by Jade White
He had planned on asking about the Blood Roses, but instead he blurted out, “My father…”
“I haven’t seen him.”
“So he isn’t anywhere inside the hospital?” That pile of dead bodies…
“We’re a little disorganized. We’re trying to get a list of casualties and those here seeking treatment and—”
“Seeking treatment? You mean to say no Blood Roses were injured enough to seek treatment?” His voice echoed down the hall, much louder than the groans slithering out from some of the nearby patient rooms.
Her already flushed face turned even redder. “I-I don’t—”
A doctor exited a room, and Beric left her behind and approached him. “Where are the wounded Blood Roses?” he demanded.
The doctor hardly looked up at him. “I don’t know. If you will excuse—”
“No.” Beric grabbed his arm. His fangs had popped out. He forced them back and tried to control his emotions. Now was not the time to be demanding and brutish, but he had to figure out what was going on. “Have Blood Roses been allowed to come inside the hospital?”
The doctor glanced at the door of the room he had been trying to enter. “I really need to see to my patients—”
“Not all of your patients are here,” Beric growled. He could not be more furious. “Tell me the truth.”
The were-jaguar hung his head. “I don’t know where they went.”
Beric felt cold all over. “They were turned aside.”
“Only two showed up in the first place,” he protested. “What did you think would happen? They want their own doctors and medicine. They don’t trust us to treat them, and, frankly, we have too many of our own to treat.”
“No.” Beric ran a hand through his hair. “There isn’t a them versus us. There’s only us.”
The doctor stared at him shrewdly. “If you believe that, you are mistaken. The wedding came too late. We are not joined. We will not fight together. We will all fall. But since I can see you wish for us to live long enough to die in the next attack, I need to attempt to patch up our wounded so they can go out there and die anyhow.”
Beric wanted to argue with him, to demand answers, to force him to cooperate, but he didn’t. The man had a job to do—heal the sick. Beric had a job to do as well—lead. Or at least locate his father.
Feeling rejected and low, his body aching and his movements slowing, Beric eased his way back to the first floor. As he approached the front door, a male nurse stopped him. “Let me help you.”
Beric waved him away. “Others need—”
“They can wait,” Jake insisted. He ushered Beric to a chair and walked down the hall to a cart. He pulled it over and handed Beric some medicine. “Drink this.” He gave him a cup of water. “And then go get something to eat. It should help your natural healing abilities.”
He popped the pills and drank all of the water even though it was so cold it hurt his teeth. Food definitely would help him, but he had to find the Blood Roses, and his father, and Miera… his wife…
Beric jumped to his feet, and a wave of dizziness washed over him.
Jake gently but firmly pushed him back onto the chair. “Stay here,” he commanded. “I’ll bring you some food.”
The nurse was only gone for a minute, which was a good thing because Beric had just decided he wasn’t going to wait for him any longer. It was a hamburger, with all the fixings. Normally, Beric preferred steaks or pork or fish, but right now, his body needed it, and he inhaled the food. It did make him feel better. His body was still stiff, but almost all of his bruises had gone away; his small cuts healed up, too. Only the deeper gashes remained, and even they weren’t as serious as they had been.
“I need more of that medicine.” Beric held out his hand. He would bring the medicine to the Blood Roses himself. Miera needed some as well.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Jake shook his head. “I need to get back—”
“I said I need more.”
The nurse lowered his gaze. “If you were alpha…”
“I just might be!”
“Until we know that for certain, I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to tend to the injured.” With that, Jake ran off.
Beric’s nostrils flared. As much as he didn’t want to be alpha, he wanted the respect of one.
He also wanted the two packs to work together.
And he also wanted the war to be over.
Somehow, he had a feeling that he might not be getting any of the things he wanted.
*
Miera didn’t want to move. She didn’t even want to think. She just wanted to be left alone, to sleep for hours, maybe even forever.
But Lisa, her best friend, wouldn’t stop talking, and Helen, the kindest Teal Warrior Miera had met and who was quickly becoming a dear friend, kept fussing over her. Even worse was listening to the cries and wails of her people.
They were in a house that looked vaguely familiar. It took Miera’s addled brain a long moment to recognize it as Helen’s house. She was the only Teal Warrior Miera saw or heard. Everyone else was a Blood Rose.
“You should see if you can go to the hospital,” Lisa was saying, but her voice was a little muffled as if her back was turned toward Miera. Who was she talking to?
“With so many wounded, I don’t see how I’ll be able to get anything for you all.” That was Helen, and she sounded weary.
“What’s going on?” Miera asked. She forced her eyes open and tried to sit up.
The two were-jaguars pounced on her, pushing her back down. “Just relax,” Lisa crooned.
“We’re handling things,” Helen added.
Miera didn’t have the strength to fight them. Her body felt almost wrong. Her limbs were too heavy, her chest oddly light even though it felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath. Her neck especially ached, and she felt ready to pass out. Had she already fainted? After leaving the warehouse… oh, God, the warehouse… Was that smoke she smelled? Had their plan, as horrible as it was, worked? Try as she did, she couldn’t remember what happened after she and Beric fled the warehouse.
“What’s going on?” she asked again. Even her voice sounded strange, weak.
But Lisa and Helen weren’t there. She was floating away. Not even the sound of the dying could reach her.
When she came to from having passed out for the first—or maybe fifth—time, the crying hadn’t stopped any. She struggled to sit up, but her upper chest and her forehead had both been tied to the bed to keep her from moving. Her neck. It wasn’t healing, or at least not fast enough. She still felt faint and dizzy, and tired. So tired. She could sleep for forever.
The crying grew louder. The person didn’t sound like he was in pain, at least not physical pain. No, the were-jaguar had lost someone. A pang filled Miera’s chest. The mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters of the ones they had sent to a fiery grave… would they understand as Beric thought they would? Would she ever be able to forgive herself for what she had done? Yes, war was terrible, and it required sacrifice, but that sacrifice should be freely given. It should have been their choice…
A cough rattled through her, and her body shook as much as the restraints would allow.
Someone approached the bed. Helen. “You’re awake again. Good. Would you like to drink something?”
Miera wanted to nod, but she couldn’t move her head. “Yes,” she croaked out. Her throat was so dry it hurt to talk.
Helen held a straw to her lips, and Miera drank the water greedily.
“What’s happening?” Miera asked. “There’s a… hospital…”
“There is, yes.” Helen stared at the empty cup in her hands. “But none of the Blood Roses are willing to go there. Some on principle and some because a few tried and were turned away.”
“Turned away?” Miera’s hands clenched into fists. “What do you mean turned away? The Teal Warrior doctors and nurses won’t help us?”
Helen looked like she wanted the floor to sw
allow her up. “Well, they are busy trying to help the wounded—”
“The wounded Teal Warriors,” Miera said bitterly. She closed her eyes. “I understand that the Blood Roses want to be healed by our own doctors, but now isn’t the time to be worrying about Teal or Blood. We are all one now that Beric and I… Beric. Where is he? Is he all right?”
“I’m right here.” Beric was suddenly standing beside her. “I’ve tried talking to them myself, both to your people and to the doctors and nurses. Neither side is bending. I was able to steal a few pills for you—”
“No.” She pursed her lips.
“What do you mean no?” He sounded, and looked, pissed.
She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his anger. “I’m sure there’s someone worse off than—”
“No, there isn’t. You’re barely hanging on—”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” There was rustling, and then he touched her non-injured shoulder. “Open your eyes.”
Reluctantly, she opened them. He was holding up a mirror, and she could see the devastation to her neck. It was even worse than she would have thought possible. “How…”
“How are you still alive? We don’t know. Blood loss alone should’ve killed you. You’ve been unconscious more than conscious from what I’ve been told, and delirious at times, as well. You might seem fine at this second, but you’re not. Your neck isn’t healing, Miera. You’re too weak. You haven’t even healed this.” He lifted her hand so she could see the tiny cut on the back of it. “Food and rest isn’t going to cut it. You’ll die without the medication.”
“But my people…” Hot tears prickled her eyes. She was the reason why some had died, and if she took medicine away from others, more could be lost. Could guilt affect her healing ability?
“One of yours left an hour ago for your home to bring back as many doctors and nurses and medication and anything else they will need.”
“Who?” she asked. Who was the hero of the Blood Roses?
He frowned. “Take the medicine first, and we’ll talk more.”
“Spoken like a true alpha.” She tried to snort but coughed instead.
“Miera, don’t be a martyr.”
“I care about my people,” she snapped.
“And I don’t?” he countered. Fire flashed in his eyes, dark and dangerous. He appeared to have healed most of the way from his wounds. He was strong and solid and ready for another battle.
She wasn’t, so far from being ready, and all of the Blood Roses here in the Teal Warriors’ compound were in the same boat. We’re stuck here, within the fence that was supposed to protect us. We’re going to die here, far from home, surrounded by foes and allies we’re refusing to cooperate with.
But that refusal was on both sides.
And right now, her fighting with Beric was only going to make the matter worse.
Miera accepted the medicine, washed it down with water, and opened her mouth to continue their conversation, only a sudden wave of fatigue washed over her—maybe pill-induced, maybe not—and she gave in to sleep.
When she woke, she felt famished and was overjoyed to realize her restraints had been removed. Her neck didn’t quite feel right, and she was too scared to touch it.
Lisa immediately helped her sit up and then went to get her food. It was only when her friend returned that she realized her friend had been injured too—she was walking with a slight limp. “What happened to you?” Miera asked in between scarfing down a chicken Parmesan.
“The battle. When Kevin saw my injury, he forced me to leave out the back door. I was so pissed at him! Treating me like a child! But then, more and more were-jaguars were leaving, and I didn’t feel so worthless anymore. I tried to direct them back, to the hospital, but only the Teal Warriors listened, and I think that was more because they wanted to be with their people, their healers, than to be with us.” She shrugged.
“Kevin. How is he?”
“He’s…” Lisa glanced away. “I should go and check in on him.”
Her friend scampered out of the room without another word. So Kevin had gotten hurt too. Had anyone not been injured?
She had just finished up her chicken and was starting in on her soup when Beric walked in. “You’re awake,” he said.
Something in his tone made her stomach flip flop, and not in a pleasant way.
“What is it?” she asked.
“How are you feeling?” He gently turned her head to the side and examined her neck. “It’s healing. Slowly, but it is.”
“I’m fine.”
He glowered at her.
“I’ll be fine,” she amended. “Now tell me what’s going on. Please,” she added belatedly.
“That guy who went to your camp—”
“Who?” she burst out.
“Grave.” He frowned. “Grave-something.”
“Gravestone,” she corrected. “Jericho Gravestone. Oh, good, so at least he survived. He’s on the council,” she explained. “And a really strong and capable warrior. If anyone could make it through to our place, it’s him.”
“He should have reached there by now. I hope he waits until tomorrow to come back. Traveling at night would be dangerous.”
Jericho could be rash and reckless, so she wasn’t at all certain which way he would choose. She hoped with everything she had that he would return safely to them, regardless of when he and the others came back.
“What else is going on?” she demanded. The soup was almost too hot to eat, so she dug into her pasta instead.
“The fence. They didn’t destroy it, and they didn’t bring ladders. They just climbed up each other’s backs to be able to mount it.” Beric scowled. “That was how they were able to do it without making any kind of a loud noise. Sneaky bastards. They killed our guards outside, and somehow, they knew just where to climb over so that our guards inside wouldn’t see them until they were already slicing their throats.”
How had they known where to climb over to avoid being detection by their guards inside the compound? She frowned and rubbed her forehead. Her head was beginning to ache. “If they had brought more with them…”
“We would have all died.” His expression shifted, both kinder and… was that fright? “We need to unite our people. It’s the only chance we have.”
“First we have to heal,” she said stubbornly. “A battlefield filled with wounded soldiers is going to be soon covered with dead bodies.”
“Yes…” Beric sounded frustrated, and he ran a hand through his hair.
She wanted to reach out to touch him, to comfort him. Instead she placed her hand on her belly. She hadn’t felt the baby move since… since the battle. Had she felt the baby during the attack? What about during the wedding? And before that?
“While everyone tries to heal, we can still try to get them to come together,” Beric suggested.
“Yes, yes,” she said distractedly.
“Miera…” He did a double take when he noticed her hand on her belly. “What’s wrong?”
Bitter tears burned her eyes. She blinked them away and swallowed back the first retort that came to mind. Maybe it was the surge of her emotions, or the food, but just then, she felt a flutter, a kick, and now she did cry.
Beric tried to talk to her, but she couldn’t really hear him. After a few minutes, he left, and Helen walked in. Miera ate some more, drank plenty of green tea, and fell back to sleep.
When she woke, it was to find the world had descended into chaos. Again.
CHAPTER 12
His wife was a puzzle he didn’t have time to figure out, but at least his father had been located. The alpha had sustained only minor injuries from the battle. How he had escaped, and when, Beric didn’t know and he didn’t ask.
“Vicious, evil, cunning, vile…” his father was fuming when Beric sought him in his office after leaving Miera. He didn’t understand why she had started crying, but she hadn’t seemed to be in pain, and the tears weren�
�t from grief. He didn’t know her well enough for her to open up to him, that much was obvious when she had ignored him. It hurt, but he didn’t have time to be hurt right now, not physically or emotionally.
“The Brutal Claws are all of those,” Beric agreed.
His father stopped his pacing and whirled around to face Beric. “I wasn’t talking about them.”
Wonderful. He had a feeling he now knew who his father was referring to, but he played ignorant. “Oh?”
“The two-faced Blood Roses,” the alpha spat out. “Who else would have helped them to know just where to mount our fence?”
“You think… you think they have spies in our camp?” Beric was horrified. The thought of how the Brutal Claws had managed their feat hadn’t been one he had time to explore yet.
“Not in our camp. Theirs.” Spit flew from his father’s mouth. “The Blood Roses. One or more of them is helping the Brutal Claws.”
Oh, no. If even his father wasn’t ready for the two sides to join, they were going to be ruined and destroyed before another attack even happened.
He almost wanted to laugh at his father’s absurdity. The alpha was wrong on this point. Beric had to make him see reason. “You can’t be serious. They don’t have spies other than Brutal Claws. How do you think they’ve been able to infiltrate so many packs? They are masters at their craft, at domination. We were fools to think a fence would stop them. Plain and simple, we are out-manned, even with the Blood Roses. We need them, and if you think—”
“What I think is all that matters.” His father stood tall and straight and stiff. “I am alpha, and you’d better not forget that.”
“You would never let me,” Beric said coolly. “Remember, it’s because of my marriage that—”
“Your marriage is what drew them out. We were just fine until then. The Brutal Claws were not—”
“They were still killing our guards. It would have only been a matter of time—”
“Time.” His father snorted. “Now is the time of death, boy.”
A long moment of silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward and oppressive.
