Chapter 2
TWO
Christian
“Shit,” I grunt as I put pressure on the wound.
“Christian?” Abe calls as he breaks through the brush.
“Here. I’m safe.”
“What happened?” my best friend asks, dropping down next to me. “Shit.”
“Yeah. I thought this area was supposed to be closed,” I snap.
Abe grunts. “Me too. She must be a tourist. Maybe the sign at the base of the trail blew away or something. Hell, maybe they reopened it. The cult has been quiet for weeks. We were all hoping the threat was over.”
“Did you see the shooter?” I ask.
He shakes his head, looking pissed. “They were already gone. Headed east. I’ll call someone to pick up the trail.”
The two of us were out on our Midnight Haven patrol when we heard a gunshot and took off in this direction. I’m glad we were close, or no one might ever have stumbled upon the injured woman.
“Good. We need to move her. We need to get her back to the clinic.”
Abe frowns. “Will she make the trip?”
“She has to,” I say grimly. “Come on.”
I scoop her into my arms, and we take off, sprinting down the hiking trail toward town. Luckily, this is a short trail, and it only takes us a few minutes to reach the center of Night Grove Falls and my clinic.
My wolf growls at me, but I ignore him. I ignore everything except for saving this victim.
“Dr. McAdams?” Melanie, my nurse and receptionist, asks when Abe and I come barreling in.
“Clear the OR,” I bark.
Melanie takes off down the hallway. I’m right on her heels. Abe pushes open the door for me. I set her down on the table, then wash my hands.
“Claire, get prepped,” I say when my other nurse comes in.
“What do we have?” Melanie asks, tying my surgical gown as I scrub my hands.
“Gunshot wound. Get me two bags of blood and have four more on hand. Can’t have her bleeding out.”
“I’m going to go tell the Alphas what happened,” Abe says. “We need to get on that trail before the rain comes in.”
“Good. Keep me informed.”
“Will do. Good luck. I hope she makes it.”
“She will,” I promise.
“Let Roxie and me know if you need anything,” he adds.
I nod, ignoring the now-familiar twinge in my chest whenever Abe mentions Roxie.
I’m happy that my best friend has his fated mate. I’ve seen firsthand how perfect they are for each other, and I’m glad they’re together. Am I a little jealous? Yeah. Okay, more than a little. My wolf and I want our mate. Unfortunately, we haven’t found her yet.
Between medical school, residency, and starting up my clinic here, I’ve been swamped.
Then, when my pack asked me to help out with the Midnight Haven, I obviously agreed.
I mean, I became a doctor to help people, so it was a no-brainer.
It’s been fulfilling work, but it’s also taken up more and more of my time.
Mate! My wolf howls.
I shake my head at him. I know. We’ll take a vacation and find her soon. Or maybe we can hire the Love Bites Dating Agency to track her down for us. Right now, we need to focus on our patient.
He snarls at me, but I ignore him. I push everything else aside and let my medical training take over.
First step: find the bullet and see how much damage it’s done.
Claire, Melanie, and I work for hours. We find the bullet, but there’s a lot of damage. It seems like every time I fix one thing, a new issue pops up.
“Fuck,” I snarl as her vitals drop again.
“We’re running low on blood,” Melanie informs me.
My wolf lunges inside me so forcefully that it knocks me back a step.
What the fuck? I yell at him.
MATE! She’s our mate, you fucking idiot!
I freeze.
Wait… what?
I take a deep breath and let my wolf back in, turning on the primal instincts I usually keep buried when I’m in doctor mode.
“Fuck.”
Claire frowns. “Dr. McAdams?”
I don’t answer her.
Panic surges inside me. My mate is dying.
Save her! my wolf orders.
Without thinking, I step forward and sink my teeth into her neck. A sense of completeness washes over me, but it’s quickly pushed aside as I lick the wound, sealing it, and straighten up.
Claire and Melanie stare at me in shock.
I look away toward the monitors.
“Hang that last bag,” I order, taking my mate’s hand in mine and squeezing as my healing abilities start to work on her.
“You just bit her,” Claire whispers.
I swallow hard. “She's my mate. It was the only way.”
They both nod, and I get to work on closing her up. I know my advanced healing abilities have been passed to her now that I’ve claimed her. She’ll be weak, but she should survive.
“Last bag is up,” Melanie says.
I squeeze my mate’s hand again. Come on, baby. I just found you. I can’t lose you.
I watch her face, my eyes flicking to the monitors every few seconds. Finally, I let out a deep breath when I see her stats improving.
Claire and Melanie clean the room around me, but I don’t move. I’m not leaving my mate’s side. Not until she’s fully mine.
She is fully ours, my wolf reminds me.
I swallow hard. She’s human. She doesn’t understand any of this. She’s going to be freaked out and pissed that we didn’t give her a choice in any of this.
She’ll see reason, he retorts.
I roll my eyes at his arrogant attitude and return my attention to my mate. With every improvement of her vitals, a part of me relaxes.
We might be over the worst of the damage, but I know that when she wakes up, we’ll have another problem to make right.
Making her mine.
For real.