The Beast and His Tamer

He breathed.

Thank the Moon Goddess, he actually started breathing again.

Rhett's heart almost stopped when he was trying to give him CPR. It took a minute, but those 60 seconds seemed like hours when he was deathly afraid for his mate's life. As soon as he saw the man's body jolt, and sea water spat up from his mouth, he swore he had never been more relieved in his life.

Sebastian coughed up a good majority of sea water after that. His lungs must have been filled with it. But he was alive, and Rhett swore he could cry right then. Just knowing that he was alive at the moment was worth all the torture he put himself through trying to find him in that icy hell of the ocean.

He still looked out of it, but those light brown eyes went wide, trying to figure out just where he was. They darted to all the people that were there. Before that mouth could open and talk, Rhett shushed him, bringing him into a hug.

"Shh, baby. Don't try and talk now," he whispered into his ear, taking him into his arms. They still were a long stretch from home. On a normal day, it would have taken Rhett quite a while to make it to the coast. If it weren't for his own desperation, he might not have even made it there on time.

There were so many different ways that the night could have played out.

"You must be Rhett," Geoff caught his attention. He looked at him in confusion.

"How do you know me?"

"Sebastian told me about you a little," he answered, still looking worried for his brother. "Nothing bad, I promise."

He wished he had more time to ask about that. But it was best saved for when they were back in the pack house. He had to get Sebastian more help, and potentially for Geoff as well.

"Can you stand?"

"I wish," he answered. "That beast wrapped too tight around my legs. I can barely move them."

Great. That was going to make this even more complicated.

"They don't seem broken," Noah told him. "Perhaps just bruised or you lost circulation in them so much that it's going to take a while to come back."

"Either way," Rhett told him. "We have a place that could help."

"Alright," Geoff nodded, looking determined. "If Sebastian and I can ride on one of you two's backs then I can make sure that Sebastian doesn't fall off. I got enough strength in my arms to do that at least."

"Sounds like a plan," Rhett nodded, looking over to Noah. "Grab their things. I'm going to need your help to sit them on top of me."

Noah nodded, quickly going to grab the items. The moon was closed to setting, the sky getting lighter, but Rhett knew that they could still get back home before dawn. Their plan was quickly being put into motion as soon as Noah came back with their belongings. It was agreed that he would carry them while Rhett would take care of the two wounded.

He might have never met Geoff before, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to help him. After all that had happened, from what he had witnessed, there was no chance that he was just going to leave him there to fend for himself.

Not with that monster still around. Rhett hoped he bled out and died.

Running back home used up just as much strength as did getting to the shore earlier in the night. Rhett didn't lose the urgency of it. Because the first was him being worried that he had gotten in trouble and desperately trying to find him, and this time was because he was trying to bring him home.