Moonlit Fever

The cabin door creaked open with a slam, and I stumbled inside.

I was drenched and exhausted, with Selina close behind me. The air inside was thick with the metallic scent of blood that made me feel sick to my stomach.

My heart hammered in my chest as I rushed toward the bedroom, dreading what I might find.

Cara was still there, hovering over Nate's pale, motionless body as she tended to his wounds. The sight of him sent a fresh wave of dread through me—he looked worse than before.

His skin was a ghostly shade of white, and his breathing was a hallow and labored. But what was worse were his wounds.

They were deep and angry, and had bled through the bandages. Staining them a dark, ominous red.

Cara looked up as we entered, her face etched with concern.

"Where the hell were you?" She almost burst into tears from the emotional toll it must have taken for her to keep Nate alive.

Her eyes were ringed with exhaustion and brimming with tears. "He almost died on me. Twice!"

"But you kept him alive," I thanked her as my heart swelled. "I owe you, Cara."

"Don't thank me yet!" She wiped her eyes, leaving streaks of Nate's blood on her cheek. "Selina's had better be a match or Nate's going to die, tonight!"

"I'm a match!" Selina stepped forward, shoving me out of the doorway.

Normally, I would have hissed at her for shoving me, but now wasn't the time to fight. Not with Nate's life on the line.

"Here." She pulled back her sleeve to offer up her arm. "Where do you need me?"

Cara snatched Selina's arms and pulled her down into the chair next to the bed.

While I stood frozen in the corner of the room, my back pressed against the wall, staying out the way as I watched Cara move around Selina and Nate.

I felt utterly useless. My hands were shaking, and my heart was pounding in anticipation as I waited.

Waiting felt like a lifetime. And the guilt once again tormented me as it consumed my chest with a thick phlegm like feeling, making it hard to breathe.

Nate lay there, pale and still, barely hanging on. And all I could think was: This is my fault. I wasn't there when he needed me most.

The entire time Cara remained calm, as she quickly set up the transfusion equipment.

"Selina," she said in that no-nonsense tone of hers. "You ready?"

Selina nodded. "I'm ready."

I wanted to say something, anything to make this better, but the words were stuck in my throat. Cara was talking about blood pressure, and how they had to act fast, but all I could hear was the steady beeping of the heart monitor.

After disinfecting Selina's inner elbow with an alcohol wipe. Cara prepared to insert the needle.

"Sharp scratch."

"I should've been there," I muttered, my voice cracking as I watched. "I should've stopped Donavan before he got to him."

Selina winced as Cara inserted the needle, but she turned to me. "Lucius, not now. This isn't about you."

"But it is about me!" I couldn't hold it in anymore, I was breaking down with all the emotions I'd managed to hold back until now.

I liked to act like the tough, strong alpha who knew what he was doing, but truthfully, I hated being alpha. I couldn't handle the responsibility of looking after a pack. I was a soldier not a leader.