The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 59

REMY

Harper helped me to her feet, but she stayed in her wolf form. Her fur was raised, and I knew she was still on edge, ready to defend me if anything happened. "Are you hurt?" she linked me.

I shook my head. "I'm fine." It wasn't exactly true. I was sure my neck and body were bruised, and there was a small cut on my neck, but they would all heal on their own quickly, so I wasn't worried.

I looked over at Blade, and he was on his knees, breathing heavily. He took the brunt of the damage, and I found myself moving towards him automatically. I fell onto my knees and wrapped my arms around his neck. I had a million questions for him, but that could wait. He fought to protect me, even if it put him in more danger, and I was just happy he was okay.

Blade ran his hand over the back of my hair and pulled me closer to him. We took a moment to just breathe and feel each other. I had my doubts about getting out of that situation, and I was sure he did, too.

Caulder cleared his throat, drawing my attention to him. He had shifted into his human form and was already dressed. "We should get back to the pack house just in case that vampire circles around and comes back here."

"I'm not leaving Blade behind," I said firmly.

"He's bleeding and needs medical attention. I'm not about to leave him behind, either," Caulder said. He was standing tall, and he looked confident in his decision. He looked like a true alpha as he stood before me. I knew he didn't want the role or the responsibility, but he truly belonged in that role. He was the type of person that people wanted to follow.

Harper walked over and sat next to Caulder. She was still in her wolf form, likely because she wanted to be ready at a moment's notice if something happened. Caulder had his magic at least, so if Draven came back, he wouldn't be helpless.

Caulder offered me his hand and helped me to my feet. I still felt shaky from the fear I had felt, and I hated that feeling. I wanted to be strong, so I could protect myself and the people I cared about. I didn't want to be a damsel in distress, but I could feel the power Draven held inside of him. I was nothing compared to that, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, I wouldn't have been able to beat him in a fight in my current state.

Blade started to stand up, but his legs gave out and he crashed back to the ground. Caulder and I rushed to his side and helped him up this time.

"We need to get him to Doctor Zayla now," Caulder said.

"I'm fine," Blade said, but it was clearly not true. He was paler than usual, which I didn't even think was possible, and his head was covered in sweat.

I pressed the back of my hand against his forehead. "You're burning up. You have a fever and are not okay."

I glanced at Caulder, and he was thinking the same thing. The infection from Blade's wolf bite spread and was starting to affect his entire body. Draven had been significantly faster than Blade, and at first I thought Draven was on a completely different level. Now I wondered if the fever was why. If Blade's body was weakened from the infection, he wouldn't have been able to move as fast, yet he pushed through for my sake. "It'll take him too long to walk back to the pack house on his own," I said.

Blade was struggling with standing up straight, even with Caulder's and my help. I knew he was trying to fight against the fever, but it was useless. He would need medicine to fix it at this point. I gritted my teeth, wondering how I had missed the signs of his fever earlier. I must have been too focused on seeing him again to notice it.

"I'll rush back to the pack house first and get the car. I'll meet you at the closest road. It'll be faster that way, especially since we don't need to sneak around." Caulder shifted back to his wolf form and then sprinted away.

Harper and I helped Blade move to the road to wait for Caulder to pick us up. Blade was still moving, but the longer we walked, the more sluggish he became. I just kept pushing forward, hoping we could get back to the pack house before his fever grew worse.

-

LUNA ADIRA

We followed the trail of the vampire for as long as we could, but we quickly lost the vampire's scent. It was like he had just disappeared into thin air. Mark linked the warriors on patrol to let them know a rogue vampire was near our territory, so we needed extra patrols to make sure the vampire didn't cross the border into our territory. We may have lost his scent, but it didn't mean he wasn't close by.

I didn't like leaving, knowing the vampire was still out there, but I also wanted to get back to my children as soon as possible to make sure they were safe. The vampire was targeting Remy, and the thought made my stomach churn. Even with keeping her powers hidden, she was being attacked over and over again.

"We're bringing Blade back to the pack house so he can get treatment," Caulder linked, updating us on the situation. I was still hesitant about the vampire coming to our territory, but I saw him save Remy with my own eyes. I could see how much he cared about her, and I knew he wouldn't hurt her-at least not intentionally.

In some ways, that scared me more though. If that vampire is the boy from the prophecy, we would have bigger issues to deal with.

"Be safe and stay on alert. I'll have a warrior join you," Mark linked back. I was glad he was the one who responded, because my mind was too muddled right now.

Mark had talked me down after our talk with Remy and Caulder, and I knew I had acted completely irrationally with Remy. Telling her she could never see her mate went too far, and I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to talk to me again. Caulder was furious with me as well, and I knew I had messed up big time. All I ever wanted to do was protect my children, but I just kept making one bad decision after another, which only led to them hating me.

"They'll be okay," Mark linked as we ran through the forest, searching for the trail of the vampire. I was sure he could feel my turmoil through our mate bond.

"Do you think Remy will ever forgive me?" I asked him. He was by my side with every decision we made. Neither of us had liked the idea of keeping this secret from Remy, but we agreed it was the best course of action at the time. I continued thinking back to the time when Remy and Caulder were just babies, and I tried to figure out if there was another solution to protect them, and I still hadn't figured one out, even all of these years later.

Mark had realized sooner than I did that we couldn't keep moving forward with all of the secrets, though. It may have been the best decision when we made it, but it expired a while ago. I knew I had messed up big time with that, and I just hoped it wasn't too late to fix everything.

-

CAULDER

I helped Blade into the pack house, taking him directly to the medical wing. Harper broke off from us and rushed to wake Doctor Zayla up. Blade's condition didn't seem dire, but if he didn't get treatment soon, I was sure it could turn that way. The medical room was completely empty, since all of the students had been healed and sent on their way since the attack.

We helped Blade onto the bed, and Remy held his hand the entire time. She hadn't said much the entire trip back, and I could feel her worry.

"He'll be fine," I linked to her, not wanting to have the conversation in front of Blade.

She looked up at me and gave me a nod. Her lips were tight, and I knew she didn't fully believe me, but she wasn't about to say it out loud.

"You don't have to have secret conversations around me. I can handle whatever you're saying," Blade said. He was taking short breaths, and beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

Before we could respond, the door to the medical wing burst open, and Doctor Zayla trolloped through with Harper just a step behind her. Despite it being late, she looked like she was ready to go.

"What happened?" she demanded, already grabbing her tools. She shoved a thermometer into Blade's mouth and zoomed around the room. "And do your parents know he is here?"

"Yes, they know," I answered. I made sure to inform them of everything we were doing, because I didn't want to deal with another lie or surprise. "He has an infected wound on his arm. I think he has a fever because of it."

Doctor Zayla took the thermometer out of his mouth and quickly checked it. "He definitely has a fever. Remy, make yourself useful and get wet washcloths. We need to lower his body temperature before it causes any permanent damage."

Remy rushed and did as Doctor Zayla ordered. Doctor Zayla worked quickly, and I ended up just getting in the way, so I took a step back to let her work. A wave of relief washed over me as I saw the process happening. It wasn't the way I wanted Blade to get treatment, but I was glad it was finally happening. I was also hoping it was the start of solving everything, but I was also worried everything would fall apart. I just hoped my parents saw Blade protecting Remy from the other vampire, too. Harper slipped her hand into mine, so I looked down at her. She smiled up at me, and I felt my heart relaxing instantly.

"Don't worry about dressing the rest of my wounds," Blade said as Doctor Zayla moved to treat the scratches on his chest. "Don't tell me what to do. I'm the doctor. You're the patient." She continued cleaning his cuts, despite his protest.

"They will heal on their own just fine," Blade insisted. "You don't have to waste your time on them. I promise."

Doctor Zayla continued to ignore his pleas. "I will treat your wounds as I see fit. Now, tell me how your other fresh wounds are fine, but the cut on your arm is infected. Why shouldn't I worry about the others getting infected?" "Because the bite on my arm was from a werewolf, and my body can't heal those as well. These ones are from a vampire, so they'll heal in just a few hours," Blade explained.

"I take it you are a vampire then," Doctor Zayla concluded.

"Yes."

When she was done dressing his wounds, Doctor Zayla turned to me. "Don't you think I should have known that I was treating a vampire beforehand?"

I shrugged. "Vampire or not, he's a friend."

She hummed in response. "I'm going to have to talk to Alpha and Luna about this. I hope you didn't lie to me, Caulder. But to ease your mind for now, I gave him antibiotics, which should treat the infection. He will need them for several days, possibly longer, but we caught it before it reached the point where his arm needed to be amputated." She looked back at Blade. "You're lucky you saw me when you did. Don't wait so long to treat your injuries next time." With that, Doctor Zayla left the room.