Ignite | ✔

49

49 - Borrowing The Torch

HADEN

        Waking up in the pack infirmary, the acrid scent of antiseptic filled my nostrils. A low growl escaped my throat as I sprung up, immediately scanning the room for Zara. Flashes of the fight with the rogues blinded my sight and all I could think of was her. She couldn't have been caught.

She couldn't have.

I couldn't let what happened the last time – the terror I unleashed when she was gone... fuck. The urgency to ensure her safety overwhelmed any consideration for my own injuries.

Swinging my legs to the side of the bed, I ripped the cords away from my arms just as Conner entered the room. His haunted gaze immediately found my eyes, his expression a mix of concern and relief.

Before he could utter a word, I demanded, "Where's Zara?"

Conner sighed, "She's fine Haden. Luckily – for you and us all – you killed the last of the rogues and we got there just in time. She's safe, Haden."

The words were assurance, but they would never be enough. Not for me and certainly not for my wolf.

"Where?" I growled at him, flinging the cords on the bed. He gave a nod to the right and without hesitation, I hurried to find her, my mind grappling with the tumult of emotions that had surfaced during the encounter with the rogues.

Zara was getting up from her bed when I entered the room. Not willing to waste a second more, I stormed up to her and grabbed her face with my hands, capturing her lips in a fervent kiss. At her surprised gasp, I used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, our tongues playing the game of fire and ice.

When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against hers and sighed, grateful to the gods that she was safe in my arms. I checked her over, my hands running over her shoulders, ensuring she was unharmed. A frown made its way to my lips at the change in her scent, another consequence of this attack, I thought as I titled her head to the side.

When that wolf bit into her, it was like someone was ripping my own heart out of my chest, something I never wanted to feel again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she muttered, gently swatting my hands away. I saw her eyes run down my own form, and I knew her wolf was doing the same thing – ensuring her mate was unharmed after such a brutal attack.

Brutal attack.

At that though, a subsequent growl escaped my lips and I gripped her shoulders. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"What do you mean what was I thinking? Are you being serious right now?" she growled right back.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? What if you had been taken? What if you had been killed? Do you have any idea how fucked up that would be for this pack? For me?"

"There's no possible way you're switching this around on me! Those rogues had you outnumbered! There was no way in hell that I was leaving you behind. If you think otherwise, then you're an absolute dumbass and you have no idea who I am."

"You could have been killed!"

"So could you!" she screamed back, "how the fuck do you think I took it seeing my mate drop to his knees practically lifeless. If it wasn't for the link to the pack, which you should be damn lucky that I remembered how to do by the way, then both of us wouldn't be here right now."

I glowered at her, my temper still sizzling beneath my skin.

"You should have left when I told you to,"