Page 27 of Bound to Enemy (Wolf Billionaire #3)

CHAPTER 27

DAXTON

I was tired.

We were well past the 48-hour mark. We were almost thirteen days into this agonizing nightmare that I had to endure.

"Why isn't she waking up," Dalton, the head healer who had been watching over her, stared at me with immense empathy in his eyes. "What's wrong with her?"

"There is nothing physically wrong with her, alpha. She is healed, but her mind remains asleep."

I looked at her through the glass door. She was breathing on her own, but that was about as much progress as she had made. She had remained in this state for the majority of the time. There was no sign of her being responsive to stimulation or my closeness.

My wolf kept trying to reach hers, but we were at a loss. We couldn't feel her. Correction, we could sense her presence, but we just couldn't reach her. It was like there was a wall.

"Will she ever wake up?" I tore my gaze from my wife and looked to the healer. "Be real with me here, Dalton. Don't try to coddle me and try to make me feel better. I need to know if I will ever see my wife's eyes again."

"I..." his voice faded into nothingness. "I don't know, alpha. We have done all that we can for our Luna."

I had never felt so helpless in my life. What was the point of the money, power, and strength that I had if I couldn't use any of it to save the most important person in my life?

"But, there may be something that we could do."

Suddenly hope found me again.

"What?" I said with great urgency.

"Jason, her beta, came and told of a way to utilize the moonstone to bring her consciousness back."

"Jason?"

He nodded. "He has been combing through the archives and trying to find a way to give back the life she gave him. He did find a way to utilize the moonstone's creation capabilities."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the moonstone contains the essence of the moon goddess, which means that it could have the capability of bringing back her psyche to us. Her body is healed and her wolf seems to be intact, but the poison created a divide. That divide needs to be broken."

"And how do I break it?"

"They call it the pool. It's a small natural spot of water in the middle of the caves where the moon shines overhead when it reaches its peak. Our ancestors used it as a healing pond to place their sick and near to death. Jason believes that if we are to place the Luna in the water with the moonstone at the full moon's highest peak, then we could heal her fractured mind and bring her back to us."

This all sounded like folklore and fictional things, but at this point, I was willing to try just about anything to ensure my wife woke up.

"Wait, you said that Jason wanted to reverse the trade that Ale had done?"

Dalton nodded. "But whatever the Luna did is irreversible. I had run countless tests of his blood and hers. There are traces of her DNA in his blood, which means that she truly did give her essence to him so that he could live."

Then it hit me. She loved him; they had been friends since they were children, and she wanted to protect him just as any alpha would have done. Jason had no choice in the matter. Knowing my mate the way that I do, she would have forced him to be saved. She was stubborn that way and always thought of others before herself.

I had been a total dickhead.

Shit.

I had treated him like total crap. I had ostracized him and made him feel as though he was the reason that she was in that bed.

If Ale was awake, she would have my head for being such an ass to him. I loved her, and that meant that I needed to care for those she cared for.

Dalton gave me a knowing look. Much like Elliot, he knew me well. We had grown up together as boys and now men. I had a temper, and everyone could see the treatment that I had been unleashing on Jason, and he had taken it all on the chin. He already felt like shit; there was no need for me to add to it.

"Is he here?"

Dalton nodded. "He's always here. Unless, of course, he is in the library combing through the archives. He should be in the garden area."

I didn't wait for him to continue. I walked away from the healer and made my way to the outside gardens. It didn't take me long to find him. He was seated on one of the benches, staring upward, looking like a defeated man.

"Jason," I called his name and his neck instantly snapped upward. His eyes went wide and he stood from his seat as I stormed my way towards him.

"Look, I know I am the last person you want to see right now, but I needed to see her at least—" I cut his words off by enveloping him in a hug. "W-what are you doing?"

The emotion that coated his words was potent.

"You were only trying to protect her." I patted his back, offering him the comfort that I should have the day I found them in the woods. "You didn't know what she was doing until it was too late."

I felt his body sag, the tension that had riddled his muscles ease, and it was like there was a weight lifted off his shoulders. The man looked more awake and at ease. He returned my hug and we stood there as two grown men sharing an intimate moment.

He needed this. I needed this.

"I'm so sorry." The crack in his voice told me just how guilt-stricken he had been. He was apologizing for her friend having saved him like she wasn't the one who had forced him. It was out of his control as much as it was out of mine. No one could ever sway my mate from doing what she wanted to do. That was how she was built and was the way she would remain once she woke up.

I pulled away from him and looked him dead in the eyes. "You have nothing to apologize for. She did this for you, and you trying to give her back something she wouldn't want would only hurt her in the end. You and I both know this."

Ale had saved him by choice. He could not give her back the gift of life.

"But look at her now," he muttered. "She is lying in that bed because of me. How is it not my fault? Had I just been there with her, had I kept my eye on her, then she never would have had to face the rogue king alone."

"The same could be said for me. I am her mate. I am the one who is meant to protect her, but I failed. She did what she believed was right for this pack. She led like the alpha she is." I was also reminding myself of that fact. I had been trying to comfort myself for almost two weeks now with those words, but no matter how many times I said them to myself, I could never find comfort in them.

"Dalton told me about the ritual with the moonstone. We're going to do it."

His eyes softened and his shoulders sagged in relief. "You are?"

I nodded. "It's all thanks to you. We will save her, Jason. I'll make sure that she comes back to us."

For the first time in days, I had hope. I didn't know how this whole ritual was going to work, but I was going to make sure that she woke up.

"You know that it needs to be done at the full moon?"

I nodded. "So tonight then. I need you to prepare everything, and I will get the moonstone."

His chest lifted a little. "You want me to help?"

"I need it. Your people know these magics well, and I trust you with her life. Regardless of how much of an ass I have made of myself."

"It would be my honor, Alpha."

Let's go save our girl.

We spent the entire day preparing for the ceremony. There was a whole host of things that we needed to get right. There were dozens of pools in the territory, and we needed the one that would shine the moonlight at the exact angle we needed.

I had stayed by my wife's side the entire time. I had hoped that she would move or at the very least show me a sign of her still being in there, but she remained the same way she had always been.

The sun was setting, and I knew that the time was drawing closer. This was the one Hail Mary we had. I needed this to work.

I brought the back of her hand to my lips and kissed every single knuckle. "Today is the day, Ale. It's been fucking miserable without you. I don't think I could do another day of you like this."

And as always, she didn't answer because she couldn't.

"Even if it takes me weeks or years more, Alessandra, I will bring you back to me, even at the cost of my own life." I leaned forward and pressed my lips on her forehead.

Her skin was warm to the touch at least, and it felt like she had more life in her despite her lack of consciousness.

When I pulled away, I looked to the door. I felt like someone had been there only a minute or so ago, but I guess that was just my mind playing tricks on me.

I turned my attention back to my mate and kissed her hand once more. "You're coming home today, Ale."