2. Thirty- seven

~ Harper’s POV ~

A sharp pain was slicing my hear and my wolf whimpered as he took in the blood-soaked body of our dad, with an arrow lodged in the junction of his neck and shoulder.

I didn't want to imagine the kind of pain my mom must be feeling right now, considering mates could feel each other's pain. I clenched my eyes for a second to dissolve the world around me. I didn't want panic to overwhelm me, I needed to be in my wits because I would rather die than make my mom mate less and leave my newborn sister without a father.

Gathering my wits, I quickly shifted back into my human form. I covered the remaining distance between me and my father's wolf and crouched down to take a look at me.

My wolf whimpered again as I saw the condition of his wolf and I clenched my fists to stop from having a breakdown. Pack protocol stated that immediately after every attack, the non-wounded men and women would look after the wounded wolves left on the battlefield. So, I knew there would still be people searching for the living members of the pack amongst the dead bodies.

"Someone, I need a gurney here!" I shouted in my alpha voice.

I noticed that two warriors came running towards me, holding either side of a gurney in their hands. I wanted to pull out the arrow from my father's neck but I was afraid that it would do more damage than good at this point.

If they were surprised to find their alpha in this condition, they didn't show it. They put down the gurney beside my dad's barely alive body and then gently lifted him on the gurney, all the while making sure to not move the shoulder, he was shot in.

The warriors deftly lifted him and walked briskly in the direction of the pack hospital. I matched their pace and walked beside them.

"Harper, your father!" My mom's voice echoed in my head as she mind-linked me.

I sighed and hesitated before answering her. I knew that everyone in the safe house was now outside and helping the doctors and nurses keeping the critically wounded pack members alive. It was pack protocol but as my mom had recently been discharged and was still supposed to be resting, she would be taking it easy. Moreover, she had Katelyn to take care of right now.

We stormed inside the hospital and I immediately called for assistance. "Doctor, somebody! Help!" I called out frantically and was greeted by an attending and two nurses. They didn't comment on their alpha being so greatly injured but looked at me with confidence and told me that he would need to get to surgery right away.

They took my father through a set of doors, through which I had seen my mother go a couple of days ago. I ran my hands through my hair in helplessness and remembered that I hadn't yet answered back to my mom. She must have been worried sick.

"Mom, dads in the hospital!" I mind-linked my mother, hoping she would come soon because I felt like a small eleven-year-old boy lost in the mall.

My wolf was restless and I desperately wanted to go for a run but I couldn't do that. I couldn't disappear like this at a desperate time when my pack needed me the most. The just didn't need motivation and support but they also deserved to see their alpha standing beside them in this hard time. 

I just wish Zara had been here with me. Her touch and her scent would have calmed me. She would have been an anchor and would have helped me to be the best version of myself, which I would have offered to help the wounded and desolate pack members.

The hospital was bustling with incoming patients, wolves who had been wounded in the attack. Doctors were trying their best to treat everyone but I could see them struggling with the inflow. The were prioritizing the serious patients and then checking over the stable ones.

I was sure that there were casualties too, on both sides. One of the warriors must be outside of the battleground, checking bodies and identifying them. If any rogue wolf had been alive, they must have been captured already and taken to the cells.

Soon, I would have a report of the members who died and I would be the one to inform their loved ones that someone in their family died. 

I sat down in the waiting room, the feeling of helplessness all too familiar now, and waited for an update from the doctors.

The doors of the waiting room bust open and I saw my mother, looking tired and haggard, while her eyes searched for something or someone. She relaxed a bit when her eyes landed on me. I noticed that she didn't have Katelyn with her.

Before I could tell her anything, she crushed me in a hug. I put my arms around her small body and inhaled her scent to calm my wolf down. 

"Kat?" I asked, wondering where my sister was.

"I left them with Sam. I came as soon as you mind linked me. I knew something would go wrong when I felt this huge pain in my neck. What happened to Sebastian?"

I was relieved that Samantha was alright which meant that Aiden was alright too. He must have already gotten the news of Dad being run the operation room and he must have been doing the last-minute reports, to help me.

"Everything was fine one second. The rogues were outnumbered and were retreating. We had won the battle and then, out of nowhere, Dad was shot in his neck with an arrow. There was blood everywhere and I didn't know what to do." I whispered and put my head in my hands, which I now noticed were covered in blood.

I cringed as I looked down at my hands, afraid my face would also be covered in my father's blood. Mom put her arm around my shoulders and I leaned into her touch.

We waited for what felt like hours. I just kept staring at the magazine on the table, my thoughts running haywire.

The doors to the operation room opened and the doctor came to greet us. We immediately for up and walked to meet her.

She bowed to us in respect and then gave us the information. "Luna! The injuries that the Alpha sustained were pretty severe. The arrow nicked the artery in his shoulder so it was hard to control the bleeding."

We gulped nervously because so far, it had only been bad news. I just wanted him to be ok and awake, even if it was in a hospital bed.

"The arrow was laced with a large amount of wolfsbane, greater than the arrow you were shot with." The doctor said, pointedly looking at me. Of course, the arrow had to be laced. It meant that whoever shot the arrow wanted both me and Dad dead.

"Also, we had to inject an herb to make him shift back into human form so that we could treat him. This too, put a strain on his wolf."

"His wolf has shut down. I'm not sure if this is temporary or permanent, but there is a chance that he could lose his wolf and never be able to shift again." She told us, remorse clear in her eyes.

My mother clutched my arm in a death grip at the last sentence. My father prided himself on being a wolf, a white wolf, and it would be a huge mental blow for him if he couldn't shift again.

"The wolfsbane had entered his bloodstream and reached all the organs, including his brain. We will have to wait for him to flush out the poison on his own. The process will take a lot of time as his wolf is cut off from him."

"To make this process easier for him, we have put him in a medically induced coma. His body needs time to heal, if it can heal there's nothing more, we could do for him. I'm sorry we don't have better news."

My mother's body shook as silent tears rolled down her eyes at the thought of her mate in a coma. I put my arm around her to comfort her and looked at the doctor again. "Can we see him?"

"Yes, he has been shifted to the ICU ward and will remain there until further notice. Someone will come shortly and take you there." The doctor smiled sadly at us. "I'm sorry, Alpha!"

I nodded, not knowing what else to say. A nurse came after a few seconds and led me and mom to dad's ICU room on another floor of the hospital.

He was connected to various machines which were keeping him alive. There was a huge patch of bandage on his shoulder where the arrow had struck him. He looked pale and frail because if the blood loss and.

Pale and Frail never thought I would use these words to describe my father's appearance.

Mom left my embrace and shakily walked to dad's bed side. She held on to his arm and cried on his arm.

The scene looked so private that I took a few steps back and walked out of the room. The mates deserved to get some privacy and I would make sure they would get it.

I leaned against the wall outside the room and closed my eyes, thanking the goddess that at least, he was alive. I didn't want to think about what would have happened to the pack if something happened to him. Hell, what would I have done if something happened to him?

I felt someone squeeze my shoulder and I turned my head to look at Aiden standing beside me, with a file in his hand.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered and without saying another word, I hugged him. A great amount of tension vanished from my body as I hugged my best friend. I felt such a huge amount of relief that he was alright. He hugged me back tightly, knowing that we were thinking the same thing.

I leaned back and patted his shoulder in reassurance, both for him and myself. I crossed my arms over my chest, not at all excited about the report in his hand.

"How many?" I asked, my eyes moving around the nurse's station at the end of the hallway.

How many did our pack members died?

He sighed and I knew that he didn't have food news to give me. "33."

I took a deep breath and nodded at him. Thirty-three? Thirty-three loyal pack members who died today at the hands of the rogues. Thirty-three members had come to celebrate the birth of Katelyn and ended up getting killed themselves.

I opened my mouth to say something but suddenly a sharp pain sliced through my chest, which left me gasping. I staggered on my unsteady feet and gasped as waves of horrible pain struck my chest.

I lost my balance as the outside world blurred and my senses went into overdrive. I fell to my knees and clutched my chest, to relieve some of the pain.

"Harper! Harper, what's happening?" Aiden's voice rang somewhere inside my head and I felt his hand on my shoulder, trying to keep me upright.

I knew what was happening the moment I felt the first wave of pain because I had felt it once before. It was somewhat less but gut-wrenching and I felt my wolf whimper inside my head. 

Zara was cheating on the mate bond again and the bond was making me aware of it. 

No, Zara! Not now!

I gasped in pain again and then passed out on the hospital floor.