SOULLESS

CHAPTER TEN

Alpha Ramos informed his mate of what had occurred and she was shocked.

She arrived at the hospital with Sarai and found Lionel sitting in blood stained clothes, waiting patiently for the doctors to come out of an emergency room blocked at the entrance by royal guards.

Sarai called Cybele, who joined them shortly after and they all sat together waiting for hours. Ramos checked in on them via the mind-link from time to time, asking for news, but didn't physically show up and stars attempt to reach Ricard to hear his side of the story proved futile because he blocked his mind-link, refusing to speak to anyone which made the situation even more frustrating for Star.

The room door finally opened and a royal doctor stepped out of followed by Frank. Ari's family stood up as both doctors approached them.

'Good evening, my name is doctor Gina' the doctor said to them. 'I presume you are the patients family', she asked.

'Yes doctor, I am her father. This is my wife, Cybele is her twin sister and this is our pack Luna, luna Star. Please tell us, how bad is it?'

'My respects to you luna Star', said the doctor bowing.

'This is no time for formalities doctor, please tell us how Ari's doing?', responded Star.

'Her back was badly lacerated at different angles, this has resulted in massive blood loss but thankfully no vital organs were damaged. She has been sedated to keep her from feeling any pain but I am afraid that without a wolf, her healing will take months.'

'Months? But she supposed to be married in three days', said Star.

'I am sorry luna but the young lady in there is in no state to get married', replied the doctor and looked at Cybele.

'I will need you to donate blood to help her gain back some of what she has lost. Since you're twins, you will probably be the best match for her.

'Take as much as you need', Cybele responded.

'Come with me Cybele', doctor Frank said leading her away.

'You will please excuse me, I need to report my findings to the crown prince', said Gina before waking away.

'Can we see her?', Sarai asked

'I will suggest you let her rest tonight, her body has gone through so much. Go home, get some rest and come back tomorrow to see her.'

'I wish to stay here, who will stay by her side', Sarai responded stubbornly

'I won't leave her side as soon as I am done with prince Kohan and the royal guards will keep watch while I'm gone', replied the doctor, 'go home, you wont be able to help her if you're not healthy', she finished before walking away

'Sarai, I am so sorry', Star said to her close friend who could only nod as she was being comforted by her mate. She left them to return to her husband who was sitting with the pack elders in his office, to give him the doctors report. They spent the rest of the night discussing the actions of their son and the impact it would have on the future of the pack.

Doctor Gina is summoned to Kohan's chamber, she enters to find the prince sitting alone in the dark drinking and smoking a cigar.

'Kohan', she calls trying to gain his attention.

'What's wrong?', she asked

'How bad is the condition of the concubine, Gina?', he asked without answering her question.

Knowing better than to test him, Gina sits opposite him and replies, 'She is now stable. She lost a lot of blood, but her sister is donating as we speak. We'll give her the transfusion immediately she's done, but without a wolf her recovery will be slow.'

'How slow?', he asked again

'It will take months for her to heal and her back will be badly scarred', she replies solemnly making Kohan exhale loudly as he leans back into the chair shutting his eyes, thinking deeply.

'Take the sisters blood but do not use it', he finally says to Gina, 'you will take my blood and give it to her in secret, that way she can heal much faster.'

'But we don't know if you both will match, it may be dangerous for her if ...' , Gina says

'We will match', Kohan replies looking at her

'As you wish, but I don't have the equipment here to take your blood and we don't have time to do another transfusion so I'll have to transfuse the blood from you directly, which means you need to stop drinking now', she says to him standing up. He drops the glass on the table and stands up with her.

They make their way back to the hospital late in the night and are able to sneak Kohan into Ari's room successfully where the gadgets for the transfusion has been set up.

He moves towards his sedated mate and finds her attached to several machines and monitors with an opaque tent covering her from the neck to her lower waist while Gina checks Ari's chart and frowns at something she's reading.

'What is it, what's wrong?', Kohan asks looking at her.

'This report isn't making sense, I asked the pack lab to draw up some blood work to be sure she doesn't suffer any complications from the transfusion because she human.'

'And?', Kohan asks

'Her blood is showing astronomical levels of wolfsbane, she should be dead, if this is correct. Even an omega werewolf would die if exposed to this much wolfsbane. Take a look', she says showing him the report and explaining it to him.

'Do you think someone poisoned her?', Kohan asked

'Not poisoned, but is poisoning. To have this much wolfsbane showing in the blood stream would take time to build. Maybe that explains why the pack doctor kept insisting on using her existing hospital records and not wasting time at the lab', Gina said

'Get rid of the report and tell no one of it, we have to keep her safe. Whoever is doing this will kill her if they know that we know, to protect themselves. Will my blood cleanse the wolfsbane in her system?'

'Yes it will, but I don't want you to take such a risk. This is a pack issue and has nothing to do with you. We should report to the king', Gina said

NO!', Kohan barked, slamming his hand on a wall, cracking it to Gina's surprise.

'Why? Why are doing this for her?', Gina asked.

'Becaue she is my mate, Gina', he answered making Gina open her eyes and mouth wide with shock.

'When did you find out?', she asked

'Today when she was brought into the hospital', he responded.

'The moon be praised, you have finally found her, we must tell his majesty?', she said

'NO!', he barked.

'Kohan? This is your mate. That makes this a matter of treason', Gina asks

'He'll kill her if he finds out Gina. He'll make sure she never leaves this place alive and you know it. This is the only way I can protect her', Kohan whispered back to his adopted sister.

'In that case we will have to take drastic measures', she replied and began to rearrange the two beds in the room, placing them side by side.

'Physical contact between mates is said to help the healing process with. I would have suggested licking the wound but it would place too much of your scent on her so we stick to the first option. With your blood in her system she will heal in a week at most, but no one will suspect, given that her sister is a white coat', she continued

She injects Kohan and says, 'I'm giving you a high dose of silver nitrate to reduce your healing abilities and allow your blood to flow freely. This will make you highly vulnerable for the next twenty four hours, so please try not the get hurt', she says as she passes a needle into his vein and makes him lay down. He watches her as she passes the line from him to his unconscious mate.

'This will take some time, so I suggest you rest, while I go check on the girl Farad carried into the hospital, she was also flogged by the alphas son. I fear for the future of this pack, if he such a tyrant that has no problem hurting women. Even Maidari isn't that sadistic', Gina says

'I plan on dealing with it in the morning', Kohan responds as she prepares to leave.

'Gina', Kohan calls to her making her turn around.

'Thank you', he said making her smile.

'Thank me by avenging the needless death of Farad and my mate', she said

'I swear, I will', he responded

She bows and walks out of the room.

Kohan looks to his mate taking in her stardust scent which calms him. He smiles as her breath fans his face.

'Hello Ari', he whispers to her, placing his hand over hers, but doesn't receive a response.

'I never imagined that I would be blessed with a mate as perfect as you. You're everything I desire and more but I don't deserve you. I am afraid to be with you because where I come from, monsters live there, To survive there you must be a monster and I am the most feared monster of them all. I have killed many enemies and made many more', he said rubbing circles on her palm. He continues talking to her and telling her of his childhood, his parents, his ambitions and his fears until he falls asleep and doesn't wake up until he starts hearing loud noises outside.

He tries to sit up but Ari slings her arm from within her tent across his chest instinctively. His wolf purrs in his head at of her unexpected action and Kohan looks at her with a smile, feeling the sparks as he caresses arm making her sigh.

He listens to the commotion and recognizes two of the voices as Gina's and Ricards. Gina is insisting that Ricard cannot come into the room without authorization from the crown-prince but Ricard insists on coming in with or without authorization because Ari is his rightful mate making Kohan's wolf growl in his head. Ricard and Gina continue shouting angrily at each other but Farad's loud roar follows, shaking the walls, followed by a thud.

'Farad wait!', says Gina but what follows are a series of successive hard thumps which shakes the walls and makes hoisted objects fall to the ground.

'First your have my mate flogged, then you hurt a defenceless girl you were expected to protect and now you dare to disrespect a royal. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because my prince hasn't called for your life. Place him in a dungeon until prince Kohan decides what to do with him', Farad growls. The rest of you are to guard the entrance, no one is allowed in, family or not.

'Yes sir', the guards respond.

The door opens and Gina comes in followed by Farad. Farad looks at Kohan with a look of distaste on his face but says nothing. Kohan releases Ari's arm while Gina disconnects the wires. Kohan tries to stand but wobbles and is forced to sit back down

'Easy, you've lost a lot of blood and with the silver, it will take time for you to regenerate', Gina says to him, making Farad alert.

'We need to get you out of here so as not to cause a scandal.I was angry with you for putting my mate at risk and I am still angry that you abandoned us without a word but Gina has explained everything and now I'm angry at this entire bloody pack', Farad says to Kohan who smiles weakly.

'By the moon', Gina gasps, looking at Ari's back.

'What is it?' Kohan says standing up. He joins her and is startled at the sight before him. Ari's back is completely healed without a scratch and her creamy back glistens with sweat. He touches it in disbelief and feels the now familiar sparks.

'We need to leave Kohan, you need rest and replenishment and I need to get back to my mate', Farad says

Kohan reluctantly leaves the room with Farad and shuts the door. Gina is trying to make sense of all that she has witnessed but hears a soft groan. She moves forward and sees Ari struggling to open her eyelids. After a few attempts of adjusting to the lights in the he room, she finally flutters her eyes open.

'Where am I?', she asks shocking the attending doctor.

'

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