Chapter 3

Kieran

The moment Serena walked out of the packhouse, my wolf Kai growled in my mind.

He was very pissed.

You let her go, he snarled. You let her walk away, and you wrapped your arm around that blonde pretender like she meant something. You fool.

She's low-ranking, I shot back, keeping my face neutral as Celeste chattered beside me. The alliance with Celeste's father is....

An excuse. Kai cut in coldly. You know it's an excuse. The bond has been roaring for months, and you've been stuffing it down like a coward. Our mate stood in front of you, and you called her a problem.

I called the situation a problem.

That doesn't make it any better, Kieran.

I pushed him down. I had to. Because if I let him surface, I would have run after her. And I couldn't run after her. Not with Celeste's father's troops stationed at the northern border, and the council breathing down my neck about the succession laws.

Weak, Kai hissed. You are weak, and you are hiding behind politics.

I shoved him deeper into the recesses of my mind and forced myself to focus on Celeste's words.

"...and then Cynthia said that the dress was clearly last season, but I told her that the designer specifically chose the cut for.....Kieran? Are you listening to me?"

"Yes," I lied. "The dress. Last season. I understand."

Celeste's perfectly manicured eyebrow arched. "You're distracted."

"I'm hungry." I gestured towards the restaurant I'd reserved. I took her hand. "Come, let's eat."

I tried to pay attention to Celeste as she talked about the upcoming gala but my mind was on Serena the whole time.

The mate bond had changed over the years. It had only been a quiet hum when she was twelve, so it had been easy to ignore. But when she had walked into the office this morning, I almost lost control at her scent.

She's going to leave the pack because of what you said. Kai said bitterly.

"She won't."

Really? Kai sneered.

I set down my fork, harder than usual.

"Is something wrong?" Celeste asked.

"Nothing." I reached for my wine glass. "Nothing at all."

Suddenly Thorne's voice echoed in my mind through the mind link.

"Alpha." His tone sounded urgent. "There's been an incident with Serena Woods."

I went still.

What incident?

"She was attacked by five men in some alley," he paused. "She's been badly hurt. Her skull, her ribs, her internal organs. The medics are taking her to the hospital now, but…"

I was already on my feet.

"Kieran?" Celeste asked, confused. "What's...where are you going?"

I didn't answer. I was already out the door and running to the car.

I drove like a mad man, bursting through the hospital doors when I finally got there. My aura flared so hard that the receptionist was slammed back in her chair.

"Where is she?" I demanded. "Serena Woods. Where is she?"

The receptionist stammered something about a room number, but I was already moving, following the pull of the bond that led me down a long corridor.

I found her in room 314 with a man.

He was standing beside her bed and touching her. The rage that slammed through me was so sudden and so violent that I didn't even think before I moved.

My hand closed around his throat, and I slammed him against the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.

"Who the hell are you?" I snarled. "Why are you touching her?"

He wheezed, clawing at my hand. "I...I found...I found her...I work close by...When I heard the noise I..."

"Bullshit." I tightened my grip. "You expect me to believe you just happened to be there?"

"Alpha." Thorne's voice came from the doorway. "Please let him go. He's the one who saved her."

I didn't want to let go. The scent of this man was all over Serena and Kai was growling so loudly in my head that I could barely think.

She was almost killed, Kai snarled. And this man was there. This man touched her. This man might have done it.

"He's not the attacker," Thorne said, stepping closer. "She wouldn't be in this state if not for him. One of the nurses said he had treated her wounds himself when the doctors refused to admit a low-ranking wolf."

I looked at the man's face. He was pale and terrified. The only thing I could smell on him was the scent of dish soap and the faint metallic tang of Serena's blood.

I released him.

He dropped to the floor, gasping, and I turned my attention to the bed.

Serena looked small and fragile. Her face was swollen and her lips were cracked and pale. Her chest was bandaged roughly, like it had been done by a non-medic.

"What treatment is she receiving?" I demanded.

The doctor, a nervous-looking man with a clipboard, stepped forward. "Alpha, we've done what we can, but Serena Woods is a low-ranking wolf, and hospital policy dictates that..."

"I don't give a damn about policy." My voice dropped to something dangerous. "What treatment is she receiving?"

The doctor swallowed. "She's...she's stable for now, but we haven't been able to administer the blood transfusion. The blood reserve is.."

"Give her mine."

The doctor blinked. "Alpha, you can't... you're the Alpha, if anything happened to you, the pack would..."

"I said give her mine." My aura flared, and the doctor took a step back. "She needs a blood transfusion. She needs antibiotics. And she needs a private suite, not this closet you've shoved her in. Do it. Now."

"Alpha, the cost..."

"Let me make myself clear." I stepped closer, and the doctor shrank back against the wall. "Serena Woods is under my protection. Anyone who fails to treat her with the full extent of the hospital's resources will answer to me personally. And I promise you..." My voice dropped to a growl, low and dangerous, "...I will tear this building down with my own hands if I have to repeat myself."

The doctor nodded and scrambled out of the room.

"Alpha." The man said quietly, and I turned to him.

"I found this on the ground near her." The man stretched out his hands to show me a broken pendant.

I recognized it immediately. It was the pendant my father had given her father, for his service. I clenched my fist and turned back to Serena.

"You can leave." I ordered.

He bowed and Thorne escorted him out, leaving me alone with her.

"Look what you did to her." Kai said bitterly.

"I didn't do anything."

"You may as well have. You let her walk out of the packhouse alone and now she's hurt."

I sat down in the chair beside her bed. My hand found hers, and I felt the mate bond flicker weakly between us. I began to channel my energy into her through the bond.

Please, I said through the bond. Please wake up. Please don't leave me.

Celeste called multiple times but I ignored it, eventually putting my phone on silent.

I just held Serena's hand and continued channeling every ounce of healing energy I had into her, watching as the color returned to her cheeks.

Her fingers twitched.

I leaned forward, my heart hammering. "Serena?"

Her eyelids fluttered open. There was a look of confusion on her face when her eyes focused on me.

"Kieran?" Her voice was low as if she was taking great pains to talk. "What... what are you doing here?"

I didn't reply, instead I leaned in closer to tuck her hair behind her ears when his scent hit me.

I thought he had only been touching her hand but he'd touched her. He'd probably held her. And his scent was everywhere. In her hair. On her collar.

Kai seized control before I could hold him back.

The thought of another man's hands made me see red. My hand pressed down on the pillow beside her head, caging her in.

"Who was that man with you?" I demanded. "Why do you reek of him?"