Chase the Moon (On Hold)

Eleven

Jesse and I stumbled back into pack territory supporting each other's weight. Well, he was supporting me more than I was supporting him, but that was beside the point. The point was that as soon as the patrol picked up the scent of blood, they came running.

"Holy Hell," a man I trained with, Alex, said as soon as he saw us. He paused momentarily to mind link the others before rushing to help support my weight. He took in my blood streaked body with an apprehensive look. "I hope that's not all yours."

"It's not," I breathed. "But a lot of it is, and my wolf is pissed at me so I think he's slowing down my healing."

"Shit, man," Alex said. "What did you do to make him that angry?"

"He gave up having an Alpha title," Jesse said from my other side.

Alex's eyes widened. "You gave up an Alpha title? Dude! Who does that?"

"Hospital first. Questions later," I wheezed at the pain in my abdomen.

"Right," Alex said as he picked up the pace.

Once we cleared the trees, the pack finally sensed our return. The area became alive with the excitement, and before we could get past the first few onlookers, Jesse's mom burst through the crowd. 

"Jesse! My baby!" she cried as she ran forward. I felt his support disappear, but as soon as he left, someone else picked up his task. I turned to see Caleb giving me a "you scared the shit out of us" look.

I didn't even have a sarcastic reply to dig up for him. I was too focused on trying to breath without being in pain.

Come on Malachi. This is your body too. Work with me.

That didn't seem to be getting me anywhere, so I gritted my teeth and waited for them to drag me into the pack hospital.

The loss of blood was making me light headed, but at the same time, the burning pain from my wounds kept me alert and frankly made me want to throw up.

By the time we were through the front doors, my feet were dragging and my vision was starting to cloud over with black dots.

"Doctor!" Alex called out to reception.

The woman took one look at me before standing and ushering us down a hallway. "This way," she said as she gestured us into one of the rooms.

I fought the urge to growl out in pain as I was lifted onto the hospital bed. Some of the deeper wounds were not reacting well to the unexpected stretch.

"I'll fetch the doctor," the woman said before disappearing down the hallway. She was only gone for a few moments before she returned with a doctor in tow.

"What seems to be the problem?" he asked as he pulled on some plastic gloves. He was a werewolf doctor, so situations like this were usually simple fixes, despite the horrifying exterior.

"My wolf hates me, so I'm healing the old fashioned way for this one," I choked out.

"Right. That does put a twist on things. Bella, would you be a dear and fetch me the stitching supplies and some morphine?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"In the meantime, I need to fill out the basic paperwork. Name please?" he asked as he pulled out a clipboard.

"Marcus Young," I growled out.

"Emergency contact?"

"Ruth Conoway."

"Relation?"

"Friend, I guess. She basically raised me."

"That's enough for now," he said when Bella had reentered the room. "Now, Mark, I need you to try reasoning with your wolf. The more you can heal on your own, the less stitches you'll need."

'Try reasoning with your wolf'... What the hell do you think I've been doing? Freaking mind yoga? You hear that Malachi? The doctor wants me to reason with you!

The pain got a little bit worse then.

Listen up you little mutt! I don't like you anymore than you like me, but we're stuck sharing a body, okay? That means we have to work together despite the fact that we hate each other. It also means that sabotaging me by restricting our healing ability is a shit idea. This is your body, too!

Nothing really happened, so I kept going.

Fine, you want it that way? Then why don't you share some of the pain!

I let down a little bit of the wall I'd created between us and felt the pain lessen as Malachi was forced to share it. I heard him growl and felt him trying to build that wall back up. I wasn't having any of it, though. I tore it down a little more. It was enough for him to take control of my human body, but even if he did do that, he'd still have to heal my body to stop the pain.

I'll put the wall back up if you heal me!

That seemed to do the trick.

"It's working Mark," I heard the doctor say, but I could already feel the relief flooding through me. "Keep doing whatever you're doing."

And if it's any consolation, I'm sorry about giving up the Alpha title. Maybe if we worked together more instead of fighting all the time, I'd trust you enough to have it.

He growled again, but continued to heal me. As promised, when the wounds were all closed, I rebuilt that wall. When I opened my eyes again, I was covered in a slick mixture of blood and sweat.

"See, you didn't need stitches after all," the doctor grinned and handed the supplies back to the receptionist.

I sat up and got off the bed with a new sense of purpose. "I need to see the Alpha," I said as I walked towards the door.

"Um, Mark?" Alex called after me. I stopped and gave him a questioning look. "You might want to shower first."

"Right."