Bound by Fate

Bound by Fate - Chapter 8

Tasha finished with the exam as Leo stood by going over the blood work that they had pulled first to see how much silver still remained in her blood. The answer was surprisingly a lot, more than was reasonable from her injuries, despite how long she might have endured the silver chain being stitched into her flesh. Tasha gently changed the bandages, showing red angry welts that would most likely turn into scars. Even werewolf blood had trouble healing from long-term exposure to silver and Ren still didn’t seem to have her healing back.

“It’s probably the silver,” Leo says softly to Thane just outside the door to her room where the two retreated as Tasha did her exam. “With this high, of an amount of silver in her blood, it’s probably suppressing her wolf. Making it go dormant for the time being. That’s why she isn’t healing and probably why she can’t feel her wolf right now or the mate bond.”

Thane frowned, “but will she recover?”

Leo nodded, “She should. We’ll continue to give her blood transfusions to help her clear out the silver. Hopefully, it should only take a few days. Are you going to tell her?”

Thane shook his head, “How can I when she can’t feel it? I can wait a few days.”

Rowan growled impatiently in the back of his mind, but Thane ignored him, not wanting to deal with the grumpy wolf when there was nothing either of them could do about it at the moment.

What’s the update on Lennon and the Hellfire Pack?” he asks Leo, his eyes narrowing.

“Our best trackers went up there this morning, but they still haven’t reported anything. We should know more by this evening, I’m sure.”

Thane let out a low growl. He hated not knowing. Hated that Lennon had somehow slipped away from them. That he and his pack had somehow disappeared when they were now implicated in the g******e of an entire pack. He hadn’t talked to Leo about this yet but took the opportunity to fill him in on what Ren had told him a few moments ago. About the hunters who killed her pac and the fact that they had Wolves working with them. Leo sucked in a breath.

“That’s insane. No self-respecting Wolf would willingly side with Hunters.” Leo says.

“I wouldn’t use the word “respect” anywhere near the Hellfires,” Thane growls darkly.

Leo’s eyes narrowed in anger, “If they did, then we would have every right to take them out, but first we need to figure out where they've gone and how they disappeared in the first place.”

Thane nods in agreement. He’ll ask Ren what she knows in a moment, but until then he needs to take care of a few things.

“I want you to speak with the guards from last night. We need to know how Lennon got out and what he drugged them with. Take blood samples from each of them too, in case there’s anything left in their system”.

Leo nodded and left, grabbing a small medical kit from one of the cupboards as he went out to fulfill Thane’s orders. Thane sighed heavily before reentering the room, Ren’s eyes snapping to his instantly. Their chocolaty brown depths made his breath catch for just a moment while she seemed unaffected.

“I’ll leave you two to talk, but I’ll be here if you need me,” Tasha said, excusing herself.

“May I sit?” Thane asks, motioning to the chair that’s still at the side of her bed. When she nods, he sinks into it, his gaze still on her. He wants to take her hand but refrains not wanting to push himself on her.

“I didn’t get a chance to thank you for getting me out of there, for saving me,” she says softly, her eyes still on his.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he says automatically, “you never should have been in that situation in the first place”.

He frowns, feeling as if he has failed her, failed her whole pack. He clears his throat, getting ready to ask the questions he knows he needs to ask, but hesitating out of concern for her.

“It’s alright. You can ask me about it,” she says, her voice only trembling slightly at the end as her hands curl into fists on the blanket.

Thane nods then asks, “What do you remember about the attack on your pack?”

She takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.

“It seemed to come out of nowhere. One minute the pack was going about their morning, making breakfast, getting ready for the day, and the next all hell broke loose. There was some kind of wretched smoke that made me cough and want to vomit. Everyone who could shift and then we were all in the fray…”

Her voice trails off as her eyes cloud, her mind sinking into the memory of that day.

“It was chaos and hell all mixed into one. Wolves were dropping like flies. Some trapped under silver nets. Some bleeding out on the ground. I was trying to help gather some of the pack to make a run for it when I was shot by something and then… blackness. When I came to, I was in that other pack’s house. At first, their alpha tried to make nice. Pretended he had rescued me, but I didn’t buy it. I had seen him and his wolves racing through the smoke. I saw them attack my family.”

Her hands clenched harder into the blanket, if not for the fabric shielding her palms her nails might have drawn blood as she tensed.

“When he realized it wasn’t working he gave me a choice; submit or be tortured. I didn’t submit.”

Thane fights to keep the rage and fury from his voice. His own hands balled into fists so tightly that the knuckles had gone white.

“How long were you there?” he asks, his voice a low growl.

“I’m not sure… a few months, perhaps? I remember the first few weeks, but after that, I was drugged and then… pain… all I remember was pain.”

Thane rises suddenly, unable to keep still any longer. He paces the small recovery room in fury. The idea that any Wolf would do that to anyone, but especially to her made him utterly furious.

“You said Lennon wanted you to submit, but you didn’t. How did you resist him?” he could tell she’s an omega even without her wolf, and the idea that she was able to keep from being dominated by an alpha, even a weak one like Lennon, was intriguing.

She shrugs, “My mother named me “Renegade” for a reason. I might be an omega, but I come from alpha blood, and I’ve never been a weak or mild person.

He nodded at this. His few memories of meeting her are of her tagging along with her older brother to his warrior training.

“I see,” he says, pausing his pacing, an amused smile brushing his full lips.

She almost gave a smile back, the corner of her mouth lifting ever so slightly.

“What was done to you was terrible,” he says softly, coming to sit on the edge of her bed, “but I promise you, you’re safe here and Lennon and his pack will pay for what they’ve done. You have my word.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” she says politely, dipping her head.

“Call me Thane,” he says, giving her a soft smile.

She looks up at him in surprise but then nods, “Thane”.

His heart skips a beat when she says his name. The thrill of it washed over him and made him feel like a teenager with his first crush. Which reminds him…

“Can I ask how old you are now?” he says softly.

“20”

He nodded, “And do you remember meeting me? Before, I mean, I used to visit your pack.”

“I do,” she said softly, “you and my father always seemed to be in some deep and meaningful discussion.”

He laughs at this, remembering spending more than a few hours deep in conversation with her father.

“He was a good man,” he says, giving her knee a gentle and reassuring pat.

She nods. Her face fell slightly. He realizes she might not have been given time to process her grief yet, not after all that has happened to her.

“I,,, I should let you rest, but if there is anything you want or need, anything at all, ask Tasha, and it will be provided for you.”

She nods, and he stands up to go, giving her one last lingering look. He hates leaving her like this, but he has things he must see to as the alpha of his pack, and he wants to give her the opportunity to grieve and process in private. Before he leaves the medical center, he gives strict instructions to Tasha not to leave her alone too long and to give her anything she asks for. Tasha nods without asking any questions as he heads to the pack house.