Sapphire Moon

Silver Poisioning

Oliver's POV

I helped my mate take Riley to their clan doctor. As soon as we stepped into the building, people stopped what they were doing and stared at us. Mate was not happy, as the look on her face was scowling while she snapped at them.

"Stop staring and give us some help!" She yelled in an irritable voice. Everyone stopped staring and went back to their duties, while a few nurses and a doctor ran over to us. The nurses took our position and helped Riley to a gurney and had her lie down, then started wheeling her out of sight. The doctor finally spoke up.

"What happened to her?" His eyes met mine, then quickly looked at my mate. "Can I ask, why there's a wolf accompanying you?"

"That's not your concern." My mate growled at him. "You should be focused on helping Riley! She was shot by a hunter. Now go!"

The doctor's face flooded with fear before he scurried off to the room the nurses wheeled Riley to. I could tell my mate was worried and stressed out. I wanted to comfort her, but I know this is foreign to her. I stepped a little closer to her before I could comprehend what I was doing and stopped. She looked at me with her eyes full of unspilt tears and spoke to me with concern filling her voice.

"You need to put some damn clothes on. I can't have my mate walking around naked for the whole clan to see." She walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt, then handed them to me. "Put these on. We can go to the waiting room while Riley is in surgery."

I slipped the clothes on and followed her to another room and sat down next to her. We sat there just staring at each other for a few moments before I decided to break the silence.

"I'm Oliver. I'm Alpha to the Sapphire Moon pack. I know you are probably wanting to know why I'm here, in your territory. We can talk about it now, or later if you prefer. Just know that no matter what, I'll always protect you and will never hurt you." I tried to be as caring and polite as I could when I spoke since this is so new to both of us. She just stared at me in shock. It looked as if she lost the ability to speak. I carefully placed my hand on hers, which sparked the mate bond on both ends. Her breathing became quick, just as mine did until she removed her hand.

"Please don't touch me. You're a stranger to me, and a wolf. Besides, you'll likely end up leaving me like everyone has in my life." She said with great sadness in her voice as she now stared at the wall.

"I swear to the moon goddess that I will never leave you. You were made just for me, and I was made just for you. We were.... ARE, made for each other and our bond is unbreakable. I would rather die, than to live my life without my mate. To be completely honest, I saved myself for my mate. For you. I've waited my whole life to find you. Would you please give me a chance...."

"Dawn. My name is Dawn. I'll give you time to prove your words ring true." She interrupted. "Just know that my father will not be happy about you, a wolf, being my mate. You'll have to stay in our clan until at least tomorrow. My first shift is supposed to happen tonight. This will determine if I'm a Berserker like my father or human like my mother." Just as I was about to ask what she meant, the doctor walked in.

"Riley is out of surgery and we were able to retrieve the silver bullet. She does have slight silver poisoning, but her body should heal just fine. Just a bit slower than normal. You may see her if you like, room 13." We both stood up and headed for the doorway. "Oh, one other thing you should know. Her hearing is gone. Because of where the bullet hit her and how long it was there, the silver poisoning was able to reach her auditory nerve, thus rendering her deaf. She most likely won't be able to regain her hearing." The doctor conveyed. Dawn and I both looked at each other before she asked.

"Can she still mind-link?"

"Yes, but you may want to encourage her to learn sign language. Not everybody she meets will be able to mind-link her."

Dawn nodded in understanding and walked out. I padded behind her so I could go see my friend. 'Maybe Devin could teach her ASL.' I thought to myself as we approached room 13. Dawn paused at the door and took a deep breath before entering. We entered the room and took in the sight before us. Riley was sitting up in the bed and staring out the window. As Dawn approached her, I flicked the light switch to let Riley know we were here. Dawn turned around and glared at me like I was being inconsiderate.

"In the deaf world, flickering the lights when entering a room is like our version of knocking. My Beta is deaf, and we grew up together."

"Oh." Was all she said before turning back to Riley who was staring at our exchange.

"Soo.... Oliver is your mate huh?" Riley mind-linked to Dawn. "I was hoping to find my second chance mate before you found yours. I never wanted to feel like the third wheel. I guess the moon goddess has something great in store for me." She said sourly. You could tell she was just hurt and angry she lost her hearing. "Have you told Michael yet?"

"No, I haven't yet. I'm not sure I want to deal with that disappointment right now. I just wanted to check in with you and see how you're doing. I know what the doctor said, but that doesn't give me anything close to how you're actually doing emotionally. What you went through was traumatic, to say the least. Now you don't have any way to communicate other than mind-link and writing things down. You have to be upset about that."

I stood there watching Riley and Dawn mind-link each other. Just by looking at them, you could tell their conversation was intense. Riley sat rigidly on the bed and her facial features would give away her emotions. She crinkled up her nose and furrowed her eyebrows like she was disgusted with whatever their topic was. Eventually, she just scowled at Dawn. It's like Dawn was scolding her or saying something that she didn't like.

"You HAVE to tell him! You'll go into heat soon and that could endanger everyone!"