Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy Chapter 14

ARIA

"Help me apply this to his worst wounds," she ordered the other healers. "And someone prepare an infusion with the remaining plant material. If we can get it into his system internally as well as externally, we might have a chance."

I watched, my heart in my throat, as they spread the moonbeam poultice across Kael's injuries. The moment it touched his wounds, something incredible happened.

The bleeding slowed. Then stopped completely.

"It's working," one of the healers breathed. "Look—the wounds are starting to close."

He was right. I could see it happening in real-time—Kael's torn flesh knitting back together, fur regrowing over the gashes, the angry red inflammation fading to healthy pink skin beneath.

"The toxin," Eliza said urgently, checking his vital signs. "Is it clearing?"

Another healer placed her hands on Kael's chest, her eyes closed in concentration. "Yes. Yes! The moonbeam plants are neutralizing the nightwalker poison. His wolf is fighting back."

A collective exhale of relief filled the room.

But Eliza held up a hand for silence. "He's not out of danger yet. The plants are helping, but he's lost so much blood. And the curse..."

She trailed off, but I knew what she was thinking. The curse that had trapped Kael in wolf form for three years, that had been slowly consuming his humanity—would the moonbeam plants affect that too?

We watched in tense silence as they finished treating his wounds and got the prepared infusion down his throat. Kael remained unconscious through it all, but his breathing was growing stronger, steadier.

"We need to monitor him closely," Eliza finally said. "But I think... I think he's going to make it."

The relief that flooded through me was so intense I almost collapsed. Nina caught my arm, steadying me.

"You did it," she whispered. "You saved him, Aria."

"He saved me first," I said, my voice breaking. "I was just returning the favor."

Eliza approached me, her weathered face kind. "Those moonbeam plants—where did you find them?"

"Near the cliff edge in the western forest. There was a whole patch of them. I almost didn't go for them, but..." I swallowed hard. "Something told me they were important."

"The Moon herself must have guided you there," Eliza said softly. "Those plants saved our Alpha's life. You saved our Alpha's life."

I shook my head. "I just gave you the plants. You're the ones who knew what to do with them."

"Don't diminish what you did," Nina said firmly. "Aria, you risked your life to harvest those plants. And then you had the presence of mind to remember them even when Kael was dying in front of you. That takes courage and quick thinking."

I didn't feel courageous. I felt exhausted and overwhelmed and terrified that I'd almost lost someone I was only just beginning to know.

Over the next hour, we watched as Kael's condition steadily improved. His wounds were almost completely healed, leaving only faint scars beneath his fur. His breathing was strong and even. Color returned to his gums and tongue—signs that his blood volume was recovering.

And then something else started to happen.

The silver markings along his spine—the ones that had always seemed decorative, part of his natural coloring—began to glow. Faintly at first, then brighter, pulsing with an otherworldly light.

"What's happening?" I asked nervously.

Eliza leaned forward, her eyes wide. "The curse. The moonbeam plants are pushing back against the curse."

"Is that possible?" Nina breathed.

"I don't know," Eliza admitted. "But look—"

Kael's body shuddered. His eyes flew open—those brilliant gold eyes—but they looked different. Clearer. More aware.

More *human*.

Then I heard it. A voice in my head, rough and deep, speaking through the pack mindlink that I'd been granted when I'd agreed to bond with Shadowmere:

*"What... happened?"*

Every wolf in the room gasped.

"Alpha?" Nina said aloud, tears streaming down her face. "Can you hear me? Can you understand us?"

*"Nina. Yes. I can hear you."* His mental voice grew stronger. *"The nightwalkers. Did they... is she..."*

His eyes found mine across the room, golden and intense and filled with desperate worry.

*"Aria. Are you safe? Are you hurt?"*

I was so overwhelmed by hearing his voice—his actual voice, words instead of growls and howls—that I couldn't speak for a moment. My own voice came out choked when I finally managed to respond through the mindlink:

*"I'm safe. Thanks to you."*

Relief flooded through the bond, so strong it nearly knocked me over. I wasn't even officially bonded to him yet, but I could feel his emotions like they were my own.

*"Thank the Moon,"* he said, his mental voice fervent. *"When I felt them attacking you, when I heard your fear—"*

*"You shouldn't have done that,"* I interrupted, limping closer to the treatment table. Speaking aloud now, needing him to hear my actual voice. "There were five of them, Kael. You could have been killed. You almost were killed."

*"And let them tear you apart?"* Even in his wolf form, even through the mindlink, I could hear the absolute conviction in his voice. *"Never. You're mine to protect."*

"How did you even know I was in danger?" I asked. "I was so far from the den, from the pack settlement—"

*"You called out to me."*

I blinked. "I didn't—I never used the mindlink. I didn't even know if I could reach you—"

*"Not through the mindlink,"* Kael clarified. *"Your wolf. She called to mine. And I answered."* His golden eyes held mine, intense and unwavering. *"I will always answer when you call, Aria. I will always protect you, no matter the cost. That's what a mate does."*

The word *mate* hung in the air between us, heavy with meaning.

We weren't bonded yet. Wouldn't be for three more days, during the blood moon ceremony. But in that moment, staring at this Alpha who'd nearly died defending me, who'd heard my wolf's distress call and come running without hesitation, I felt something shift in my chest.