Chapter 25 025
Dimitri
Time moved differently when you were watching someone you loved die.
Every second stretched into an eternity as I stood there, Seraphina's limp hand in mine, watching her chest rise and fall with increasingly shallow breaths.
The healers swarmed around her like desperate ants, injecting counteragents, checking vitals and shouting medical terminology that meant nothing to my wolf-addled brain.
All I could focus on was the grayish pallor spreading across her skin, the way her lips were turning blue, how her heartbeat, which I could hear even over the chaos, was growing fainter.
"Dimitri." A soft hand touched my shoulder. Natasha, my sister had appeared sometime in the last few minutes, I couldn't remember when.
Her healer's robes were already stained with Seraphina's blood as she worked alongside the others. "You need to let us work."
"I can't leave her."
"I'm not asking you to leave. I'm asking you to step back two feet so we can access her left side." Her voice was gentle but firm, the tone she used when treating wounded warriors who didn't know they were already dying.
I moved mechanically, my hand slipping from Seraphina's. The loss of contact felt like losing a limb.
Natasha worked with practiced efficiency, her hands glowing with the soft healing energy that marked her as one of the pack's most powerful healers, but even as I watched, I could see the frustration building in her expression, the tightness around her eyes that meant she was fighting a losing battle.
"The wolfsbane is burning through her system too fast," She said quietly to one of the other healers. "And whatever Ruth mixed it with is preventing her body from processing the counteragent. Her organs are starting to shut down."
"No," The word came out broken, barely human. "There has to be something—"
"We're doing everything we can." Natasha looked up at me, and I saw my own grief reflected in her eyes. "But Dimitri, you need to prepare yourself."
"Don't," I couldn't hear it. I wouldn't accept it. "Don't you dare tell me to prepare for her death. She's my mate. She's—"
My voice broke. Seraphina convulsed again, her back arching off the bed as another wave of poison wracked her system.
The machines monitoring her vitals screamed warnings, and the healers rushed to stabilize her.
I couldn't watch this. I couldn't stand here helpless while she suffered. My wolf was howling inside me, demanding I do something, fix this, save our mate.
But what could I do? I was an alpha, not a healer.
I could command armies, could tear apart enemies, could dominate through sheer force of will, but none of that meant shit when the woman I loved was dying in front of me.
"Alpha Dimitri."
The voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. I turned to find Cassius standing in the doorway, still bandaged from our fight but somehow looking stronger than he had in the arena.
His ancient eyes held something that made me straighten. Not pity, but purpose.
"You need to leave," I said roughly. "This isn't—"
"There's a way to save her."
The room fell silent. Even the machines seemed to quiet. Natasha stopped working, her hands hovering over Seraphina's chest.
"What?" I breathed.
Cassius entered slowly, his gaze moving to Seraphina's deteriorating form. "The trial of three. The final test."
"Tell me," I was across the room in seconds, grabbing his shirt. "Tell me how to save her."
"Sacrifice." The word hung in the air like a death sentence. "The final test is sacrifice. To complete the bond, you must bind your life force to hers. If she dies, you die. If she survives, you're mated for life, bound in a way that can never be undone."
"That's impossible," Natasha whispered. "That kind of bond hasn't been performed in centuries. The risk—"
"The risk is death," Cassius said bluntly. "The wolfsbane is killing her. By binding your life forces together, you'll essentially be splitting the poison between both of you. Your body might be able to process what hers cannot, but if you're wrong, if you're too weak from your injuries, you'll both die."
I didn't hesitate. "Tell me what to do."
"Dimitri, no!" Natasha grabbed my arm. "You're already injured. Your body is barely holding together. If you try this—"
"Then I die saving her instead of living without her." I met my sister's eyes and saw the tears gathering there. "Natasha, I can't watch her die. I won't."
"You could both die."
"Or we both live," I turned back to Cassius. "How do I do it?"
The ancient alpha studied me for a long moment, then nodded with something like respect.
"The claiming mark, but not the partial bond you initiated before. This time, you mark her and she marks you simultaneously. Your wolves merge, your life forces intertwine. It will be..."
He paused. "Extraordinarily painful. The bond will force your body to accept half her poison while giving her half your strength. You'll feel everything she feels, and she'll feel everything you feel."
"I don't care about pain."
"You should," Cassius said grimly. "This kind of bond is why most people fail the final test. The agony of merging can kill you just as surely as the poison. Your wolves will literally tear each other apart trying to become one entity."
"Alpha, please," One of the other healers pleaded. "There has to be another way—"
"There isn't," Natasha's voice was resigned. She looked at Seraphina's monitors, at the numbers that kept dropping. "She has maybe ten minutes left. This is the only option."
She met my eyes. "But brother, if you do this, there's no going back. You'll be bound to her forever. If she rejects the bond afterward, it could drive you both insane."
"She won't reject it," I moved back to Seraphina's bedside, taking her cold hand. "And I don't care about forever. I care about right now."
Cassius approached, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You'll need to be in your human form for the marking. Your wolves will merge on their own once the bond is initiated. And Dimitri, she needs to be conscious enough to mark you back, or it won't work. The bond requires consent from both parties."
I looked down at Seraphina's barely-conscious form. "Can you wake her? Just for a few minutes?"
Natasha hesitated, then nodded. "I can give her a stimulant, bring her to semi-consciousness, but it won't last long, and it'll be agony for her."
"Do it."
My sister prepared a syringe with shaking hands. "Everyone out," She commanded. "This is between mates. No one else should witness a bonding this intimate."
The healers filed out reluctantly, casting worried glances back at us. Cassius was the last to leave, pausing at the door.
"May the Moon guide you both." He said softly, then closed the door behind him.
Natasha injected the stimulant into Seraphina's IV, then moved toward the door herself. She paused, looking back at me with tears streaming down her face. "I love you, brother. Both of you."
Then she was gone, and it was just us.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Seraphina gasped, her eyes flying open. They were unfocused and pain-filled, but aware. Her gaze found mine and recognition flickered.
"D-Dimitri?"
"I'm here, baby. I'm right here," I climbed onto the bed beside her, gathering her trembling body against mine. "I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?"
She managed a tiny nod, though I could feel how much even that small movement cost her.
"I'm going to complete our bond. I'm going to mark you, and you're going to mark me back. It's going to save your life, but it's going to hurt. Do you understand?"
"Don't..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "Don't... want you... to die..."
"I'm not going to die," I tilted her face up, forcing her to meet my eyes. "We're both going to live. Together. Forever. But I need you to trust me. I need you to bite down and mark me when I mark you. Can you do that?"
Her hand came up, touching my face with fingers that felt like ice. "Love you."
The words nearly broke me. "I love you too. So fucking much."
I positioned her neck, exposing the place where the shoulder met throat, the traditional marking spot. My canines elongated, my wolf rising to the surface despite my human form.
Seraphina's wolf eyes flickered gold in response, some primal part of her recognizing what was about to happen.
"Ready?" I whispered.
She turned her head, her own small canines elongating as she pressed her mouth to my throat. Her breath was hot against my skin.
"Together." She breathed.
I didn't give myself time to second-guess, to think about the risk or the pain or the possibility of failure.
I struck, my teeth sinking deep into the sweet flesh of her neck. Her blood filled my mouth and Seraphina bit down on my throat at the same instant.
The world exploded. Our wolves surged forward, no longer content to be separate entities. They crashed together like waves, merging, tearing and becoming something new.
I felt Seraphina's agony as the poison burned through her veins, but I also felt my strength flooding into her, fighting back the toxin.
She was inside me, I was inside her, we were inside each other, and the sensation was so overwhelming that rational thought became impossible.
The pack house shook. I dimly heard shouts from outside, felt the terror rippling through the pack bond as our merged power radiated outward, but I couldn't focus on anything except the woman in my arms and the fire burning through both our bodies.
The poison tried to kill me. My injuries tried to kill her. Our wolves tried to kill each other in their desperate attempt to merge, and through it all, we held on, teeth locked in each other's flesh, blood flowing between us, two souls becoming one.
Then the real pain began.
I screamed and so did Seraphina. We screamed together, our voices merging into something inhuman, something primal, as the bond completed itself with all the subtlety of a lightning strike.