Mom comes back in a record of time with a lot of hospital supplies. I quickly collect them from her and begin to work on saving Mason’s life. Mom helps me wear the gloves. I take a huge chunk of cotton wool and dip it in hydrogen peroxide. I use it to clean his wounds. Everywhere I touch on his skin with the cotton wool, he winces in pain. He has a lot of cuts on his chest. I wonder who did this to him. I don’t know how many times I mutter sorry to him, but by the time I am done. I am saying it like a mantra.
I used the bandages mom bought and covered his wounds. He would need stitches, but I am not a doctor, so I can’t sew his wounds. I don’t know how to, and I couldn’t even if I was told how to. I would feel like I am hurting him more than helping him by passing a needle through his skin. Bandages are what we will use to stop his bleeding for now.
Once I am done with his upper body, I remove his pants to see if he has any injuries. His knee seems to have popped out. I close my eyes and pop it back in place. I am starting to think choosing to be a reporter is the wrong career path for me. I clean a few wounds around his legs and face. Once I am done attending to his injuries, I carry him to our guest room with Mom’s help. It’s a good thing our guest room is downstairs. Mason’s wounds would have opened if we had to take him upstairs.
I open my eyes and turn in the chair I am sleeping in once I hear Mason trying to say something. I quickly run to his side to find out if he needs anything. He caught a fever during the night, so I had to stay close to him to ensure his body temperature was down. I must have fallen asleep in the chair.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, placing my hand on his forehead to check his body temperature. His fever has gone down a little.
“Better,” He says, with a hoarse voice. “Please help me sit up.”
“Sure,” I say, wrapping my hands around his torso so I can lift his upper body.
“Thank you,” He says once I am done adjusting the pillows behind his back.
“What happened to you? What are you doing here? How did you even get here? How did you even know this is where my old pack is?” I threw all the questions I wished to ask him the moment I found him in the woods.
“I will try to answer all your questions, but first, can I have a glass of water.”
“Sure, I will get one for you from the kitchen. Give me a minute,” I say, walking towards the door.
“Thank you,” He says before I walk out.
I quickly fetch a glass of water from the kitchen and walk back to his room to give it to him.
“Here you go,” I say, handing him the glass of water.
“Thank you,” He says once he is done drinking the water. “What happened to me was I got punished for helping you rescue your mom. I was locked up and was only able to escape last night. What I am doing here I am here because this is the last place the vampire king would look for me. I got here by driving; I stole a car from a human. The vampire king mentioned you live here once when I was around him.”
“I am sorry this happened to you because of me. I am sure you wish you never met me.”
“It’s not your fault; I knew the consequences of helping you rescue your mom. You don’t have to feel bad about it.”
“I am still sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Thank you for not hating me, and do you need anything? Are you hungry?”
“I am fine; you did an excellent job with my wounds. Thank you”
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s the least I can do for putting you in this situation.”
“Regardless, thank you, and there is something important I need to tell you.”
“I am listening.”
“I went to visit my daughter a few days ago. The witch helping me keep her safe told me something important about her and I think you would like to know what she said”
“What did the witch say?”
“She told me my daughter can never be marked.”
“Why?” I ask confused
“Because she is a hybrid.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The witch said if a vampire or werewolf marked a hybrid that vampire or werewolf will die”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I am sorry, Ana, but it’s the truth. If Theo marks you, he will die”
“No, you can’t be saying the truth. I don’t believe you,” I say, as tears start to form in my eyes as the meaning of his words drowns on me.
I can never be with Theo. We can never complete the mating process even if he broke his curse. I will still be a vampire, and once he marks me, he will die. I can’t believe because I am part vampire, it will make the love of my life die. I don’t want to believe this.
“I am sorry, once again,” Mason says, with sympathy written all over his face.
Tears flow down my face as I realize I can never be with the one destined for me because of what I am. I quickly run out of the guestroom and upstairs into my room. Once I am inside, I hear mom walk in. She must have heard me crying. She asks me what’s wrong. I tell her what mason told me. Same as me, she wishes what Mason told me was a lie, but we both know the possibility of it being true is more. I don’t even know what I am going to do. I have been planning to sacrifice my life for the werewolf kingdom, but this is different. Even if I survived that, I still can’t be with Theo. Why? Why? Was I cursed with being a hybrid? Right now, I wish I was never born a hybrid.