Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 12

ARIA

Something in those gold eyes softened, just for a moment. Relief, maybe. Or satisfaction that he'd protected what was his.

Then his legs gave out.

The massive wolf collapsed onto his side, his breathing labored, blood pooling beneath him.

"No!" I screamed, forgetting my own injuries as I scrambled toward him. "Kael, no, stay with me!"

His eyes were already starting to close, his breathing growing shallow.

"HELP!" I screamed as loud as I could, praying someone would hear. "SOMEONE HELP US! THE ALPHA IS HURT!"

My hands shook as I tore strips from my jacket, pressing them against the worst of his wounds. Blood soaked through immediately, hot and slick against my palms.

"You can't die," I told him fiercely, my tears falling onto his dark fur. "Do you hear me? You saved my life, so you don't get to die now. You have to stay alive. You have to let me save you back."

His eyes opened slightly, finding mine. I saw recognition there—not the feral wildness of his curse, but something deeper. Something human.

He was still in there. Still fighting.

"That's right," I said, keeping pressure on his wounds even as my arms trembled with effort. "Stay with me, Kael. Help is coming. Just hold on."

Finally, blessedly, I heard shouts in the distance. The border patrol, responding to my screams.

"Over here!" I called out. "The Alpha is injured! We need the healers now!"

Six wolves burst through the trees, shifting to human form as they took in the scene—their Alpha bleeding out on the forest floor, dead nightwalkers dissolving into smoke around us, and me desperately trying to keep him alive.

"Get the healers!" one of them—a man I recognized as Marcus from the kitchen—barked at the youngest guard. "Tell them it's an emergency! And bring a stretcher!"

The others surrounded us, some keeping watch for more threats while others moved to help me with Kael's wounds.

"What happened?" Marcus asked, his hands moving efficiently to check Kael's vital signs.

"Nightwalkers," I said, my voice breaking. "Five of them. He killed four. The others fled. But he's hurt so badly—"

"He's strong," Marcus said firmly, meeting my eyes. "Stronger than any Alpha I've known. He'll make it."

But even as he said it, I saw the worry in his expression. The fear.

Kael had lost so much blood. And his wounds weren't healing like they should—a side effect of his curse, maybe, or something the nightwalkers had done to him.

I kept my hands pressed against his worst wound, feeling his blood pulse against my palms in a rhythm that was growing weaker.

"Stay alive," I whispered to him, leaning close to his ear. "That's an order from your future Luna. You stay alive, Kael. We have a bonding ceremony in three days, and I need you there. Do you understand me? I need you."

His eyes opened one more time, just a slit of burning gold.

And I could have sworn I saw him try to nod.

Then the healers arrived, and everything became a controlled chaos of shouted orders and emergency treatments. They loaded Kael onto a stretcher, four wolves needed to carry his massive form, and began the rush back to the pack settlement.

I tried to follow, but my injured leg finally gave out. Strong hands caught me—Nina, her face pale with worry.

"Let them work," she said gently. "You're hurt too, Aria. You need treatment."

"I need to be with him," I protested. "He saved my life. I can't just—"

"And you saved his," Nina interrupted, gesturing to the makeshift bandages I'd applied. "You kept him alive long enough for help to arrive. But now you need to let the healers do their job."

She was right, but it didn't stop my heart from breaking as I watched them carry Kael away, his blood leaving a trail on the forest floor.

Around us, the nightwalker bodies had completely dissolved, leaving only scorch marks on the ground where they'd fallen.

Five nightwalkers. He'd fought five nightwalkers and won, all to protect me.

And as Nina helped me limp back toward the settlement, all I could think was: *Please let him survive this. Please let him live long enough for me to thank him properly.*

Please don't let me lose someone else I'm starting to care about.