6

"So, uh, where is he exactly?" Cain asked.

Eduardus frowned, he was silent for a moment. "He should be training right now, he tends to do that around this time. He has a specific schedule."

"Is he OCD or something?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I don't even know with him anymore."

We walked into the packhouse, sniffing the air for Jefferson's scent. I finally caught it and followed it to the dungeons, Cain and Eduardus followed closely.

I tried opening the door, but it was locked of course. I groaned and faced the two men standing behind me.

"Any ideas?" I asked.

Eduardus pursed his lips, "Maybe we should wait for him to come up?"

"But he could kill him! He was pissed when he left the hospital room."

Fine,then we'll try breaking down the door."

"Yes, while we're at it, we should say hello to him." Cain replied sarcastically.

Eduardus scowled at him, "Can you stop being an asshole?"

"What? I'm only using my common sense, you don't seem to have any."

"I do! It's the only thing we can do!"

"Will both of you shut it? You're giving me a headache with your bickering." I snapped.

They both glared at each other before looking at me. I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"We'll wait, I guess."

"You don't have another door leading to this place?" Cain asked.

Eduardus shook his head, "No, it was out father's idea."

"He's an idiot."

"No he isn't! If a criminal tried escaping then he or she would have one way out. We could easily catch him."

"If you had two doors then you just station guards there 24/7. I've been doing that and we caught every criminal that tried escaping." Cain smirked.

I rolled my eyes, "You two mates or something? You fight like a married couple."

Cain growled and narrowed his eyes, "I have a mate, you know that."

"It's called sarcasm, Cain. Sarcasm."

Eduardus smirked, "Look who's the idiot now."

"Your father is still an idiot and so are you."

"Asshole."

"Thank you."

I raised an eyebrow at them, how am I going to get Alaricas to safety with these two idiots?

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, "You both are idiots."

They went to say something when the dungeon door suddenly opened. We all looked over to see Jefferson walking out, his hands covered in blood once again. I growled and attacked him, quickly pinning him against the wall.

"Where is he?" I snarled.

He gulped, "I don't know who he is."

"Alaricas. I'm not stupid, Jefferson. I know he's down there." I seethed.

He smirked, "You're too late."

I growled and punched him across the face, "Cain, have fun with him. Make him beg for his death."

"You'll be no better than me!" He sneered.

I rolled my eyes, "Does it look like I care at this point?"

Cain smirked as he grabbed Jefferson, I heard the snapping of a bone and Jefferson scream as I walked into the dungeon.

Eduardus and I followed his scent through the maze of cells. When Alaricas' scent became stronger I started running faster. As we rounded a corner I skidded to a halt.

"Alaricas..."

I slowly walked up to the cell and clapped my hand over my mouth. He looked terrible, he was pale, thin, bloody, bruised, and just overall, broken. I had tears pool into my eyes, praying that he's alive.

Eduardus walked up and broke the lock on the cell door, I quickly opened it and ran in. I knelt beside Alaricas, gently, I rolled him onto his back.

"Alaricas." I said, gently shaking him.

He slowly opened his eyes, he smiled weakly. "I-I g-got y-your mess-a-age."

I grinned and stroked his cheek, "We're going to get you out of here."

He took a shaky breath, "I can't move. It'll hurt."

"I know." I murmured.

Eduardus walked in and gently picked up his brother. We both rushed out of the cell and back through the aisles. I stayed beside them the whole time, looking at Alaricas every now and then.

He was barely awake, his head was leaning against the edge of Eduardus' shoulder, and his eyes were halfway closed.

"Stay awake, please." I pleaded with him.

He slowly looked at me and offered somewhat of a smile. As we walked out into the hall of the packhouse I looked at Jefferson's dead form. I then looked at Cain to see him leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette.

"He begged me for thirty minutes to kill him." He said.

I frowned, "How long were we down there?"

"About an hour. Now, enough chit chat, we need to get him to the infirmary."

We started sprinting towards the infirmary, all three of us telling Alaricas to stay awake. When we were halfway there he started coughing up blood, the sight had me panicking.

We burst through the infirmary doors, immediately yelling out orders. The doctor was quick to get him on a gurney and wheel him into surgery. Eduardus tried following, but Cain and I held him back.

"You're not allowed." I told him, sitting him down.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "I-I need to be there for him."

"I know, but they need the space. You'll be there for him when he's out of surgery and awake." I assured him.

He still seemed doubtful, but he eventually calmed down. I took a seat, goddess, he needs to survive this.

Twelve hours.

For twelve hours we've been waiting for him to get out of surgery. Cain had resorted to throwing paper balls at me as we waited. Eduardus was out cold, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Luna?"

I looked up to see the doctor hesitantly walking over, I smiled kindly at her. I glanced at Eduardus, he was still snoring softly on my shoulder.

The doctor chuckled and took a seat beside me. I glanced nervously at Cain, he continued staring at her with a pained look.

I felt horrible for him, he just seemed heartbroken. I glanced at the doctor who was looking back at him with wide eyes.

"How is he?" I asked, trying to distract them.

She swallowed and looked at me, "He's....not doing good."

My heart fell as I registered what she was saying.

"He's not going to live?" I asked quietly.

"At this point, we don't know. He's still in critical condition and his wolf is far too weak to heal him. When he wakes up it'll be easier for us to know. We're more concerned about the swelling in his brain and large wound in his chest." She explained.

"We managed to fix the damage, but his lungs aren't working properly. He has a breathing tube in right now."

I ran my hand through my hair before hiding my face in my hands. I'm such an idiot, I should have found him earlier. I shouldn't have been so blind to the obvious hints.

"Hey, it'll be okay." She tried assuring me.

I shook my head, "I didn't let him explain. I-I rejected him and n-now..."

I suddenly felt arms around me, I looked up to see Eduardus giving me a sad look. I sighed and looked back at the doctor who seemed guilty.

She kept glancing at Cain who was zoned out, his eyes still holding that same amount of pain.

"Can we see him?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yeah."

As we walked to his room I pulled the doctor aside. She gave me a stunned look as I glanced at Cain.

"Talk to him." I stated.

She bit her lip, "I...what if he hates me?"

"He loves you, he has been searching for you non stop. Learn from my mistake, because one of these days, it'll be too late to talk to him."

"I was scared...I have a past with alphas that I'm not proud of."

"I understand, but he doesn't know that. He's a great guy, trust me. He's my god father."

"I thought he was your uncle?"

I shrugged, "I just call him that."

When we entered Alaricas' hospital room the doctor pulled Cain outside. I gave her an encouraging smile before facing my own mate. I walked up and sat down.

"You better not die." I whispered, stroking his cheek.