Chapter 7

Atwood

I’m resentful at first of my bride’s reluctance to make love with me. All of my fantasies of ravaging her while she is still filthy and bloody from her little adventure, then bathing with her and making love again in the tub with soap all over her beautiful breasts, are cut short when she begins to show weakness. She wavers in her spot, seemingly dizzy, so I take her to the bath to help her relax after the long night and try to soothe the raging erection in my pants.

My wolf wants her badly, and urges me to just take her now, in the bath. “No,” I tell him in my head, to which he responds with a pained growl. “I won’t take her like this.”

But as I’m washing her, she passes out and the bath water begins to turn red with blood.

I frantically call Doctor Yang using my mindlink, ordering him to come immediately despite his protests at the late hour.

I lift Ruby’s limp body from the tub and wrap her in the silk robe that I had hoped to see her twirl around my room in tonight, then lay her down on the bed. The robe and the bedsheets begin to stain red with blood, but I’m more concerned about my mate’s wellbeing.

“Come on, Ruby,” I groan as I gently shake her and pat her soft cheeks to wake her up. She doesn’t stir.

Thankfully, Doctor Yang shows up within a matter of minutes.

“Out of the way!” he orders. I comply, although I cannot help but to bare my fangs just a bit at the doctor’s harsh orders.

He sits down on the bed next to my bride and places one hand on her forehead and the other on her wrist. He closes his eyes and counts silently, then opens them and rips her robe open to expose her gorgeous, milky white, slender yet curvy body.

“Hey!” I shout angrily. I storm toward the doctor with my fists clenched, but he simply raises a hand to me as he inspects Ruby’s naked body.

The beast inside of me wrestles with the fact that I don’t want anyone else to see my mate’s beautiful body and the fact that she is injured and needs the doctor’s help.

Against my wolf’s wishes, I let Doctor Yang do his work.

As I pace the room angrily, clenching and unclenching my fists, Doctor Yang sews up the gash on Ruby’s leg and smears some ointment on the wound. He then wraps her soft leg quickly -- almost carelessly, it seems -- with gauze and bandages.

When his work is done, he stands, wiping the blood on his hands onto a cloth that a servant brings to him.

“I healed her,” I growl, staring out the window at the nearly full moon in the sky. Doctor Yang comes to stand next to me, and he looks out the window as well; he looks down at the ground below rather than up at the sky.

“Some wounds require medicine rather than magic, especially with hybrids” he says. “Do you know who did this to your mate?”

I shake my head and turn back to look at Ruby. Doctor Yang has closed her robe again and covered her with the blanket. She is still unmoving, but she looks peaceful now rather than pained.

“I don’t know exactly,” I answer. “There were some rogues attacking her and her sister when I found them in the tunnels.”

“The… tunnels?” Doctor Yang said incredulously. “What were they doing down there?”

“Running,” I answer. “From me.” I walk to the bed and sit next to my mate, holding her pale hand gently as I stroke the back of her hand with my thumb. Her hand twitches in mine and I am relieved to know that she is still in there somewhere.

“Well,” Doctor Yang says, sighing as he rifles through his medical bag to retrieve a bottle of pills and a tube of ointment. “Rogues often carry all sorts of nasty diseases. Luckily, it looks as though she hasn’t been infected with anything. Still, it will take at least two weeks for her leg to heal, and even then she will need to be careful.”

He hands the medicine to me. I take it reluctantly.

“She needs you to take care of her,” Doctor Yang says. “Only you. Your touch helped her to heal before, and it will help again in small doses. Don’t try to heal her fully again; it will only cause her wounds to swell and reopen from the inside, as was the case tonight.”

I nod silently and look down at the medicine in my hand as Doctor Yang puts his coat on again.

“Apply the ointment to her wound every morning, and give her the pills twice a day. They’re antibiotics, to help prevent any infection.”

“And for her pain?” I ask, looking up at the doctor. I hide it well, but there are tears pricking at the backs of my eyes.

“Just be with her,” he replies, buttoning his coat and wrapping his scarf around his neck. “No medication relieves pain as much as the touch of one’s mate.”

With that, the doctor takes his bag and leaves.

The fear of losing my mate, combined with the fear of going insane and dying myself, gives me great grief. I’m angry that Ruby tried to run and got herself into this situation. If she had just done as she was told and went through with the marriage, none of this would have ever happened. Hell, she could have just asked me to take in her sister and I would have said yes!

As I sit there fuming, Ruby’s hand twitches. She must not be entirely unconscious, which is a good sign.

Her eyes are still closed as she lays there. She doesn’t stir much, other than a soft, pained moan.

I lay down beside her and cup her cheek in my hand.

Then, I begin to do something that I’ve never done before.

I purr.

As my chest vibrates, I am shocked at first, but then relax as I see that the purring seems to be relieving some of Ruby’s pain. I move closer to her so that my body is pressed up against hers, so that she can feel my vibrations. A soft smile tugs at the corners of her lips.

I smile, too. As I lay there, soothing my bride with my newfound ability, I am also soothed, and so is my wolf. Eventually, I take a brief break to remove my clothes and wash myself quickly before climbing into bed next to her beneath the silk sheets and warm blanket.

When I snuff out the last candle, the only thing illuminating the room is the fire crackling in the fireplace. The shadows cast by the flames dance across Ruby’s face, making her look even more beautiful.

Even though she has cut her beautiful, long, white hair to a short bob, she still looks stunning.