Plus Size Luna Obsession

Chapter8

Aurora's POV

The footsteps pounding toward me grew louder, but I couldn't make myself move.

My fingers dug weakly into the dirt as I tried to push myself up, but my arms trembled beneath my weight and collapsed. The venom was spreading faster now, burning through my veins like molten fire. Every breath felt like it was scraping my lungs from the inside, and my wolf had gone strangely quiet, her whimpers barely audible beneath the roar of blood rushing through my ears.

I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision then I saw a shadow appeared between the trees.

"Aurora!"

It was Rio.

Relief washed over me so suddenly that my eyes burned. He dropped beside me, his hands immediately moving over my face, my shoulders, my arms, checking for injuries as panic flashed across his features.

"Fuck." His voice cracked. "Aurora, look at me."

"I'm..." I tried to speak, but my throat barely worked. "I'm fine."

His expression twisted. "You're lying."

I wanted to argue, but another wave of pain tore through my body and I curled in on myself.

Rio caught me before I hit the ground. "Smith!" he shouted.

A few seconds later, Smith came crashing through the trees in his human form, blood covering his chest and dripping from his hands.

"Where is she?" He demanded.

"Here."

Smith's eyes dropped to me and the color drained from his face. "How bad?"

Rio looked at him, and for the first time since I'd met him, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.

"Bad." He replied in a shaky voice. “Real bad.”

Smith crouched beside us. "We need to get her back." "The venom has spread. We needs a healer."

"I know, Rio!"

"Then stop f*****g standing there."

Smith scooped me into his arms before Rio could protest. I groaned as pain shot through my body, my head falling against his chest.

"Easy," Smith muttered, adjusting his grip. "I've got you."

I closed my eyes and the world started spinning again.

"Don't you dare pass out," Rio said as he walked beside us.

"I'm tired." I said, my voice barely above a whisper as they carried me up the ravine.

"You sound bossy."

"Good. Stay awake long enough to hate me."

I wanted to answer, but darkness swallowed me before I could.

When I opened my eyes again, I was moving. My body bounced slightly with every step, and something warm was pressed against my cheek. I tried to lift my head but couldn't.

"She's getting colder."

It was Rio.

"Her breathing is getting shallow." Marcus said, feeling my neck for any sign that I was still alive.

"How much longer?" Smith asked, his voice cutting through the fog, but there was something underneath it that I'd never heard before.

The vehicle came to a sudden stop and the doors opened and cold night air rushed over my face before strong arms lifted me.

Marcus.

I recognized his scent immediately. His grip tightened when my body went limp.

"She's barely conscious."

"I know."

"Marcus, put her down."

"No."

The healer's voice sharpened. "If you want her to live, put her on the bed."

For once, Marcus didn't argue. I was carried inside and the familiar scent of the penthouse surrounded me, but everything felt distant. Voices blurred together as I was placed on a bed, hands immediately moving over my body.

"Her pulse is dangerously weak." The healer said.

"Can you heal her?" They asked in unison, their voices very distant even though they were right beside me.

"I can try."

"Try isn't an answer."

"It's the only one I have."

I heard a sharp inhale then someone cursed.

"How much venom?"

"Too much." The healer pressed a hand against my stomach and pain exploded through me, causing me to scream.

"Hold her down!"

Hands grabbed my shoulders. My wolf suddenly woke inside me, clawing desperately against the venom.

“Fight.”

I didn't know whether she was talking to me or herself.

The healer's hands began glowing against my skin, warmth spreading through my veins before the venom pushed back harder.

My entire body convulsed.

"She's rejecting it."

"Then do something!"

"I am doing something!"

"She's dying." The words came from Rio and the room went silent for half a second.

Then the healer spoke. "Her wolf is keeping her alive. If I pull the venom out too quickly, her heart will stop."

Smith exhaled sharply. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Keep her alive long enough for me to get it out."

I heard a chair scrape across the floor.

"How long?"

"Hours."

I don't know how long I fought.

At some point, the pain became so overwhelming that I stopped knowing where my body ended and the darkness began.

I heard voices around me. Rio talking to me. Smith telling me to keep fighting. Marcus refused to leave the room.

Sometimes I felt fingers brushing through my hair, sometimes someone held my hand. Once, I heard the healer whisper that my heart had stopped for three seconds.

Three f*****g seconds and somehow, I came back.

When consciousness finally returned, the first thing I noticed was the white blurry ceiling. I blinked several times, my throat was painfully dry, and every part of my body felt as though I'd been dragged across a field of broken glass.

I tried moving my arm and pain shot through my shoulder, causing me to groan.

Someone moved immediately. "Aurora?"

Rio.

His face appeared above me, and the relief in his eyes nearly broke me.

He looked exhausted.

There were dark circles beneath his eyes, blood still dried across his shirt and a small cut running along his cheek.

"Hey," he whispered.

I stared at him for a moment before I managed to speak, "W…..water."

His lips twitched. "Of course." He reached for the glass beside the bed, but Marcus was already there. He slid one arm carefully behind my back and helped me sit up while Rio held the glass to my lips.

I took a small sip then another.

"Slowly," Marcus murmured.

I swallowed and looked around the room.

Smith stood near the windows, his arms folded across his chest. He was bruised and battered, but his eyes never left me.

"You scared the s**t out of us," he said.

My lips curved weakly. "Sorry."

"You should be."

Rio gave him a look and Smith ignored it.

The healer stood at the foot of the bed, watching me carefully. "You're lucky."

I frowned. "I don't feel lucky."

"You shouldn't. You're alive."

I looked down at my hands. They were trembling. "What happened?"

"The venom nearly reached your heart," the healer explained. "If you'd stayed unconscious much longer, I wouldn't have been able to save you."

I swallowed. "Victoria?"

The three men exchanged a look. "She escaped," Rio said and my jaw tightened.

Of course she had then something else hit me.

Something that made my heart begin pounding harder than it had when the venom was killing me.

I looked around the room again and noticed something was missing.

My stomach twisted. "Where..." My voice broke.

Rio leaned closer. "What?"

I stared at him. "Where's my daughter?"