“Calm down!” he ordered Kyle, shoving him against the wall.
“Stop it,” Scarlett shouted at her brother.
My cheek throbbed where he’d hit me. I could have stopped him, but maybe I’d let him hit me because I thought I deserved it. I looked to Curtis with resignation and sadness.
“Switch off the machines.”
Curtis hesitated for a moment, unsure if he’d heard me correctly.
“Don’t! You’re going to kill her!” Kyle yelled from behind me as I turned to face Curtis.
“Stop it!” Scarlett yelled at her brother while he tried to wrestle free from Cade, but Cade refused to release him.
Curtis’ eyes flickered from me to the commotion going on behind me as I tried my best to ignore it.
“Switch off the machines,” I ordered him for a second time, and he gave me a nod before he turned and disappeared back into the hospital room.
I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breath to keep from falling apart right there in front of everyone. Closing my eyes for a moment, I drew strength from the imprint of Keri in my mind before I faced Kyle.
He was breathing hard as his eyes met mine. Fury was mixed with defeat in his features. Cade and Scarlett stood between us, facing him, ready to stop him if he tried to attack me again.
“We all love her,” Scarlett said with the emotions clear in her voice while she put her hand to her head for a second as she struggled to keep it together. It was affecting all of us in different ways. Cade put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she looked up to her brother. She was taking the decision I’d made as hard as both Kyle and I were.
“Blake is her mate and you need to respect the decision he has made. Out of all of us, he has the most to lose…”
Her voice hitched on the last word and I felt her pain.
“He loves her and, trust me, until you find your mate you have no idea how much,” she lectured her brother. She paused for a moment and looked at me over her shoulder before she faced her brother again. “This decision wasn’t easy for him to make. Even if you disagree with it, you need to respect it. Do you understand?”
Kyle’s shoulders sagged as his eyes found mine and the anger that had been in them was gone. In its place was sadness. He gave a nod.
“I just promised her I would always look after her,” he revealed. “And I failed.”
I understood his guilt because I felt the same. Being her mate, it was my responsibility to keep her safe. It didn’t matter that I had been here when she’d made the decision to fight Richard; it didn’t absolve me of my guilt. In some way we all felt we’d failed her.
“I’m ready to switch off the machines,” Curtis announced solemnly from the doorway of her room.
My feet felt like lead as I walked into the hospital room and the sounds of the medical machines echoed in my head. I stood beside her and took her smaller hand into mine. My thumb brushed over the softness of her skin, taking comfort in the relief our link gave to me.
You have to pull through, I told her through the mind-link.Please, baby, I can’t live without you.
Standing there beside her as Curtis switched off the machines was going against every cell of my being. The love and protectiveness I felt for her rushed through me as he removed the machine that breathed for her. The urge to make him put her back on it was overwhelming, but somehow I stopped myself.
The only sounds echoed from the machine keeping track of her vitals and when it began to slow down, I looked up to see the stats start to decline. I clenched my free hand while I watched the worst-case scenario start to play out.
Scarlett pressed her hands to her mouth as she watched Keri stop breathing. Cade wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side, giving her comfort and strength.
Please, baby,I begged inside as my eyes dropped to Keri.
Curtis stood beside her, watching the monitor and then looking back at Keri.
Time began to slow down as I held my breath, hoping and praying this was going to work and her body would start to heal.
I couldn’t help but think about the life she’d had. Having a father like Victor had ensured her childhood had been full of pain and sadness. The memory I had of her mother made me squeeze my eyes closed for a moment as I held the bridge of my nose. If Victor had continued to live he would have done the same to Keri and just the thought of it was enough to make anger ignite inside of me.
It was so unfair. Just when she had the opportunity to live the type of life she wanted, without the cruel monster to make her life a living hell and the sadness of seeing her mother waste away had been lifted from her shoulders, we were losing her.
I’d been ready to take her hand and lead her into a new life where she would only experience joy and happiness. We were werewolves so there would always be a need to fight and there was always an element of danger but I would have done everything I could have to keep her safe and protected.
