Freed Wolf

70 Bittersweet Surprise

Chris POV

"Bring her over here, Alpha!" Doc shouts, gesturing to a gurney.

My heart hammers as I weave my way to him and set Jess down. She's weightless in my arms and feels more like a child than my mate. His eyes go wide as he takes her appearance in before he recovers behind his professional facade.

He barks out orders to the standby nurses while he begins his assessment. I'm pushed to the head of the bed, but they know better than to try and send me away.

They cut her shirt off and pull the blood soaked rag away, revealing her pale skin with patch work patterns of bruises of various sizes and shades. Cyrus whimpers while taking in our battered mate. They quickly drape a hospital gown over her but the image is seared into my brain. Every rib on her frame is visible and her regularly radiant skin is sickly pale with a grey cast to it.

She looks like she's been through hell...

'She has been,' Cyrus reminds me.

"Her core temperature is dropping, blood pressure's dropping, respiration is light..." Doc trails off as he continues his assessment. "Heating pad and blankets, prep a transfusion, get me saline and a dextrose nutrient solution!"

The nurses and techs scramble to complete their tasks. Methodically, he works across her body, looking for damage while the nurses return with his supplies. IVs are tapped and hung, heating pads placed, and additional heated blankets piled on Jess' still body.

"Where's my blood?!" Doc shouts glaring around.

"We don't have any more O neg," a nurse mumbles apologetically.

"How!?" He gasps.

"The Luna normally donates," he replies. "But she's been sick and missing for so long..."

"I'm O negative," Jude says, rolling up his sleeve.

Doc narrows his gaze as he takes in Judes state. Overall he's in good shape, having bypassed the bulk of the fighting to cut his way to Jess as ordered.

"Sit," Doc motions to a chair near Jess' bedside.

Jude takes a seat and the blood tech has him stuck and filling up a bag in record time. Chloe appears out of the crowd, her long brown hair is tied up in a bun but already strands are slipping. Relief floods her face as she stops only long enough to give him a tender kiss before returning to the flood of patients I know are coming in behind us.

The entire first floor of Crescent Falls pack house has been turned into a makeshift field hospital. Only the worst wounded will come directly to the pack hospital. The rest will be triaged into wards in the dining hall, common room, and den.

"Mira!?" Doc shouts over the roar of chaos.

A moment later, her flaming red hair bounces among the crowd towards us. Her bright blue-green eyes lock on mine before drifting to Jess. They go wide as they look her over.

"Please," I beg, my voice choked with emotion. "Help her..."

Her eyes burn brighter as the very air around her shimmers. Mira starts at Jess' head, placing her delicate hands on her temples and trailing them slowly down. Her lips part as a shocked expression takes over her features.

"Well, what is it?" Doc proads.

"I don't know what's holding her together," she whispers in astonishment. "Actually I do... My sister's magic is."

Her features harden as her hands travel down Jess' chest, around her ribs, down to her stomach, and pause. Mira furrows her brows in concentration, feeling all around before she moves down her legs then back to her chest.