Page 13 of Aching for His Mate (The Wolves of Luven #5)

The hospital was a flurry of activity. A bunch of wolves Domitia had never seen before stood in the waiting area. Kappa, one of the hospital employees, waved to Domitia.

“Come here, I’ll take you to him,” he said quickly. Domitia nodded but held onto Vallie. She wasn’t sure what she was going to see, but she was sure she didn’t want to be alone.

Kappa took them into the back of the hospital, down a long hallway, then up a flight of stairs. Domitia was pretty sure this was where she was first taken for her evaluation. When the doctors had contemplated amputating her arm, but then decided to try surgery. She flexed her hand slowly.

“He’s in here,” Kappa said. “He’s unconscious. He’ll be going into surgery in a few minutes. Dr. Tau wanted him more stable before they attempted.”

“What are his injuries?” Domitia finally snapped awake. She needed to be present, and find out what was going on with Iota. She’d be no use if she stood around mute with wide eyes.

“Several. A lot of blood loss from claw stabs and bites, his left arm was nearly torn apart. His arm will need a closer look, but right now, Dr. Tau needs to repair his spleen. That is her biggest concern.”

“Oh, Domitia,” Vallie breathed and squeezed her hand.

“You should talk to him until he goes into surgery. Be prepared. He’s not going to look like himself.” Domitia nodded and Kappa pushed through the door.

Iota looked like one of the bodies left on the side of the water. He was covered in blood up to his elbows, his face was bruised, his left arm was bandaged, but looked much thinner than his right. His shirt was off, and there were packs of bloodied gauze all over his torso.

“Iota,” she whispered. He didn’t even look like the same person.

Vallie gave her arm a squeeze and Domitia shook her head. She released Vallie, walked up to her mate, and threaded her fingers through his right hand.

“I’m here. Domitia is here. You are safe. Dr. Tau is going to make you better. You did good. Amazing. I can’t believe how strong you are. But I need to you to be strong a little longer. There’s a lot the doctors need to do. You need to let them, and you need to fight to survive. I promise, I’ll be here the second you wake up.” She rubbed his arm a moment, hoping that by some miracle he would open his eyes, but he slept on.

“We gave him something to keep him under,” Dr. Tau said, walking up behind Domitia. “Surgery will take about three hours. You should wait in another room. Kappa will take you. Someone will come get you the moment he can have a visitor.”

Domitia nodded. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” Dr. Tau motioned to a few other medical workers, and they wheeled Iota past Domitia and into the hallway.

Domitia stood frozen in her spot. What was happening? Yesterday she met Iota and now he was fighting to live?

“Domitia? I’ll take you somewhere a little more…comfortable.”

She looked around the room, now empty of the bed. The floor was littered with bloodied gauze and discarded implements.

“Yeah,” she answered. “Thank you.” She didn’t want to spend the next three hours staring at her mate’s blood.

She and Vallie followed Kappa to another room. It wasn’t a true hospital room, but had two uncomfortable couches and a small table, plus a corner with coffee, tea, and water. Domitia realized this must be the place family or loved ones wait whenever something goes wrong.

She didn’t like it.

“Are you okay?” Vallie asked.

“I…I think so. You can go home if you want. Lambda is probably wondering where you are.”

“Absolutely not. Lambda will figure it out. I’m sure someone will tell him what happened and he’ll know I went with you.” Vallie led Domitia to sit and then sat beside her. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Thanks,” Domitia breathed. She leaned against Vallie and closed her eyes.

A wail down the hall made her jump.

“Oh no. I think that’s Jaine,” Vallie said quickly. She stood up and opened the door. Down the hall, Kappa was holding Jaine from falling over.

“You have to save him, you have to save him!” She cried as she grasped onto Kappa. “I don’t know how—I don’t know what—I need him!”

“The doctors are going to save him. He’s going to be okay. He’ll wake up soon, I promise.” Kappa soothed. “You need to try to stay calm. We don’t want the baby coming right now, right? You want Gamma to be with you?”

“Yes,” Jaine cried.

“Okay. Let’s walk down the hall and get you situated with Vallie and Domitia. You can sit with them while we make sure Gamma is okay. But I need you to stay calm. Gamma is going to be just fine.” Kappa walked Jaine into the room and she collapsed onto the chair beside Vallie.

“Oh, Jaine. He’s going to be okay.” Vallie wrapped her arm around her. “Where are Renny and Celyn?”

“Tella is watching them,” Jaine sniffed. “This can’t be happening. We live in Luven—it’s safe here. Only place in the world I’ve ever felt safe. And now Gamma is hurt.” She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “What if…what if he doesn’t get better?”

“He’s a wolf,” Vallie cut in. “Their healing abilities are nothing like ours. Lambda was poisoned by silver twice in four days and he is fine. Gamma is going to survive. Think of everything this hospital has done for us.”

“I never thought I’d be able to use my arm again,” Domitia offered. “Two surgeries later, I can move it. The doctors here are miracle workers.”

Jaine nodded. “Is Iota okay?”

“I don’t know. Dr. Tau wasn’t…overly reassuring. He was in pretty bad shape.”

“What happened?” Vallie asked. “Beta only said there was an attack.”

“A band of wild wolves. They think six in total. Xi heard Iota calling out for help first, then Gamma. They split into two groups. Iota killed two, Xi killed one, Gamma killed two. One escaped. Hopefully permanently.” Jaine rubbed her hand over her face.

“Shit. Who is guarding now?” Vallie asked.

“Epsilon went out immediately. I don’t know who else. Xi went back out once he got Iota and Gamma into the city. He wasn’t injured.”

Domitia nodded. Numbness washed over her. It felt like she was watching this all play out from afar.

“I guess the only thing we can do now is wait,” Vallie said. She reached out and held Domitia’s hand, then Jaine’s.

It was going to be a long three hours.

*

Three hours and forty-two minutes later, Dr. Tau finally came into the waiting area. Two hours earlier, Kappa had gotten Jaine to come and see Gamma who was awake and doing well. Vallie still sat beside her, even though hours passed.

“Iota is through surgery. There was serious damage to his spleen and liver, but wolves are not the same as humans. I did some repair, gave him a blood transfusion, and tomorrow I’ll focus on his arm. He needs to rest though. Putting him through another surgery immediately wouldn’t be wise.” Dr. Tau took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. “If you are up for it, I would love for you to sit with him, talk to him. I’m not sure how much he can hear, but for wolves, hearing the voice of their mates can be healing.”

Domitia nodded. He had survived his first surgery. She didn’t really know what a spleen or liver did, but she knew they were important in staying alive. Serious damage? How was he going to survive?”

“You think…he’ll make it, right?” Domitia confirmed.

“Yes. Definitely. I don’t have promises for his arm. I have to see how much damage was done to the bone.”

An arm didn’t matter, in the scheme of things. Domitia knew that much. An arm was never worth a life.

“I’ll go sit with him.” She turned to Vallie. “You should go home. Tell Lambda what happened. He should talk with the rest of security.”

Vallie nodded. “Have someone come get me if you need me. No matter what time it is. I don’t want you to be alone if things get rough again.”

“I’ll be okay.” Domitia took a deep breath. “Take me to Iota.”