Kiss Of The Alpha : A YA Paranormal Romance

Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Heather

A minute later, my bedroom door swung open so fast it slammed the wall. I moved to the doorway of the bathroom to see Brent stride in with Dr. Gonzales behind him. His eyes were glowing a light gold, telling me that his wolf was close to the surface.

Brent squeezed my hand for a second before squatting next to Serena. "How are you?"

"How do I look?"

"Pretty terrible."

She did look pretty horrible. Her skin glistened with sweat and was so pale that it looked nearly see-through. Shadows hung under her glass-blue eyes, but it was her slouching shoulders that told me how poorly she felt. Werewolves had the best posture, but she was hunched over like she couldn’t even carry the weight of her head.

"Well, at least I look better than I feel," she said.

Brent grabbed her chin and looked into her eyes. I didn’t know what he was doing, but Serena started to squirm as she tried to avert her gaze. "It’s what we thought. Her wolf’s awake and fighting her curse."

Dr. Gonzales’ stilettos clacked against the tiles as she entered the bathroom. Werewolves might not get sick, but they definitely had a tendency to get into fights. She was around to patch us up.

The doctor always dressed like she was coming from a boardroom meeting. A pale pink blouse with a tie-neck was tucked into her dark gray pencil skirt. Instead of the blazer to finish off the skirt suit, she wore a white lab coat with her name embroidered in blue along the pocket.

A black messenger bag held all of her first aid stuff. "We knew this might happen at some point. Can you calm her?" she asked Brent.

As a strong alpha, Brent could quiet or rouse the wolf in any Were. He made a shushing-purring sound at Serena as he pushed power at her. He’d done it to me before when I felt out of control and it quieted my wolf, but Serena didn’t turn to pudding like I did. Instead, she squirmed, trying to break free from his gaze.

That didn’t make any sense. Brent’s shushing always worked.

"She’s too far gone. The wolf has been suppressed for so long..." Brent stepped away, making room for Dr. Gonzales.

"What does that mean?" Serena said.

"Might be a good idea to sedate her until we figure out other options and inform her parents."

"Why are you talking about me like I’m not here?"

Fear raced through my veins, making me lightheaded. I sat back down on the edge of the tub and Serena reached for my hand. I twined our fingers together.

This couldn’t be happening. Serena had to be okay.

Dr. Gonzales swung her black messenger bag over her head, and pulled out what looked like a black cosmetics case. I had a feeling it wasn’t filled with make-up.

She unzipped the top, and grabbed a shot. For once, I didn’t mind seeing her bag full of needles.

"Serena," she said in a calm, even voice. "I’m going to give you something to make you sleep. When you wake, your wolf should be calm again. Okay?"

Serena’s hand squeezed mine as she nodded.

Dr. Gonzales gripped Serena’s arm and stabbed the needle in. It didn’t take long for the drugs to kick in. Brent caught her as she slid to the floor, lifting her like she weighed nothing. As he put her in bed, I retreated to my room and started pacing.

This shouldn’t have happened. I should’ve pushed her to talk about her curse and how she was feeling. I knew something was wrong, but I’d let it go.

Stupid. How could I be so stupid?

"Heather?" Dr. Gonzales’ voice brought me back to the present.

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked as I sat down on my bed.

"Can you tell us if something happened with Serena?"

It didn’t go unnoticed that she didn’t say that Serena was going to be okay. She wouldn’t lie.

"The curse is still active, but her wolf is awake. Has anything happened to Serena recently? Anything that could upset her wolf?" the doctor prompted, but I didn’t have anything helpful.

We went to class, we did homework, and we ate a ton of food. We didn’t even get to leave campus very often.

I tried to think of something that could have caused this, but for the life of me, I couldn’t. Last night was the first time I’d seen her act off at all. How did she get sick so quickly? "I can’t remember anything that really changed. We’ve been doing our usual stuff since the whole vampire thing."

Brent came back into the room. I finally really took him in. His navy blue T-shirt was just tight enough to hint at the muscles I knew were underneath. I was glad he’d come so quickly. Having him here made me feel better. Like everything was going to be okay.

"Something’s changed," he said. "You know her better than anyone. Did she fight with someone? Get upset? Did someone say something to piss her off? Anything that could bring out her wolf?"

He sat on my bed and gripped my hand. Our bond strengthened through touch and I could feel his worry on top of my own.

Oh, God. Of course. That was it. "She had a fight with Donovan a few days ago." How could I forget about that?

"What? Why did they fight?" Dr. Gonzales said.

"He left—"

"Right," Dr. Gonzales said. "He had to go find the alphas in South America for the Tribunal. Why would she fight with him about that?"

Mr. Langdon, Donovan, Sebastien, and a few other alphas were off rounding up as many pack leaders as possible for the Tribunal. Some of them lived in pretty remote areas, preferring to be able to switch from wolf to human without worrying who was watching. Donovan had gone after a pack alpha that roamed the Andes Mountains.

I blew out a breath. I didn’t know how much to tell them about Donovan and Serena. It wasn’t my business to spill and Serena liked to keep her stuff private, but she was seriously sick. "When Donovan left last week, he and Serena had a fight. She wouldn’t talk about it, but I have a pretty good guess what they were fighting about."

Brent leaned closer. "And?"

I paced away from them as I considered what to say. From the sound of Serena’s steady breathing in the next room, she was totally zonked. Screw it. I was gonna spill my guts and hope she wouldn’t kick my ass for it later. I turned back to face them.

"When they first met, I thought I felt something between Serena and Donovan. The way they looked at each other was beyond intense. Something clicked with them, but then all the vampire

happened... Anyhow, right before Donovan left he told her that he wanted them to be mated, but she refused."

God. She was probably going to kill me for saying this, but if it could save her, then she’d get over it. I reached for Brent’s hand again. "I’m pretty sure they’re a true mated pair."

"Cherie. Just because we’re a mated pair, doesn’t mean that others are. It’s very rare," Brent said.

He was going to get himself hit if he kept using that patronizing tone. "I know that I’m new to this whole deal, but I can tell the difference between our bond and other bonds."

Dr. Gonzales stepped closer. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "They feel different."

"You can feel bonds?" Brent asked, spacing his words out so that there was no misunderstanding.

"I guess. Kind of. Can’t you feel ours?"

"Sure." There was a hint of a question in the way that he said it.

That didn’t sound so convincing. "I don’t know why I can tell, but I can. Trust me. They’re not like everyone else. Their bond was tangible from the moment they met. The connection between them sizzled, and it got stronger as they spent more time together."

"Assuming you’re right, she actually refused him?" Dr. Gonzales’ eyebrows were somewhere in the vicinity of her hairline.

Donovan was strong and powerful. It didn’t help matters that he was hot and really sweet, too. If I hadn’t met Brent, even I’d be crushing on him. Saying no to him seemed pretty unfathomable. "I think she’s being dumb, but Serena thinks she’s ’broken’ because of the curse. Like that makes her not worthy of him."

"We need to get Donovan back here," Dr. Gonzales said. "Can you reach him?"

"As soon as he checks in, sure, but that could be today or next week." Brent rubbed his hands down his face.

"I’m n

ot sure she’ll last that long," Dr. Gonzales said.

Panic made my knees weak. I sat on the bed next to Brent. No. This had to be fixable. We had to fix this. "What do you mean?" I leaned into Brent as he put his arm around me.

"It typically takes weeks for nausea to set in, but with the blood...Serena is already considerably past that." She said it gently, as if that would make it any easier to hear. "If we can’t find a way to break the curse, she won’t have much time."

A loud buzzing rang in my ears.

"Breathe, cherie. Take a deep breath."

I did, but it was a shaky one.

We needed a plan.