Beauty, the Beasts and Other

Chapter 46

Curtis swam to the surface as if he would die if he moved the slightest bit slower, which in a way, he would.

He was uncertain of the state his soulmate was in, but his intuition told him the situation was less than favorable.

He fought relentlessly against the force of the unforgiving depths that fought just as hard to keep him and his mate, within its deathly hold. After a few minutes, which felt like hours to the red snake, he could finally see sunlight.

Not long after, he broke through the surface. He swiftly shifted to his half-turned state and grabbed Marissa's limp form from his coils to hold her in his arms, all while making his way to the shore.

Just ahead, he saw Isa's other mates running towards him. The water splashed high above their tall forms as their feet slammed into the ocean, carrying them closer to the snake and their unconscious mate.

"Curtis!" He heard varying voices shout his name.

"What happened? Is she okay? Isa! Wake up! Curtis, why isn't she waking up!?"

"Shut the fuck up Damien!" the snake hissed harshly in reply. "We need to get her in the house so Harvey can look at her. She was knocked out when I got to her."

"Let me take her," Ezra said, reaching for his mate. Curtis allowed him to take her from his arms, and in what could hardly be described as an orderly fashion, the men rushed behind him as the cubs followed closely behind.

"Get her on the bed!" Harvey shouted as they entered the house, making a beeline to gather some medical equipment and their stash of emeralds.

Ezra did as told and backed up as the doctor came to Isa's side, allowing him space to work. The first thing Harvey did was to expel the water from her lungs using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Everyone grew antsy after nothing happened after a few tries.

"Come on Isa. Please," Harvey whispered as he tried once more.

In several violent coughs, spurts of water came out of Marissa's mouth. The leopard quickly turned her on her side to allow the water to flow more freely.

"That's it. You're doing so good Isa," the leopard whispered to his mate as he patted her back.

The other men and the cubs, watched with bated breath. Expecting everything to be alright now.

Their eager expressions slowly dwindled as they saw the leopard turn a still unconscious Isa to lay on her back once more after she had coughed up the water in her lungs.

"She's not waking up," Six whispered to his brothers.

"Don't spell out the obvious Six. None of us are blind you poison loving buffoon," One snapped. He has gotten considerably snarkier with his comments since Isa's kidnapping. His brothers often walked on eggshells around him, lest they get lashed with his venomous tongue.