Try Me

Chapter 23

Willow's POV

Everyone was so excited and happy for us once we made the official announcement. I got to enjoy a week of happy peace with Jacey, celebrating the news. Then tragedy struck. It was the middle of the night and I was sleeping peacefully with Jacey when we began to hear panic and the sound of gunfire outside. Jacey and I instantly woke up. We then heard Red in the mind link.

"We're under attack, both on the ground and in the skies," Red informed everyone.

Jacey didn't hesitate to leave out of the garage door like entrance that he used to let his dragon form out. Stay in the mountain, he said to me right before he took to the skies.

I quickly threw my clothes on and left our room. I found Jacey's sisters gathering the medical supplies as a precaution while his mother was on the phone with our council member to report the attack. I began to help to keep busy.

I froze at the feel of Jacey being in pain. I could then feel his panic and fear. I could hear the sound of dragon calls. I went to go to the entrance but I was grabbed by Jade. "Willow you have to stay here," she said to me. "But Jacey," I said, eyes watering. "He's been injured."

"You can't fight in your condition," she reminded me.

I knew she was right. I was terrified of losing him.

So I waited for the all clear. When we went out there I saw Jacey's dragon form on the ground, unconscious, blood pooling beneath him. I ran to him, heart in my throat.

"It's bad," I heard Red say to Desiree. "All of the boys are injured and so are half the wolves. Jacey is in the worse shape. He was fighting off three Vir dragons in the sky when another in human form took shots at him. Then they used their magic to severely injure him. He was falling until Shade and Leroy caught him, both taking bullets as they did."

"Any of the enemy alive," she asked him. "No," he said to her.

I just listened to them as I worked with some of the women in the tribe to patch up his wounds. He was loosing way to much blood though. I held tightly on to hope, able to listen to his heart beat with my hearing.

We worked for a while to save him. In the end, he was patched up, but due to the blood loss, there was no guarantee he'll even make it. He had too. I needed him. I couldn't lose anyone else.

I felt a nudge under my hand and looked down. It was Brax. Bandages were wrapped around his torso. "You need to rest," I whispered brokenly to him. Lex received a minor head injury and was currently sleeping.

"You do too," he said in the mind link.

I shook my head as my eyes went back to Jacey who hasn't moved in the last twelve hours. No one was able to move him since he was in his dragon form, so his family was currently putting up tarps to keep him protected from the weather. Snow was no longer a problem, but freezing rain was. They took extension cables and plugged in heated blankets and covered his massive body in them to keep his body heat up.

My heart squeezed in agony at seeing him like this. He had to make it.

Brax walked away, giving up on getting me to go inside. The cold didn't bother me. I couldn't feel much outside of my fear to be honest.

A blanket was draped around my shoulders. "You should go rest and get something to eat," Desiree told me. "I don't want to leave him," I whispered to her. What if he passed and I wasn't here?

"He's strong," she reminded me. "He'll be just fine."

I wanted to believe her, but she didn't work on him. Didn't see the amount of blood he had lost.

"I..."

"Think of your babe," she said to me. "Jacey would be rather cross if you didn't take care of yourself, especially now."

She was right. I looked down at myself and saw parts of my clothes were soaked in his blood. I looked back up at him. His breathing was strong and so was his heartbeat. I just had to hang on to hope.

I kissed his snout before going inside to wash.

Desiree's POV

I wanted to raise hell for what has happened to my family and home. A week or so after the attack, many were healed, except Jacey. Jacey had slipped into a coma and the doctors aren't sure when he will wake up. If he will at all. There is hope since his body is functioning on it's own, but he hasn't stirred at all. Willow is beside herself on what to do. She spends most of her days by his side, but we have to force her to come inside and go to bed. We don't have to force her to eat though. She's keeping up with that herself. Most likely having help from the baby she carries to remind her.

Today I sat with just my children, including Lex and Brax, and my mate in the living room. "What are we going to do if he passes," Ethan asked us softly. "We mourn then continue forward," Red answered softly.

"And Willow," Ebony asked us. "It'll devastate her," Brax said as he ran a hand through his hair. "We've already lost our mom, and not even a few months later, she could lose her mate. It will destroy her."

"The only thing that will be keeping her going at that point will be their baby," Lex said softly.

"No matter what happens she will always be family," I said to them. "And we take care of our family."

"I do fear though, at this point, we may want to start preparing for the worse," Red announced to them. It was something he and I had been discussing since we found out Jacey had slipped into a coma. It killed us learning the news. He's my baby and the idea of losing him killed me inside. I will pray everyday that he wakes up, but I also have to be prepared for the worst. I know Willow clings to hope, but I also know she's not in denial. She was far more level headed than that.

"What are the chances of him waking up," Maria asked us. "It's a fifty fifty," I told her. "His body is healed, but he lost a lot of blood. Hang on to hope, but don't fall into denial." It was the only advice I could give them. I was clinging on to hope with all claws and teeth. It was the only thing I could do at this point. I hope for all of our sakes, he pulled through.