Chapter 25 Desperate Measures
Sage pressed her hands to Kade’s chest and pushed energy through the mate bond with everything she had.
His heart stuttered. Stopped. Started again.
“Drive faster!” she screamed at Riley.
“I’m going as fast as I can!” Riley took a corner so hard the SUV almost flipped.
Kade’s eyes were closed, his skin was gray. Blood soaked through the bandages they had wrapped around his wounds, so much blood.
Sage felt the mate bond getting weaker and it was fading.
“No. No, no, no.” She put her forehead against his. “Stay with me. You promised we would do this together. You promised.”
His hand twitched, just slightly but it was something.
Beth was in the back seat with them. “How much longer?”
“Five minutes,” Riley said. “Margaret knows we are coming. She is ready.”
Five minutes felt like forever.
Sage kept pushing energy through the bond. She could feel herself getting weaker, dizzy but she did not stop. If she stopped, he could died.
The SUV stopped suddenly outside the den, Margaret was waiting with two other wolves. They pulled Kade out and onto a stretcher.
“Inside. Now.” Margaret ran ahead of them.
They carried Kade into the medical room. Margaret started working immediately. IV lines. Blood pressure. Checking wounds.
“He has lost too much blood,” she said. “I need to transfuse but his blood type is rare. AB negative. I don’t have enough in storage.”
“Take mine,” Sage said.
“You are not the same blood type…”
“The mate bond. We are compatible now. That is how it works.” Sage held out her arm. “Test it if you don’t believe me but we are wasting time.”
Margaret drew a quick sample and tested it. Her eyes widened. “You are right, the bond changed your blood chemistry.”
“Then hook me up.”
“This is dangerous. You are already weak from using the bond to keep him alive.”
“I don’t care. Do it.”
Margaret set up the transfusion. Connected them with tubes and needles. Sage’s blood flowing directly into Kade.
She felt it immediately, the pull, her strength draining into him, her life force keeping his going.
The room started to spin.
“Sage, your pressure is dropping,” Margaret said. “I need to stop this.”
“No. Keep going.”
“You will die…”
“If he dies, I die anyway, the bond.” Sage closed her eyes. “Keep going until he is stable.”
She heard arguing, Beth’s voice. Riley’s but it sounded far away.
The mate bond was all she could feel now, Kade on the other end was getting stronger as she got weaker.
It was worth it. If he lived, it was worth it.
Everything went dark.
Sage woke up in a bed with sunlight coming in through a window. Her whole body ached, her arm where the IV had been was bruised and sore.
She tried to sit up and the room tilted.
“Easy.” Beth was beside her. “You have been out for two days.”
“Kade…”
“He is alive, unconscious but stable.” Beth helped her sit up slowly. “You saved him, Margaret said the transfusion brought him back from the edge.”
“I need to see him.”
“You need to rest…”
“I need to see him.” Sage swung her legs out of bed, she stood, the world spun but she stayed upright. “Now.”
Beth helped her walk to the next room. Kade was in a bed hooked up to monitors. His chest rising and falling steadily. Color back in his face.
Sage collapsed into the chair beside him and took his hand. She felt the mate bond, he was strong again and steady.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for staying.”
She must have fallen asleep because when she woke again it was dark outside and Cole was standing in the doorway.
“Sorry to wake you,” he said quietly. “But we have a situation.”
Sage rubbed her eyes. “What kind of situation?”
“The Crescent Pack Alpha, we captured him during the fight. He is in the holding cells.” Cole looked uncomfortable. “He is asking to talk. Says he will cooperate. Tell us everything about the elder’s betrayal.”
“The pack needs an Alpha to make that decision.”
“The pack needs leadership period. We have been without an Alpha or Alpha female for two days. Wolves are getting nervous.” Cole met her eyes. “You are Alpha female. You can make this call.”
“I’m not…”
“You are. The ceremony made it official and Kade is unconscious.” Cole stepped closer. “The pack needs you to lead right now. Can you do that?”
Sage looked at Kade, still sleeping. Still recovering.
Then she stood. “Give me ten minutes to clean up. Then bring the Crescent Alpha to the main chamber. I will hear what he has to say.”
Cole smiled. “Yes, Alpha female.”
Twenty minutes later Sage sat in the main chamber with fifteen wolves around her. The Crescent Alpha was brought in wearing silver chains. He looked beaten. Defeated.
“You wanted to talk,” Sage said. “Talk.”
“The elder approached me a year ago,” the Crescent Alpha said. His name was David. Mid-forties with scars across his face. “He said Marcus was the rightful Alpha. That Kade was weak for accepting a half-blood mate. He promised me Seattle territory if I helped Marcus take over.”
“So you sent your wolves to help attack us.”
“Yes. I provided the hunters. The wolfsbane. The weapons.” David looked at the floor. “I believed the elder. He was old. Respected. I thought he knew what was best for the pack.”
“He was a traitor,” Beth said. “And so are you.”
“I know. I’m not asking for mercy.” David raised his eyes. “I’m asking that you don’t punish my pack for my mistakes. They followed my orders. They didn’t know the full plan.”
“Your pack attacked ours,” Sage said. “They killed three of our wolves.”
“And we lost ten.” David’s voice broke. “I’ve already paid for my stupidity. My Beta is dead. My best fighters are dead. I have twenty wolves left and no territory to go back to. The council will dissolve my pack when they find out what I did.”
Sage studied him. He looked sincere. Broken.
“Why tell us all this?” she asked.
“Because the elder had more allies. Wolves in other packs who agreed with him. Who think half-bloods are corrupting pack traditions.” David leaned forward. “You need to know who they are. What they’re planning.”
“And you will tell us in exchange for what?”
“Asylum. For me and my remaining wolves.” David met her eyes. “Let us join Seattle pack. We will swear loyalty to Kade. Fight for you instead of against you.”
The room erupted, wolves shouting, some saying yes. Some saying no. Some wanting to kill David right there.
Sage held up her hand and they went quiet.
“I will consider it,” she said. “But this isn’t my decision alone. When Kade wakes, he will decide your fate.”
“That is fair.” David bowed his head. “Thank you for hearing me out.”
They took him back to the cells. The wolves dispersed. Sage stayed in the chamber with Cole.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I’m thinking the elder’s betrayal runs deeper than we knew.” She rubbed her temples. “If there are more wolves who think like him, we have a bigger problem than Marcus or David.”
“We deal with them the same way we dealt with Marcus. Find them. Stop them.”
“Maybe.” Sage stood. “Or maybe we need to change the system. Make it so wolves like the elder can’t gain power in the first place.”
“That is above my pay grade.” Cole smiled. “But I will support whatever you and Kade decide.”
Sage went back to Kade’s room. He was still unconscious but his color was better. His breathing was stronger.
She climbed into bed beside him carefully. Pressed against his side. Felt the mate bond humming between them.
“Wake up soon,” she whispered. “The pack needs you. I need you.”
His hand twitched. Found hers and squeezed it.
She looked at his face. His eyes were still closed but he was smiling.
“I’m here,” he murmured. “Not going anywhere.”
“How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to hear you being Alpha female.” He opened his eyes. “You did good.”
“I just talked to a prisoner.”
“You led. When the pack needed leadership, you stepped up.” He pulled her closer. “I’m proud of you.”
“Don’t ever scare me like that again,” she said.
“I will try not to.” He kissed her forehead. “But I can’t promise. This life is dangerous.”
“Then we face it together. No more almost dying alone.”
“Deal.”
They lay there in the dark holding each other while the pack settled outside.
Tomorrow they would deal with David and the Crescent Pack.
Tomorrow they would figure out who else was working against them.