The Alpha's Scarlet Heart

Chapter Twenty Three

I rub my eyes furiously as I watch Roy type on his computer. I was painfully aware that the clock was ticking by fastly and that with each tick Scarlet was closer and closer to death. I can't describe the amount of pain I'm in. Even from far away I can still feel her pain. I have been trying to ignore the pain by focusing on finding her but when that didn't work I started to drink. The guilt is eating me alive and Scarlet's pain is only getting worse. I don't care that I am hurting because it's her pain and that's what hurts the most. Scarlet is innocent, so fragile. If I can't save her that will be the end of me. Without Scarlet life doesn't seem worth living. I shake my head, getting rid of those thoughts. I will save her! I have to. I can't take watching Roy work, it's too nerve-racking.
"I'll be outside. Come get me when you're done." I say. He nods, still typing on the computer. I walk out and sit against the wall. I put my head in my hands. I sigh. A sharp pain hits my head. I groan loudly. This pain is more intense than the others. Scarlet! They hurt her worse this time. What if they are trying to kill her?! The head is so fragile. They wouldn't hit her there at risk of killing her. I growl fiercely. I stand up. Why are they hurting her?! Why couldn't they have took me instead?! I growl and punch the wall, making a huge whole in the wall.
"Cole!" Someone yells. I turn around and see Roy.
"I've found her." Roy says. He hands me a location and a map.
"Tell the warriors to follow me!" I yell. I race downstairs and out the door. The warriors meet me immediately. I hand them the address, letting them memorize the address.
"We're taking the sports cars. They are faster with the amount of distance." I say. I rush into my fastest car, a red 2014 Ferrari. Jackson slides into the passenger seat. I open my mouth to protest but he cuts me off.
"I'm coming with you, now drive." Jackson says. I pull out of the garage, set the location in my gps and drove and quickly as possible, immediately going over the speed limit. Hold on Angel, I'm coming. The town is three towns over. I have only one more hour until they kill her. I need to make it. I need to save her. I kick the Ferrari to a 140 mph. I will save Scarlet, no matter what it takes.
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The drive took 55 minutes to get to the town and to the forest where Scarlet's phone is located. I jump out of the car, Jackson beside me. I undress quickly and shift. I grab my clothes in my mouth and start running towards Scarlet's scent. I am close enough to smell the rogues and the slight hint of Scarlet's scent. It was still lingering from when they dragged her here. I growl and run as fast as I can. The warriors running behind me. I see a small secluded cabin a few feet ahead of me. There are two rogues guarding the door. I growl and launch myself at the strongest looking rogue. He falls to the ground and I snap at him and rip out his throat. Jackson and a warrior attack the other one. I shift and dress quickly. I burst through the door, smelling the disgusting scent of rogues. Three rogues look over at me and growl. I growl back louder. I move forward to attack them.
"We've got this covered Alpha." Derek, one of the warriors says. I nod and move past the rogues. They try to grab me but the warriors attack them. I block out the sounds of fighting and try to focus on Scarlet's scent. I walk down the dark hallway, several doors on both sides but none of them smelled like Scarlet. Her scent gets stronger with each step I take. I see a door at the end of the hallway that smells so strongly of Scarlet. I rush to open the door but it opens first. A rogue steps out and smiles at me.
"Look who it is...hello Alpha Steel." He says, smiling evilly. It's the guy from the video, the one that hurt Scarlet the most. I growl and grab him by his shirt. I shove him against the wall. I growl into his face, my claws elongating.
"You son of a bitch. You think you can take my mate and get away with it?!" I yell. I pierce his skin with my claws. The rogues punches me in my face. I grunt but press my claws further in his flesh. The rogue winces slightly but keeps his smile. I press my claws further in his chest, right next to his heart. He groans in pain and growls at me.
"You can kill me if you want. It doesn't matter...you're too late." He says, smiling evilly despite the pain. I freeze. What? I rip out my claws from his chest. I growl fiercely, fear and anger coursing through me. The rogue starts to squirm, trying to escape my grasp. I growl and let him go. I can't waste time on him. I need to save Scarlet. I see Jackson run towards us. I leave the rogue so Jackson will handle him. What did he mean it's too late? I take a deep breath and open the door. What I see behind the door makes my heart stop. I see my beautiful, sweet, kind, caring, and overall amazing mate tied to a chair, looking like she's dead. A lump forms in my throat, my heart feels like it has been shattered. She is in her bra and jeans, there are bruises and cuts all over her body, she has a hide black eye but the thing that scares me the most is the blood running from her head and down her neck. Oh no.
"Scarlet!" I yell. I run to her. I see her eyes closed.
"Scarlet! Angel, please answer me. Angel, Angel!" I yell. I press my fingers lightly against her neck, trying to feel her pulse. My heart plummets. Her pulse is barley there, she's dying.
"No, no, no. Goddess no." I say. I untied her quickly and take off my shirt. I put my shirt on Scarlet and lift her in my arms. She can't die! I need her. I was too late. She believed in me and I didn't save her in time. I rush out of the room and through the cabin. The warriors gasp as I bring Scarlet out.
"Someone call an ambulance!" I yell. Derek nods and takes out his phone. I set Scarlet down gently on the forrest floor. I feel something weird on my hands. I look down to see blood on my hand. Her head is still bleeding! Jackson rushes over to me.
"Cole! How can I help?" Jackson asks.
"Use your shirt to stop her bleeding and make sure her heart doesn't stop." I say. Jackson nods and presses his fingers to Scarlet's wrist. I look down at my mate, covered in her own blood and covered in bruises. James whines.
'Our precious mate. I can't live without her. Just seeing her that way makes me die a little inside.' James says. I press a light kiss on her forehead.
"Cole." Someone says. I look up at Jackson.
"Her heart stopped." He says. I growl.
"What?!" I say. I press my fingers to her neck and I can't feel her heart beat.
"Oh no. You can't die now. I need you." I say. I press my hands on her chest and start CPR.
"One. Two. Three." I say, pressing my mouth to hers and breathing air in her mouth. I press my hands to her chest again.
"One. Two. Three. Please breathe. I need you." I say, tears forming in my eyes.
'I can feel a part of me slowly dying.' James says. Oh no! When someone's mate dies their wolf dies a little as well. James feeling that way can only mean one thing...Scarlet's dying. I continue CPR. The ambulance arrives and they rush over to Scarlet.
"Sir, we can take it from here." The ambulance guy says. No, I can't let her go. I keep going.
"Sir." He says. I growl.
"Cole! They need to take her to the hospital, let go." Jackson says. I let go of Scarlet with much regret. They put her on the stretcher and wheel her into the ambulance. I follow them and climb into the ambulance. I take Scarlet's hand as they continue CPR. I lean down.
"Listen to me, I need you Angel. I need you more then I have ever needed anyone else. You can't die. You can't. We are suppose to grow together. We are suppose to fall in love, get married, have kids, and grow old together. There's no one else for me, just you. I don't think I will be able to live without you. I need you to breathe Angel, breathe for me, live for me." I whisper. I sit back up.
"This is amazing." I hear someone say. I look up to see the girl EMT looking at me in amazement.
"She's breathing again." She says, putting an air mask on Scarlet. I let out a breath I was holding in. I kiss Scarlet's hand. That's it Angel, you can pull through...you have to. The ambulance stops at the hospital and they take out Scarlet. They rush her into the ICU. I try to go through but a male doctor stops me.
"You can't go in there." He says. I growl at him, not caring that he's human.
"I won't let her go in there alone! She needs me!" I yell, trying to go into the ICU again.
"Sir! We need all the room we can get in the ICU. You need to respect that and let us do our job. We can't save your girlfriend if we are busy trying to deal with you." He says. I stop fighting and growl. He's right. There's nothing I can do, it's all up to the doctors now. I look at the doctor.
"She's my whole world. Save her, no matter what." I say. He nods and goes through the ICU doors. I sigh and sit down in the waiting room. I put my head in my hands. I sigh. Here I am. Three towns away from home, in the hospital waiting to see if my mate will survive. Someone puts their hand on my shoulder. I look up to see Jackson looking at me with sadness in his eyes.
"What did they say? Is Scarlet going to be okay?" Jackson asks. I sigh.
"I don't know. They got her breathing again. They took her into the ICU." I say. James whines in my head. I sigh and run my hand through my hair. Just the thought of my Angel laying in their all alone is driving me crazy. The only reason I haven't shifted yet is because I need to know if she's going to be okay as soon as possible. A female nurse with red curly hair walks towards us.
"Excuse me, I know this is a difficult time but we need to know a few things about the patient." She says. I nod and she looks down at her clipboard.
"What's her name?" She asks. I hesitate. Should I tell them? If I tell them her name then Mr. Paine will be called and he'll want answers about what happened. Answers I can't give him. I sigh.
"Her name is Scarlet Paine." I say. She nods and writes it down.
"Is she allergic to anything?" She asks. I freeze. Is she? I remember I looked at her school file when we first met. I rack my brain for the answer.
"No, she's not allergic to anything." I say. She nods.
"What's her blood type?" She asks.
"O Positive." I say. She nods and writes it down.
"Thank you." She says and walks away. Jackson looks from me to the warriors.
"Cole?" He says. I nod and look at him.
"Would it be alright if the men call their mates? They are probably worried." He says. I nod.
"Of course, just please don't say anything about Scarlet, not yet." I say. He nods. They all take turns calling their mates while Jackson calls his parents. I sigh and start to think about my past times with Scarlet. When we first met.
'Shit! I'm sorry I didn't see you there.' She looks from her drenched shirt to me with a small frown on her face. I met her eyes and I instantly knew she would be mine forever. To the time I met her in my wolf form.
'You aren't going to hurt me, are you boy?' She asks in an angelic voice. I laid my head in her lap and let her pet me. To the time we first kissed.
'You're special.' As I kissed her a million sparks set off in my body, all I wanted was her, all I thought about was her. To the time I gave her Bear.
'I really like you Cole, don't break my heart.' I smile at her, knowing I will never do that, not willingly. I sigh. How did we end up here? How did all of this end up in a hospital waiting to hear if she lives or dies? I place my head in my hands once again. How many times have I done that in the last hour and a half. I sigh and think back to all the times I should have told her how much she meant to me and didn't. A throat clears and I look up from my hands to see the same doctor who told me I couldn't go into the ICU. I stand up quickly.
"Is she going to be okay?" I ask. He looks at me with an unreadable look on his face.
"She lost a lot of blood. We managed to stop the bleeding from her head and we stitched her up as well as the cuts on her body, but the damage to her body was substantial. I'm afraid she has managed to slip into a coma, one we aren't sure she's going to wake up from." He says. I gasp as a sharp pain hits my heart. I fall to the ground on my knees.
"No, no, no. How could this happen? How could I have let this happen?!" I say, my voice raising with every word. Tears form in my eyes. My beautiful Scarlet might not wake up, I'll never see her beautiful eyes again, she dazzling smile, her kindness to the pack children, we may never have children of our own. A lone tear falls down my cheek. I will never get to tell her that I love her.
"I'm so sorry." The doctor says. I can't believe it. I thought that if I got to her in time everything would be okay. I can't believe this is happening to her, to us. I wipe away the tear and stand up.
"Where is she?" I ask.
"Room 104." He says. I nod and he walks away. I turn to my warriors.
"Take the cars and go back home. Go home to your mates and cherish each and every minute with them." I say. Jackson stands up.
"I'm not leaving you alone." Jackson says.
"I'll be okay. Just go back home." I say.
"I'm staying and that's final." Jackson says. I nod. They all walk away. I sit down afraid, afraid to go in there and see my beautiful angel near death. I stand up and make my way towards room 104. I stop just outside the door. I take a deep breath, I shouldn't be afraid. I need to have hope that she will wake up. Without hope I will slowly die inside with each day passing. I take a deep breath and walk through the door. Behind the door is my worst nightmare. Scarlet is laying there, tubes in her arm, a breathing mask on her face, laying motionless and pale on her bed. I walk towards her bed and hold her cold hand in mine.
"I love you so much. I'm so sorry this happened to you Angel." I say. I lean over and kiss her forehead. I rub my thumb on her hand. I brush her hair away from her face.
"My beautiful angel." I whisper. She was the goddess' gift to me. My own Angel, a kind, caring, beautiful girl sent into my life to make me happy and to change my ways.
"You're my angel, so kind and pure. I should have protected you better. I should have tried harder to protect you. I swear Angel, if you come out of this I will treat you better." I say. James whines.
'She's strong. She'll come out of this. I miss her.' James says. The pain I felt before has turned into pure self loathing and fear. My whole world is upside down. How could I have let this happen? I should have been the one to give myself up. It's my job to protect my pack members and my mate. I failed. I let Jackson get captured and I let Scarlet get harmed. There's a small knock on the door. I look over to see Jackson.
"Can I come in?" Jackson asks. I nod. He walks in and sits on the other side of Scarlet's bed. He looks at her sadly.
"I can't believe I let this happen." He says. I look over at him.
"This is my fault. I should have never let myself get captured. I should have never let her give herself up to save me." He says, tearing his eyes away from Scarlet.
"I'm so sorry Cole. This is all my fault." He says. I shake my head.
"No. It's not your fault. You obeyed an order from your Luna. No matter what she would have given herself up to save you. I should have never left her alone. I knew rogues were trying to take everyone I care about away and I still left her alone. I should have never let them capture you, it's my fault. I never should have let this happen." I say, pressing a light kiss to Scarlet's hand.
"This isn't your fault Cole. You know that even if you never left her alone, she would have found a way to escape and save me. Her kindness is blind to pain. She never once thought about herself. All she thought about was saving someone she cared about. She truly is an amazing Luna." He says. No matter how hard I try I can't believe that this isn't my fault. She's my mate and I'm suppose to protect her and I didn't. I don't deserve her. This is a defining moment in my life, the one thing that can change everything. Without his mate, a wolf is nothing. Without his Luna, an Alpha cannot lead. If she dies, she will be leaving behind a broken shell of a man. I hear footsteps move quickly towards the room. I look up just in time to see Mr. Paine storm through the door. He catches sight of me and glares.
"Do you want to explain to me what the hell is going on?!" Mr. Paine yells.