03| BLAZE.

I lean against the wall in the waiting room as there are no seats available. It looks like things are about to get chaotic around here as the human nurses run from one end of the hospital to the other looking like headless chickens.

I find it odd that there isn't a shifter healer in sight in a shifter’s hospital. 

Personally, I don't see how the human race can attend to our unique needs if they can barely understand our genetics. 

24hrs. 

Saffron and I have been in this town for 24hrs and my willpower to stay away crumbled like a freshly baked cookie.

What brought me here was the sweet aroma of vanilla, no matter how hard I tried to stay away, I couldn’t and my wolf will not allow me to leave until I figure out what is keeping me here.

Even though, time is of the essence; with every passing minute, my pack is closer to dying. My body refuses to listen to my mind, and my feet feel like they are rooted to the spot.

Saffron and I must locate this witch and convince her to lift the curse, or we must eliminate her; I favour the former option. I am not a killer, but I can become one to save my pack and provide my nephews with a fighting chance to find their mates.

Something that should have come naturally to me as a wolf, but was stripped away from me by this heartbreak curse.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, the smell of vanilla returns, but this time it is a thousand times stronger and my heart begins to race. Movement in the corner of my eye catches my full attention, and when I raise my gaze, they land on the most spectacular creature I have ever laid eyes on.

She is fucking beautiful, and she is all I see.

Look at me… I internally growl.

Our eyes clash, and instantly her hazel green irises with flecks of purple grow wider than saucers.

MATE!!! My wolf howls as he tries to claw his way through my chest.

Unconsciously, I push off the wall, making my way toward her across the far end of the room, shoving shifters out of my way with a low snarl playing on the tip of my tongue. 

I am awed by my mate, as she doesn’t try to run away from me, even though I can smell the fear and confusion wafting off her.

As I reach her, it is clear to me that she isn’t a wolf. My first guess is a human, but the scent of her blood doesn’t make my stomach churn. She has a peculiar scent that clings to her, and even with my wolf senses at their peak, I am unable to determine her breed.

“MINE…” I growl possessively as I stand before her, my eyes devouring every delicious inch of her perfectly structured face. From her mesmerizing irises to her perfectly shaped, plump bottom lip.

Her eyes narrow slightly as they continue to search mine with unyielding questions she is yet to ask, and it takes every ounce of willpower my body consumes for me not to claim her lips.

She swallows thickly, and the sound of her racing heart tickles my eardrums, “Are you hurt?” She whispers in a voice that sounds like heaven and makes my cock jerk. “Are you injured? Because if you aren't, I need your help.” There is an underlay of vulnerability in her voice that squeezes the life out of my heart.

“Are you in danger?” I snarl, turning around to examine the room for any potential danger.

 My body quivers with the thought of someone trying to hurt her.

“No, but there is a shifter laying on my operating table who is in desperate need of blood, or he will die.” She says in a hushed tone.

I turn back around to face her, letting my guard down. “You are a doctor?”

She nods her head with a faint smile touching one corner of her mouth when she witnesses the look of surprise taint my features, “Can you help me or not?”

I grind my teeth as my jaw tightens. The sound of my mate begging me to help her drives my wolf livid.

‘How can anyone deny her of anything?’ My wolf howls.

“Lead the way,” I say firmly as we continue to gaze into each other’s eyes.

Tilting her head to the side, she sighs, “Do I know you?” She asks hesitantly, pulling her bottom lip in between her teeth.

“In a sense, yes. But we can talk about that a little later.” I grunt, refraining from rubbing the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip, “You said you have a dying shifter on your operating table?”

Her cheeks instantly turn pink, “Shit! Yes, please… follow me.”

 Before we enter the room, she hands me a gown, forces me to scrub my hands up to my elbows, and then turns to face me.

“My name is Blaze,” I blurt out, needing her to know my name, so it can haunt her till I inform her that destiny has other plans for her from tonight onwards.

She smiles, “My name is Luna,” She briefly pauses as her eyes search mine.

If you are looking for a soul, you won’t find one, my little flower…

“Thank you for doing this,” She pivots, using her back to hold the door open, “Please, follow me.”

I would follow you into a burning building…

“That was quick, oh… well, hello there, Mr yummy Shifter!” A short blonde female rushes toward me, “My name is Jayme, I’m going to need you to park your ass on this chair right over here.” She takes hold of my wrist and forces me to sit in the chair that is stationed by the bed. “Now, do you verbally consent to the blood transfusion taking place?” She looks me sternly in the eyes.

“Blood transfusion?” I frown, leaning forward as I look at Luna. “I didn’t know I’d be donating blood.”

“Please don’t opt out,” Luna begs as she covers her face with a surgical mask. “I’m desperate.”

“You should know that a wolf cannot donate blood to just any shifter,” I growl with frustration, hating that I may have to bail on her in her hour of need.

“We don’t have time for this,” Jayme sighs, “Look at him, he is as good as dead.”

When Jayme steps to the side, my gaze falls on the patient and I almost fall off my damn chair. I shoot up to my feet, tearing the gown and my shirt clean from my body. “That’s not just any wolf you have dying on your table,” My body shakes with rage and apprehension. “This is an Alpha; my Alpha.” I thrust my arm out with urgency, “I consent to the blood transfusion.”

“Great!” Jayme smiles as she forces me to sit back down, ignoring the slight panic that grips me, and carefully looks for a thick vein in my arm.

I flinch as she pierces the cold needle into my flesh, sliding it deep into my plump vein.

"We tend to treat our wolfsbane-infected wounds with a cocktail of herbs. With this hospital being built for shifters, why aren't you using any?" I ask Luna and Jayme, slightly confused. 

"There are no herbs within the hospital walls of that kind. We, humans, tend to get dizzy and..."

"This is why humans should stick to treating their own kind." I cut Jayme off with a slight growl coating my words, sounding like a jackass.

"Maybe you can move your awesome pack here and treat your own kind yourselves. You shifters think we are beneath you even when we are trying to help you. You take our compassion and charity for granted instead of seeing it for what it truly is." Jayme replies, huffing her words out. 

I nod my head, disregarding her. “Whatever you do, don’t let him die,” I beg Luna. “Alpha Azra is my sister’s mate, and he has eight healthy male offspring waiting back home for him.”

Luna nods her head as she gently cleans Alpha Azras’ wounds with a brown-tinged sponge. The monitor he is hooked up to beeps steadily but slowly. It warns me that if Luna doesn’t remove the bullets lodged in his body, he might just die.

The thought of returning home to my sister with news of her chosen mate dying in front of me causes me to grit my teeth violently.

I watch as Jayme wheels a cart with surgical tools on top next to Luna. “You ready?” Luna asks Jayme with a look of bravado in her eyes.

“Ready.” Jayme hands Luna a pair of long-nosed tweezers.

“If there is any sign that he is going to wake up, I will need you to try to hold him down without ripping the needle out of your arm. Do you think you can manage that?” Lunas’ gaze shifts to mine.

I swallow thickly and nod my head, “Just make sure you get every single bullet out of him.”

With a steady hand, Luna grips the first protruding bullet, and she gently wrestles it free, which causes a torrent of inky blood to seep from the wound. She quickly pours some clear liquid over the wound to help clean it. “Add pressure,” She orders Jayme as she moves to the next one.

Next, she goes for the bullet that is wedged between his ribs, and she removes it with little struggle, she squirts the clear liquid over the wound to dilute the blood. Sweat beads across her brow line as she concentrates on removing every bullet efficiently. The last bullet is stuck in Azras’ abdomen, which is encased by rock-solid muscle.

As she fights to get it loose, I sense Azra waking up, and he begins to murmur, “I found her, the Moon witch.” His head turns to the side as his eyes slowly pry open. “She’s here, in this town…” he drifts back into an unconscious state.

“Got it!” Luna sighs, dropping the yellow-covered bullet on the metal tray. Her eyes slightly narrow as she brushes her fingertips over Azras’ wounds before she yanks her hand back as if touching him suddenly burns.

My brows furrow as I watch Luna slightly sway on her feet.

“Did he say Moon witch?” Jayme asks as her eyes grow wide.

I meet Jayme’s gaze but bite my tongue to prevent myself from saying anything.

“You are from the fallen pack, aren’t you?” She continues to whisper.

“I’m from the Blood Serpent pack, and we are not a fallen pack, not yet anyway.” I cannot stop the murderous snarl that departs between my lips at her use of words to describe my pack.

Luna uses the back of her hand to wipe her forehead as she continues to sway on her feet. “I…I need to use the bathroom,” tearing her mask and gown off, she rushes out of the room and I can smell the foreboding scent of fear clinging to her.