Alpha Aiden's Protection Program

Chapter 32: I'd Be The Orpheus

"Set her down here," Dr. Nazra instructed.

Laying her down, I prayed to a God. I didn't know if any existed. Be it the infamous Moon Goddess who birthed us or a Saint who humans prayed too. I didn't know if they had many faces or if there were multiple Gods. In that moment, I would have bowed before all of them and give my life for hers.

And if they refused, I'd be the Orpheus of this life and follow my Eurydice to the afterlife. I'd show death what she meant to me, and they could either have both of us, or neither.

"We're going to have to perform a direct transfusion because of the blood loss," Dr. Nazra said, gesturing Jenny to have a seat next to Tate.

She explained as her hands moved meticulously. Inserting the needle into Tate's wrist, stopping her blood from flowing out and then connecting the other end of the tube to Jenny.

I was moved away from Tate as Dr. Nazra and two other pack members who studied in the medical field moved around Tate.

"Alpha, you should step outside," The good doctor said.

"No," I shook my head vehemently, the thought alone bringing on more dread. "I'm not leaving her."

Dr. Nazra's eyes filled with sadness, but she shook her head, "I have to examine her and you pacing around wouldn't make it easier for us."

I felt my throat constrict, my legs turning to heavy steel bars that anchored me in place. I wanted to stay, but I needed her alive.

Dragging my feet and my heart, I pulled myself out the door, rage slowly building within me.

As the door swung shut behind me, I was instantly in the eyes of at least fifty pack members. All of them huddled in the corridor, anxious eyes and worried faces.

I couldn't pull myself together in front of them. The air in my chest felt caught as my lungs struggled to take a breath.

"Everyone, go to your rooms or report to duty," I heard Calypso saying. Her always quiet tone was now stern as she sent the crowd away.

When the last person left, I drove my fist into the wall opposite me. The marble cracked under my fist, sharp edged cutting into my skin.

"Alpha..." She said gently, staying back.

"Tourmaline?" I croaked, trying to pull my shredded thoughts together. "Have they found her?"

"Yes, and she was calling for you," She responded.

Staring down at my injured fist and the deep crimson red of Tate's blood that coated my skin and soaked my clothes, I shook my head.

"Later," I said, unable to move much further away from Tate or have Tourmaline come see me in such condition. "Calypso, would you please stay with her tonight? Take her the pool area with guards. Ensure the door is sealed."

"Yes, Alpha," she said before I heard the clicking of her heels disappearing down the hall.

Turning my back to the cracked wall, I kept my focus on the door of the infirmary. Desperation making me want to march back inside and offer my own heart in retribution.

Sacrificing my life for hers. An unfitting punishment for my cold front towards her. No, I deserved a slow and painful punishment, but at least if she had my heart she could live.

And every day after I'd spent my life atoning my sins in the darkest depths of Hell.

My thoughts went darker and darker as the seconds passed by.

The hallway growing cold and silent. A foreboding echo lingering in the walls at my every breath.

It felt like my own personal Hell. Every faint heartbeat of my mate's I heard from where I stood, her scent covered by the metallic stench of blood, her breathing ragged and too slow to be of much use. A torment created personally to pierce my soul over and over and over.