Chapter 43
Chapter 43
“What do we have to do?” my brother’s tone is urgent as we both face the doctor, who eyes us both hesitantly.
Whatever it was, it was enough to make the doctor uneasy and that caused me to feel more cautious than Xavier was apparently feeling. Xavier looked as though he would murder somebody in cold blood at that moment if he thought it would do any good. “I can only think of one thing that might save your mate for certain,” the doctor said, looking apologetically at the two of us “and that would be to mark her while she’s unconscious. It would encourage her to heal quicker, but it would also…” “Bring about her wolf transformation quicker and mean that we marked her without consent” I supplied, glancing uneasily at Xavier.
No wonder the doctor looked so hesitant about it. Marking somebody without their consent was practically a crime except in extenuating circumstances, such as this one.
“Correct,” the doctor says agreeably so it’s not an easy decision to make. But I will say this. Time is of the essence and if you want your mate to live, you’ll do what’s required and beg forgiveness later” he concluded grimly and with a sense of finality to it.
Regan would hate us both for doing this. She hadn’t been thrilled to discover we were mates in the beginning and for us to mark her without consent… That would be unforgivable in her eyes. But the thought of losing her…. I stared at Xavier helplessly, knowing that his thoughts ran along the same lines. Neither of us could bear to think about losing our mate when we could have done something in order to save her. I knew Xavier felt guilty and thought that Regan’s being injured was his fault. No doubt that would help form his decision about what he wanted to do. I had no doubts about what he would choose. I knew him too well.
“”We’ll do it.”
Xavier’s voice was brooking no arguments. He glared at me, daring me to object. The doctor looked at me as I hesitated and then nodded in resignation. What was there to argue? Regan’s life was of the utmost importance to us. We could beg for forgiveness later when she lived, but we couldn’t just let her die, right in front of our eyes. Our father was wise enough to let us decide for ourselves. The doctor motioned for us to follow him back into Regan’s room. We hurried after him, keen to see our mate with our own eyes.
We halted in the middle of the room in dismay. She was pale, so translucent she was practically transparent, like a ghost. She was hooked up to multiple machines. Her face was devoid of color. Her lips were bloodless. I could see bandages across her chest, stained with her blood and no doubt mine and Xavier’s. Her hand rested gently by her side on the bed. Her pulse was weak as was her heartbeat. I could see the same shock that was on my face, mirrored on Xavier’s. The doctor hadn’t been lying to us, Regan was close to death. Even with all the transfusions she had been given. With all the abuse she had suffered in the past, she must have an even weaker immune system than the average shifter, something we had failed to take into account as well.
“She’s practically gone already” Xavier murmured, looking fearful, moving closer to Regan and taking hold of her hand.
I swallowed hard and moved to the other side of her gently stroking her hair. Her eyes remained closed, her body unaware of our presence. I felt the familiar warmth and the tingly sensation as I gripped her other hand and stared down at her, feeling my chest tighten. “Oh Regan” I murmured, feeling nauseous.
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She resembled a doll, a broken one, lying on the bed. I felt helpless looking down at her.
The doctor looked between us all. “I will give you your privacy to do what needs to be done,” he said simply and with nonchalance and then left before either of us could utter a word in reply.
I looked at Xavier. “How do we do this? She’s just lying here. We just bite her and wait?” I asked, meeting his eyes.
I felt stupid even asking, but it’s not as though we had ever marked somebody before. This would be our first time. It was a shame it wouldn’t be during a special occasion, but we couldn’t change that right now.
“I think that’s it. We do that and wait. I’ll go first” Xavier said, gently moving her head to the side and exposing the her neck as he eyed it carefully. nape of
I nodded, watching as his canines grew out of his mouth. He looked down at Regan hesitantly and then he bent his head down and bit her, gently, drawing blood and then tenderly licking the wound closed and healing it. He straightened up and we watched as a small mark appeared on her neck where the wound had been. A black wolf.Xavier’s mark upon her.
“My turn” I exhaled, feeling a sense of apprehension. I moved her neck, just like Xavier had done, exposing the other side, being gentle and careful not to move her too hard, and then stared at the smooth skin, allowing my canines to grow, My wolf purred, happy to be marking his mate, no matter what the circumstance was. All wolves were possessive of their mates and longed to put their marks on them. My wolf was no different. I could feel guilt consuming me, even as I reminded myself that this had to be done. I just hoped that Regan understood that. I leaned over, sniffing her delicious scent, closing my eyes for a brief second as I became lost in her familiar smell, and then bit into her neck, as gently as I possibly could, tasting her blood in my mouth. It tasted particularly potent, a blend of mine, Xavier’s, our Father’s, and hers. Hers were sweet. I licked the wound closed and watched another mark, identical to Xavier’s appear on that side of her neck. It was joined by a crescent moon, and as I pulled back, I saw that Xavier’s had been joined with one too. It had to do with Regan’s wolf I surmised, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and feeling impatient as I looked down at my mate. I had half expected her to wake up immediately, but there was no sign of her moving, let alone of her eyes opening. I felt slightly disappointed even though I knew it was foolish to expect her to wake up so suddenly. This wasn’t like in the movies. It would.
take time.
“It looks as though color is coming back into her cheeks,” Xavier said in surprise, peering at her closely with an intent expression.
I looked and sure enough, he was right. The color was coming back into her face and her lips no longer looked as bloodless but were now turning a pale pink. I breathed in relief. She was beginning to come back to us. Now that I listened, her heartbeat seemed to be stronger as well and becoming more rapid. That was a good sign. t meant she was growing stronger rather than weaker. Didn’t it? She was going to live! I inwardly rejoiced, smiling at my brother and feeling as though a burden had been lifted off my shoulders. “She’s getting stronger,” I said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it, feeling relieved.
Xavier frowned. “Maybe we should call the doctor back….” his voice trailed off and faded away.
Suddenly we heard a strange sound, a choking sound accompanied by coughing as Regan’s body jolted and she bolted straight up, startling us both. She clutched at her chest, looking frantic and the machines began to loudly beep, causing chaos in the room. I felt my hand lose contact with hers as she struggled to breathe. Her eyes were filled with pain and shock as she stared at the both of us, her tone accusing and sharp.I flinched from the look in her eyes.
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“What did you do?” it was almost a scream as Xavier and I glanced at each other uneasily.
We had expected results and hoped for her to wake up but not in this state. She looked confused and devastated at the same time. As though we had betrayed her in the worst possible way. Regan looked panicked, doubling over and clutching her chest as though in pain. She let out another scream, causing the
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doctors and nurses to come running into the room. We had managed to wake up our mate and save her life, but at what cost?