When I wake up I'm back in the cell. I quickly check my body to see if I'm clothed, and I am.

"Elizabeth, are you awake?" Nate asks, sounding exhausted.

"Yes, I am. Nate are you okay?" I ask, walking toward him at the back of the cell. "Nate!" I scream when I see the state he's in. He's worse than before.

His shoulder has an open wound where the rogue was trying to bite it off. His face has claw marks all over. His neck has a vampire bite wound, and he seems to be sweating. I place my hand on his forehead to check his temperature and it's high. The silver in his body is taking time to come out, so it's making him sick. The wounds he has aren't helping to speed things up.

I quickly tear a piece of my shirt and tie his shoulder to try and stop the bleeding as much as I can.

"Nate, you're not looking good. We can't wait for you to recover before we try and escape. You're badly injured and getting sick. It's going to take a lot to heal you. We need to come up with a new plan."

"I can't think of anything right now. I don't know..." he says hoarsely. He seems to be in a lot of pain. I wish there was a way I could help him heal.

I'm thinking of ideas on how we can escape when an idea of how to help Nate heal faster comes to mind.

"Nate, what if you take my blood? I've heard taking your mate's blood can speed healing."

"I don't need your blood to heal. I'll be fine," he protests.

"You need it."

"I can't take your blood. You barely survived the vampire attack. You need all the blood in your body to heal," he says, and I touch my shoulder where the vampire's bite is. I can feel his teeth marks on my neck still. I was lucky Nate got him off me before he was able to draw a lot of blood.

"I don't need a lot of blood in my system right now. You need it more than me," I say and release my claws. I cut my wrist and place my hand in Nate's mouth. "Here."

"I can't take your blood," he says, moving his head away from my hand.

"You need it, so take it," I say, shoving my hand into his mouth. He tries to remove my hand but, because he's sick, he's too weak.

He doesn't have fangs like a vampire, but I feel his canines dig into my skin as he draws blood out of me. I wince as I feel his teeth digging deeper into my flesh. I start panicking when I feel him drawing a lot of blood. Why does it feel like he's a vampire instead of a werewolf? I try to remove my hand from his mouth, but he stops me and pulls me closer. I have to forcefully remove my hand from his mouth as I start to feel dizzy.

"I need more," Nate says, his eyes glued to my hand.

"Nate," I say, placing my hand on his face. He feels my hand on his skin, and his eyes finally focus. The minute his eyes lock with mine, they fill up with remorse.

"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I lost control. I'm so ashamed. I'm not a vampire who needs blood to survive. I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. You don't have to apologize."

"Thank you for forgiving me."

"Of course. How do you feel? Any better" I ask, hoping it worked.

"We can't know immediately, but your blood should help me heal faster. Hopefully, in a few hours, the silver should be out of my system."

"I hope it works," I say, resting on the wall close to him. I feel the need to close my eyes. All the fighting took a toll on my body.

***

I open my eyes when I hear waves crashing. Why does it suddenly sound like we're close to the ocean? I rub my eyes as I peel them open to find out what's going on.

"Hello, lovebirds," Ekaterina says, stepping out of a water portal.

"Ekaterina," I say, smiling. I'm so happy to see her. She found us! I didn't think she'd be able to and even if she did, she might not be able to help because of the number of humans.

"I see you've mastered your tracking spells," Nate says.

"Yes, I have. I'm so sorry I took so long to find you." Ekaterina says.

"It's fine as long as you're here to help now," I say.

"Yes, and let me see your wounds," she says, walking toward me.

"Treat Nate first. He's badly injured," I say, directing her toward Nate.

"How much silver do you feel in your body?" Ekaterina asks, examining Nate's wounds.

"Not a lot, but with my wounds, it's taking time for the silver to leave."

"I guessed as much. I'll try to heal all your external wounds. I can't remove the silver in your system, but if you're healed from the outside, it should speed up the silver leaving your body."

"Okay," Nate says, and Ekaterina uses water to heal Nate's wounds and mine.

"Now that you're both healed, we can leave," Ekaterina says once she's done.

"We can't. There are over one-hundred wolves here. We can't leave them," I say before Nate speaks.

"I can't heal them or hold a portal long enough for everyone to pass through. We have to leave without them," Ekaterina says.

"We can't. They're my people," Nate says.

"What do we do then?" Ekaterina says.

"Once all the silver is out of my system, I'll be able to take down the humans. But for that to work, I'll need you to do something for me."

"What?" Ekaterina asks.

"Finish creating the werewolf silver shield spell."

"No, I can't. That spell almost made my queen find me."

"I know. But without that spell, we won't be able to save all the werewolves here. Please, finish it, and if you do, I promise you I'll help you make your queen stop looking for you."

"You'll really help me?" Ekaterina asks, shocked.

"I need to save my people here, so I'll do whatever it takes," Nate says.

I can't help but admire him as he tries to do everything to save his people from the hands of these evil humans.

"I'll need three days. By then, all the silver in your body should also be gone."

"Yes, I should be fully functional by then."

"Alright, goodbye," Ekaterina says, creating a portal.

"Bring good news in three days."

"Hopefully, I will," she says, walking through the portal.

"How are you feeling?" I ask Nate once Ekaterina leaves.

"I'm fine," he says, removing my hand from his head where I was checking his temperature.

"That's good," I say, rubbing my hands up and down my arms to make the cold go away.

The clothes the humans gave me don't protect me from the cold. My eyes widen as I feel Nate's arms circle me.

Nate and I haven't defined our relationship so it still surprises me when he acts like this. His body heat warms me up, and I feel myself relax in his arms. I could stay there all day.