Chapter 66: Safe Hunter
I felt something deep inside me ease when I got Charlie’s mind link about Yara. I’m still about an hour away from Harold’s pack, but Arric pushes us hard to get there, leaving our warriors behind. Yara said she needed us. I don’t know what happened to her, what Simon may have done to her, and I don’t care right now. We’ll get through it. I’m just so thankful that she’s safe.
When I get close to Harold’s pack, I howl that I’m coming in. Hopefully they know that I have no intention of waiting for the patrols to let me through. I need to see my mate and nothing will keep me from getting t oher.
As we catch her scent, Arric pushes even faster, following her scent, along with the scent of antiseptic, to the pack hospital. Arric rushes into the hospital and I shift without stopping. Everyone in the waiting room, including Alpha Harold just points and I rush to her room, slamming the door open.
The first thing I see are her bruised, swollen cheeks. Simon will die slowly for touching what is mine. Then her lips begin to tremble and she sniffs. She’s in my arms before the first tears falls from her eyes.
“T’m here. You’re safe,” I say, feeling like I can breathe for the first time in days. I hold her while she cries, walking around the room as I kiss her head and nuzzle her hair.
“I’m here, baby. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere,” I murmur softly.
I will, though. I will hunt Simon down like a dog and kill him. But not today. Today I will take care of my ma
te
I’m not sure how long I hold her, but she cries herself to sleep in my arms. When she does, I open the
mind link, feeling my warriors and even Charlie are here now.
‘Charlie, I need Savannah,’ I mind link him.
A moment later she knocks softly, then steps in.
“She’s asleep?” she asks softly and I nod.
“Good. She wouldn’t rest until you got here.”
“What happened to her? What did he do to her?”
“Mostly what you see. He hit her, three times according to Farrah.”
“Farrah? The one who left our pack after Yara saved her life?”
“That’s the one. She found her and brought her here.”
“I need to talk to her. What other injuries? Did he..?” I can’t ask. I’m trying to stay calm so Yara can get the sleep she desperately needs.
“He didn’t. Luna swears he didn’t it goes along with what Farrah said.
However, he tied her arms behind her back and she apparently didn’t realize that her arm was dislocated so when she shifted, it tore. Annika is still weak from the chloroform that he used on them, but she’s getting stronger now that they are safe. Yara wanted her to heal her face first so you wouldn’t see it, but I insisted that Annika focus on the more serious injury.”
“Is it okay that I’m holding her like this?” I ask, looking down at my mate.
“I’m sure being close to you is strengthening Annika even more and Luna wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep if she was in pain.”
I take a deep breath, smelling her cinnamon and nutmeg scent.
“Do you want me to get you a chair, Alpha?” she asks.
“No, thank you. I have too much energy to sit. Can you send Farrah and Charlie in for me?”
“Sure thing, Alpha.”
Yara shifts in my arms, tucking her face against my neck. Arric begins purring to help keep her calm. The door opens and Farrah, Charlie, and Alpha Harold all walk in. I frown, unsure why he’s here. “Farrah, you found my mate?” I ask her.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“She was with Simon?”
“Yes. I saw him taking her toward a mountain out east, in between Alpha Quinton and Alpha Harold’s packs. I followed them. I couldn’t get to her right away. I’m sorry. But I waited. I watched. If he’d tried to…I would have done something. But I knew he had to sleep at some point and when he knocked her out…” She cuts off as I growl. Yara shifts in my arms again and Arric begins purring again. ‘Focus. Our mate is more important than our anger,’ Arric scolds me.
I take another deep breath, feeling Yara’s weight relax in my arms again as Arric’s purr puts her back into a deep sleep. When she tucks her face against my neck again and sighs, I refocus my attention back on Farrah.
She watches our interactions, smiling a bit. “She knew you’d come for her. She knew that you would find her and that you would kill Alpha Simon. She even told him that he better hope her bruises were gone before you saw them or you’d kill him slowly. I haven’t seen love and trust like that between an Alpha and a Luna since…” She stops, looking at Harold.
Arric begins purring again that our mate knew we’d come for her, that she trusted that we would find her. Farrah turns back to me.
“She kept calling you ‘my mate’, almost as if she was taunting him. She’s stronger than she looks,” Farrah says with admiration.
“Yes, she is. I am in your debt,” I begin but she shakes her head.
“Your mate asked me why I was
helping her. I told her that she saved
my life, and it was my turn to save hers. When I was in your pack, I didn’t want to live, but she made a good point. If the Moon Goddess
didn’t let me die, then she must have plans for me. I guess your mate was right,” she says, looking at Harold again. I’m beginning to understand why he’s in here.
“My mate usually is,” I say, smiling down at her. Then I look up at Charlie.
“You look like hell. I was going to send you after Simon…”
“T’ll go. You need time with our Luna.”
“Send Haynes. I’m guessing that he’s the one you left in charge of the pack?”
“Yes.”
“Send him. Get home and get some sleep. You need it,” I tell him.
When he doesn’t argue, I know I’m right. Yara would have put him on reserve duty, so I will in her stead. “Do you want me to send a car for you?” he asks.
“Yeah. I don’t want her shifting until her arm is healed and I don’t want to be out there with her alone if Simon, Brady, and Quinton are still out there. Is Quinton still out there?” I ask.
“The short answer is no, but there’s a much longer conversation that we’ll need to have once our Luna is settled. I hope you’ll agree with the decisions I made.”
“I usually do. That’s why you’re my Beta. Get home, get some rest. If you don’t, I’m going to let Yara go at you when she’s back to herself.”
“Oh hell, no. I’m not going toe to toe with our Luna,” he says, making me smile.
“Good, send the car and I’ll see you when you wake up,” I tell him.
“I know you’re feeling protective, Alpha, but the warriors would feel a whole lot better if they could see our Luna before we head home. And then they could spread the word that she’s safe,” he says.
I nod, then look at Harold. “Harold, I’m assuming it’s okay to remain here while we wait for the car?”
“You can wait here as long as you like, Warren. My pack feels almost as strongly about your Luna as yours does. We’ve become much stronger because of her and we’re remaining strong because of our new Beta female.”
“Savannah’s wonderful,” I say, suddenly remembering. I turn back to Charlie. “Bradley?”
“He’s alive, but Noelle is happy to
know that Luna Yara can now look at him and make sure she stitched him up properly. The bullet punctured his lung, and it was all new to her, but she did a great job of saving his life.”
“Tell her I’m proud of her,” I say.
“Tell her yourself when you get home,” he says, smiling at me.
“Get out of here,” I say, following him and the others out of the room.
When I walk out of the hospital room and into the waiting room, it’s filled with my warriors.
“How is she, Alpha?” someone asks.
“Exhausted. Charlie is sending a car so we’ll be home soon. He thought you’d want to see her. She’s sleeping now.”
“He hit her,” someone growls and others do as well, but very softly so they don’t wake Yara. It says a lot about my warriors and their love for their Luna that they are managing their anger to let her sleep.
“We’re getting a hunting party ready
to go after Simon and hunt him down. Anyone who isn’t exhausted can go. Ifyou are, and you decide to go anyway, you’ll answer to your Luna when you return in the less
than exceptional shape she expects
you to be in,” I tell him.
They all chuckle, but I see a couple look resolved to not going. These last few days have been trying for
the entire pack.
“Bye, Luna.”
“We’re glad you’re safe, Luna.”
“We love you, Luna,” the warriors say softly as they file out of the hospital.
I turn seeing Farrah watching me. She looks at Yara and then back up at me. “I can see why the two of you are mated together. You’re both very strong, but in very different ways. You complement each other.” “We do. People underestimate my mate, but they shouldn’t. She’s a powerhouse of strength, just not in the way that most of us are used to seeing it,” I say.
“Mates should complement each other,” Harold says, and I’m guessing after all she’s been through, Farrah needs a bit of convincing to accept their mate bond. I have faith that Harold will succeed. “T’m going to go find a place to sit in the quiet while we wait for the car,”
I tell them.
“I’ll let you know when it’s here. If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Everything that I need is right here,” I say, kissing Yara’s head.
I go back to the hospital room, and sit, getting comfortable and carefully readjusting Yara to make sure she’s comfortable too. Arric begins purring again, and before I know it, I’ve dozed off too.