Chapter Seventy-One

Ryder ignored the stares that followed him as he ate up the distance between the field and the large palatial structure that housed the medical ward of the Silver Moon Pack.

He couldn’t say how exactly they had gone from fighting each other to having the Pack’s Alpha guiding him to their medical ward, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when his mate was in danger of losing her life.

But, he could pinpoint exactly when the violent atmosphere had changed, and it was the precise moment Saffron had shifted into her wolf and jumped in front of him.

“Get us a doctor!” He yelled the moment they stepped into the ward, his feet carrying him down toward one of the rooms with a speed that was born out of pure desperation.

Pulse racing, fear and guilt nibbling at his heart, Ryder laid her on the bed as he yelled for a doctor.

He didn’t care that he was on enemy lands, that Silver Moon Pack’s Alpha was there to help him, or that the Alpha could turn on him at any moment.

All that mattered to him was fixing what had happened to her.

Because of him.

His mate was in that condition because of him.

Because she had chosen to come after him, even when he had turned her away and dismissed her without a word of goodbye.

She had come.

And, now… now, she was lying on a bed in a medical ward owned by one of their enemies because she had taken the bullet that was meant for him.

It should have been him, he thought, as he ran his hand over her coat, needing to assess the damage for himself.

His wolf was a mess of anxiety and frustration as Ryder inspected the lethal wound on her stomach, growling and seeking vengeance, trying to force Ryder into shifting.

Dread and despair warred within him, and for the first time in his life, Ryder begged his wolf for patience, trying to rationalize with the other part of him that going on a rampage wasn’t going to fix what had happened to her.

“Fix her!” he growled at the doctor that came rushing in, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t wanted to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Everything that came at him, he could handle. But losing his mate? Losing her after everything he had done to keep her safe? After lying to his father about her heritage and burying his ex-intended mate?

No, the world wasn’t ready for the man he was going to become if she stopped breathing.

Silver Moon Pack had better fix her. Otherwise… he didn’t want to think about what was going to happen then.

All he needed was for her to open those brown eyes of hers and stare at him with the love and adoration he had grown to see in them.

He stepped aside and gave the doctor space to examine her, thrusting a bloody hand through his hair.

He paced the length of the room, inciting fear through other occupants of the room, but he paid no heed to them, all he was capable of focusing on was his mate and the doctor, that seemed to have no idea what he was doing.

Several healers came into the room then, stopping Ryder from harassing the doctor further as they stood around Saffron’s wolf, their hands hovering over her prone body.

Ryder was amazed by the fact that Silver Moon Pack had healers in their ranks, but he was also grateful for their presence because he knew that where the shifter doctor had failed, the witches would be able to save his mate.

He watched the faint glow of shimmering light that was emitted from their palms as it traveled towards the gaping wound in her abdomen with rapt attention, not wanting to miss a moment of whatever was going on.

More light emitted from their palms, all focused on her abdomen, and Ryder saw the tiny bullet that had caused such damage lift into the air before it plunked down on the linoleum floor.

More light was forced into her wound, but it did nothing. And he watched as, one by one, the healers looked at each other with dejected expressions before they pulled their hands away, taking away their healing light with them.

He clenched his fists together and stared at them, his face a mask of steel, as he demanded to know why they had stopped.

“The silver has gone through her bloodstream, and any effort to extract it will only cause further damage to her,” one of the healers explained. “She might be a werewolf, but she’s not immortal.”

Ryder stared at Saffron’s blood-coated fur, not quite believing that this was what had become of them.

He had fallen in love with his mate, and he hadn’t even told her. His need to protect her had made him act like an idiot, and instead of relishing the fact that he had found her and cherishing their moments together, he chose to make her leave.

She hadn’t wanted to be separated from him, and she had told him just as much, but his stubborn ass had decided to go with his plan, even though he knew that it had felt wrong the moment he had uttered it out to her.

If only he had taken the chance to claim her, then this wouldn’t have happened.

She wouldn’t be on the verge of losing her life if only he had listened to her.

And if he didn’t do something now, something quite reckless, then he might lose her for good.

“I need a private room,” he heard himself say, his voice carrying over the turmoil in his heart.

“Ryder.”

Just that, his name on the tongue of the Pack’s Alpha almost had him renouncing his words, but he didn’t.

He had to try to save his mate, the only way he knew how.

“Very well.”

And so, Ryder found himself once again carrying the body of his mate’s wolf deeper into enemy territory, with only one goal in mind; saving her.

Later, he would lay siege on the one who fired the killing shot.