Page 102 of The Beta's Blind Date

“I’ll be right out here, Luna,” Nolan says.

Haven nods at him and hurries off ahead of me, and I follow her down the white halls of the hospital to the private room at the end. “Oh fuck,” I say. “I ruined your wedding night!”

She laughs and shakes her head as she opens the door. “You didn’t ruin it. The rogues did.”

I huff and roll my eyes, moving past her into the room where Dr. Russo—Maya and Levi’s dad—and a nurse wait. I lay Taryn on the bed, and the nurse draws the curtain around it as I step away so she can put her in a hospital gown and begin whatever it is she needs to do to get Taryn fixed up.

“Hey,” Haven says from the door, and I glance at her, my hands on my hips, and my shoulders slumped. “She’s going to be pissed at you. That’s a given. But I don’t think she’ll shut you out for long. Trust me,” she adds, winking. “I speak from experience.”

I nod at her, the corners of my lips lifting in a halfhearted smile. Then I raise my hand to wave goodbye to her as she backs out of the room and closes the door.

The curtain whips back open, and I cross to the bed in two strides, perching on the edge and taking Taryn’s hand in mine. Her eyes are closed again, and there is already an IV of fluids attached to her other hand, and the nurse slips several vials of blood into various bags to be tested for whatever it is they need to test them for.

“So she’s your mate?” Dr. Russo asks from behind me.

I nod, not looking at him, watching Taryn’s face for any reaction. But there is none. She’s asleep. “Yes.”

“But she doesn’t know? She can’t feel it?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, while I can’t say for certain why you did feel it—although I have a few ideas—there is only one thing that can block a mate bond. Theseparatum amoris nexumpotion.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh. “I didn’t think it would be a potion. Magic,” I say, shaking my head.

“That’s not your fault,” he says. “How would you know about it? They train us doctors to know about the various potions and spells that affect werewolves. And that knowledge is intentionally kept from other wolves, so it doesn’t get used like this.”

“How does it work?”

“The bare bones of it? It is a potion that is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. It has to be mixed with food, and it is a long-lasting potion, meaning unless given the antidote, the potion can remain active for quite some time, even without receiving a dose. The potion separates the bond into two sides and makes it so the one ingesting it does not recognize their mate, and their mate cannot recognize them, either, even if their mate isn’t taking the potion.”

“And you know for sure that’s what it was?” I ask.

“Sebastian explained everything to me before he left to help. We tested one of the Silver Ridge members here for the wedding for traces of the potion, and the results were positive. We’re administering the antidote to all the members of their pack, and the doctor at Alpha Benjamin’s pack is doing the same to those who are there. And the antidote is already in the IV attached to your mate. She should be able to sense your bond when she wakes up.”

I swallow and nod. “What made you think it would be given to all members? There are couples from Silver Ridge who are mated and marked.”

“It’s easier to administer a potion like that to an entire pack than it is to just one member. And the potion only works on those with an incomplete mate bond. So it’s likely only been given to the pack for the last few years, maybe a little longer.”

I groan and shake my head, rubbing my temples, my head hurting from the events of the night and the overload of information I need to process. “So, what are the reasons you think I could feel it, even though she couldn’t?”

“Either whoever made the potion got lazy and cocky and left out the ingredient that prevents the other half from feeling the bond. Or, Taryn may have built up an immunity to chickweed.”

“Immunity?”

“Yes,” he says, nodding. “It’s not common, but it happens sometimes where someone can become immune to ingredients or poisons if they ingest them enough times. Like I said, these are only guesses. But we are lucky you did feel it; otherwise, we may not have known Silver Ridge was in trouble until too late.”

Dr. Russo pats me on the shoulder and walks to the door. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’m sure you’ll have a lot to talk about when she wakes up.”

The door closes, and I blow out a breath and lower my hands to my lap. My eyelids are heavy and my body aches and throbs, and I long to stretch out alongside my mate in her hospital bed so I can hold her and comfort her. But she will feel the bond when she wakes up, and I don’t know how she will react to me, to my presence in her bed, or to our bond.

“Please don’t hate me,” I whisper, taking her hand in both of mine and raising it to my lips. “When you wake up, please hear me out. Please let me love you.”

Chapter 36

TARYN

Mywolfstirsinmy mind as I shift my position, snuggling deeper into the pillows. I’m surrounded by warmth, by the scent of fresh baked snickerdoodles and a forest of pine. It wraps around me and embeds into my soul, leaving me aching for another whiff of it. I want to bathe myself in the scent, want it to follow me everywhere. It’s life, and comfort, and home.

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