Chapter 66 066
Danica's POV
Blake led me into the room a while ago and since then, I'd stood there frozen like my brain and body suddenly had a battle that none was willing to back out from. My limbs felt weak and my chest... Holy hell, it couldn't be more painful to breathe. Because right there before my eyes was Alexander. The strongest man I've ever met all my entire life, laying there like an advanced statue, growling and howling in pain, if that counts.
His eyes were tightly closed. He was unconscious, but even his unconscious state couldn't resist the extent of whatever pain he was feeling.
My heart squeezed tightly with every painful growl and I blinked once, twice, thrice, wondering if this was probably a dream. A nightmare. A prank. I swear it could be anything else and I won't be mad. Just not this. Just not Alexander at a death bed.
But this was all real. Everything felt real. The pain in Blake's eyes, the hatred that lingered there when he looked at me like I was the reason Alexander became like this. And I was.
Nothing could be worse than finding out that the most powerful werewolf on the face of the earth was reduced to nothing because of you. Because of a stupid wish you made in front of him.
Apparently, that was what had happened, according to Blake. Alexander summoned the Moon goddess to make a blood exchange for snowfall.
He didn't have to sacrifice himself for a stupid snowfall! He didn't have to do anything at all. How could I ever live with myself knowing a person had to die just because I wanted to watch a snowfall. How could I ever live without him by my side?
How could this happen when I'd just begun to think everything was working in my favor? Just when I thought everything would be fine?
"There... There has to be a way to save him... He can't just die like this. I won't let him die like this. Please... I can summon the Moon Goddess and make a blood exchange for his life, if you'd teach me how to. Just please... I think I'd go insane if he remains like that for another minute" I begged Blake, crying desperately and holding his hand for a positive response.
"Beta Blake..." I sobbed, falling to my knees in front of him. "Please..." I choked out, my tears falling in endless waves at this point.
Then he squatted before me, and held my hand in his tightly as if he was fighting a mental battle against himself.
His jaw clenched and unclenched before he faced me squarely.
"There's only one way to save him, Danica. And by the heavens and back, Alexander would hate to see me telling you this."
"It was my decision to know about it. If he would be mad at anyone, it should be me" my voice came off merely as a whisper but he heard me.
"The reason he became like this wasn't because of the exchange itself. An exchange wouldn't have a significant effect on him on a normal day. But he had spent half his divine energy on healing you from the attack and then another notable amount in summoning the goddess herself, all for a woman who doesn't have a special bond with him. That must have angered the Moon Goddess and she gave him a condition. A solution. I have no idea what that is, he wouldn't even tell me. But I can make a wild guess that the only way is to acknowledge the divine mate bond with his mate." He explained and I literally forgot to breathe.
My heart leaped to my throat as I pulled my hand away from his grip, pondering on everything he'd just said all over again.
"Danica... Unless the mate bond is acknowledged between you two, Alexander will cease to exist" he repeated and I felt my knees buckle even while I remained rooted on the ground.
"I'm not imposing the responsibility of accepting him as your mate on you, Danica. Just know that I would never have told you this if you didn't ask. And even now when you know the only way to save him, I would never ask that you do it no matter how tempted I am" he assured me but that wasn't the point.
The point was that would I leave Alexander to die even while fully aware that I held the reins to his survival?
I told from the ground absentmindedly, turning to head for his bedside.
I knelt beside his bed and stared at his slightly blue lips, the dark red patches around his neck and his slack shoulders.
And for the first time since I was old enough to differentiate my right hand from the left, I felt the chills. I felt cold from inside out.
Fresh tears ran down my face as I took his cold hand in my smaller ones.
The one thing I've always thought was my biggest fear was ever acknowledging another mate-bond with someone else, because they would end up betraying me like the others. But right now, my biggest fear was losing him. This man. The same man who has every tendency to abandon me eventually but even with that at the back of my mind, I couldn't bear to watch him fade away.
Of course not. I'd rather die and be buried with the wild ones who would leave my body to shreds and bones than watch Alexander die.
And that's why I wiped my tears boldly, tightened my grip on his cold hand and said the same words I'd vowed never to utter even if I lost my arms.
"I, Danica Grayson, accepts you Alexander Russell, Alpha of Dark Orchids Pack as my mate, from now until fate does us apart"
Maybe it was Blake's sudden absence in the room... Or something else, but I'm grateful to whatever it was that gave me that much courage.
But then the fear returned with full force when nothing happened. No Alexander suddenly waking up, no sneeze, not even the slightest stir.
"Alexander..." I called once, twice yet no response. Then I broke down into another feat of tears.
"Alexander... Please... Open your eyes! You have to accept the bond too." I yelled, shaking him for any reaction at all.
"Fine. You don't have to accept the bond. I promise I won't force you. Just open your eyes, please" I pleaded, still shaking him.
My heart sank to the deepest depth when he still didn't respond.
I sagged into the ground, my head resting on the bed edge as I let the tears flow freely.
"I promise, I will do anything you want. If you'll just wake up, Xander. Please..." I couldn't stop the tears, so I just cried and begged him, hoping he could hear me even in his subconscious state.
"You promise?" A voice that wasn't mine pierced through the air and I froze. Swallowing the next sob as I wondered if I didn't just hallucinate a different voice in this same room.
"You can't take back your words later, little Doc" the voice came again and a shaky sob, a mixture of relief and dread escaped me as I raised my head to look at him. To be sure I wasn't the crazy one.
But I knew I wasn't crazy when I met a familiar pair of piercing blue eyes that always seemed to make my breath hitch.
"Breathe baby" he muttered thickly, and I automatically let out a long breath.
"Alexander... Is that you? You're not dying anymore?" I asked, knowing very much that my questions made no sense but still asking anyway.
"I could never miss taking full advantage of the bond between you and I even if you wanted me to, little Doc. And guess what? You're stuck with me, until I get tired of having a woman around me. Fair enough, right?" He muttered and I nodded quickly, unable to stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks.
He slowly sat up in bed and then wiped my tears with his thumb until the darn liquid decided they had enough.
Only then did he say the sacred words.
"I, Alexander Russell of Dark Orchids Pack, accept you, Danica Grayson as my woman and mate until nothing does us apart"