Chapter 324 - 324 A Last Attempt

324 A Last Attempt

Mrs Parker was at the cafeteria counter, getting some refill for her trip when she received an alert on her phone. It was nothing but a notification of their flight getting delayed by four hours due to bad weather. As she handed her daughter the coffee mug intended for her she wondered, “As much as I understand escorting us away from them, feels like I am betraying the pack. Leaving them at such an important time”. Mrs Parker sighed.

“Imagine how I feel.” Ariel groaned. “I am at my prime, I have been trained my entire life for something like this and yet I can’t do anything else other than running away.” Ariel shook her head and looked at the kids sitting a few chairs ahead. “Although I understand the responsibility of keeping them safe. I guess it’s important.” she sighed.

“Well…” Mrs Parker trailed off. She sat there deep in thought for a really long time. Even the kids were silent for a long time. Carmen consoled Ivy as much as she could, but Connor, he was more aware of his own surroundings. He knew better on what was going on and thus understood the potential danger his fathers were in.

“Ariel, can you watch over these kids for a little bit longer?” Mrs Parker asked.

“Of course, but where are you running off to?” Ariel asked back.

“Nowhere…just…” Mrs Parker took a deep breath. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.”

“Mom… I know that look. What are you doing? You are supposed to come with us.” Ariel whispered to her mother.

“I have a really bad feeling about this… trust me, I really need to go.” Mrs Parker clarified.

“But mom-”

.....

“Ariel, do you trust me or not?” Ariel hesitated for a moment, but nodded nonetheless. “Then trust me on this. I will be fine. Take these kids, and keep them safe. My instincts have never fooled me. I am needed here.” She sighed and left.

On the way back to Crescent Point, she passed by her old house, and a bayou nearby it. She wouldn’t have stopped by it if she hadn’t heard low moans coming from nearby that were just too familiar. Getting out of her car, she noted an almost passed out Ashton covered in mud, while a gaping wound leaked from his leg. If the wound was visible through the mud, it must be a big one.

Without wasting any more time, she dragged herself through the slippery trough and carried her son to her car. Her maternal instincts and the instinct of a nurse had kicked in about the same time. She knew just not to waste any more minutes.

Going back to their dusty old house, she placed him at the center and cleaned the wound, and covered it soon. She checked his pulse, barely able to feel it before she switched on the light and cleaned him a bit more. With lack of resources, she couldn’t do much for him. And it wasn’t like she could just take him to the hospital either, it must already be packed with casualties.

Not just that, Ashton looked so weak and pale that he might not even survive a trip to the hospital. She wondered what to do, looking here and there frantically. She slapped his face a few times, before Ashton finally opened his eyes. “Ashton, look at me… you know who I am?” she asked.

In a weak voice Ashton replied, “...Mom.”

She breathed a few times before wondering what her next step should be. She called one of her ex-colleagues from the pack hospital, whom she met during the time she was working and who also owed her a favor, “Bring me a few sets of IV and a few crystalloids at 99th Street, ASAP.” she barked into the phone.

“Sue, we’re in a crisis. We can’t have-”

“You owe me, remember”! She snarled, before the other man could finish speaking.

“I am trying.” and he hung up.

Mrs Parker kept checking on her son’s pulse every other minute and after ten to fifteen minutes there was a loud thud of someone breaking the window. A rusty wolf with a bag on his mouth barged in and dropped it in front of Mrs Parker.

The bag contained everything she needed. Mrs Parker figured that the wolf must have traced her scent to find her exact location. Without wasting any more time, she set up the iv and waited patiently. She simply hoped that this was enough. Given the amount of blood loss, what Ashton needed was blood, but being one of a kind, they never found a match amongst the wolf community to this day.

This is what made this situation even worse. They simply didn’t know whether or not Ashton would make it or not. The wolf transformed back to a middle aged man and sat next to Mrs Parker, “This you son?” he asked. “He looks like the Alpha brother’s mate.” he added.

“Yes he is.” Mrs Parker spoke through her dry voice. “He is a pureblooded alpha.” she added, knowing that’s how most of the pack perceived him even though many had their suspicion. While Ashton’s pulse improved after a while, Ashton’s condition in general didn’t. Even though Ashton would open his eyes, they appeared lost… clueless as if he was getting lost within himself.

It must have been after the third bottle of fluid when there was an aggressive knock on the door. The man got up from his seat to open it and a few men came rushing through the door. Meanwhile Mrs Parker was completely dazed, sitting still, frozen at her spot checking on her son from time to time like a machine.

“Ash…” a despondent yet familiar voice whispered next to Mrs Parker. She looked up only to find the one person for whom this situation might be more unbearable than her.

“How….” she wondered before she noticed the man standing behind who nodded at her. She realized that it was none other than the person she called for help. She looked back at Caleb and patted his shoulder gently.

“How bad is he?” Caleb dared to ask.

With a heavy heart Mrs Parker replied, “Pretty bad.” She took a deep breath before explaining the current physical status of Ashton to Caleb and how no matter what they did, they were really helpless. This time she urged Caleb to call out for Ashton, hoping for a better response at the sound of his own mate.

Caleb did so but no matter how much he called, Ashton layed there still. Mrs Parker, who had her hand at Ashton’s neck, confirmed that Ashton was still alive. Caleb grabbed Ashton’s face, and pressed on his jaw pretty hard, in order to move his face, hoping to elicit some form of response from his mate. Ashton did open his eyes after a while, but just like before… it was lifeless.

A few drops of Caleb’s tears drenched the dry cheeks of his own mate. At that moment Caleb felt utterly helpless. Not ready to lose his mate within a day of their marriage. Caleb pressed his eyes shut in order to rid them of tears, and with a deep breath he tried to link Ashton, a last chance to try to connect in order to save him.