Chapter Twenty Three
Cole paced in the hall outside the medical room while he waited to hear news on his brother condition, his brother’s mate was in a stable condition the bullet had not hit any major organs and was easily removed. They were lucky to have had a pack member from the mountain ridge pack here and they had, had some medical training. Anne their pack doctor was working on AJ, if he doesn’t survive Cole planned on waiting for Rose to wake and forcing her to tell him everything she knows about the hunters. Starting with where to find them.
The door to the medical room opened and his gran walked out. Cole ran up to her. “How is he?” He asked.
She shook her head at him “Not good, one of the bullets had lodged itself in his bone and Anne was having trouble getting in out, when she did get it out she couldn’t stop the wound from bleeding. She thinks it may have hit an artery,” His gran told him. "His lung had been punctured by the dagger so he is currently on a machine that is helping him breath until it heals.
“Is he going to live?” Cole asked. He held his breath as he waited for her to answer, he couldn’t live without his brother, if he died Cole might just die right beside him.
“We don’t know yet” Lucy said softly “It doesn’t look good though. He has lost so much blood, his pulse is weak, and he doesn’t appear to be healing as quickly as he should be.”
“What, why not?” Cole asked.
His gran shrugged “We don’t know, it’s as if his wolf has given up and is not fighting to survive like it should.”
“I want to see him.” Cole said walking towards the door.
“Cole she is still working on him. It’s not safe for you to go in there yet, your wolf may see Anne as hurting your brother and fight for control.”
Cole turned and looked at his gran “Your wolf didn’t”
Lucy shrugged “I have had years to learn how to control my wolf”
Cole sighed “Fine” he started to pace in the hallway again. His thoughts going back to the hunters and what he planned to do to them when he found them.
“How is he?” Cole was brought back out of his thoughts by the sound of his mother’s voice. He looked over at her and noticed her red-rimmed eyes. She had been crying and by the looks of it, she had been crying a lot.
Cole walked over to his mother and wrapped her in his arms.
“Anne is still working on him.” He said softly to his mother. “Grandma said he had lost a lot of blood.”
“Oh god” Chloe sobbed “He has to survive.”
“I know mum.” Cole said rubbing her back. He felt as a tear had escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek. It was as if that one tear had called on the rest and before he knew it he was sobbing in his mother’s arms.
“I can’t lose my brother.” he said burying his face in his mother’s neck and breathing in her scent. “I will hunt down and kill every hunter myself if he doesn’t survive.”
Chloe squeezed him in her arms as she cried along with her son. Once the tears had finally run out and they both had their sobs under control, Cole pulled back from his mother.
“Where is dad?” he asked her.
“With your Grand father, Danny is still missing and we need to come up with a plan to stop these hunters from attacking us on our own land.” His mother told him.
Cole felt a pang of guilt when he realised he had not even given Rose brother a second thought. He was too young to understand what was really going on and if he was out there on his own he would not survive long.
“Had the man on patrol had any luck tracking his scent?” Cole asked his mother.
Chloe shook her head “His scent stopped as soon as he reached the boarder of our territory.” Chloe said.
Cole looked at the door to the room where his brother laid fighting for his life. He would never forgive him if he survived and Cole had done nothing to help find his mates brother. “I know where he might be.” Cole mumbled.
“Where?” Chloe asked frowning at her son.
“There is a cave just past our border and on rouge territory, it’s where I had found them last time. She used to hide him there when she had to leave him alone.”
“Where exactly is this cave?” His mother asked.
Cole explained to his mother the exact location of the cave as soon as he was done she had left to go tell his father. Cole was once again alone in the hallway waiting for the door to the medical room to open so he could find out about his brother.
“You will survive” he muttered softly to himself “You hear me brother? You will survive.”
The door to the medical room opened and Anne walked out. “I have managed to stop the bleeding, he has lost a lot of blood, and I can’t guarantee he is going to survive. He has a fifty, fifty chance. If his wolf starts fighting his chances would improve.
“Can I see him?” Cole asked softly.
“Sure,” Anne said giving him a small smile “I’m just going to go get cleaned up, if anything happens mind link me and I will come straight back.” She told him before walking off down the hall.
Cole took a deep breath and walked slowly into the room.
His brothers sleeping form was the first thing he noticed when he walked in to the room. The sound of beeping was coming from the machine beside him. There was a long thick white hose coming out of his mouth and connecting to another machine that was making a strange noise.
He looked over to the bed beside his brother to see Rose sleeping form. She had a white sheet pulled up to her shoulders. He looked away from her and back at his brother.
Cole noticed how pale his brother looked and let out another sob. He walked beside his bead and took his brothers hand in his.
“You listen to me AJ Benson. You will not die on me. You will fight for your life with everything you have. Because I refuse to let you die.”
Cole wiped the tear that was running down his face. “I’m going to find them, every last one of them and kill them all.” He said letting out a growl.
“No one hurts my family” Cole looked around the room for a chair. When he couldn’t find one he looked back at his brother’s still form laying in the bed.
Slipping his shoes off his feet Cole did something he had not done since he was a little boy. He gently climbed into his brother’s bed being careful not to lay on any of the cords and hoses connected to AJ, and laid beside his brother, careful not to touch his wounds and hugged his brother's sleeping body.
Breathing in his brother’s familiar scent had started to make him feel better and before Cole knew it, he had falling to sleep.
Cole woke to the feeling of someone brushing the side of his face. He opened his eyes to see his mother standing beside the bed looking down on him.
She gave him a small smile. “You haven’t snuck into your brother’s bed to sleep with him since you were a little boy” She said softly.
“I know” Cole said softly. “I couldn’t find a chair”
Chloe’s smile grew at her sons’ response. “They had found Danny where you said he would be. He is in his room sleeping. We haven’t told him about what has happened to his sister yet.”
Cole looked at his mother and frowned “Why not? He should know so he can be with her.” Cole told his mother.
“Your father thinks it’s a good idea just in case AJ doesn’t survive.” Chloe told her son.
Cole sat up on the bed and looked at his mother “Why would that matter?” He asked cautiously.
Chloe let out a deep breath “Because if AJ dies, she dies”
“What!” Cole screamed. “We can’t do that”
“Why are you so upset, I thought that’s what you would have wanted? She did betray us and is also the reason your brother is in here” Chloe let out a loud growl and looked over in Rose's direction.
“She is also the reason he isn’t dead.” Cole growled out. “That bullet she took was meant for AJ, she saved his life by risking hers, don't you see mum, she could have kept running but she didn't she came back to help AJ.”
“How do you know that?” Chloe asked her son.
“AJ told me through the mind link when we were running to him, he said he would have already been dead if it wasn't for Rose. He also made me promise that Rose is taken care of. I will not break my promise to my brother.”
Chloe nodded her head at Cole “I will go and let your father know.” She said
"What about the Rouge Grandma found, what happened to him?"
"He was put back in his cell, he will be getting what he deserves very soon. Your gran is getting him not to take outside."
Cole nodded his head at her and watched as his mother placed a soft kiss on the top of AJ head before walking out of the room.
Cole got out of the bed and turned and faced his brother “If you want your mate to live then I suggest you start fighting for your life. Because I can’t guarantee that dad will let her live if you die.” He said before walking out of the room.