Page 104 of Alpha Chase

Fuck, he’s right- I’ve lost too much blood already, and the silver of the bullet is preventing my body from healing itself. I can already feel myself slipping away, my pulse slowing.

Chase tucks his fingers under the hem of my shirt and gently lifts it to expose my belly, his eyes darkening as he takes in the state of my wound. “This is gonna hurt,” he murmurs, jaw ticking as his eyes slide up to meet mine.

“I can take it,” I croak hoarsely, my body tensing in anticipation. His brows crease and I watch as he hesitates, battling over the paradox of having to hurt me in order to help me. “Just do it,” I whisper in encouragement.

When Chase’s fingers dip into my flesh, it feels like they’re carved into knives, slicing me open and stabbing me over and over. I squeeze my eyes shut, wincing as he starts moving them, rooting around for the bullet. Thank fuck for shifter healing, because it feels like he’s rearranging my damn insides in his quest to remove it.

“When I said I liked you inside of me, this isn’t what I meant,” I pant, sweat beading on my brow as he fishes for the bullet like he’s digging around in the bottom of a handbag. It’s taking everything in me not to cry out in pain right now, but I don’t want to discourage him from his task. If he doesn’t get this bullet out, I can’t heal.

“The fuck are you doing?!” Jax asks in alarm, crouching down beside me in all his naked glory and knocking his shoulder into Chase’s. “You were supposed to wait for me to-”

His jaw snaps closed when Chase withdraws his fingers from my abdomen, the silver bullet pinched between them. “You were taking too long,” he grumbles, flicking it away. I hear the ping of the bullet hitting the ground and rolling away as Chase leans over me, cupping my face in both hands. “How you doin’, baby?”

My midsection feels like it’s on fire, but I don’t tell him that. I just grit my teeth, shifting my weight as I attempt to lean up on an elbow. “I think I was drugged. I can’t feel my wolf.”

“Wolfsbane,” Jax grunts. “The shadow pack was known to use it. Without your wolf, it’ll take you longer to heal.” He turns to Chase, frowning as he sees the blood dripping from his shoulder. “Did you…?”

Chase shakes his head. “No. Just a graze.”

Jax nods, rocking back and rising to his feet. “Take off your shirt. Press it tightly to her wound to staunch the bleeding. I’m going to help the others.”

The others. In all the chaos, I’d forgotten about them. I let my head fall sideways, peering over to where I last saw Serena and Fallon, a relieved sigh slipping past my lips when I see that Gray and Reid are there with them.

But wait, where’s…?

My question is answered before I even have to voice it. The rogue has been torn to pieces, limbs strewn about the cabin like a damn horror movie. Brock and Theo have shifted back from their wolf forms, and Jax is now crouched in front of Brock, digging his fingers into his bloody shoulder to fish around for a bullet.

Guess that answers my question as to which one of them got shot.

“What…?” I start to ask, but Chase shushes me. He crawls behind me to sit on the floor and pulls me between his spread legs, tugging me up so that my back’s resting against his chest. His arms wrap around my body as he presses his wadded-up shirt tightly to the wound in my abdomen. “I’ve got you.”

My body goes slack, an intense wave of relief washing through me.

He did it. He came. He saved me.

Again.

“You’re going to be okay, Vienna,” Chase says, the sound of his voice like a faraway hum. In the safety of his arms, I finally allow my body to relax, my eyes sliding closed as darkness consumes me.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Chase

Bythetimewemake it back to the packhouse, Vienna is still drifting in and out of consciousness. She’s lucid enough for me to get her into the shower, and I hold her under the spray and wash every drop of blood from her skin before toweling her off, bandaging her stomach, and tucking her into bed. I fall asleep holding her, afraid that if I let her go, she’ll disappear. The warmth of her skin against mine grounds me, reminding me that this isn’t all a dream- she’s safe. We made it. And I’m never letting her go again.

I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep with my girl in my arms, and when I wake to the sound of voices downstairs more than twelve hours later, she’s still crashed out. I carefully climb out of bed and slip into a pair of navy sweatpants, padding out of the room and down the hall on bare feet. Early morning sunlight filters in through the windows in the rear of the packhouse as I descend the stairs, my gaze falling upon Gray and the other alphas standing in the kitchen.

“How is she?” Gray asks when he spots me, his brows pinched in concern.

I step off the last stair onto the hardwood, approaching the five of them. “Still resting,” I reply, voice raspy from sleep. “Fallon and Serena?”

The corner of Gray’s mouth tips up into a half-smirk. “Pissed that they missed out on all the action.”

I chuckle, raking a hand through my disheveled hair and shaking my head. “Of course. I’d expect nothing less from those two.”

“The girls wanted to come see her, but we held them off for now so she can rest up,” Jax provides. He steps over to hand me a cup of coffee and I accept it gratefully, curling my hands around the paper cup. The warmth of the beverage inside prickles at my fingertips as Jax nudges me with his elbow. “That, and they’re on babysitting duty for Fallon and Serena to make sure those two actually take it easy and recuperate.”

I snort, picturing the hell that those two are probably raining down on the other girls in their resistance to rest. They’re stubborn, strong-willed hellions, just like my girl. If she wasn’t sleeping right now, I’d probably have to tie her down to keep her in bed.

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