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I don't know how long I'm asleep for, but when I feel the consciousness of my body and awareness, my eyelids slowly blink open. I'm staring up at a white ceiling, hearing different sounds that come from machines around the room I'm in. It's a soft bed, testing my muscles as my fingers curl and I grasp thin fabric. It's a sheet, slowly bringing my chin downward to see I'm in a medical room by the appearance of the equipment.
Glancing around the room, I look to my left and my heart beats fast. I'm hooked up to a monitor; because it reflects the sudden change, causing the older woman who stands on the opposite side of the bed Quinn lies on to lift her gaze. She looks at me, holding Quinn's wrist as she checks her pulse. There are needles set in her forearms, connected to multiple drips and cords to machines.
"Quinn?" I ask, but it comes out quieter than I would have liked.
The woman releases Quinn's wrist and tells me, "Your friend's in pretty bad shape. She's still stabilizing."
While I try to ease myself up, the woman walks around Quinn's bed, reaching out as she helps provide support with my actions. After glancing around once more, I ask her, "Where are we?"
The woman smiles and replies, "You're in Nightshade Prowlers Pack territory," she pauses a moment as her words register with me, "I'm Narkissa—hey!" She exclaims as I try and shift off the bed.
"I need to get to-"
"Alpha Keir?" Narkissa asks as she tries to keep me on the medical bed. I exhale sharply, her eyes meeting with mine as she states, "He has mixed feelings about the way you tried to kill him," she muses at the way my features shift, becoming pale a second later, "though considering the way the trackers and he had found the two of you...I'm guessing there's more than meets the eye?"
I tried...
...to kill Alpha Keir?
Quinn's heart monitor skyrockets, Narkissa' sudden shift in demeanor trails off me and onto my friend. She's quick to her side, administering a liquid into the drip from a needle.
If I tried to kill him...
"You're probably wondering why Alpha Keir didn't kill you in your attempt to kill him," Narkissa continues to speak to me, though I shift my legs around, so they are hanging over the side of the medical bed. Quinn's features were once contorted, but a few moments after Narkissa had administered the liquid, she relaxes and the monitor sets back to an even pace.
"Quinn..." my voice trails off, not understanding what's wrong with her.
Narkissa releases a small sigh and states, "Your friend is lucky to have been found on our territory..." as her voice trails off, she turns around to look at me and says, "...the bullet that was extracted had been coated with wolfsbane...but what confused us all...nightshade."
How did Silos come into possession of nightshade?
"Why didn't Alpha Keir kill me...or let Quinn die for that matter?" I ask while surveying the look that Narkissa gives me.
"Considering you're in the initial stages of heat, progressing to the peak of your cycle," she motions to the shackles on one of the metal tables, "and the fact your senses were nullified, it would make sense as to why you hadn't realized-"
The door opens to the medical room, my heart skipping a beat when I catch his scent. Lifting from the medical bed, Narkissa cautioning me, "Don-"
His dark hair is brushed back and to the side, light brown eyes piercing directly into mine. His lips part to speak, but before a single sound can pass between them, another man a few years younger with sandy colored hair comes skidding through the doors, rounding the first and heading straight for Quinn's medical bed.
"I need to be near her, I need to touch-"
That's all the man gets to say before I've moved quicker than any of them perceive. I'd grabbed a scalpel on the tray at the end of Quinn's medical bed, the man running right by me before I snatch his wrist. A loud yelp leaves his lips when I kick out the back of his knee and throw him over my shoulder and back. I'm on top of him before he understands what is happening, the scalpel pressed hard against his neck while my eyes narrow at him.
"Don't touch my friend," I snarl at him, his bright blue eyes widening with confusion and sudden fear.
In the blink of an eye, my airway is being compressed. My grip instantly falters on the scalpel as I lift my hands to grab at the arm wrapped around the front of my neck. A second arm presses against the back of my neck, gasping as my vision begins to distort when pressure is increased.
I have very mixed feelings about this hold...
...because it's not helping that the warmth that sparks beneath my skin, tracing through every fiber of my body, belongs to that which is rendering my senses useless and causing me to black out again.
"Be still," his voice enthralls me, my hands falling away from his arm, his lips near my ear as he says, "as much as I admire your love, loyalty, and tenacity for this woman you defend with your heart and soul, no one is going to hurt your friend." I catch the way he inhales my scent, the tip of his nose brushing down the side of my neck before he asks, "Are you going to be calm?"
I nod my head, a gasp leaving my lips as I cough the second he releases his hold. The man under me looks anxious as he's not entirely sure I'm going to be true to my word, but I slowly rise to my feet, turning around slowly to stare up at those same light brown eyes.
He had moved so fast...
I can hear the man scrambling to his feet from the ground, stepping a few feet away from me and finding safety near Narkissa.
"Now that you're not trying to cut anyone's throat out," there's a lightness that lifts in his eyes as he introduces himself, "I'm Alpha Keir Wood..." his voice trails off as my eyes widen, "...and if I'm not mistaken-"
"You're my mate?" I breathe out without thinking.
Alpha Keir's features shift slightly, and I realize very quickly that I think I offended him when that wasn't my intention. He asks while furrowing his brows, "Is there a problem with that?"
"N-No...I, n-no that's-s not wh-what I meant," I fumble, "I ju-...I thought you'd be...I don't know," finding myself very unsure under his gaze and a small part of my heart breaks when he averts his gaze from mine, turning to Narkissa and the man.
"Coen, please be mindful of the situation," Alpha Keir gives him a slight nod of his head, his next question directed to Narkissa, "how is she doing?"
Narkissa walks to the side of Quinn's medical bed, touching her forehead with the back of her hand while scanning over the monitors. She informs him, "She's continuing to stabilize, and the last dosage of the antidote is working much better than the first."
Alpha Keir hardly glances at me when he states, "Perhaps you should rest also," he pauses for a moment, nodding at Coen. I hear Coen's footsteps fading away as he moves toward the door, Alpha Keir taking two steps around me before halting and saying, "Just because you're my mate doesn't justify the means to your trespassing."
"I-"
He raises his hand and I'm cut off when he says, "We'll talk later." My gaze trails after him, watching to see that as he nears the door, a woman and two men enter right past him. Alpha Keir asks, "Narkissa?"
"Yes, Alpha?" Narkissa responds.
"Is she well enough to leave medical care?" Alpha Keir asks, feeling like shards are being wedged under my skin.
Narkissa furrows her brows, glancing from both Alpha Keir and then to me before she nods, "Yes, Alpha Keir."
"Good," no sooner does the word leave his lips, then the two males grab my upper arms, the woman watching cautiously while my eyes grow wide with confusion. Alpha Keir states, "She'll spend the evening with the rest of those who trespass...though, she should be grateful that she's still alive."
When I pull back on those holding me, I manage to almost knock them both off-kilter, Alpha Keir immediately turning around when I cry out. I'm shaking my head while yelling at him, "My name is Laura Tomes," his eyes shift slightly as I say this, my heart beating fast, "and I'm the Luna of the Silent Stars Pack!"
"Keir..." the woman's voice trails off, noting the hint in her voice as she doesn't refer to him with the respect he commands.
Even Narkissa warns, "The late Alpha Carter's daughter..." her voice hitches a second later when Alpha Keir crosses the room, but she holds caution, "...Alpha Victor and Luna Lucinda-"
Alpha Keir's look is enough to turn them all silent, my heart ready to beat out of my chest as he nears me. While the two men continue to hold me, the woman moves to the side, Alpha Keir replacing her a second later.
While he stares down hard into my eyes, mine become soft, but I force my voice to say, "I demand to speak to my aunt and uncle."
"You demand?" Alpha Keir arches a brow.
"Yes," I don't waiver.
His eyes narrow a second later as he says, "Put her away for the night, perhaps she'll learn how to respect and treat others while not on her territory," my heart drops into the pit of my stomach, Alpha Keir turning on his heels while the two men haul me forward across the floor.
"Silos is threatening my pack and taking the Alpha position!" I cry out, trying to reason with him.
I'm brought into the hall, the woman following behind us while the two men follow Alpha Keir out of the medical lodge. There are those who watch us, but I yell at him, "Those loyal to me are going to die! My pack is in trouble!" I try again as I'm taken to a side door to the main lodge, "Please!"
Alpha Keir whirls around, a gasp leaving my lips as he crosses the distance between us and grasps my jaw with his hand. It affects him...our touch, there's not a double for a single moment as his vulnerability is shown for a split second. His eyes hold my gaze, a whimper coming from my lips when his grip tightens. Alpha Keir tells me, "It seems, your pack is always in trouble. This isn't new to us."
"Pl-"
"No," Alpha Keir cuts me off, the words cutting deep, "I hold no loyalty to your pack. You might be a sister pack through blood to the Imperial Stars Pack, but that doesn't extend its offer to mine by merely throwing your name around."
Tears are in my eyes, breathing out slowly as I grit between my teeth, "Are you treating me like this because of how I reacted to being your mate?"
Alpha Keir tilts his head to the side, his irises being replaced with a golden hue as he states, "You're used to getting everything you want and your way; privileged. Even so, I can see it in your eyes," he pauses a moment, his touch leaving me, "you don't genuinely care that your pack is in danger, you only care about the threat to your position."
"You don't know me!" I feel the bridge of my nose sting, tears forming in my eyes.
"No?" Alpha Keir asks, "Then why didn't you tell Narkissa the second you were awake about what was happening? Pack over self; you're selfish, the soul lives you care for are that of your friend and yourself."
"Please!" The tears fall down my cheeks, his eyes softening, though his actions speak differently.
"Begging does nothing for me, Luna," Alpha Keir arches a brow and retorts, "prove me wrong."