Chapter 231

Alaric’s POV

I’d never been this exhausted in my life, but my first priority was making sure that Cara was alright. This was how I kept going, even after we’d made it to the hospital, when I insisted that Cara be evaluated first. I waved off any help for myself, wanting to ensure that all the best doctors were working on helping Cara.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Richard said, while Ruby and Grayson went to the back with the other healers to help Cara.

With as much detail as I could, I explained what I had seen, skimming over the things that happened to me to focus on Cara instead. I told him how she shifted and exerted so much energy in protecting me that she must have exhausted herself. She eventually passed out.

Seeing her above me, slumped, shielding me from the rain even in her unconsciousness, roused a new protective urge inside of me, and my wolf and I fought tooth and claw to fight off the paralyzing poison. I hated myself for how long it took, but eventually, even with every inch of my body aching, I pulled through and was able to carry Cara out of the muck and mud.

Richard looked at me a little after that, as if carefully checking me over, before I shooed him away.

“Cara’s safety is paramount,” I said. “I’m fine. You can all look me over later.”

Richard seemed hesitant, but in the end, he must have agreed with me, because he turned away from me and disappeared back into the emergency room.

I stayed out in the waiting room. As tense as I was, I wanted to pace, but my limbs felt heavy and my body sluggish. For now, I figured that I’d better stay seated.

I didn’t wait long before Cara’s brothers, including Eamon, rushed into the room. Only Landon was missing, but Colin quickly told me Landon went to help Noel.

After I had carried Cara out of the woods, Noel hadn’t been particularly talkative. His eyes burned that dangerous red, and I’d been half worried he might actually kill Melinda, who he still held by the arm.

I had so many questions for Melinda, but getting Cara checked out was my top priority. Noel had agreed to hold her. Maybe it was for the best that Landon went to help him, to keep Noel from ending her permanently.

“Tell us what happened,” Eamon said, as they all gathered around where I sat.

At the moment, I didn’t have the strength to stand, but I could tell them what I knew, and did so, explaining everything I had to Richard, against skipping past the parts that might lead to my own health being questioned.

Unlike with Richard though, the other brothers immediately saw through my bullshit. Richard likely had too, but had been too polite to mention it.

Ryan did not share that politeness with his brother. “Why couldn’t you protect her? Why did she have to protect you?”

I had taken the poisoned knife with us out of the woods, and then given it to Noel to look into. Likely Landon was learning the full truth of it now, which meant the other brothers would soon follow. There was no harm in telling them then.

“I was poisoned with a paralyzing agent…” I said, and explained more, about the attack, and about what the attacker had said about me being the true target.

“They used Cara to get to you,” Aidan said, clearly angry.

I was angry too. It would be easier to show if I hadn’t been so damn exhausted. I hated my own weakness. I should have been strong enough to fight off the poison and fight for my mate.

In the end, she had handled herself well, but she had pushed herself too hard. Now we were here.

I hated this.

“We need to look into that poison,” Eamon said.

“I gave the knife to Noel,” I told him.

Eamon looked at Aidan. “Check in with Landon. Let’s keep all of our thoughts aligned.”

Aidan, nodding, stepped back. He pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call.

Eamon returned his attention to me. “You should get checked out. Just because you were able to fight off the poison for a time doesn’t mean it won’t have lasting effects.”

“They can check me after Cara,” I said.

“Alaric,” Eamon pressed.

I met his gaze. “Tell me your sister isn’t more important than me.”

Eamon couldn’t.

“Then I can wait.”

Eamon sighed, but conceded the point. For a while, we all continued to linger in the waiting room, mostly quiet. After Aidan hung up the phone, he conferred with Eamon briefly, and they discussed some things quietly, not involving me or the others. Not yet, anyway.

I had a suspicion things were brewing under the surface here, and soon everything was going to boil over.

My own questions lingered. Those attackers… they had been wearing what appeared to be official uniforms. How had they gotten them? Where they that easy to replicate? Were they stolen? Or had they been given permission…?

This competition had been set against Cara from the start. Even now I couldn’t tell if those who wanted to hurt Cara were abusing the rules, or if those making the rules weren’t allowing it to happen.

Without proof, I could only speculate.

After a time, Richard and Grayson came out to talk to us. With effort, I forced myself out of my chair to greet them with the others and hear what they had to say.

“We can’t detect any trace of Cara’s wolf,” Grayson said.

Did they not believe me? “She shifted,” I said. “I saw it myself.”

“The wolf might have made an appearance then,” Richard said. “It’s possible. But if so, she disappeared again soon after.”

“Cara is in a state of weakness. This development has pushed forward her condition, I’m afraid to say. She’s lost weeks, perhaps months…” Grayson said.

“No,” I was adamant. “She shifted. Lucy was there. She can’t have gotten worse!”

“Calm down, Alaric,” Eamon said.

“I am calm! I just –” Suddenly the worst started to shift a little. The brothers grabbed my arms and steadied me before I could veer too far off balance.

“That’s enough,” Eamon said firmly. “Alaric get looked at. Cara didn’t sacrifice what she did just for you to keel over in the hospital waiting room.”

I couldn’t argue with that, though I really wanted to.

“Fine,” I grumbled. Grayson waved forward a nurse with a wheelchair. With regret and no small amount of self-loathing, I accepted my own weakness, and was pushed to the emergency room to have myself checked out.

Cara’s sacrifice would not be wasted. Not by me.

Cara’s POV

When I blinked my eyes opened, I expected to still be in the woods with the rain pelting my back, and my knees buried in mud.

Instead I was in a stark white room with an IV in my arm and a heart monitor beeping to my left. Ruby was standing at my bedside peering down into my face.

Glancing around, I quickly came to understand I was in a hospital room.

The heart monitor lurched as my heartbeat picked up speed.

To Ruby, I said with haste, “Where is Alaric?”