#3 By the Light of the Silver Moon

Marigold

Once the plane landed, I found a driver willing to take me to the address Finn had left for me. After about 45 minutes, the car turned off the main road and onto a long dirt road.

“This is fine, I’ll walk from here.” I told the driver, not wanting him to take me into the packhouse and expose the territory.

“Are you sure, miss?” The driver asked, looking concerned. We were surrounded by dark woods and nothing else.

“Yes, thank you.” I said, handing the driver his payment and grabbing my bag from the trunk. I waited to make sure he drove away before walking down the road.

It wasn’t long before I came to a large, iron gate. There was a guard tower on either side of the gate and two guard wolves on the ground.

“Identify yourself!” The guards on the ground said.

“I’m Marigold.” By the looks on their faces, they knew exactly who I was.

“Of course, Luna, right this way.” The guard on the ground waved up towards the guard tower and the gate slowly creaked open,

“We have a car to take you straight to the hospital.” He said.

“Thank you.” I nodded at the guard as he opened up the passenger side door of a blacked out SUV,

“Hurry, please.” I said. The guard nodded and shut the door, jogging to the drivers side and speeding down the stone driveway.

“Do you know what happened?” I asked the guard.

“There was a rogue attack, Luna, the Alpha was compromised.” He explained, but I could tell that he didn’t understand the full story. He didn’t understand why the Alpha was compromised, why he was weakened, or why he wasn’t healing. He didn’t understand that it was all my fault.

My leg bounced impatiently as we sped towards the packhouse. I jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop and started running up the stairs of the grand packhouse. I didn’t have time to stop and admire its beauty and elegance as I rushed through the door. I had no idea where I was going, but I was prepared to figure it out.

“This way, Luna.” The guard from the car was suddenly beside me and leading the way to the hospital. I followed after him until we rounded a corner and I saw a familiar face.

“Stone!” I cried out. Stone jumped up from the chair and ran towards me.

“Oh, Mari! I’m so happy to see you.” Stone threw his arms around me for a quick hug.

“Where is he?” I demanded.

“He’s in there. They won’t let anyone in to see him. I guess he’s still in surgery.” Stone sighed.

“I’d like to see them try and stop me.” I glared, pushing past him and towards the double doors.

“Marigold.” An unfamiliar voice called out to me. I stopped and spun around to see a tall dark haired woman standing in front of me. She had the same eyes as Finn, the same gentleness to her face, and the same warm looking skin.

“I’m Ferra, Finn’s sister and Beta.” She introduced herself. Her eyes were swollen and her face was puffy,

“Thank you for coming. I know there’s been a lot going on, but it means so much to me that you’d come to help my brother.” Ferra sniffed.

“I need to see him.” I said, unable to engage in chit chat at the moment.

“He’s in there.” Ferra pointed towards the double doors I was heading towards earlier just as they opened.

“Marigold, come child.” A women with long black hair and hazel eyes held out her hand to me,

“Come.” She urged. I walked past her and into the hospital room.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Clara, I’m the pack healer.”

“You’re a witch.” I interrupted her, sensing her magic.

“Yes, and I’m protected by this pack. I’ve been helping the Alpha as much as I’m able to, but he needs his mate.” Clara said, leading the way through the hospital. She stopped at another door,

“Brace yourself, dear, the Alpha is in a very bad state. He’s in a coma right now, he’s not conscious. Dr. Maxwell was able to perform life saving surgery to stop the internal bleeding and temporarily fix the organs that were affected, and I’ve been using magic to stabilize him. He’s on pain medication that’s keeping him comfortable, but his werewolf genes are burning it off very quickly.” I barely heard what Clara was saying.

I was too interested in getting to my mate. I nodded my head as I bounced in place. Clara sighed and pushed open the door. I rushed inside the room and stumbled to a stop a few feet from the bed.

Finn didn’t look like Finn. His body was swollen, bruised, and bloody. He was shirtless, his lower body covered by a blanket. He had gauze wrapped around his midriff and a long piece of medical tape that went from his collarbone down to his belly button. I guessed that it was covering a surgery scar.

There were wires coming from all over and stickers covering his chest and side, moniTorring his vitals. There was an IV in his hand administering pain medicine and saline. He had bandages on his neck covering the stitches they had to put there to close his wound.

Clara explained his injuries to me. Describing how a wolf bit into his neck and side, crushing his organs and causing him to lose over 50% of his blood. He had a needle in his arm transfusing new blood donated by the pack members. She said he had swelling in his brain from the trauma, a punctured liver, collapsed lungs, broken ribs, and virtually no kidney. His heart was physically fine but struggling due to the blood loss.

Finn was as white as a ghost with dark circles under his eyes and bruising on his face. Clara explained that the bruising was from the attack and his body reacting to the trauma.

“The best thing you can do for him is to lay with him and talk to him. Make him hear you. Make him realize that you, his mate, is near. Your presence will heal your bond and, in turn, heal him.” Clara said before leaving the room.

I slowly stepped up to his bed and reached out my hand. I touched his arm softly, scared that I was going to hurt him. The second our skin touched, Finn stirred. His heart monitor spiked as the sparks from our bond covered our skin. All of my worries were suddenly gone. I climbed into bed with him, snuggling my body against his and forcing him to feel my presence. I laid my head on his chest and wrapped my arm around him.

I listened to the monitor begin to stabilize and focused on the sound of his heart beating beneath my ear. I clung to that sound like my life depended on it.

I felt his body slowly begin to warm under me like I was literally pushing life into him. I sighed and felt my own strength begin to return as our mate bond pulsed between us.