Chapter 26 Kissing a sleeping Elsie

Chapter 26 Kissing a sleeping Elsie
Tristan’s POV

I kicked the double doors of the emergency room open with enough force to make them bang against the walls. The nurses behind the counter jumped at the noise and stared at the blood soaking the front of my white shirt.

"We need a doctor!" I roared as I tightened my grip on Elsie. "Now!"

A team of doctors swarmed us immediately and ushered me toward a trauma room. I laid Elsie on the bed and watched as they cut away the blood-soaked fabric of her dress to get to the wound. Topher stood beside me with his hands shaking uncontrollably while he muttered a prayer to the Moon Goddess.

"Please step back, Alpha," the lead doctor requested nervously.

Every second felt like an hour as I waited for them to tell me that my brother had killed our mate.

"It looks worse than it is," the doctor announced after a few tense minutes. "Scalp wounds bleed profusely because of the high number of blood vessels in the head but the cut itself is shallow. She has a mild concussion but there is no swelling in the brain."

I let out a breath that I felt I had been holding since we left the pack house. She was alive, she wasn't broken.

"So she is fine?" Topher asked as he slumped against the wall in relief.

"She is stable," the doctor corrected him as he finished stitching the wound. "However there is a complication. Her hormones are spiking at an alarming rate."

"What does that mean?" I asked sharply.

"It means she is entering her heat cycle," the doctor explained as he pulled off his gloves. "The stress of the injury combined with the proximity to three Alphas has triggered it early. She is going to be extremely fragile and emotional for the next few days. Her wolf will be desperate for comfort and rejection could cause her physical pain."

"Her heat," I whispered as the realization hit me.

That explained why her scent had been driving us mad all week. It explained the intensity of the bond.

"Can we take her home?" I asked because I didn't want her in this sterile place a moment longer.

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "But keep her calm. No stress and absolutely no violence. She needs to feel safe."

I nodded and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I dialed Tyler’s number and he answered on the first ring.

"Is she dead?" Tyler asked with a voice that sounded dead itself.

"She is alive," I told him. "It was a minor injury but she has a concussion. We are bringing her home."

I heard a sob on the other end of the line before the call disconnected.

We drove back to the castle in silence but the air was lighter than it had been on the way there. When we pulled up to the entrance Tyler was waiting on the steps. He looked like he had aged ten years in the last hour. He ran to the car as soon as I parked and ripped the back door open.

"Elsie," Tyler breathed as he looked at her sleeping form in the backseat.

He reached out to touch her but stopped himself just inches from her skin. He pulled his hand back and looked at me with guilt swimming in his eyes.

"I didn't mean to," Tyler whispered. "I just wanted to win."

"She is in heat," I told him as I lifted Elsie out of the car. "That is why she went down so hard. Her body is weak."

Tyler nodded and stepped back to let us pass. He didn't say sorry to her but he followed us like a shadow as we carried her into the foyer.

"I will have the maids make soup," Topher announced as he took charge for the first time that day. "Something rich with iron for the blood loss."

"Take her to her room," Tyler suggested as he pointed to the stairs.

"No," Topher countered immediately. "Her room is cold and the bed is hard. She needs to be somewhere comfortable and she needs to be watched in case she wakes up confused."

"She can sleep in my room," I decided before they could argue. "It is the largest and I have the best security."

"No," a weak voice protested from my arms.

I looked down to see Elsie’s eyes fluttering open. She looked pale and exhausted but the fire was still there in the depths of her gaze.

"I can manage on my own," she whispered. "Put me down."

"You are not going anywhere," I stated firmly as I tightened my hold on her. "The doctor said you are fragile and for once in your life you are going to listen to us."

I carried her up the stairs and into my room. I laid her down on the massive king-sized bed and covered her with the duvet. She looked so small in the middle of the dark sheets and the white bandage on her head stood out like a beacon of our failure.

Topher returned a few minutes later with a tray of hot soup. He placed it on the nightstand and looked at me.

"She needs to eat," Topher said. "We will leave you to it."

I sat on the edge of the bed and helped her sit up against the pillows. I dipped the spoon into the broth and held it to her lips. She hesitated but the smell of the food won out over her pride and she opened her mouth.

We sat in silence as I fed her. It was an intimate act that felt far more dangerous than any fight I had ever been in. Every time she swallowed I watched the movement of her throat. Every time she looked at me I felt the mate bond pull at my soul.

The heat was making her drowsy and her eyelids began to droop. I watched her fight sleep for a few minutes before she finally succumbed to the exhaustion.

I stayed there and watched her sleep, as the scent of her heat began to fill the room. It was sweet and heavy and it called to my wolf with a primal urgency.

I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers.

It wasn't a rough kiss. It was soft and searching. Her lips were warm and soft and she tasted like vanilla and spice. A groan vibrated in my chest as the mate bond exploded into fireworks behind my eyelids. It felt like coming home. It felt like the missing piece of my soul had finally snapped into place.

I deepened the kiss and slipped my hand to the back of her neck to hold her close. For a moment I forgot about the bet and the pack and the past. There was only Elsie.

"Well," a voice interrupted the silence.

I pulled back sharply and looked toward the door. Tyler and Topher were standing there. They weren't angry. They were watching us with a look of resignation.

"I think that settles it," Topher said with a small smile.

"The challenge has officially ended," Tyler declared as he walked into the room. "We lose.”