Hexed: The wolf I was forbidden to love

Chapter 17

Nick's POV

My feet trudged across the ground in quick steps as we ran on, traversing through the forest and making our way towards the direction of the howl we heard earlier.

An alpha’s howl…

They used it as a distress signal…

And that voice from earlier, that was unmistakably aidens…

I knew that…

We all did…

But what would make an alpha werewolf to call for backup like that…?

That was honestly the part that bothered me the most…

All three of us screeched to a halt almost immediately, stopping just short of Kiara's house. Our eyes immediately caught on to the broken window at the side as our faces contorted in worry.

“Spread out” I heard Zane call. “ He couldn't have gotten that far,” he continued. Drew and I nodded as we all immediately scattered, our eyes darting around as we searched the area…

Mostly with our noses…

Werewolves were very good hunters, especially due to their acute senses. Yes, our eyes are very sharp, but I was particularly talking about our sense of smell, which could pick up even faint scents even from a mile away.

As a result, it took us rather little time to trace his scent…

And it trailed away from the house…

A little too far in my opinion…

My brows furrowed as I clenched my fist. It also didn't help with my worry that his scent, which I was currently trailing on, had now been mixed in with blood…

His blood…

Could he have been…

No, it hadn't gotten to that. I shook my head, refusing to entertain the thought. Another rustle behind me pulled me from my train of thought as I quickly turned around..

A familiar looking silhouette in the distance staggered its way into the bushes…

Looking visibly injured…

Could that have been…?

Hey guys, come over here! I instantly called over to draw and zane as I stepped forward, in the direction that I had seen that silhouette. Drew and Zane immediately followed behind me.

Getting closer, the light from the moon descended as we saw him sprawled on the floor, in a pool of his own blood…

Aiden…

Our hearts dropped simultaneously

‘Aiden!” The word left my mouth instinctively as I quickly rushed towards him.

“Aiden! wake up.” I shook his body gently but firmly as I placed my hand on his back, turning his body over…

Oh… my…

I stared at his chest, more specifically, the gaping hole that ran mostly from his shoulder and down to his chest.. The other two behind me had finally caught as they also stared, mouth agape, at the wound on his chest, which was apparently the source of the blood that had pooled on the floor….

We were all speechless…

was … he…?

I instinctively reached for his hand, checking for a pulse…

His body was slowly losing heat…

But he was still alive…

Thankfully…

“He's… not healing….?” Drew's voice betrayed his disbelief, and honestly, I did not blame him for it. Alpha werewolves were the apex in our hierarchy of wolves.

Even though I was just a beta, my healing factor was still rather impressive as I was able to heal from wounds that would instantly kill just about anybody. As far as i could tell, almost nothing could really give us werewolves any lasting damage…

And being an alpha meant Aiden's healing factor had to be on a completely different level than my own

So the fact that even he was apparently not healing from this…?

Did that mean…

“Hospital!” I called out as I tried to drag his body. “He needs a hospital right now.” I tried to carry him on my shoulders but as if on cue, both Drew and Zane instinctively reached for my hand, stopping me.

“He cant go to a hospital, genius” Drew shot me a glare, “what do you think they're going to do to him there?”

“But—” I began

“Drew’s right, Nick." Zane nodded in agreement with his brother, his tone was much more serious now. “Human hospitals aren't able to treat werewolf wounds, plus there's the risk of exposing his abilities to them.” He explained further, his eyes darkened as they scanned through maidens. “What could have possibly done this to him?”

I narrowed my gaze as well. Honestly, I too wanted to know…

What could possibly inflict such a grievous and lasting wound on an alpha werewolf…

“Witch…” a small voice murmured beneath all three of us. We all instinctively turned downwards…

Towards the speaker…

Aiden…

“aiden , you're awake, thank goodnes—” Relief poured through my face, but i barely had the time to get the words out before he cut me off once again.

“Witches …Kiara… " the words left his mouth weakly as he strained his eyes, glancing from me, to draw, to zane, and finally back to me…

“D-Dont strain yourself aid—” Drew began this time, but aiden cut him off once again

“They were witches…” his voice was clearer now, sounding more like he had mustered that with the final strength he had left, as he reached for my hand. However, before he could grab it, his hand dropped…

He had passed out again…

Damn it..

My brows furrowed as I looked into his now unconscious face. “Witches…? ” my confusion was clearly evident on my face as i tried to make sense of his words…

Witches…

As in, actual witches…?

Were witches real…?

But wait, he said “they were witches”….

And then he mentioned Kiara…

Was he talking about her…?

Then that meant…

No way…

Why did I seem so surprised by that? Witches weren't that ridiculous to believe in considering I could literally transform into a wolf creature on the night of a full moon.

Still, I was still rather inexperienced when it came to the world of the supernatural…

I glanced at Drew and Zane, and unlike me, they did not seem to share in the surprise.but then again, that was probably because they’ve been werewolves for longer than i have

“If a witch did this to him” Drew's voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Then that would explain why he's not healing. Witch attacks not only deal physical damage, but also affect the soul directly.”

That made a bit of sense…

“Youre right.” Zane nodded in agreement, immediately took over from my position as he examined Aiden's body from head to toe. His eyes had taken on the bright orange hue of a beta as he scanned through Aiden's entire body from head to toe…

He wasn't just looking for other injuries, he was looking for something else…

Something… supernatural…

“He's lost a lot of blood, and his aura is unstable.” Zane's tone was stern now as he looked up, facing both me and drew. “A hospital would be useless here, and if we leave him this way, he could die.”

“So what do we do?” my voice was panicked. I had lived most of my life alone, and Aiden had been the first person to give me a place to belong. I couldn't bear to just standby and watch my new found Alpha die…

While not being able to do anything about it…

Zane stroked his chin for a minute, pondering to himself. I could tell he didn't want Aiden to die either, but it seemed more like he was weighing his options and less like he was trying to think of a new solution.

If he had a solution to this problem then he might as well spill it…

Anything…

“There is something we can do,” he voiced out at last, stealing a glance at his brother, who raised an eyebrow at him. He shifted his gaze from drew and faced me once again. “Were taking him to the fountain…”

It was now my turn to raise an eyebrow. “The fountain…?”

I didn't know what fountain he was referring to…

But Drew apparently did…

“Are you sure about this?” Drew gave his brother a surprised look, which slowly dissolved into a wary glance. A glance which Zane seemed to ignore.

“It's our only real shot,” Zane responded “now help him up.”

“But Aiden said–”

“I know what Aiden said,” Zane snapped, cutting his brother off “but I also know that if we don't act now, we could lose him for good…

“Aiden is not going to be happy when he wakes up…” Drew gave a resigned sigh.

“I know. And I'd take responsibility for that.” Zane nodded as he gave a meaningful look, his tone growing impatient. “Now for the last time, help me move him.”

Drew gave his brother one last look, then he nodded, reaching for Aiden's left side as both he and Zane gently and carefully carried his body back to the car. They had apparently come to an agreement…

I hadnt…

“Wait, wait. Someone explain. What's happening?” I raised my voice as I called out to them, stopping them in their tracks. my confusion was still apparent “ Fountain? Where are you guys taking him?”

They stopped, as Zane turned to face me…

“Home…” was the only word that came out of his mouth as he and Drew had already begun moving with the Aiden’s body.

I just stood, watching them…

Home…?

Were they talking about Aiden's original pack?

I didn't really think he actually still had one

And honestly, I didn't care. As long as they had a chace at curing Aiden, I was going to take it.

I clenched my fists, then took a step forward, following them as they took Aiden's body back to the car…

Setting a course for home…

His home…