Mine to Protect Chapter 76: NEW ALLEY

*Hazel*

I make the bubble disappear, and run to his side, all eyes on me, wide with amazement and for some fear.

Lukas has managed to take the bullet out, but Derek is still unconscious, and his wound is healing slower than normal.

“There must have been some kind of poison in the bullet that is slowing down the healing. We need to take him to a doctor,” Lukas tells me urgently, and I know he is right.

“My Beta is trying to find someone to pilot Derek’s helicopter here, so that we can take him to the nearest decent werewolf hospital, which is 200 km away, it would take too long by car.”

“Derek’s helicopter?” I ask astonished, since when does he own a helicopter?

“Yes, Luna. When he was twenty, he got a license and got that toy as his birthday present for himself,” Damon voice comes from my right. He is walking rapidly towards me, a small frown on his face. He is shirtless, and shoeless, only wearing a pair of grey sweatpants, and if I wasn’t already mated and in love, I would have definitely swooned at his feet right now.

“I can pilot it, we left it a few kilometers out pack borders, and our Luna has done a great job in clearing the perfect path for landing,” he says, winking at me, while crouching down near me besides Derek, to check his wound, his expression etched with worry.

Then he caresses my head lightly.

“He’ll be ok, I promise,” he tells me gently. And even if I know his promise is meant only to sooth me, his words warm me and calm me, because I know that Derek couldn’t be in better hands, Damon will do everything he can to save him.

He then gets up and addresses Lukas in a more serious manner, “Preston got away, I sent a team of your warriors behind him, but they haven’t reported back yet. You might want to mind link them to check.”

Lukas nods in reply, and Damon doesn’t waste another second, he shifts into his brown wolf and starts running at high speed towards the pack’s border.

I cradle Derek’s head in my lap, caressing his hair and his cheek.

“Don’t die on me, Derek, don’t you dare!” I mind link him, even if I know he is unconscious, I still hope he can hear me, “If you wake up, I will tell you that I love you every day, ten times a day, I will tell you so often that you will ask me to stop unless I want to be punished, and I would keep saying that I love you on purpose, just to make you punish me again and again.”

I kiss his forehead softly, and I see his eyes flutter slightly, but he is still unconscious, still unmoving. Please, Goddess, don’t take him from me too, please.

The sound of the helicopter reaches my ears, and I look up to see a silver helicopter approaching. The nearer the helicopter gets, the more deafening its roar becomes, and I am forced to cover my ears with my hands to muffle the sound.

In a matter of minutes, Damon lands a few meters away from us and gets off the helicopter. He and another warrior lift Derek onto the back of the helicopter, and I climb in with him, while Damon and the other guy climb in front.

Suddenly something pops into my mind, Nora’s diary! I have left it in my bag, near the house, I hope it is still there.

I mind link Lukas asking him to help me retrieve it, I know he has a lot on his plate already, taking care of Preston, and of the hurt and the dead, but that diary is very important to me, it is the key to finding Cindy.

Luckily Lukas knows of its importance and agrees to go check immediately.

In the meantime, we reach the hospital, and Derek is rushed to the emergency room, where we cannot follow. I am so worried I would climb the walls if I could, I feel so restless and agitated. Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok. I repeat this mantra over and over in my head, while pacing at the entrance of the emergency room, waiting for news.

Damon places a hand on my shoulder, to attract my attention and involuntarily I growl at him, annoyed that he is interrupting my mantra.

He puts his hands up in the air, in sign of surrender, and I feel immediately remorseful for leashing out at him. I surprised him by lacing my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“I am so sorry, Damon, I didn’t mean to growl at you. I am so happy you are unhurt and thank you for coming to my rescue with Derek.”

He clears his throat, and I move back, puzzled by his behavior. He hasn’t hugged me back, and he has his gaze fixed on the ceiling, his arms still up in the air.

“Yeah, no problem, Luna, I just wanted to suggest that we should find something to make you look more decent, you are getting quite a lot of stares.”

More decent. I look down at myself, holy crap, I am still naked! I completely forgot about it.

Now I am feeling incredibly self-conscious, and I understand why Damon didn’t hug me back. With all the rumors about me being a hooker, the last thing I want is people to add rumors of me having an affair with our Beta.

I hurriedly took my arms off his neck and put at least two meters distance between us, while I tried covering myself unsuccessfully with my arms.

“That’s what I thought,” he adds chuckling, “follow me, I’ll find you something to wear.”

Luckily Damon manages to steal a pair of pink nurses’ scrubs, and I get to the toilet to freshen up a little and get dressed.

When I look at my reflection in the mirror, I am horrified to see that I am completely covered in soot and grime, my hair is all disheveled and in knots, I have been walking around like a primitive woman from the cave ages. I hope no one has taken pictures of me, I can survive people thinking I am a hooker, but this, I don’t think my ego would ever recover from this humiliation.

I try to fix myself up the best I can, I can’t say I am 100% clean, but at least I look a lot neater, and the pink looks good on me.

I get out of the toilet, and notice that Damon has left, and the warrior who has come with us is now standing guard at the door. He must be around forty, broad and tall, a head full of brown unruly hair, and a thick but well-kept beard.

“Thank you for guarding the door, it wasn’t necessary. Damon is overprotective, I am sorry for the inconvenience,” I say apologetically.

“Not at all, you are precious, you are a blessing of the Goddess, and I will lay my life down to protect you.”

I am taken aback by his words, and by his serious expression, he is not joking.

“Ermm, thank you, but I really don’t want anyone losing their lives over me. We can fight together to stay alive, we can be survival buddies, how does that sound?”

He chuckles, his eyes wrinkling a little with mirth.

“Survival buddies,” he repeats, shaking his head in disbelief, “you are a weird one, kiddo. Just like your mom.”

“You knew my mom?”