Chapter 24 I'VE GOT YOU
XAVIER'S POV
"FUCK!"
The sound was a jagged shard of glass cutting through the silence of the infirmary.
I shoved the heavy brass lamp on the side table with enough force to send it flying across the room. It shattered against the wall.
"It's been three days, why the hell hasn't she woken up yet?" I roared, my voice vibrating with a hunger for answers.
Aris dropped to his knees, his surgical gown rustling as he shivered.
He looked small, a man of science cowering before the wrath of a god.
"I... I do not know, Alpha," he stammered, his voice thin and reeking of a cowardice that made my blood boil.
"The silver is out...the wound is clean. She should be back, but... she is drifting."
He stuttered some inaudible words.
I walked toward him, the sound of my boots crushing the glass shards from the lamp echoing like gunstocks. I reached down and seized him by the neck, hauling him to his feet until his back slammed against the cold tiles of the wall.
"Think of a solution, Aris," I hissed, my face inches from his. I could see the reflection of my own gold eyes in his dilated pupils.
"I didn't bring her here to watch her die.Think, or I will ensure you never have the capacity to think again."
Aris clawed at my forearm, his breath coming in short, pathetic wheezes. He was crying now—real, hot tears of desperation that soaked into his mask.
"Please... Alpha... I have tried everything! There is nothing left! I can do nothing!"
"Nothing?" I repeated, my voice dropping to a low, lethal vibration.
"Then perhaps I should do something that will refresh your memory. Something to focus that pathetic, wandering mind of yours."
Before he could even comprehend the threat, I grabbed his hand. With a swift, brutal twist, I snapped his index finger. The sound of the bone cracking was sickeningly loud.
Aris let out a piercing, high-pitched scream that bounced off the walls, his body sagging in my grip. He wailed, a sound of pure agony, but I felt no pity. Only a cold, driving need.
"Does that help you remember?" I growled. "Does the pain clarify the situation, Aris?"
He was shivering so hard now that he lost control, a dark stain spreading across the front of his trousers as he wet himself in absolute terror.
"Please...please ..spare me" He blubbered, begging for his life, for mercy.
"Your pleading does nothing for her!" I roared, my hand moving toward his middle finger, my grip tightening as I prepared to snap the next joint. "Give me a solution, or I will take you apart piece by piece until you find one!"
"Wait! I know! I have an idea!" he shrieked, his voice cracking with the strain.
I released his neck. Aris crumbled to the floor like a puppet with cut strings, clutching his broken hand to his chest and sobbing. I stood over him, my shadow looming large and dark against the hospital lights.
"I’m listening," I said, my voice as cold as the grave. "And for your sake, it had better be the answer I’m looking for."
Aris swallowed hard, his breath hitching as he tried to find his voice through the pain. "The... the resistance... it’s not just the venom," he choked out, looking up at me with wide, terrified eyes.
"Thorne... your wolf... he is trying to pull her back through the Mark. But he is fighting the battle alone. He is trying to bridge a gap that is too wide."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Explain. Clearly, Aris."
He doctor shivered, his gaze darting toward Avrielle’s pale, still form.
"He is trying to help her, but you are not. The bond is a two-way street, Alpha. The Mark is the anchor, but the union... it is the catalyst. So, maybe if you helped out, she'd wake up"
"How can I help her?" I demanded, the impatience clawing at my throat.
He hesitated, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"By mating, Alpha. By reinforcing the mate bond"
"During the act, your Alpha’s essence will be poured into your mate. Your wolf will gain the upper hand. The surge of power, the primal energy of the claiming... it will win. It will overwhelm the venom and force her wolf to awaken to protect her. Within hours, she would be awake."
I froze. The room seemed to grow unnaturally still, the only sound the steady, mocking beep of the heart monitor.
To take her now, while she was so fragile, felt like a violation of the very woman I worshipped. But if the alternative was her death... if the alternative was the void...
"Do not jest with me, Aris," I warned, my voice low and lethal. "If I do this and she does not wake, I will peel the skin from your bones."
Aris shivered, nodding frantically, his broken finger cradled against his chest. "It is the truth! The ancient laws... a mate’s life can be bought with the Alpha’s fire. It is the only way left."
I stared at him for a long beat, my heart thudding a heavy, erratic rhythm. Then, I pointed toward the door.
"GET OUT!" I yelled.
He didn't need to be told twice. Aris scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his hand as he bolted for the exit. He ran out of the infirmary as if the devil himself were at his heels.
I turned back to the bed. I walked slowly, my footsteps heavy, until I was standing over her. I reached out and touched the Mark on her neck, the skin there still warm, still pulsing with the faint, desperate rhythm of our connection.
"Avrielle," I whispered, my voice thick with a mixture of agony and resolve.
I began to strip off my shirt, my eyes never leaving her face. I knew what I had to do. I would save her, even if I had to break the laws of man and medicine to do it. I would pull her back from the edge of the abyss, and then I would find every single person responsible for this and show them why I was the Alpha of the North.
I climbed onto the bed, hovering over her, my heart breaking at the sight of her closed eyes.
"I've got you," I murmured, pressing my forehead against hers. "I’m coming for you, my Luna. Just hold on."