The Mark of a Beta

forty

Axel's POV

Days earlier

~

He keeps saying my name. As he sits in a hospital bed in Lunar Territory, it sounds more like a desperate whimper, but there's nothing I can do to alleviate his pain. I'm not even sure that Cooper and I will ever feel the power of the mate bond like we have before.

Or even if there is a "Cooper and I."

After the pain partially subsided and I could register details of the world around me and logically work through the meaning of the intense pain in my chest and body, I realized that when the pain lessened, so did my connection to Cooper. Grayson followed me to Lunar territory after I shifted into my wolf. A group of pack warriors and pack healers followed as well to aid their Beta in the search and rescue of my mate while the recently appointed Gamma immediately took over his duties in running the pack.

I was wild with fury, sickened that my mate was dying- because there was no way that the pain I felt was just an insignificant injury- without his mate present to protect or comfort him. Grayson managed to keep up with my speed, although he fell a little behind the closer we got to Lunar territory. I ran immediately to the hospital, and I swear if anyone tried to stop my entry I would kill them. One Lunar guard looked as though he would try to stop me, but when Grayson shifted into his human form and explained who I was, he didn't pursue me even though I was still in my wolf form.

That leaves me here now, staring at my dying mate who is attached to an IV, with unknown tubes attached to various parts of him. I can't have him stay here. I don't fucking trust this pack to care for him. Dark Wood is the only place for him to stay where he can get the proper care. I mindlink this to Grayson, and he agrees. He arranges for an ambulance to help transport us to the territory, and the Lunar Pack Alpha doesn't even put up a fight.

I would kill him if I were willing to leave Cooper's side.

I almost go on a killing spree when I see that someone marked Cooper. Someone attempted to erase our connection, thinking that marking him would somehow overpower the bond we share. Did they realize that marking someone a second time will kill them? Was someone attempting to murder my mate?

It doesn't matter. My mate is dying because some idiot wanted to take what is mine. The worst part is, they may have succeeded.

Before we leave, Grayson works with the pathetic, spineless Alpha to uncover who attacked my mate. It apparently doesn't take long to discover that the culprit is a wolf named Brenden. The fool immediately ran home to pack a bag and was hiding out in his parents' basement while he came up with a plan of action.

With little convincing on Grayson's part, the prisoner will be moved to Dark Wood territory for punishment. Nobody puts up much of a fight, not even the attacker's parents. It is a blessing that they discard their son so easily, although I want to rip them apart for their homophobic comments.

The Dark Wood pack doesn't stick around in the Lunar pack territory for long. Cooper's guardians and friends are not allowed to see him. I don't want them to see him while he's like this.

In the ambulance, Cooper has a seizure. I am moved out of the way, still in my wolf form and unable to aid my mate in any way. The anger has long been buried and now I just feel... numb. I have gotten used to Cooper's energetic and lively presence in my mind, and without his emotions I am left with nothing, only silent fury and pain and loneliness.

I won't live without him.

Cooper seizes twice more on the way to the Dark Wood hospital, and I'm just grateful that the pack healers are here. All I can do is pathetically watch as my heart dies with each seizure, each unconscious groan of pain, each realization that Cooper very well may die before we even reach a hospital.