LOGINXander's POVShe puts her phone back into her pocket before looking back up, at where the doctor works on max. “Once you've finished stitching, Doctor, what else will he need before we can move him?”The nurses both stop what they're doing and turn to the doctor. He doesn't stop stitching.“A couple of days sedated in the ICU with antibiotics and round-the-clock monitoring. But given the circumstances, I think we could try to transport him as soon as he's bandaged up. His blood pressure is already improving. We can monitor him in transport and continue to infuse him. But I really think his best chance will be to move him to a local pack and get him into a hospital as soon as possible.”For the last hour, I've been thinking about getting him stable enough to put in the fucking car with us. Catch the convoy. Keep moving.It hadn't occurred to me that getting him stable might mean taking him somewhere else entirely.I glance down and see Zahra looking back at me. She chews on her botto
Xander's POVWe watch as the doctor slowly and painstakingly stitches Max back together. The abdominal wound requires some frankly rather disgusting internal stitches that Zach had to step out for, but despite my roiling stomach, I stayed and held on to Zahra.The doctor said something about the tear in his spleen being small enough to repair here, but that under normal circumstances Max would already be in surgery.There aren't normal circumstances anymore.There's an army coming, most of Shadow is already preparing to leave, and apparently, we're standing here watching someone stitch my mate's fucking insides together because we don't have time for anything else.Zahra's fear keeps pouring through the bond in sickening waves, every fresh movement of the doctor's hands making it spike. Sometimes I don't know where her fear ends and mine begins.I have to hold her because she feels like she's about to disintegrate into pieces.I do too.So I tighten my arms around her and keep her aga
Xander's POVZach moves to the other side of the bed to help the nurses, while I keep my palm pressed firmly against Max's chest.The sparks continue beneath my hand, impossible to ignore now I've noticed them, every tiny movement of his body sending another warm current through my skin.I can't pull away. Not yet. The second I stop holding him down, the stubborn bastard will probably try to get up again and tear his fucking stomach open completely.At least that's what I tell myself.Because there's another reason, I don't want to move my hand, and I'm not fucking ready to examine that one too closely.“Max,” I say, infusing some of my Alpha tone into my voice to get him to pay attention. “It's okay. Zahra's safe. She'll be here in a second. We know about the rogues.”At the word rogues, his entire body tenses beneath my hand. His eyes widen, panic cutting through some of the delirium, and then he starts fighting harder.“No, you don't understand. You have to protect her. They're comi
Xander's POVMy arms are trembling as I place Max carefully down on the examination table inside the treatment room the nurse showed us into.At first, I think it's because he's so heavy, but once I step back, I realise my entire body is shaking. I clench my fists, trying to make the fucking shaking stop. It doesn't. Fuck, I need to pull myself together. I'm furious with him. I'm an Alpha. I shouldn't be reacting like a frightened pup.Zach moves beside me, his face grim as we both look down at him. His eyes are half closed, the whites showing, and his face is pale. So fucking pale. The wound on his stomach is trying to heal. I can see the edges are already closer than they were before, but he's still bleeding profusely. The stench of rogues and gore is overwhelming now we're no longer outside, and I try really fucking hard not to gag.“What do you think happened to him? Did he have to run through an advance party or something?” Zach asks under his breath as the doctor starts barking
Zahra's POVWe hurry towards the medical centre, Tobias and Lincoln behind us, along with the units. Mercifully, the pack doctor is at the doors when we arrive, along with two nurses, and Xander and Zach carry Max inside without stopping.I watch them disappear through the doors with him, and every part of me screams to follow.I need to be with him. I need to know he's all right. I can't lose him like this, no matter what comes afterwards.And that thought pulls me up short.I can't lose him.Because despite everything, despite him leaving and the weeks I've spent trying to convince myself that I could live without him if that's what he wanted, I still fucking love him.The realisation hurts almost as much as watching him collapse did.I'm still furious with him. He still broke my fucking heart. I still don't know what happens between us when he wakes up or whether him coming back changes anything at all.But I love him.Fuck.Zanthe is practically clawing at me to follow him through
Zahra's POVAs I pull away from Elliot, I hear the first scream.Every head snaps towards the sound, and the entire mood changes in a fucking second. Elliot releases me, my mates move closer, and the warriors around us are already turning towards the disturbance when a mind link slams into the pack link.‘Rogues! Rogues attacking from the south-east!’Lincoln growls.“Shit. They're here,” I say.The screaming gets louder as more and more people start to run away from the attacking rogues.Lincoln's hand clamps around mine, and we take off running. Several of the Task Force warriors around us shift and sprint off in wolf form towards the disturbance. We've already discussed that I'm not to shift unless it's absolutely necessary, and it appears my mates are going to stick to that as well. We run together, their units with us.Zanthe is agitated, pacing inside my head. She wants out badly enough that I can feel her pushing against my skin, but I can't let her White Wolf be seen unless we







