The Chronicles of Moon
Chapter 9

Mate

The hiss of air brakes and the truck slamming to a stop joint Moon from her sleep. Johnny gets the truck stopped before it smashes the two in front of him. The smell of hot rubber fills the cab. Moon is trying to look around the trucks in front of her for any sign of what might have happened. They are a tangled mess of wood and metal. Worse, the drivers are nowhere to be seen.

“Moon, stay here and call Alpha Colin.” Johnny orders, and before Moon can argue, he’s out of the truck and running to the wreckage. The howl of the wolves makes her blood run cold. She and Johnny fell behind the other trucks when Moon felt ill, and Johnny didn’t want her puking in the truck.

Moon pulls up the number on her phone, praying that Colin answers. “Come one, please pick up?” Moon breathes as the phone just rings.

“Hello.” Chris’s voice is on the other end, sounding chipper.

“Oh, Chris, we need help! I don’t know what happened, but two of the trucks are wrecked, and there are wolves here. I think they ambushed us or something.” Moon rattles out as fast as she can as she watches the wolves advancing on Johnny. He shifts, but he is outnumbered.

“Moon? Where are you?” Chris has lost the chipper tone, and Moon can hear Colin questioning in the background.

“I think we are nearly there. I’m not really sure. I fell asleep, but we have to be close! Johnny went to check on the drivers when the wolves showed up.”

“Moon, just stay there. Colin is on the phone now.

“Like hell, I will. I have to help Johnny!”

“Moon, don’t do anything….”

Moon doesn’t let him finish before she hangs up on him and climbs her way to the driver’s seat. Good thing Johnny left the keys. She pulls the horn and fires up the truck startling all the wolves and giving Johnny the chance he needs to escape. He’s back at the truck and the door, flinging it open.

Moon is already out of his way as he slams his foot down on the pedal and charges the wolves. There is a thunk under the tires, but it’s only lumber as wolves scatter, and Johnny drives half off the road and somehow makes it past the mess of lumber littering the road.

“Johnny, what about the others?” Moon starts to ask, but Johnny hangs his head, shaking it a little.

“I couldn’t help them; they were already gone. I just hope we can go back later for them.”

Moon tries to look behind her, but she can’t see the wolves, only the wreck behind them. The truck starts to drift, and Moon whips her head to see Johnny losing consciousness as the truck veers off the road more.

“Shit Johnny! Wake Up!” Moon yells but to no avail. Moon can now see the large gash in his left leg, bleeding out rapidly. They slam into a tree before Moon can do anything, and she hits the dash hard enough to hear the crack of her ribs.

“Johnny, hang on.” Moon gasps out as she gets her shirt off and starts to try and put pressure on the wound. It’s doing little to help, and Moon just hopes it is enough and prays that his wolf is doing all it can to heal and keep Johnny alive just a bit longer. The black SUV is a welcome sight, and it comes racing toward her. When it stops, Colin and Chris get out of the car, rushing to the truck.

Colin rips the door open, and before he can say or do anything, Chris pushes past colin.

“MATE!” He roars, and Moon is afraid, just looking at Chris. She knows he can’t be referring to her. His eyes turn black as he growls and glairs at her. “WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!” the angry Chris growls, and Moon is afraid he might blame her.

“He was attacked by those wolves, and I can’t stop the bleeding, Chris!” Moon says urgently, and before she knows what’s happening, Chris is at the other door and has his belt around Johnny’s thigh and sinches it down tight.

He scoops up the still unconscious Johnny and is carrying him to the SUV.

“Let’s Move!” Chris orders, Moon and Colin are not about to argue with him or waste time. Moon gets out of the truck wincing as she hurries after the men as they race to save Johnny’s life.

“What the hell happened, Moon?” Chris shouts even though Moon has told him everything. She knows he is afraid for the mate he just found and may lose. Chris climbs in the back with Johnny still in his arms. He grabs a blanket and covers Johnny. He also grabs a shirt and tosses it to Moon. She forgot she was just in her bra, and her hands are covered in Johnny’s blood.

“I told you I don’t know much, just that we came up on the accident, and Johnny went to check on the drivers, he was attacked by wolves, but they didn’t look like rogues.” Moon is still frantic as she gets in the front seat of the SUV with Colin in the driver’s seat.

Moon scrunches her face in pain when she tries to turn and look at the men in the back seat. Colin notices the face she makes but doesn’t say anything as he starts the car and races back to his pack. Chris is muttering in the back seat, begging Johnny to just hang on a bit longer.

The drive back to Colin’s pack was quick, but the most nerve-racking drive Moon had ever experienced. Not just because she was worried for Johnny, but Colin’s driving was going to make her sick. The drive couldn’t end soon enough, and Moon was the first one out when the SUV stopped.

They stopped in front of what is clearly the pack hospital, and there was already hospital staff waiting for them. They all quickly rushed to Johnny, and Chris reluctantly let his mate go on the gurney. Chris watched them take his mate away, and his pain from it was enough to break anyone’s heart. The only thing that seemed to be helping Chris not chase after then was Colin’s firm hands on his shoulders.

Moon thought she could almost hear Colin telling Chris he knew everything would be fine, but Moon brushed it off. She couldn’t possibly hear them; they are too far away from her. Moon rubs her forehead and closes her eyes. Trying not to think about her ringing head. She knows she must have bruised her ribs, if not broken one in the crash.

She opens her eyes, and Colin is in front of her now. She blinks a few times in shock as he reaches up and, with his thumb, brushes the hair from her face. He looks at her for a moment looking her over. Then wiping a small trickle of blood from her hairline.

“Come on, let’s get you checked out too.” He orders her, and she bristles. Everyone seems to want to order her around.

“I’m fine. I just want to wait and see how Johnny is.” Moon says defiantly.

“No, you can’t do anything for him right now, and you are getting checked.” Colin is not impressed with her defiance, and it shows. “Will you just stop being so stubborn for no reason?” Colin growls out.

Moon turns and stomps her way into the clinic. Chris is pacing by the door, and a few nurses are eyeing him nervously.

“Hey Chris, sit with me, and I’ll tell you about Johnny,” Moon says softly, pulling Chris’s arm, so he follows her to the waiting room. Chris perked up just a little at her words. The idea of learning a little about Johnny was a welcome distraction.

Moon sits with him and begins talking about everything, all of her memories of them as children. Chris even smiles a few times. When Moon tells Chris how Johnny is one of the hardest working people she knows, Chris sits up a little, clearly proud of Johnny. Moon is also sure to tell Chris how Johnny is terrible about taking care of himself.

Chris grins, “I can fix that, I’m sure.”

Moon smiles and looks at Colin, who has been sitting quietly listening. He gives Moon a small smile, clearly happy that she seemed to help the distraught Chris.

The moment is short-lived when a rush of nurses races to the back, and Chris is on his feet and rushing after them, sure that something has happened to his mate. If Chris loses Johnny now, he’s unsure what he would do. He only knows he can’t live without him now that he has found him.