Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“I know,” began Roni, “but she got hurt really bad too and now she’s unconscious again.”
Shit. He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Well, where’s Taryn?”
It was Bracken who responded. “Trying to heal Ally, which is proving difficult because not only is Taryn hurt as well, but she’s healed so many injuries tonight she’s pretty weak. She’s barely conscious herself.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Jesse stroked one of the cat’s soft paws. Her eyes closed. His heart jumped. “Stay with me, Harley,” he said, panicked. “Okay? Stay with me.”
Nothing. If anything, her breathing turned weaker. His gut twisted in terror.
“That’s it, talk to her,” Roni encouraged him.
Jesse swallowed hard. “One of the healers will come, Harley.” His voice came out coarse with emotion. “Any second now, they’ll come.” They had to come. Someone had to do something because he couldn’t fucking lose her. “You just have to hang on for a minute, all right? Just hang on for me.” Fuck, he needed to hear her voice. Needed to look into her eyes. “Shift back, Harley.”
“I don’t think she has the energy, Jesse,” said Roni. “It’s better if she doesn’t waste what energy she has left trying to shift.”
“Feed her your own energy,” said Marcus.
“I can’t,” Jesse rasped, throat constricting. “There’s no bond.” Unless either of the healers came to help, Harley was going to die right there in front of him. He knew it; he could feel her slipping away. Could hear her heart stuttering and her breathing becoming even slower. She was leaving him. Dying. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
Not a damn thing.
“Cain’s struggling with the vests,” said Bracken. “I don’t know if he can really help.”
Which meant they could all be dead in moments anyway. But it was Harley’s life that was important to him. And he was losing her. He’d never felt as utterly powerless as he did in that very moment. Never felt so fucking useless. He was her mate, dammit; he should be able to help her. But he couldn’t.
The metallic taste of fear soured his mouth. The insidious emotion had his own heart racing so badly, he thought the damn organ would explode in his chest. But there was no shock, he thought with a frown. Not even a small element of surprise. An all-consuming, soul-deep agony, yes. A haunting, gut-wrenching fear, yes. But no shock.
A part of him had been expecting this to happen, he then understood. Part of him had been waiting for his mate to be taken from him, just like it had happened once before. And so, he realized bitterly, he’d unconsciously held a small part of himself back from Harley.
God, he was such a fucking idiot. He’d thought he was completely open to her, thought he’d given her all of him. But no, he’d held back this one little piece out of blind terror that he’d have to go through the sheer agony of losing her—an agony he’d felt as a kid and hadn’t ever wanted to experience again. But in protecting himself emotionally, he’d left her physically vulnerable. And now she was dying. Fading away right in front of him.
“Harley, I’m so fucking sorry, baby, I didn’t know I was doing it,” he swore, voice breaking. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.” Her eyes slowly opened but just as quickly closed again. His wolf howled, shaking with rage and pain.
“Didn’t know what?” asked Eli.
Ignoring his pack mate, Jesse stroked her paw again and repeated in a shaky whisper, “I didn’t know.” If he had, she—
White-hot pain blasted in his head, slicing through his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut as his vision grayed and sleep lured him. He fought it, determined to stay with Harley. And then he felt her. Not her body. Not her mind. He felt her pain, her exhaustion, and how hard she was fighting the darkness pulling at her. Before now, he’d sensed her emotions. Now he shared them as they vibrated up and down the bond that seemed to be strengthening with every second. He couldn’t see it, but he felt it—a sort of tug on his consciousness.
Invigorated, heart pounding with a newfound hope, Jesse forced energy down the bond. He had no clue if he was doing it right, but he kept going. His wolf urged him on, too anxious to feel any satisfaction about the bond yet. “Take it, Harley, accept it.” Because she was stubborn enough to fight him out of concern that she’d drain him. And that was exactly what she did. He punched the ground, growling, “Accept it.”
A tiny hand touched his shoulder. “Don’t cry, Jesse. It’ll be okay.”
Jesse looked at Cassidy, becoming aware that his cheeks were wet.
“I just need to touch her,” said Cassidy.
He realized then that she was no longer wearing the vest. He watched as she bent over and laid her small hand on the cat’s flank. An echo of a strange tingling sensation reverberated up the mating bond as the healing energy moved through Harley. He winced as a few things snapped back into place and the cat yelped.