Chapter 23 23
Third Person POV
"Hazel!"
"Hey, Hazel , can you hear me?" Draven shouted; he stood up from the altar at the silver light that slowly faded and rushed towards her. She carried her up and checked her pulse; it was moving but very slowly, almost not there.
He turned to Sara, who sat down in a chair, breathing heavily; she had removed her cloak and other enchantments and wore simple attire. "Sara, what the hell's happened to her?" He demanded.
Sara looked at him and just noticed the body of Hazel lying on the ground. She ran towards her in a rush, taking her hand. "She's cold, very cold," Sara said.
"And what does that mean?" Draven asked; he still felt exhausted by the strain of the ritual, and he felt out of sorts, but right now he couldn't rest until he made sure Hazel was okay.
"It means we'll have to take her to the hospital or your mansion, anywhere, to get her treated," Sara said as she packed up a couple of things lying on her table.
"And what about you?" Draven asked as he lifted Hazel in his hands; she looked at him obviously confused. “Of course I'm coming with you; not put on a shirt and let's go." She said as she kicked up his shirt and walked past him.
Draven followed right behind her, carrying Hazel in his arms as they both climbed up from the basement and headed towards the car.
He placed Hazel in the backseat with Sara to watch over her and got into the driver's seat before he sped off and brought out his phone. "Noah, where are you?"
"At the pack hospital, Master, is something the problem?" Noah asked on the voice; his both were a bit bothered by the tone of Draven.
"Leave whatever you're doing right now and head over to my house," he said sharply before cutting the call. He drove off almost immediately, driving as fast as he could.
He almost ran down a few people on the road, but he wasn't bothered. The only thing on his mind was how he could save Hazel ; he could let another woman die again because of his weakness.
And he hasn’t forgotten that she was also pregnant. He was scared to tell the priestess fearing that she would call off the ritual. Soon they reached the mansion; there were still guests outside, drinking and cheering.
Noah spotted the car from far off and cleared the way for Draven to drive through. Immediately he got out of the car and carried Hazel in his arms and rushed through the people, carrying her to her room. Sara followed behind the both of them.
Draven still wasn't wearing his shirt as he carried his mate, who he had just gotten married to this day. He ignored all the eyes that followed him and simply ran inside the mansion.
"Let them think what they want," he said to himself. He ran upstairs to her room and dropped her carefully. Sara came in just behind him and brought out her bag; she emptied the contents and began mixing something that Draven wasn't aware of.
"What's that? I've already called a good doctor." Draven said Sara eyed him quickly and turned her eyes back to what she had been doing.
"Witchcraft and medicine are two very separate fields, Draven, keep that in mind," she responded. He grunted and looked back at Hazel.
Soon the mixture was complete. "Hold her head up; although it's a bit nasty, she'll have to drink it," Sara said as she stood before her. Draven, not sure of what was decided to trust her anyways, held up her jaw, opening them a little.
Sara poured on the mixture, making sure the potion was down her throat. She emptied it and shifted backwards a bit. She looked like she was anticipating something, some kind of sign, and so did Draven.
Immediately Hazel 's eyes shot wide open as she drew up a huge amount of air. She coughed in the process and tried rolling of the bed, but Draven held her in place as she choked on her lack of air for a few passing moments.
"Are you okay?" Draven asked her, and she shook her head as she laid back down on the bed. Her skin looked pale and white, like she had been drained of her life force.
She struggled to sit up but failed to do so before she pointed at the jug of water on the table. Draven followed her hand, seeing a jug of water.
He rushed towards it and filled up an entire cup; by the time he was back, she had already passed out again. Just then Noah strode into the room; she saw the situation and quickly rushed to Hazel's side.
He checked her heartbeat, her pulse, her pupils if dilated, and then her pale skin. "Did she lose any blood?" Noah asked. Draven grunted but nodded his head regardless.
"She lost too much of it, at very dangerous levels, but somehow she seemed to have gotten better in the few moments you were here," he smiled at Draven.
"She's just exhausted and tired, with severe blood loss, he mentioned. "She just needs to rest a bit more and eat more often; she'll be back in a few days," he finished.
"So she's not in any life-threatening situation?" Draven asked for assurance, but the man simply nodded his head.
"Please I'll take things from here; we should let her sleep and rest; when she has woken up, I shall report you to you immediately." Noah said as he escorted both of them out of the room.
"Come, follow me," Draven said to Sara as he left the room. They went down a couple of stairs, which led to a back door.
"This should be safer for you; some of the wolves here still don't accept witches," he said with regret. He wanted to keep her safe for longer. She nodded at him with a smile.
She understood why he did this; it wouldn't speak well of an alpha that was caught with a witch the night of his naming ceremony. Just as she was about to use the hidden door, Draven stopped her.
"Did it work?" He asked hesitantly; he wasn't even sure what exactly had happened; all he knew was that he felt immense pain till everything glowed white.
"How do you feel?" She responded; he turned his body around a bit, then placed his hand on his chest; it didn't hurt him anymore.
"I feel better, lighter, but that's not enough reanephew to believe the ritual worked," he said persistently. Anyone could feel better or worse after a ritual, so he didn't have any high expectations.
Besides, Hazel had passed out before the ritual ended, so he still wasn't sure. "Well, we'll have to wait till the next full moon," she said with a wink.
"Give me a call when the girl wakes up." She said before disappearing into the darkness, he gazed at nothing for a bit longer before he heard footsteps behind him; Draven already had a guess who it was.
"Adrian" Draven spoke lightly. "Uncle, I see you're doing well," he responded.
"Indeed, I am," Draven replied. "I wanted to congratulate you earlier; where were you both hurrying too?" He asked curiously.
"Am I obligated to answer that question?" Draven said with a cold tone, "Don't waste both our times and ask the questions you came here for." He continued.
Adrian hesitated for a bit; he couldn't even hear the tiniest of remorse coming from the voice of his uncle; he hadn't even turned to look at him to see his face.
He wanted his uncle to understand his pain, what he had made him go through, and how badly his own uncle had damaged his nephew. "Why did you do it?"
"Why did you lie that you had never seen her or picked her up that night?"
"How could you lie to me so brazenly in my face? I trusted you, uncle; I believed you; you did everything that you wanted, so why?" He held the tears back from his eyes.
"Because it had to be done, nephew, for myself and for the pack, your feelings and future with her had to be sacrificed." Draven said calmly; he knew he couldn't tell his nephew the full truth, at least not now.
"You took my mother from me, making me go through such a lonely childhood, then you left me for years, burdening me with all your responsibility that I wasn't ready for but I survived.
Now you came back and took my woman?" Adrian shook as he said those words; his fingers slowly turned into claws as they bit into his skin.
"It had to be done; it wasn't only my choice; we both made this decision, me and her," Draven replied.
He heard the pain and frustration in his nephew's voice, especially how he had neglected him after the death of his mother.
"What was her reason then? Tell me," Adrian shouted. "Don't play the fool, nephew; you know exactly why she stayed with me and agreed to become my mate," he said softly, a smile slowly forming across his lips.
"For revenge"