat drip down his chest. "Mind getting her something for this?"

Damon came back with a wet washcloth. "I'm going to patrol the area and will be back soon. You got her?"

Galan nodded and tilted her head back, pushing her wet hair from her face, to place the washcloth on her forehead. "I'll take care of her till you get back," he said without looking up.

Galan felt Damon leave and heard him shift when he hit the doorway. He continued to look down on Isla's sweaty face, dripping down her neck. He followed the movement and rubbed his thumb along her collarbone, over the area where she would wear the mark of her mate. Her lips parted, and she released a slight moan. Galan whispered, "When are you going to tell everyone that I'm your mate, darlin'?"

Galan continued living out his fantasies of having her as his mate, the mother of his pups, on his patrol team when she started to get agitated again. Her eyes opened, and she moved to sit up.

"Hey darlin', you're up," Galan cooed at her. Isla looked around the room, and tears started to roll down her face. "What's going on?"

"It hurts," She clutched her lower abdomen choking out a few sobs.

"Tell me how it hurts and let's see what we can do about it," Galan soothed her.

"I feel hot," She strained, "and I want... I don't know." Skin was quickly turning red and even though her breathing was becoming less erratic, her temperature was going up again.