The Alpha's False Mate

CHAPTER 12: Lavine's Conflict

Lavine's POV

I quickly get to my feet the instant Cloette loses consciousness. She falls onto my arms. Her nightgown is stuck to her hot and drenched skin, accentuating her curves. I toss some strands of her hair out of her extremely pale face with my fingers before lifting her from the carpet. She’s a little heavier than the last time she’s on my arms, a sign that her physique has changed after becoming a werewolf. I pity her more than ever. Her feelings for me will only make everything for her even more complicated. My attention shifts when gasps from behind echo. Standing with worried faces are my omegas.

“What happened to Ms. Cloette?” one of them asks.

“She fainted. Get a basin of cold water and a clean dry towel. Bring them to her room,” I command before ascending to the stairs.

Once I enter the bedroom on the second floor that I assigned for Cloette, I carefully lay her body on the bed. Soon, my omegas come in and immediately tend to her needs. She must be soaked with cool water to alleviate her body temperature. I’ve never endured rejection in my life but I’ve felt that same level of pain after finding out that my future luna is almost killed by, I presume, our pack’s enemies. I know how excruciating it feels to be hurt, but our difference is, I was born a werewolf while she’s just beginning to muddle through being a werewolf. Therefore, she’s suffering more than I did. I stare at her for a while, maybe longer than I should have. The utter pangs of rejection are only momentary but what’s important about this is I set her proper expectations - I don’t and I can’t love her, for I have someone else I’ve chosen to dedicate my love to.

“Take care of her,” I say.

After getting the confirmation from my omegas that she’ll be taken care of, I leave. There’s someone who’s been waiting for me and I have to be there for her. I head down towards the parking lot and as I flump myself inside my beige gold Bugatti, several of my gammas tail from behind.

“No need to treat me like a pup,” I say.

My glare is a warning that they shouldn’t shut their eyes to.

“But Alpha Lavine, your father…”

“Then go to him and serve him instead,” I interrupt with an obvious annoyance in my tone.

My command silences them. I drive through the colossal wrought iron gate and glance at my car’s rear-view mirror, ensuring that they’re not following me. My tense shoulders only slacken when I’m already far from my mansion and see no shadows of my gammas anywhere behind. If I keep doing this, they’ll soon discover what I’m hiding from them. I can’t always scold them for doing their job, but I’m forced to do it to keep everything under my control. After arriving at St. Luke’s, I hop down my car then walk my way through the hospital’s backdoor. Without fail, my nerves swarm every time I set foot in this place. The smell of antiseptic with undertones of artificial fragrance which becomes more intense and diverse as I’m getting closer to Olivia’s room sends jitters in my stomach. Her room is located on the highest floor, heavily guarded by my most trusted gammas who wouldn’t dare unzip their mouths about her. My chest flips at every thump of my shoes against the ceramic floor while my head quietly pleads for her to be awake when I see her again. When I enter the anteroom where Olivia’s room is situated, my gammas tilt their heads down in respect of my presence.

“Did any of our unauthorize pack members get here?” I ask.

“None has come here and if there is, we’ll let you know immediately,” answers one of them.

“Good.”

Though I expect that response, it’s still safe to get reassurance from others. I walk past them and towards Olivia’s room. The click of the door as I push it open is soon replaced by a rhythmic hush noise from the apparatus. I release a sigh of disappointment when my eyes lay on Olivia’s still senseless body. I walk forward then stare at her face that’s covered with a nasal mask. My fingertips tenderly cuddle her once rosy cheeks. I miss her so much. God knows I’m dying to know who, among our enemies, did this to her. The itchiness of wanting to get revenge on her attackers creases through my skin. Since there’s no witness during the attack, Olivia is the only one who could tell what happened and who were involved. If only I found out that she’s in danger sooner, then I could’ve saved her!

It’s past midnight and Olivia wasn’t around yet. The festival and the fireworks displays were over, but I still couldn't smell the tiniest scent of her nor couldn’t reach her via phone call. I stared at the diamond ring in my hand. Did her absence mean that she’s refusing my marriage proposal? No! That’s unlikely of her. We loved each other, she loved me and she consistently showed that to me. There’s no way she’d back out from being my luna. Rings from my phone vibrated inside my pocket, snapping me from my thoughts.

“Hello? Did you find her?”

Heavy breaths were the first response that’s given to me, which provoked an alarm to peal all over me.

“Clark! Talk!”

Through his rough breaths, Clark said, [“Alpha Lavine, Olivia… She barely breathes.”]

It’s hard to get the full picture of what’s going on with that one sentence, so I asked again, “What happened to her?! Where is she?!”

The magnifying apprehension within was strangling me every second that I didn't hear Clark’s response. When frustration got the better of me, I shouted,

“Clark!”

That stole the attention of the sightseers around me, but I didn’t have time and effort to waste paying attention to them.

[“Forgive me, we’re… we’re about to bring her to the nearest hospital.”]

“I want the best medical assistance for her. Bring her to St. Luke’s if you can.”

[“We will.”]

I hurriedly and frenziedly got into my car and drove it at full tilt, beating the red lights whenever possible without the worry of whether I’d go to jail for overspeeding and reckless driving. I must see Olivia, I must be on her side! Fortunately, at this hour, the roads were traffic-free, so I arrived at St. Luke’s Hospital in a trice. My heartbeats went head-to-head against my legs. Running at full throttle, I gravely searched for Olivia and Clark. The discomfort of my sweat-drenched shirt was nothing compared to the disquietude that’s snaking through me. Breathing roughly, I appeared at the counter and asked,

“Olivia Mercado, is she here?”

The nurses gawked without responding, which infuriated me.

“What?! Are you just gonna stare?”

They, as well as the people nearby, jolted at my reaction. One of the nurses positioned herself in front of the computer, then asked,

“What’s your relationship with her?”

In a calmer mood, I answered, “I’m her…” I thought about it for a second before pushing the word out, “...fiancé.”

After a few moments of tickling her fingers against the keyboard, she said, “There’s an Olivia Mercado brought here by Clark Torres about five minutes ago. She’s on the second floor, in the ICU…”

Impatient, I didn’t even let the nurse finish her sentence. I dashed towards the said room, bumping into people that were walking in the opposite direction as mine. It’s not hard to find Olivia’s whereabouts. Two of my gammas, Clark and Iago, were standing near the glass double doors with large letterings printed on them which read, ‘Intensive Care Unit’ at the farthest end of the floor area.

“Mr. Acosta,” Clark said the moment he saw me.

He then blocked the doors when I tried to enter it.

“You can’t enter. All we gotta do is to trust the doctors and pray that she’ll be alright.”

“What happened to her?” I asked, still breathing heavily.

Clark angled his view to Iago, who looked absolutely pale, then replied, “It’s Iago who found her.”

I motioned for Iago to speak up. Though he struggled to relax his breath, he still managed to explain with clarity,

“While I was looking for her, her faint scent swished when my car is randomly passed by a black BMW that’s driving at full speed. Apart from her scent, I took notice of the other stronger scents which gave me the notion that Ms. Olivia had spent some time with whoever were inside that car. So instead of tailing the car, I focused on the direction it came from which led me to an inhabited piece of property with nothing but unusable cars and an abandoned building. The more I got closer to the building, the more Ms. Olivia’s scent became prominent. Despite the fact that the scents in the BMW were fading, they still lingered inside the building. It didn’t take long when I found Ms. Olivia lying on the ground floor, bleeding to death. That’s when I called Clark and the police for assistance.”

Hearing the phrase ‘bleeding to death’ was unjustifiable to accept. With everything out of my hands now, I collapsed on the bench at the side of the ICU, patiently praying for the doctors’ good news. It took almost five hours when the doctors finally came out of the automatic sliding door. I rose up, with a slumped spirit but a hopeful mind.

“How is Olivia Mercado?” I asked.

My voice exposed an indication of distress. Their downcasted faces didn’t help either. Moist gathered in my eyes, something that I’d never experienced in a while.

“Please, tell me she’s doing well,” I begged.

One of the doctors finally replied, “She’s alive but she’ll remain unresponsive to her environment for… “ she paused and sighed before proceeding, “I can’t tell how long.

“Will she be saved?”

“For now, we can prolong her life using a ventilator and some medications. Her head trauma is severe and it’s worsened by nitrogen gas.”

“Nitrogen gas?” I reiterated her words in surprise.

My eyes narrowed as I inclined them towards Iago, who’s standing in the corner beside Clark and across from me. Not only was he pale and sweating, but his pupils were clinging to his upper eyelids. He’s still fighting to stay conscious though. I turned to the doctor and said, while pointing to Iago’s direction,

“My bodyguard needs to be treated. I don’t think he’s aware of this nitrogen gas when he rescued my fiancé.”

As soon as the doctors saw Iago’s struggles, they quickly escorted him inside the ICU. Then, I turned to Clark, studying him. He seemed fine to me. When he noticed my stare, he twitched and asked,

“Is there something I can do, Alpha La-…” he paused, pressed his lips tight while looking around, then continued, “Mr. Acosta?”

I shook my head and replied, “You should see a doctor too. You probably inhaled some of the gas without your knowledge.”

“Thank you for your concern. I’ll do that after you take a nap.”

His immune system was commendable for he made it alive without any problem after being exposed to a poison.

“By the way, “ I began, which prompted Clark to walk closer to me. “Make sure that the police who are investigating this case don't notify the media about it. Nobody, except us and my most trusted gammas, should know about Olivia’s situation.”

“Roger that.”

My father had to be the last person to know about this unfortunate event. If he found out about this, he and the rest of the pack would surely pressure me to find a new mate who can become my luna before the next Blood Moon. I squeezed my eyes shut at the thought. When my hands slid inside my pocket, the engagement ring that I was supposed to give Olivia hit my finger. I took it out, then stared at it with a dejected heart. Under no circumstances would I ever replace Olivia in my heart. She owned it and I dedicated it solely to her and her alone.

I draw another set of stiff breaths. Even if I try not to remember that night, that memory is too powerful to shrug off. I bend my waist forward and dab a kiss on Olivia’s forehead, still not forgiving myself for what I could've done to avoid putting her in this state. I launch one more glance at her then whisper ‘I love you’ before stepping out of the room. When I set foot in the anteroom, Clark, who's not here earlier, walks to me and says.

“Alpha Lavine, the BMW that Iago mentioned has been found by the police.”

His news ushers relief in my worn-out mind.

“That’s great! What did they say about it?”

Just when Clark is about to open his mouth to answer my question, my phone beeps. I take it out of my pocket and when the phone’s screen says ‘home’, I click the ‘ignore’ button without a second thought. I can’t waste time on insignificant matters.

I deviate my sight from my phone and veer it to Clark, then command, “Go on.”

Just like seconds ago, he’s interrupted. But this time, with a fellow gamma who’s rushing to our side.

“What is it?”

The way I ask the question indicates a tiny irritation.

“I received a call from your house. Ms. Cloette runs away. The omegas weren’t able to stop her.”

A union of anger and dismay steps on any pitiness I feel for her. She isn’t supposed to be my problem, but she’s causing more headaches than I could ever think she’s capable of. I clutch my waist with my hands as I ponder on what to do to her next.

Since it’s taking me a long time to respond, Clark takes the initiative to ask, “Shall we find her?”