Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
maverick
“Is she breathing?” Harper’s voice was desperate.
“She’s breathing,” Sutton said.
“He’s not,” Rhone growled, smacking the side of my head.
I snarled at him. Or at least tried to.
Had to take a breath in to do it, so he got what he wanted.
My heart beat weakly in my chest, and there wasn’t a chance that I could get up at the moment.
“He’s basically on top of her. We should move her,” Harper said.
Four voices said or growled “no” before I could do it myself.
“No one touches her but him,” Rhone said flatly.
“He’s squashing her,” Harper pointed out. She was worried about Bloom. I understood, and I didn’t want to hurt my vampire any more than she was already hurting.
I tried to move, but my limbs didn’t respond.
Fucking bloodloss.
Breathing in the scent of her hair, only a fraction of an inch away from my nose, made my irritation fade.
She was alive.
Her heart was beating.
The poison was gone.
That was what mattered.
“Fucking werewolves,” Harper grumbled.
“Werewolves are the only reason she’s alive at all,” Rhone snapped.
“We’re also the only reason she’s in danger,” Nolan said.
“We could try to move them both with a blanket,” Sutton murmured. “If none of us touched her—”
“No.” Rhone, Nolan, and Oren all spoke together.
Harper made a strangled noise that was obviously frustration and something else. “Why the hell not? I can’t imagine they’re going to heal faster on the floor.”
“It’s a possessiveness thing,” Oren explained.
“Between the wolves’ territorial instincts and the intensity of the near-death experience, touching either of them without Maverick’s express permission would be a direct challenge.
When I was poisoned, Nolan nearly killed his own sister for touching my arm, and he’s usually a lot more civil than Maverick. ”
“Werewolves make no sense,” Harper said.
“Not by human terms,” Oren agreed. “They’re their own breed.”
Harper’s scent thickened obnoxiously, distracting me slightly from Bloom’s. I tightened my grip on my mate’s waist. Or tried to, at least.
“He probably can’t open his eyes,” Rhone told her.
Something moved in front of me. Her hand, probably.
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” Sutton warned.
“He won’t kill me. Bloom would cry,” she said. “If you can hear us, Maverick, you’re squishing my best friend with your hulking mass of muscle. She’ll heal better if you roll over or something. Some of these other giants can help you get her to the bed if you let them.”
“Don’t volunteer us for that,” Nolan grumbled. “I want to keep my head.”
“If she dies, he’s going to kill you anyway,” Sutton murmured.
Harper was right—I was going to have to swallow my pride and let them drag me to the bed.
“Do it.” The words were a rasp. I wasn’t sure they’d even understand it.
They all argued and grumbled, but managed to use a couple blankets they found in my apartment to drag us to the bed and haul me, with Bloom on top of me, up to the mattress.
As soon as she was safely in my arms, surrounded by my scent alone, I crashed.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to get close to them?” Rhone growled.
“At least a thousand more,” Harper snapped back. “My best friend nearly died, and we barely know you guys. I’m not just going to leave her to—he’s awake.”
I managed to get my eyes open. The ceiling was unsteady as I eased myself up higher on the pillows so I could look around the room. I was weak, but otherwise fine.
Rhone put a protein shake in my hand as soon as I was steady. When he stepped back, giving Bloom space, I forced myself to drain it quickly, my gaze glued to the woman on my chest.
She was still pale, but she was breathing, and her expression was calm.
She had survived.
That was what mattered.
I’d find the fucker who did this to her as soon as we were healed.
“What are those?” Harper asked. He probably had two or three more. I’d lost a fuck ton of blood.
“Fortified protein drinks. Werewolves require more calories than humans or vampires,” Rhone said flatly.
“They look really… thick.” She sounded disgusted.
“They are. It’s like drinking pudding.”
Harper made a gagging noise.
He put the second one in my hand.
“Go get food. I’ll keep an eye on them,” Rhone ordered.
“I’m not leaving her.”
“Go.” The threat in my Beta’s voice was heavy enough that Harper huffed, but headed out.
“I’ll give you five minutes to talk, but I’m waiting in the hallway,” she warned.
The door shut as I reached the bottom of the second drink, already feeling a little steadier.
“Who did it?” I asked him through the pack link. Harper could’ve been listening from outside, and I wasn’t sure I had the strength to speak aloud yet.
“We don’t know. Whoever killed Celeste must’ve done it before or after they drained her, while the lights were still off, because the office wasn’t touched before or after.” Rhone never beat around the bush. “At the moment, there’s a bigger problem.”
“What could possibly be a bigger problem than someone nearly fucking killing my mate?” I snarled.
“The Erren pack spread the word that you’ve accepted the fated mate bond with Bloom. Challengers have been arriving at the tower in hoards. I bought us a few days for you to recover and sent them to the estate, but they’re not going to back down.”
“Fuck.” I closed my eyes. “All male?”
He put another protein shake in my hand. “Yeah.”
“And it’s every old, scarred, prejudiced fucker we have left?”
“Yup.”
I drained another shake, my eyes still on my vampire. “Mathias? Gord? Rend? Collins?”
“Among others.”
“I can’t stagger them out. I’ll be fighting all year, and it’ll look fucking weak.”
“There are only seven or eight that will be real fights. I say we space them by two or three hours, putting the biggest bastards at the beginning and middle of the day,” Rhone said.
“One hour.”
I gave him the cup. He put the last shake in my hand.
I was already nauseous from the first three, but I chugged it anyway.
“If you get yourself killed, I’m not protecting your walking death trap of a woman,” Rhone warned.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Time’s up,” Harper said, stalking back into the room.
“One more thing.” Rhone’s voice changed slightly. Quieted. I still didn’t look at him. “Something’s wrong with the human.”
“We’ve already talked about that.”
“I asked her. She said she’s sick. You know they say that when they’re dying.”
“Shit. How bad?”
“She said she doesn’t have much time left. I fired her from the investment company. She doesn’t need to spend her last months at work. Sutton’s taking her job to scope out the office until we find a replacement.”
“Good.” I let out a slow breath and handed him the final empty cup. Exhaustion was dragging me under again.
“Get some rest. You’re going to need it.” Rhone stood, tucking his hands in his pockets before he strode off to a chair he’d dragged in from the office.
Harper sat in the one beside it. “Thanks, Maverick.”
Rhone grunted. “Don’t thank him for saving his mate.”
I nodded in her direction before lowering my head back to my pillow and crashing.
I’d text her family to make sure they knew she was alright the next time I was up.