Lukas

I stirred from my resting spot. I took a good whiff of my surroundings, it smelled very different from that Silverhand fortress. It smelled more clean. Like hospital clean.

Cracking one eye open, my suspicions were confirmed when I woke up in a hospital bed and gown. I looked at the vital monitor that I was set up to and the I.V. in my hand. I felt something wrapped around my head.

How long was I out?

"A more important question is, 'Where's Alana?" Ryker said.

My heart started to beat rapidly as I jumped out of bed and yanked the I.V. out of my hand and stumbled towards the door, sounding an alert within the room, ignoring the pain in my head.

A couple of nurses came in. "Sir, you have to lie back down." One of them placed a gentle hand on my chest and tried to push me back towards the bed.

"Where is she? I need to see her." I growled as I advanced forward, not listening to her protest.

"Sir, you have experienced head trauma, your skull is cracked. You need to lie back down!" She persisted.

"I NEED MY MATE!" I yelled loudly.

The hospital went silent and a few looked inside the room. I tried to breath slow and easy breaths to try and calm myself down.

"I came as soon as I could." Father stood in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Young Chase is awake, Alpha and he's on the verge of hurting himself if he doesn't lie back down, but he requests to see his mate." She said timidly as my father's gaze fell upon her.

He acknowledged her and sent her out of the room. She quickly took her leave and I turned to my father.

He gestured to the bed. "Sit, Lukas." He said calmly as he seated himself in an armchair.

I complied and sat on the edge of the bed facing him. He raised an eyebrow.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

"Two days." He answered simply.

"What happened to us?" I looked at him.

"Fenris was gone. He disappeared. We found you unconscious, both of you suffered from great blood loss. You had a fractured skull and Alana had a fractured skull as well as multiple deep wounds on her body." He said quietly. "We brought you two to the nearest hospital where they have a special floor for our kind."
I looked down at my bare feet, hundreds of feelings and thoughts raced through my mind. Then I met his gaze. "Is she alright?"

He looked grave as he let out a shuddering breath... "She may not make it, Lukas."

My whole world stopped. I couldn't think or move.

I found my mate in a matter of months and within a matter of months, she might not live to see another day?

"As...as we walked in...when we found you both, Alana was in and out of consciousness, mumbling something in a different language. I... I was wondering what she was doing...t-turns out that she used her last bit of energy to heal you before she went unconscious. That's why your wound isn't as great." He said with a small smile.

Hot tears streamed down my cheeks. She sacrificed herself for me. I quickly wiped my eyes.

"I have to see her." I snarled. "What room is she in?"

"Lukas you need to-"

"Father. She could die at any given moment. She's my mate!" I said as I stood up, staring him down. "I need to see her."

He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, stroked his beard, and let out a defeated sigh. "She's two rooms over in 4435."

I nodded and headed towards the door and opened it. The nurse ran to stop me, but my father ordered her to leave me alone. The eyes of the nurses and other patients were on me and I snarled, daring them to keep looking at me and they adverted their gazes elsewhere.

Using the wall as a support to walk to her room, I started to feel every little pain that hid itself while I sat in the room.

I made it to her room door. Clasping my hand around the cool, mettalic surface of the door knob, I gently eased it open.

The curtains were pulled closed and the only light that filled the room was the exam light, shining brightly onto her face.

She laid there, her small figure unmoving, except for the steady rising and falling of her chest. The monitor indicated her slow heart rate. I limped to her bedside as I stood over her, inspecting her features.

She looked deathly pale as her eyes looked a bit sunken in and dark circles were underneath her eyes. Her platinum hair still gave off that unearthly glow.

Smiling, I placed a hand on hers. "We did it, Allie. He's gone." I brought her knuckles up to my lips and kissed them. "Your plan somewhat worked."

I stared at her expressionless face and took in a deep breath. "So, we may not see him ever, Alliebaby. That's good news, right?" I gave a weak smile.

"But don't worry, I'm going to try and bring you out of this." I ran my thumb over the back of my hand.

As I have done in the past, I channeled the energy in my body and felt it course through my veins and run all the way to my hand were I made contact with her skin.

I watched the monitor as her heartbeat still kept with its slow pace but then it slowly started to increase. The color started to return to her face. She stirred a little, but she didn't open her eyes.

She didn't wake up...

"I know, but look at her. She looks way better than before." Ryker said cheerfully.

I huffed and smiled despite my feelings. You're right...

"I know I am. You don't have to say it...although it's even better when someone else says it." He said smugly.

I rolled my eyes and gave her one last look over and started to walk away until I felt a weak grip on my hand.

I turned around to see her squinting. "Oi, you forgot the light, mate." She grumbled. "It's killing my eyes. And would you sit down, you're making my leg and head hurt."

I laughed and quickly limped back to her bedside. Staring into her icy blue orbs, I cupped both cheeks and bent down and sealed our lips in a passionate kiss.

The feeling of her lips on mine again felt so right. So...so...

"Invigorating?"

Yes, invigorating, Ryker! That's the word!

I pulled back when I felt a slight twinge of pain in my chest. I looked at her again and just smiled. I held her hand in mine.

"I'm so...words can't even describe how ecstatic I am right now that you're awake, Allie." I squeezed her hand lightly.

"I'm just happy that you're the first face I woke up to." She grinned.

"I'm happy that I am too." I kissed her knuckles.

"How long was I out?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Two days like me, but they thought that you wouldn't make it because of all of your wounds, and because you used the last bit of your energy to save me." I looked at her.

"Yea, I did. You were bleeding badly..." She said slowly.

"You were worse than me. You had deep open wounds!" I protested.

"Which would have healed quickly. You were dying" she teared up. "I didn't want you to die, Luke."

"Hush, baby girl. It's alright." I used the back of my free hand to caress her face and to wipe her tears away. "Thanks to you, I'm here. Let's dwell on that."

She gave a weak smile and nodded. "What about the demon?"

"Gone." I grinned. "Gone?" She raised her  eyebrows as her eyes twinkled with excitement.

"Gone, Allie. Gone." I smiled. She jumped up quickly and clapped, but we both groaned from the pain in our chest and she laid back down.

"Would you be careful?" I tried to move, but it still hurt.

"Sorry... a little ecstatic there." She smiled sheepishly.

"So am I." I smiled back and stood up to kiss her again.