Page 69 of Fated
I rubbed my forehead as I tried to figure a way to do what he was asking and still spend every moment I could with Keri.
“The longer this pack goes without a proper leader, the weaker it becomes, and you know what that means,” he added.
I nodded my head. I understood. If a pack was considered weak it would become a target. Deep down inside I knew I couldn’t allow that to happen. Keri had put her life on the line for them.
“Okay,” I said. I didn’t have a choice.
I would just have to figure out a way to juggle my time with Keri and my time handling the pack. I’d been an alpha of my own pack and I knew exactly how to run one efficiently. My consolation was that I was doing this for Keri so when she woke up, her pack would be ready for her to take over.
“Get me a knife,” I instructed Cade and he disappeared out of the room.
I sat down beside Keri and cradled her hand in mine. I was dreading the slight cut I was going to have to make in her hand to join her pack, but I didn’t have a choice. It needed to be done.
Cade returned a few minutes later and handed me the knife. I glanced at Keri and I felt a moment’s guilt at the thought of hurting her. It was the only way for me to join her pack. Mixing your blood with the alpha’s blood was the only way to join their pack, so I couldn’t even try and do this with Curtis, her beta. It had to be her.
I cut my hand first and then as gently as I could, I cut her hand. I clasped her hand in mine and our blood began to mix.
“What are you doing?” I heard Curtis ask behind me, and I turned to look at him.
“I’m joining your pack,” I informed him, still holding Keri’s hand in mine. I looked back to our joined hands and I could start to hear the noise of thoughts flitting through my mind. It had worked. I was hearing the thoughts of her pack.
I released Keri’s hand and Curtis handed me a bandage, which I wrapped around her hand. Once I was done, I released her hand. I stood up. As much as I wanted to stay with Keri, there was a lot of stuff that I needed to do. Cade was standing between Curtis and me with his arms crossed, glaring at Curtis.
Curtis stood tall with a clipboard in his hands, ignoring the anger emanating from Cade.
“Look, I’m sorry about before,” he said, his eyes looking between Cade and me.
I was still angry that he’d even suggested switching off the machines, but I was willing to give him a chance to say what he needed to.
“The part of me that is her friend doesn’t want to lose her and I can’t imagine my life without her, but the doctor in me knows that things aren’t looking good at all. As a friend, I keep hoping she will wake up, but as a doctor I know the chances are she won’t.”
I pressed my lips together as I listened to him. It hurt every time he told me the odds of her waking up. Fuck the odds. She was going to wake up.
Scarlett entered the room and her observant eyes took in the strained scene in front of her.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she looked at Cade.
“Curtis wants to switch off the machines,” he explained as he continued to glare at Curtis.
Scarlett turned to look at Curtis, who was standing just a few feet away from her.
Before any of us could react, she stepped forward and punched him in the face. Cade grabbed her by the waist and pulled her off Curtis before she could land another shot.
“Calm down, Scar,” Cade told her and he held her firmly against him. As hard as she fought him, she couldn’t break free from his steel grip.
“If you touch those machines, I’ll kill you,” she promised Curtis in a threatening tone, and his eyes were glued to her as he rubbed his cheek where her fist had landed.
I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Scarlett had attacked Curtis. Although he’d apologized, he still deserved it for saying it in the first place.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Scarlett, understanding why she’d hit him.
“She’s your friend. Why would you even suggest that?” she asked, her eyes searching his face. Even though she wasn’t fighting to break free from Cade, he still held her against him.
“As a doctor, I know how hopeless this situation is,” he said softly.
We all wanted Keri to recover, but he was the one with the medical background and the knowledge to realize that it wasn’t looking good for Keri. I didn’t care, though. I wouldn’t give up on her.
“She’s a fighter,” Scarlett argued. “She’ll pull through.”
