Authors: Donna Flynn
*****
Mercy woke
hour
s
later
,
visions of Alec on the
ground bleedin
g out
a
fter being shot racing
through her mind
.
Immediately,
she struggled to get up
casting a glance around the room,
finding
him lying quiet and pale on the bed next to hers.
“Alec?” she wh
ispered
rising uns
teadily, stumbling
to h
is side
,
fearful,
he might
die despite her efforts to save him.
He
was breathing heavily as if it
took extreme effort and
the white pallor
of his usually tanned skin worried her.
S
he pulled
down the sheets
frowning at the
slight
puckered
entrance
wound where the bullet entered
his chest
, w
ondering how long she had slept
. A quick glance at the clock showed her only a
few hours had
passed since she had healed him. His
wound however, appeared
as if it had been healing for weeks
.
Having
little experience with
the use of
her
healing skills she was uncertain
if that were nor
mal, but she was confident
his trembling and sweaty body were not.
Sitting
on the edge of the bed
hold
ing his hand she listened to ever
y
ragged
breath he took
with concern
.
“
Alec can you hear me
.” She
laid a
hand on his
cheek and
his
head turne
d
towards it as if
seeking her touch,
but his eyes remained closed
.
Fear
she had missed something
when healing him had
her
second-guessing
everything she
had done and she became
terrified he
wouldn’t pull through.
The door opened
,
the slight squeak drawing
her eye
s
as
Lucan stepped inside followed by Alec’s fath
er
Gregory
. Bot
h
men
seemed startled to find
her awake
and at Alec’s
side, but neither said a word
.
“He won’t open his eyes,” s
he told them
before
turning
back to the bed
,
clenching
Alec’s hand
,
as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Lucan walked to
her side
laying his hand on her back
. “W
e need to talk about what happened last night.”
“I tried
to save him
,
but what if I screwed up? What if he nev
er wakes
?” she creid out.
H
e sa
w the despa
ir in her eyes, heard the heart
break in her voice and knew that her fate was sealed. As
a
human,
she
may not be aware of
her true feelings for Alec,but dee
p inside where her wolf dwelled
,
the pain all mates experienced
whe
n their significant other was hurt, recognized the bond
.
“You did great
,
he’s alive now because of you,
but we need
to
know about how you pulled the
bullet out.”
“
I don’t understand myself,
how can I explain to you?” she answered wearily.
He squeezed her hand offering encouragement. “Try.”
She dreaded telling them, worried they would think her a freak for posseing such an odd ability. “
I don’t know how it happened or why, but when
I
t
ouch living things
I can see how they were
injured,
then an energy builds within me that releases
into their body to fix the problem.
”
Having explained she turned back to Alec worry for his recovery foremost in her mind.
Laying her hands on
his chest
,
she focused
once more,
searching in
side of him for the reason he remained
so ill
. S
he was
frustrated and about
to give up
when
something abnormal in his blood stream
gained her attention
. U
pon fur
ther examination, she realized the toxin she found
was slowly working through his body poisoni
ng him
. With newfound
purpose
she worked, collecting
all
of it
into herself
until he
was breathing
easier
and only clean blood pumped through him
.
Satisfied she got
all
the poison
,
sh
e called her energy back
into her own body and was about to stand when scream inducing
cramps formed in
her belly. Unable to
handle the firestorm that tore through her abdomen s
he
stumbled backwards into Lucan’s arms
. An acid
ic
liquid
filled
her mouth
burning
her with its taint and s
he grabbed
for the
trashcan,
violently
throwing up
into the soft pink plastic
container.
When she
could,
expell no more
,
her body gave out and she collapsed against her brother.
Lucan lifted her in his arms and carried her to th
e bed
noting a skin temperature well
beyond the
normal heat of
their
kind. Grabbing
a cloth f
rom the
nightstand,
he
dunked the piece
of material
in the cool water t
hey had been
using for Alec and proceeded
to wipe her brow
. I
nstead
of growing cooler as he had hoped,
she gr
ew hotter and hotter
until she was
sweating profusely and
her body
became
racked with chi
lls
.
“We need to find a healer,
” Gregory told him.
“What the hell happened?” Lucan
asked panicked
by how quickly Mercy had fallen
ill
.
“I’m not sure
.” Gregory
laid his
hand on his sons head noting his skin was
now
dry and warmer than it
had been when he had arrived
. “Whatever made
him ill
is now effecting her
. Alec
is much calmer and breathing easier
,
so she must have absorbed
whatever it was harming him.”
He turned his cool gaze on
Mercy and
fr
owned
. Her
body
shook
with chills,
her breathing
was
irregular
,
and her
skin
was
to pale
to be healthy
. “
I’ve
never seen anyone do that before.”
Lucan
stared down on Mercy. B
eads of sweat ran
do
wn her forehead
,
but h
er skin was
like ice when he touched her
and her breathing
was ragged
.
“Fight Mercy we cannot lose you,” h
e whispered taking
her ha
nd in his own
“Force Alec
to shift
, that way we can
be sure he will not suffer any lasting effects
of the poisoning
,”
Cade said
from the doorway
after hearing their exchange
.
“G
ood idea,
” Grego
ry said
.
“We s
hould move him first.
Seeing a wolf would terrorize Mercy
if she wakes,
” Lucan reminded them
.
“I will take
her to her room,
” Cade volunteered
.
“No!”
Alec mumbled waking for the first time since the shooting.
“Don’t move me.
”
H
e reached out and gripped his father’s hand
forcing his bloodshot eyes open
. “Promise me
, I can’t leave her
.”
“I promise,
”
Gregory,
said kneeling nex
t to the bed clasping his
hand
. “No one will move either of you.”
“Thank you.” He
whispered closing his eyes once again
,
confident his father would never break his word
to him
.
“Make him shift
now
Gregory he needs to heal
,
” Cade said.
Gregory
eas
ed down in the chair n
ext to the bed
where
his son rested
placing his ha
nd on Alec’s shoulder forcing
his will on him
,
so he would shift
.
Normally,
Alec would laugh
at his attempts,
but in his weakened
state,
he did not resist.
Almost immediately,
Alec’s
body arched
off the bed,
accommodating the bones as they
reshaped themselves
. Fur swiftly took
the place of bare skin
,
covering him with the silky soft browns and gold of his beast,
until
he lay panting on
the bed
,
a large wolf with amber
ey
es that warily watched everyone present
.
The
change had been quick. A
true t
estament to how powerful his son
would be one day and as alway
s, Gregory was in awe of his son’s abilities
.
Alec
’s wolf
,
turned his gaze on
Mercy
and whined
trying to rise
,
but his body too worn
out and refused to follow his cooperate
.
“R
est
son
we will take care of her
,
”
Gregory said
using his own powers
to keep him in place
.
Alec felt his father’s persuasion
lulling him
sleep, acknowledged his words with a shake of his head
, then closed his eyes
and let the healing of the shift finish the work Mercy had started
.