Sara’s POV
Kai found Christian soon after. He was lying behind the thick bushes, leaning on his back against a tree trunk.
My heart skipped a beat and then squeezed painfully when I took him in. His body was covered in blood, all the way from his head to his feet.
My first instinct was to run to him, but Kai and Levi beat me to it. I stood right behind them as they looked him over. The pain in my chest didn’t let up, and it didn’t help that Edna was whimpering, as if she could feel it too.
“Christian? Buddy? Hey, look at me,” Kai was calling to him. But his eyes remained shut tightly, and only a few groans left his lips.
Not able to just stand and watch anymore, I got to my knees beside him and reached for his face. Stroking his cheek, I called softly, “Christian?”
His eyes fluttered and then opened. Relief swept through me as his blue eyes found mine, although a little unfocused.
My other hand found his and gripped it tightly. “Are you okay? We are here to take you home, okay?”
His hand squeezed mine, but only for a few seconds before his grip weakened. “Sara?” he whispered.
“Yes, it’s me. We’ll take you home, okay? You’ll be okay.”
I pulled away from him, even though all I wanted to do was stay with him, hold him, and make him feel better. It isn’t a feeling I questioned for even a second. It was as if my body, mind, and heart knew what to do.
Levi and Kai went to move him from the tree, and that’s when we noticed the broken silver arrow stuck in his back. It was lodged right below his right shoulder. The skin around had darkened to a deep blue almost purple colour.
“Wolfsbane?” I whispered, looking at Levi and then Kai, wishing I was wrong.
“Yes,” Levi said. “We have to get him back quickly.”
My heart was in my throat the entire way back to campus. I rushed to get to our dorm room first and before they made it there, I was dressed, had some water on the stove, and the first aid kit ready in Christian’s room.
When they came in, they laid him on his stomach on the bed. Levi looked at me. “Maybe you should wait outside,” he suggested.
I shook my head, and he must have noticed my resolve because he didn’t push. After that, he asked Kai to hold Christian still so that he could pull the arrow out.
Christian groaned in pain as Kai held him down, and I knew that was because of his injuries. How much more pain would he feel when Levi pulled out the arrow?
Levi cast a look towards me, as if to let me know that it was my last chance to back out. When I didn’t move, he turned back to Christian and wrapped his hand around the arrow.
“Sorry, bro. This is gonna hurt,” he said, and then, without warning, pulled the arrow.
Christian’s growl of pain reached my very veins, and I dashed towards the bed. Blood gushed from where the arrow had been, flowing down his back and onto the bed.
“We need to cover the wound,” Kai said.
I didn’t think twice before pulling off my shirt, folding it, and pressing it to the bleeding wound. I pressed my hand on the cloth, applying pressure as much as I could without hurting him further.
Something grabbed my free hand, and it startled me for a second before I looked and saw that it was Christian’s hand. An electric feeling coursed through my body as he held on tightly and said, “Stay.”
“It’s okay,” I told him, my heart going crazy in my chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He made a noise in his throat and let go of my hand. Only to wrap his arm around my waist a second later and turn his body towards me, burying his face into my side.
The room went eerily quiet.
But I didn’t care.
It was oddI was supposed to be the one offering whatever comfort I could to Christian, but being so close to him filled me with a sense of comfort I’ve never felt before.
A comfort that made me want to never leave his side, never let go of him. My eyes slid shut as I focused on nothing but him.
Until someone cleared his throat. I looked up at Levi and Kai. “What do we do now?”
While Levi stared at me with an unreadable expression, his jaw tense, Kai said, “We, uh, we need to treat him now. Get rid of the poison.”
“Okay,” I said, “let’s do it.”
Kai gestured towards me. “You’ll need to let go of him first.”
“Oh,” I murmured, my cheeks heating. Suddenly, I became aware of how this must look. No wonder Levi was looking at me as if I was some alien.
I tried to stand up, but Christian’s hold on me was too tight. I touched his hand. “Hey, we need to treat you.”
He tightened his grip.
“Christian?”
I looked at the other two helplessly when he didn’t relax his hold.
Kai elbowed Levi in his side. “Do the honours,” he said, gesturing towards Christian.
Levi sighed and came forward. Gripping Christain’s arm, he forced him to let me go, and I could finally stand up.
“You should leave,” Levi said, looking at me. His eyes roamed my body, none-too-friendly. “And take a shower, you smell horrible.”
I gaped at him, unable to snap back when Kai mumbled under his breath, “Sounds like a good idea.”
I turned and left the room as fast as I could. What the fuck was that about? Sure, I had some blood on me from being close to Christian, but did they have to be so nasty about it?
Edan cackled.
“What’s so funny?” I hissed as I got into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.
“They are so sexy when they are mad, aren’t they?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, annoyed, as I stripped out of my remaining clothes.
“Kai and Levi, of course. How did you expect they would react when you stripped and held Christian so close?”
I went still. They were mad?
“I was helping him, what’s wrong with that?”
Edna sighed. “Helping him while half naked as he held onto you like his life depended on it. If they didn’t get jealous at that, I would seriously doubt our mate bonds.”
As I got into the shower, I thought about what Edna said. I knew she was right. They were mad and jealous, even though none of them had claimed me. I couldn’t even begin to tell how crazy it all was.
But what was crazier were the thoughts I had as I stood below the spray of the shower.
Being so close to Christian, having him hold me so close…it had felt so good.
I didn’t know why he did it, whether he was aware of his actions, or whether he would remember doing it. But that didn’t stop the effect it had on me.
It filled me with a warmth that lit me up inside out. And I couldn’t help but wonder…would it feel the same if Kai or Levi hugged me like that?