The Alpha’s Gift_Bad Alpha Dads_The Immortals

by Monica La Porta

  “I don’t know if you can hear me,” he said. “But I want you to know that I’ve just told the detective that you are my soulmate.” The wolf’s shivers lessened, giving him the strength to keep talking. “You should’ve been the first to know.” He smiled. “I’m sure you’re furious with me about it, but the word just slipped out of my mouth and there’s no putting it back in. It’s funny how two of the biggest revelations of my life happened in the last two days. First Amber Rose, and now you. A daughter and a soulmate, all at once. Talk about a life change… and I would not have it any other way because I can’t think of a life without the two of you in it.”

  Leaning in, he rested his forehead against her fur, taking care not to apply any pressure. Her labored breath resonated loud in his ears.

  “Now that I’ve told you, you can’t leave me,” he whispered, tears welling in his eyes. “You know what happens to soulmates. It would be very selfish of you to leave me all alone for the rest of my very long life.” He tried to keep it together but hurt inside from the effort. “Vivienne, fight for me.” A sob was followed by another. “You must be strong for the two of us because I don’t think I can bear to lose you or Amber Rose.”

  The door opened, and the doctor peeked in. “Mr. Price, the nurses need to check Vivienne’s vitals.”

  “Give me one more moment,” he said. “Please.”

  “Five more minutes.” The doctor closed the door.

  “Vivienne, I’m new to this soulmate thing, but I’ll try to do the right thing by you.” He wiped the trail of tears from his face. “I wish we’d had time for a proper mating ceremony.” The ache in his heart intensified. “And you better wake to tell me how much I’m screwing up everything.”

  The idea of mating had been a distant concept until a few days ago for Max. He had never thought he would settle before his forties. Then this little she-wolf entered his life, changing everything.

  “Vivienne, I am yours. There won’t ever be another woman for me.” He leaned closer to her and let his dragon fangs lower in his mouth. Gently, he grazed the spot where the wolf’s neck and shoulder met. “With this bite, I bind myself to you.” He broke on the last part but forced himself to say the final word of the mating ceremony. “Forever.”

  Max bit down, piercing the wolf’s fur and flesh, marking her with his dragon essence.

  His dragon roared, and an image formed in his mind. Vivienne’s tan wolf and a pup with her same coloring and traits lay in a field of tall flowers. Max’s dragon sheltered them under his wing, licking Vivienne’s fur.

  Max felt his consciousness slip away as his dragon took control.

  “Mr. Prize!” the doctor called from far away.

  The room disappeared as darkness embraced Max.

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  Cold gripped Vivienne in a tight vise. She couldn’t stop shivering and hurt everywhere, but especially around her neck. Something terrible had happened to her. She knew as much because her wolf was fighting hard to heal her broken body. She kept quiet in a remote corner of her mind, knowing that it was beyond her power to do anything.

  It felt like déjà vu. She had been in this dark plane of existence before. Neither alive nor dead. Forever waiting on the outcome. Always falling.

  “With this bite, I bind myself to you. Forever.”

  The words floated toward her, illuminating what looked like a tunnel stretching ahead.

  Her heart thumped against her chest, once, twice when there had not been a heartbeat until a moment ago. Warmth spread through her body.

  “With this bite, I bind myself to you. Forever.”

  She heard it again, louder this time. A warm wind carried her forward. Light as a feather, she glided across the tunnel, moving at increasing speed toward the light that had just appeared at the end.

  Before she reached the mouth of the tunnel, a small pup appeared at her heels. She knew him. Pure love filled her. She grabbed the pup she had once carried in her womb and cradled him in her arms as the wind brought both of them outside.

  A dragon waited for them in a beautiful meadow.

  “Come, let me heal you,” the majestic creature told her.

  She was in wolf form now, and her pup was playfully running between her legs and the dragon’s.

  Time flew both slow and fast in that eternal plane where everything was possible.

  “I want to stay here,” she said, nuzzling her pup as he rested against her, his small body warm and soft, smelling like wildflowers and sunshine.

  “No,” the dragon said. “Your mate and your daughter need you.”

  The pup happily woofed when the dragon nudged him with his nose.

  “He’ll be with me,” the dragon said. “Safe.” He began licking her fur then. “You can go back now.”

  With each of the creature’s gentle strokes, Vivienne felt her attachment to that plane lessen. The wind pushed her away from the meadow. She was human again and watched her pup joyously barking and playing hide and seek with the dragon.

  Carried by the warm breeze, she entered the tunnel. As she retraced the path backward, the pain she had always carried within her lifted. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that the light shone at both ends.

  A sense of peace descended upon her. The gentle breeze became a strong wind, but Vivienne wasn’t scared of the maelstrom that propelled her forward, faster and faster until she didn’t know what was up and what was down. Past and present became one.

  “You are ready,” the dragon’s voice echoed inside her, coming from her heart and spreading throughout her like a net made of love and acceptance, and hope.

  Finally free to live, Vivienne accepted the dragon’s gift without reserve and let his healing power knit her back together.

  * * *

  Vivienne’s wolf opened her eyes and found herself in the too-bright room where she had fought the she-dragon. The evil stench of the creature lingered beneath harsh chemicals, but there was also a more pleasant and familiar scent. As her senses came back to her one by one, she felt the weight pressing against her flank.

  She was weak and barely able to raise her heavy head, but she managed a glance over her shoulder. A large he-dragon was slumped against her. His chest rose and fell in the way humans slept, but he wasn’t just resting. She could sense that. He was healing, too.

  Words echoed from the outside. A moment later, the door opened, and a woman entered. She was a were-panther and smelled like a friend, but nobody would get close to the he-dragon under her watch. Vivienne’s wolf bared her fangs, protecting the he-dragon at her side.

  The woman talked to her. Vivienne’s wolf understood that the shifter was happy she was awake. When the woman stepped closer to the he-dragon, Vivienne’s wolf let out a powerful snarl, and the shifter raised her hands and slowly stepped back.

  Only when the intruder left the room and closed the door did Vivienne’s wolf lower her head. Exhausted, she slouched down and snuggled closer to the he-dragon, falling into a deep slumber.

  * * *

  Vivienne blinked a few times. A feeble gloom illuminated the room, and she couldn’t see where she was. She wondered if she was still dreaming. It was difficult to be sure of anything when her hold on reality was tenuous at best.

  Soft breathing came from her side, grounding Vivienne to the here and now. She focused on the sound, regulating her breathing on the calming rhythm.

  Little by little, her memories came back, and when she turned, she wasn’t surprised to find Max resting beside her on the floor of the waiting room. He was sleeping. The dark circles under his eyes hadn’t been there the last time she had seen him, and she felt an overwhelming need to protect him. She moved, molding her naked body to his clothed one and raised one arm over his shoulder.

  At her touch, Max stirred and turned to face her. “You’re back.” His voice was hoarse. “Thank you,” he said, his green eyes bright.

  “For what?” she whispered.

  “For coming back to me.” He leaned i
n to brush her lips.

  Before she could say anything back, he added, “We are mated.”

  “What?” she shrieked. Her hand went to her shoulder. Sure enough, a bite mark ridged her skin.

  Max had marked her.

  It was a surreal feeling, but the circular mark under her fingers was real. The sweetest of emotions filled her heart. They were mated. It was sudden and unexpected, but wonderful nonetheless. “Oh, Max,” she began saying, but he stopped her.

  “My head is killing me.” He brought a hand over his eyes. “You can yell at me all you want—”

  “I wasn’t yelling.” She smiled.

  “But I had no other choice,” he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him. “We are mated. You are my soulmate, and I was going to lose you—”

  “I almost died.” Saying the words out loud made her shiver because it made it real. She had been close to leaving everything and everyone behind to join her son in the forever-fields.

  “I know,” Max said.

  In his voice, she heard fear and love, and her heart jumped in her chest. “You thought I was dying and still bound yourself to me, knowing that—” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

  By binding himself to a dying woman, Max had committed himself to the possibility of a loveless life. A shifter bond lasted beyond mortal life.

  “You are my soulmate,” he repeated. “Even if I hadn’t said the mating words, I would’ve always honored your memory. There wouldn’t have been another woman for me.”

  “Max,” she whispered. “I—”

  Steps interrupted Vivienne from finishing her thought.

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  The door cracked open, and Max pushed Vivienne behind him. “Here,” he said, handing her the blanket they had been lying on.

  Doctor Kalisten entered soon after. “You are both awake.” She gave him a small smile before tilting her head to look at Vivienne, who was wrapping her naked body in the blanket. “Vivienne, as a woman of science, I’m so glad to admit that you are the proof miracles exist. Your wolf and Mr. Prize’s dragon achieved the impossible.” She hugged herself. “Max, Amber Rose underwent surgery.”

  “She had the surgery? Already?” Max asked, scrambling up to his feet. “How long was I away? How is she?”

  “After you healed Vivienne, you entered a healing coma yourself and slept for the last nine hours. In the meantime, Amber Rose’s condition declined, and there wasn’t time to wait. A team of eight pediatric surgeons operated on your daughter’s heart for roughly six hours. The surgery was successful.” The expression on the doctor’s face was guarded, her eyes lowered to the floor.

  “What’s wrong?” Max barked. “Didn’t the blood from Toronto come through?”

  “It did. It arrived in the nick of time, but it was just enough for the surgery, and she needs more,” the doctor answered.

  “What blood type is Amber Rose?” Vivienne asked, stepping to the side.

  “AB Negative,” the doctor answered.

  “My blood type,” Vivienne said. “And a half-breed like me.” She raised her arm. “Take what you need.”

  “Vivienne,” Max started at the same time the doctor spoke.

  “As I said, it’s a miracle you are alive.” Doctor Kalisten shook her head. “The amount of blood we need is more than you can safely donate. Even if Amber Rose is small, shifter babies need larger quantities than mortal ones.”

  “I’m offering.” Vivienne placed her hand on Max’s arm.

  “We’ll find another donor—” Max said.

  The doctor let out a hard sigh. “We already did, and it’s in Los Angeles. Your friend arranged for its transportation, but even with the private jet and the fast delivery from the airport, it will arrive in three hours. It’s too late. Amber Rose needs the transfusion now.”

  “I’m here,” Vivienne said.

  Max wanted to scream. Why would the Goddess test him thus? Why for the second time he was presented with the choice to save one of the women in his life at the expense of the other? What was the point of being a multi-billionaire if money wouldn’t help?

  “Please, there must be another solution,” Max said, looking at the doctor, his hand pressed against his heart.

  Doctor Kalisten gently shook her head, her eyes filled with sadness. “I wish there were.”

  Vivienne walked to the door and gave Max a beautiful smile. “It’s my choice to make.”

  With his heart breaking all over again, Max reached for her, grabbing her wrist. “I’ll find another donor. Give me a moment—”

  “All these past years, I knew there was a reason I survived.” Vivienne turned her hand in his, caressing his palm. “I should’ve died that night and almost did yesterday. I couldn’t save my baby. Let me save yours.”

  “Please,” Max begged. He needed time to think. If only life would grant him a moment of reprieve. Even five minutes without scrambling from one crisis to the next would suffice.

  Vivienne rose on the point of her toes to brush his lips before turning to the doctor. “Where to?”

  “I’ll come with you,” Max said when Vivienne made to release his hand.

  They followed the doctor outside where two different policemen from the night before stood sentinel to the door. One of the two, a were-puma stepped out, facing Max.

  When Max straightened to order the man out of the way, the doctor gave him a subtle shake of her head and said, “Mr. Prize hasn’t been discharged. He’s still my patient and in need of medical attention.”

  The man groaned a curse under his breath but lowered the hand he had raised and opened it to the side to let them pass.

  “Mrs. Lanetti is here,” Vivienne commented, pointing at the woman reclining on the hallway chairs. Someone had covered her with a blanket and her shiny stiletto heels poked from underneath the tan fabric.

  “Your lawyer refused to leave.” Doctor Kalisten walked past Mrs. Lanetti. “You have loyal employees, Mr. Prize, and I can see why. You give yourself completely to the ones you love.”

  Taken aback by the doctor’s praise, Max didn’t say anything.

  The doctor continued, “Your parents didn’t want to leave, of course, and I opened my office for them to rest. Your friend Wilson remained to take care of things, he said. He’s been calling nonstop for the last three hours, while making sure your parents were comfortable, bringing them coffee and blankets. He showed the same courtesy to me.”

  Afterward, they walked in silence to the anteroom of the OR where a nurse handed Vivienne hospital scrubs.

  “We’ll hook you to a line for a direct transfusion,” the nurse explained, helping Vivienne onto a narrow bed. “You’ll be monitored during the procedures and if you feel uncomfortable, just let us know.”

  Vivienne nodded, smiling at Max. “I’ll be okay,” she said to him.

  “I’m entering with her,” he said.

  “It’s a sterile environment. Only the surgical team is allowed inside,” the nurse said, looking at the doctor for guidance.

  “I’ll shower in antiseptic if needed, but I’m going in with her.” He started removing his shirt, causing the nurse to blush.

  “Mr. Prize, there’s no need—” the nurse said, turning to the doctor with a panicked expression on her plump face.

  “I will go into that room one way or the other. Nothing is going to keep me apart from my soulmate and my daughter.” Max handed the shirt to the nurse and went to the sink to scrub himself.

  The doctor nodded at the nurse. “His dragon might be of help. Let him in.”

  A few minutes later, the nurse wheeled Vivienne’s bed into the OR, and Max accompanied them, wearing scrubs, pants, mask, and overshoes made of scratchy paper in a hideous shade of green. The nurse had also ordered him to tie his hair and to don a matching cap. To complete the ensemble, he wore gloves two sizes too small for his large hands.

  Several nurses and doctors glided across the OR in silence, busy either checking instruments or cleaning around the su
rgical bed in the middle of the room. Nobody was talking when Max and the rest of his group entered.

  Max’s legs buckled when he saw Amber Rose. His small daughter rested in the middle of a bed that dwarfed her. They had closed her chest, but the incision stood out against her white skin, red and puffy where the stitches framed the long cut across her sternum. A machine helped her breathe, while a second kept her heartbeat count. More equipment bordered the bed. In the eerie quiet of the room, the constant beeping and humming provided a macabre soundtrack.

  The nurse parked Vivienne’s bed next to Amber Rose’s and whispered a few words to a blond nurse. Both women looked up at Max, and the blonde nodded, signaling for him to come closer.

  “You stay out of the way and only intervene if needed, understood?” the woman said, cocking her hip and giving him a tilt of her head and a raised brow for emphasis. “Sit and be quiet.” She pointed at the stool by the breathing machine.

  “Understood.” Max hooked his foot on the stool and brought it closer to Vivienne’s bed. He wanted to sit between his two women but knew it was pushing his luck too far.

  Under Max’s watchful stare, Vivienne and Amber Rose were connected by IV lines, and the longest hour of his life started as his soulmate donated her blood to his daughter.

  They had just passed the sixty-minute mark when Vivienne lost consciousness. Max’s dragon intervened right away. He mentally connected with her wolf, lending her the strength necessary to see them both safely through the end of the transfusion. A third bed was wheeled in for Max who entered a healing coma for the second time in less than two days.

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