Page 59 of Protecting The Gray Wolf
Love burned inside her, brighter than a million suns.
He’s immortal, the sly voice said.He risked nothing.
She wouldn’t respond, refusing to acknowledge Solange, but the woman had it all wrong. Kade risked everything to come for her, had knowingly walked into a trap. He could have left the city, gone halfway around the world to protect himself.
The gray wolf had come for her. He belonged to her.
He’s mine, the nasty voice hissed.
“Where the hell is the doctor?” Luna currently existed on two planes of reality. In one, she was aware of Kade’s presence, of being eased off whatever they’d used to carry her and onto a bed. In the other, Solange’s presence loomed, like a predator waiting to strike at the first sign of weakness.
Trusting Kade to handle the logistics of the physical realm, she focused on the mental, the magical one. It didn’t matter if her body healed, not if she didn’t rid herself of whatever magic was inside her. The removal of the tracking spell had been excruciating. Failure now would kill her. But neither Kade nor she would be safe while Solange still had a grip on her.
If she hoped to win, she needed to be stronger, to have time to heal whatever injuries she’d sustained. She swept her mind. The mage had to have a way in, a doorway of sorts. Scanning her inner landscape, she turned in a circle. Nothing seemed out of place. It was all a void.You got this, she assured herself, shaking off the frustration. Taking a mental breath, she searched again and caught a slight shimmer in one area. She went toward it, getting colder the closer she got.
Conjuring a brick in her mind, she infused it with love and set it on the ground in front of her at the corner of the opening.
Is that all you’ve got?
Ignoring the taunt, Luna built a wall of love between herself and the mage one brick at a time.
Stop it! I command you!
Satisfied she’d found the right spot, she continued to build, pushing past the exhaustion growing every second. The weight of the bricks grew, though their size remained the same. The edges of the stones became jagged, tearing at her flesh—whether a magical deterrent or her body simply giving out, the outcome was the same.
So close. Holding the final one with both hands, she yelled as she heaved it into place, jamming it into the remaining crevice. The air around her grew lighter, even as something pounded against the wall. She sank to the ground, rolled to her side, and gave into the pull of exhaustion. It wouldn’t hold, but it would hopefully buy her time to connect with Kade—either awake or in the dream realm.
Chapter Nineteen
Kade sat in the chair beside the bed, Luna’s hand clutched in his. The doctor had come and gone—for the third time. A tall, lean human in his fifties, he looked more like an aging rocker in his jeans and biker boots than a medical professional. He carried a battered knapsack instead of a professional doctor’s bag but was both competent and thorough in his examination and treatment.
His prognosis—Luna was physically healing but for some unknown reason was in a coma. That he didn’t seem surprised by the speed at which her injuries were repairing indicated this wasn’t the first time the broker had called him in to treat a paranormal.
It had been thirty-six hours, and Kade hadn’t slept a wink, terrified if he closed his eyes she might die. “Open your eyes, sweetheart.” It was the same request he made every fifteen minutes. It always got the same response—nothing. She hadn’t moved a muscle.
The longer she remained unresponsive, the more he vacillated back and forth between taking her to a human trauma center. The doctor was good, but there was only so much he could do under these conditions. With the money and resources behind their enemies, nowhere was safe. As long as she didn’t take a turn for the worse, she was better off in this safe house in Manhattan, or rather, safe apartment.
They’d taken a service elevator straight to the penthouse on the top floor. The driver had given him the codes and explained that the building was monitored by the broker’s private security team around-the-clock. Nowhere was secure enough to suit him—not as long as Solange and Charles were alive. He’d prefer to have her tucked away in his home in a remote part of Uruguay where he was familiar with every rock and tree and had his own precautions in place. Since that was out, this would have to do.
Giving her his blood had been a huge risk. It could easily have killed her. Knowing Luna had a drop of it inside her—due to Solange’s manipulation—was a far cry from him giving it to her directly from a vein. He’d trusted that his wolf would never encourage anything that might harm his mate.
That her physical injuries were repairing gave him hope. It might not be as fast as his wounds had healed, but it was far quicker than should be humanly possible. The shattered bones in her hand were knitting back together. It was currently in a splint, the fingers stabilized, until the process was complete. Same with her left leg. He assumed whatever internal injuries she’d had were already mending. They would have been more serious and the primary focus of the healing.
The doc had given her fluids and antibiotics to fight possible infection. With his blood, neither should be necessary, but it was better to err on the side of caution. Her coloring was better, her breathing no longer labored.
“Open your eyes, Luna.” When nothing happened, his head and shoulders drooped, and he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. God, he was tired. The growl of his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten in… He’d lost count. Too bad, he’d have to stay hungry. He wasn’t leaving her alone while he fixed himself a meal. Besides he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep anything down. His insides were in knots.
The bathroom had been a necessity, but he’d kept the door open and been gone the bare minimum required. Same with the lightning-fast shower he’d taken when he could no longer stand the stench of himself and the scent of her dried blood on his skin.
Lying so still like this, she looked fragile, but the fact she was alive was a testament to her strength and resilience. His eyes were gritty and heavy from exhaustion. His mouth opened on a large yawn. As powerful as he was, even he needed to recharge, but he refused to let her out of his sight.
The bed was king-size with plenty of room. When he yawned again, he stretched out beside her, not bothering to remove his jeans, and turned onto his side so he could watch her. He rubbed his fingers gently up and down her bare arm. Her skin had warmed considerably but not to the point of a fever. She was naked beneath the sheet, a necessity in order to clean the blood and grime from her body and treat her injuries. Her clothes had been filthy and ragged, anyway.
“Sleep is what you need to heal.” The words sounded hollow after a day and a half. “I’m right here,” he promised. “Whenever you wake, I’ll be here.” His wolf was on alert, vigilantly scanning for any threat, but there was no enemy to fight. At least not one he could see.
Why wouldn’t she wake?
He’d take a flutter of her eyelids, a quick blink, anything. Leaning inward, he nuzzled her neck and froze. There was something there, something foreign to Luna’s normal scent. Maybe it was the medication the doc had given her. Inhaling again, he caught a hint of it again. If he didn’t know better, he’d say it was trying to elude him. It was slight, but it was there.
