Chapter Fifty Three

I ran as fast as I could back through the woods. We had brought a couple vehicles out here that we left only a half mile from the coordinates. I wanted to be able to get Azalea to safety quickly.

When we got to the cars, Damien jumped in the driver seat. I climbed in the back holding Azalea to me. Her body felt lighter and she was cold.

Damien took off headed back to the pack house. I knew Azalea would object but I needed to get her to see a doctor and keep her safe. I held her close to me trying to warm her up and keep her from bouncing around.

“Please be okay…” I whispered into her hair as I kissed the top of head gently. She stirred momentarily. I pulled her away from chest enough so I could look at her face. “Azalea?” I whispered to her.

“Liam…” she croaked quietly. Her eyes opened slightly only to flutter closed once more. Damien looked at me through the rearview mirror.

“We need to get to the clinic now,” I said seriously. I never took my eyes off of her.

-

As soon as we arrived at the clinic, I was jumping out of the car. My uncle was waiting outside ready to see Azalea. We rushed inside and his staff led us to a large room. I gently laid Azalea on the bed. Her breathing had slowed and became shallow. They immediately began hooking her up to machines and examining her.

“Liam, you need to wait outside!” My uncle commanded.

“I won’t let her out of my sight!”

“Damien, take him out now. I can’t work on her with an emotional Alpha breathing down my neck,” he said resolutely.

Damien grabbed my arm, pulling me from the room. The door closed and I lost sight of my mate. A tear rolled down my cheek.

“She will be okay. Your uncle is the best and he won’t let anything happen,” Damien tried to reassure me.

“What if we were too late?” I asked him.

“We weren’t. She was awake when we got there. I am sure she just needs some rest or something.”

I began to pace back and forth across the floor. Sometime later, Lily met us outside the room. We could not hear inside the room so there was not much to update her on. She stood by Damien, waiting patiently, and watching me nervously.

After another 15 minutes or so, Lily whispered something to Damien and left us. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts to notice or care.

“We need to know what is happening with mate!” Gavin said.

“I know! Don’t you think I would go in there if I didn’t think they would throw me right back out?”

“Mate needs us!” he badgered.

“Don’t even start. This is all your fault,” I shot back at him. He growled at me but fought back no more. I continued to pace the floor outside the door.

A few minutes later the door opened, and my uncle emerged. “How is she?” I asked before he could say anything. He put his hands up indicating that I needed to calm down.

“Patience, nephew,” He started. “She is stable now. She is severely dehydrated and does not appear to have eaten for several days now. She has a few different sedatives in her bloodstream. I can only guess that they sedated her and kept her asleep for a while now. Those medicines will need more time to work their way from her system.”

“So, she is asleep?” I asked.

“Yes, she is sleeping for now. Her body did not seem to process the sedatives they gave her. We are giving her fluids and vitamins until she is awake. Then we can try to put some food into her which will also help.”

“When will she wake up?”

“That I do not know. She could wake up in an hour or a week. She is already small and fairly weak. The emotional trauma before her abduction combined with the resulting trauma from the abduction can have any number of effects that we aren’t aware of right now.”

“She was so cold…” I whispered.

He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Right now, I have no reason to believe she will not be okay. We just need to give her time. When the nurses are down settling her, you can go in. Maybe your presence will help her wake up.”

I nodded at him. “Thank you,” I said.

“Of course.” With that he motioned for Damien to follow him. They left me standing in front of her room. I did not have to wait long as the nurses came out telling me I could go in to see her. They cautioned me to be careful with her monitors.

I entered the room. Azalea’s small frame lay on the bed, now in a hospital gown. She had IVs connected to her as well as some cords that must be monitoring different things. There was an armchair near the bed. I walked over to her. Her face looked sad in her sleep.

Bending down, I placed a small kiss on her forehead. “I am right here, baby. I am not going anywhere,” I whispered. I pulled the chair closer to the bed. I held her small, cold hand in my large one, rubbing my thumb across her knuckles in a soothing motion.

I sat there watching her for a while. I did not notice Damien and Lily come in. Damien came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

“Yea?” I said still not taking my eyes off Azalea.

“I talked to your uncle. I told him more about what happened when we went to get her. He thinks she will be out for at least a few more hours. Why don’t you come with me for a bit and let Lily stay with Azalea?” he said, concern lacing his voice.

“I want to be here,” I said. I was not going to leave her side until she woke up.

“It’ll be okay Liam. Just go shower and freshen up. I will stay with her and hold her hand. She won’t wake up alone,” Lily said gently.

“Shower and a sandwich. We will come straight back,” Damien said. I kept my eyes on Azalea. How could I leave her when I just got her back? “You won’t be any good to her when she wakes up if we don’t get you cleaned up and some food in you. You haven’t really eaten much for days now. Half hour tops, come on,” he continued to encourage.

I sighed. “Okay, 30 minutes. Lily, please link me immediately if she begins to wake up. I need to be here.” Lily smiled and nodded. I stood up from the chair, my back aching from the crouched position I was in. I bent over, leaving another kiss on Azalea’s forehead. “I will be right back baby,” I whispered to her. Lily sat down and grasped Azalea’s hand as I inched away. Before exiting the room, I took one last look at my sleeping mate.

Moon Goddess… Please let her wake up and forgive me…

Azalea

There was a soft beeping around me. My body felt odd. I tried to remember what happened before I fell asleep. My eyes did not want to open as I struggled to gain back consciousness. I felt something warm in my hand. It was pleasant. I managed to turn my head to the side and open my eyes a little.

Trying to focus on the view before me, I found a disheveled head of dark hair lying down face first on the bed. There was a hand grasping mine and a small tube coming from my arm.  I let out a weak moan. The head immediately shot up. A pair of bright blue eyes laced with concern were peering into my own.

“Azalea?” he whispered as if he could not believe it was actually me.

“Wwwhh…” I was having trouble forming words. My throat was really dry. His free hand came up to my face brushing stray hair out of my eyes. There was warmth under his touch. I closed my eyes, savoring the feeling.

“Baby, please, open your eyes. Come back to me,” he pleaded in the softest voice.

I opened my eyes again. His face looked so sad. “W-water,” I managed to breathe out. Some relief washed over his features. He let go of my hand and part me instantly felt sad at the loss of his touch. He was back a moment later with a glass of water and straw. He held the cup up so I could drink through the straw. I sipped the cool water slowly. It felt nice on my dry throat. Once I had emptied most of the cup, I let the straw go and Liam set the cup down. His hand cupped my face as his eyes looked at me like I was going to disappear any moment.

“You’re awake…” he breathed. I nodded my head. I could see the tiredness and stress across his features. He looked like he had not slept or eaten a proper meal in a while.

“Where…” I started quietly.

“You’re in the pack clinic. Do you remember what happened, baby?” he asked gently. Pack clinic? My eyes widened as I tried to remember. A monitor near me started to beat rapidly. Liam looked up then looked back at me. I looked around wildly. Why am I in the pack clinic? Why would he bring me here?

“Azalea, baby, you need to calm down. Okay? I had to bring you here. You passed out; they drugged you. I was so worried… I am so sorry…” He rubbed his thumbs across my cheeks trying to calm me down. Warmth spread from his touch and after a moment I was able to breathe normally. The beeping around me slowed down.

“Kol… and John… they took me…” I said trying to piece together what happened before I blacked out. Liam nodded. I strained to remember what happened. It all came back to me at once. “Liam, you accepted. He’s going to kill you and… and… and t-take me…” I started sobbing.

“Shhh shhh…” Liam cooed. He scooped me and cradled me to him as he sat on the bed. “No, I won’t let him do that. He will never have you.” He rocked us back and forth trying to calm me. I let myself bury my face in his neck, inhaling his scent. Calm began to take over my body.

The door to the room opened and Liam’s uncle came in. “Our little Luna is awake. I see Liam has wasted no time in reuniting with his mate. How are you feeling Azalea?” he said.

I raised my head and gave Doctor Ronald a small smile. “I’m okay,” I said.

“Think you can unhand her for a few minutes so I can check on her?” Doctor Ron said to Liam with raised eyebrows. Liam blushed slightly. He stood up and set me back down on the bed gently. As soon as he stepped away, I instantly missed his arms around me.

“You have been asleep for a while now,” said Doctor Ron, turning his attention to me. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“Um, well Kol had me in a large field and Liam came. Kol challenged him for the Alpha title and Liam accepted. Then Kol just let me go...” I said.

“Good,” he said as he began to look me over. After about 10 minutes and a few more questions, he seemed to be satisfied that I was okay.

“We will keep you here a bit longer for observation. I will have a nurse bring in some food in a bit. You have lost some weight and we should get you eating again. It will be the second biggest help to your recovery,” he said with a smile. He went to leave the room.

“Wait, what is the first?” I asked before he could exit the room.

He looked back at me then to Liam. “Maybe you two should talk,” he said and left us alone once again.

Liam came back over to my bedside as Doctor Ron left. “Liam, what is going on?” I asked. He looked at me with sad eyes. “This has to do with our… mating… doesn’t it?” I asked quietly. He nodded his head, still saying nothing. I took a deep breath trying to steady myself. I could feel the tears coming to the surface. I had not even begun to get through what happened before all of this and now here we sit.

“Azalea, I can never tell you how sorry I am. I should have never let it happen. I should have been honest with you when you asked what was going on. I was trying to protect you and I hurt you in the process. I fought Gavin with every ounce of my strength and I still wasn’t strong enough…” he apologized quietly. I could not look him in the eye. I stared down at my hands in my lap trying to hold back the tears. I could feel his eyes on me, watching me carefully for a reaction.

“I know what happened is completely unforgivable and I would not ask for your forgiveness. I just hope that you can give me a chance to try and make up for it all,” he said. He reached over to me and gently grasped my face in his hand. He tilted my head up so I was looking into his eyes. “Azalea, you are my entire world; the air that I need to breathe. Imagining my life without you is torture. I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up for my mistake if you will give me a chance to do so.”

I closed my eyes and took a shuddering breath. “Liam, the entire time Kol had me, a huge part of me only wished for you to come rescue me. But I cannot lie and tell you that part of me didn’t want you to come.” I looked away from his beautiful face as tears began silently falling. “It seemed like a cruel joke from the Moon Goddess that you of all people would be my mate. After you rejected me and left me at the Inn, I thought maybe finally the joke would be over. I was done suffering; I had paid for my parents’ mistakes. I thought I could have a small, quiet, insignificant life and not be a burden to anyone. Then you came back and despite all my effort against it, you made me fall in love with you. I think the mate bond helped; it made me feel less scared around you and made me seek your comfort. But I fell in love with you and then…” I trailed off for a minute. I could not say the words. I rubbed my wrists gently. I took another deep breath and continued. “I want to hate you, but I just can’t. And I hate myself for still wanting you. I realized it when Kol touched me: I will not ever be able to be away from you. I need you too Liam.” I looked up into his gorgeous face. I could see some relief taking over his features.

“Azalea, I am so sorry. You cannot even begin to believe how sorry I am…” he said quietly.

“I know,” I said. “I think I can feel it.” His eyes shot up at that. “What?”

“I just didn’t think you could feel the bond. I thought you were only feeling a small pull not that you could feel the connection…” he said surprised.

“Liam, what did your uncle mean earlier? What would be the most important part to my recovery?” I asked hesitantly. I was not entirely sure I was ready for his answer.

He looked at me nervously. “Well… he thinks that… you would be able to recover faster if our bond were… stronger.”

“What does that mean?”

“He thinks… that I should… mark you…”