Slate's Mistake (9 page)

Chapter Six

Katie nearly gave in to the mating pull when Slate had
picked her up for their date, and again when he was naked, after running those
thugs off. That was why she chose not to stay at the house. Making that choice
had been brutal on her. There was no doubting whose side her dad and sister
were on. Twice, she was reminded how fortunate finding one’s mate was, by her
dad. He had always been open in telling them how much he himself longed for his
mate. And once she got home, her sister told her that even though she was
really young, no matter what phase of life she would find herself in, she herself
would drop everything for her mate. It just meant that much to them. Katie couldn’t
blame them. If you think about it, really what would anyone do to have their
soul-mate?

Katie didn’t think she could fight it much longer. It was
so painful pushing away someone you already wanted to spend your life with, but
she kept holding on to the argument that she didn’t want to endanger him if she
couldn’t be healed.

Shortly after she gone to bed her dad knocked on her
door, waking her.

“Katie, wake up.”

“What is it?”

“Tom called. The alpha
house was
attacked, and there are
injured. Slate’s one of them.”

Katie’s eyes felt like someone threw sand in them and
her body was heavy with fatigue, but hearing her mate was injured, her heart
raced with near panic. She staggered to her feet and hastily dressed and
climbed into the passenger seat of her dad’s pickup. The truck bounced and
rocked over the potholes, so she held tight to the seatbelt around the corners.
Her dad wasn’t driving slowly, but it was still slower then she would have
wanted. Her sister, Sara, sat in the middle, and they were all silent as the
characteristic rattle of a diesel engine droned through the cab.

Katie worried about Slate, and she felt an over whelming
need to get to him and care for him.
Damn
mating pull!
She needed her concentration, but it had been constantly
botching her self-control.

As they pulled up to the house, she could clearly see
some of the damage from the invasion. Windows were shattered, leaving some
shards still jagged in the sills. The white door lay splintered and broken in
the entryway leaving a clear view into the mess of the home, hinting at the
violence that had taken place. She had already reached the entryway and was
looking in to the lit space before she even registered that she had left the
truck. Bodies and blood were strewn everywhere, adding a metallic odor to the
smell of smoke.

Debris crunched under her feet when she carefully made
her way over the slick surface as she entered the home. She didn’t want anyone
to mistake her for another attacker, so she tried to announce herself while she
headed toward the doctor’s room.
“Anyone here?”

Gale appeared by her side and gave her a worried look.
Katie stared at the thick layer of blood that coated Gale’s hands and went
clear up to her elbows. Blood smudged her attire in various quantities over
much of her legs and chest. “Hi, Katie, you’re a nurse, right?”

Katie hesitated before she responded. She wanted to
first go to her mate and check on him and hold his hand, or something, just to
reassure herself that he was ok, but the atmosphere triggered her nursing
instincts and she knew she needed to prioritize life over her own assurances.
“Yes, where do you need me?”

“Seamus asked for you to join him as soon as you
arrived. He’s in the medical room.”

Katie carefully made her way to the room. She hardly
noticed the blood that painted the walls as she made her way down the hall to
said room. Wrapping her hand around the knob, she took a steadying breath then
twisted it and walked in.

The air whooshed painfully from her lungs at seeing
her mate with huge holes and lacerations over his arms, legs, hips, and torso.
She had never gotten sick at the sight of anything before now, but ice cold
fear raced up her spine and pooled into her gut, churning and knotting it into
a quivering jelly pot that threatened to empty itself at the contrast of the
dark red streaks that stained the paled skin of her mate who lay motionless on
sheets, heavily soaked with his blood. She could see an IV dripping into his
arm and bloody haphazard gauze in spots.

Seamus didn’t turn his head from the wound he was
trying to stitch when she entered, but he seemed to have known it was her. “I’m
relieved you came. As you can see, I can use your help.”

Although her throat went dry and constricted slightly
at the horrific sight of her mate, she managed to quietly squeak out a
response. “I’ll go wash up.”

“I’m not that concerned about infection right now. After
you grab some gloves, come here and hold this for me.”

Katie quickly did as he told without question. She
rushed to the bedside and held the blood-soaked gauze firm against the wound as
the doctor worked as fast as he could to sew up around the area. She helped
hand him different tools he needed, pressed where he needed pressure, and did
every other task she was taught to assist a doctor during surgery.

At the sound of a soft creak, she looked up to see who
just walked in the door. Alphy stood half in and half out. “How’d you get him
to shift? Did he regain consciousness?” His voice sounded slightly hopeful.

“Briefly, long enough for me to tell him his mate was
on her way over and if he wanted her hands on his body, he’d better go skin.”

“Tricky, doctor.
I’m impressed.” He tried to tease, but the worry
lines gave him away. “How’s he doing?”

“More pressure, Katie,” the doctor mumbled, snapping
her out of her shock.
Did the doctor
really say that to Slate?
Did she really have that much power over him?
He was in lion form when he was hurt?

Her head swam with questions, but she locked them in
the back of her mind as she focused on her task while listening to what Seamus
had to say about the man she loved.
Crap,
I’m in love with him.

“He’s lost a shitload of blood. I’ve got an IV going,
but if he loses much more, it could easily go south. With Katie’s help, I’ve
been able to work fast enough to get him stabilized, but it’s a fragile balance
so no promises.”

Alphy’s voice was lowered. “Thanks, Sea, I’ll let the
others know. Just to let you know, Kace still needs stitches, but I’ve hooked
him up to an IV and with Gale’s help, and a few shifts, we were able to stop
the bleeding so he seems to be doing much better. He’s sleeping right now. His
body temp also rose.”

Seamus twisted his hand around, working the stitching.
“Good, I’ll be there as soon as I’m done here. I’ll have to do a quick check to
make sure there aren’t any hidden issues, but it sounds like he’ll be all right.”
Alphy left with only the sound of the snip of the door latching behind him.

“With the elevated temp, aren’t you concerned for
infection?” She had to ask.

Seamus shook his head. “Shifters run hotter than
humans, but when they are injured then their temp rises a little more. It’s
their way of healing. The sleep is also helpful.”

 
“How did he
know how to hook up an IV?”

“Alphy’s been in the military a long time. He’s
learned enough in the field.”

It was noon by the time she and Seamus were able to
take a break. After using the toilet, she made her way into the kitchen and
grabbed some food that Connie had made. The house was empty of bodies, and
boards were placed over the broken windows. A new door was finally fitted into
the place of the front door, but the glass entrance in the back was just
covered in plastic. Glass and wood no longer crunched under her feet, but the
blood couldn’t get cleaned up before it set in so plastic was placed on the
floor until the men could tear it out. The house didn’t have close neighbors, which
was why no one called the police when the invasion happened, and the invaders
used silencers on their rifles, so the only things that had made any sound were
whatever had taken down the doors and broke the windows.

Katie piled up two plates and headed back to the
medical room where Slate was still lying unconscious. As far as she knew, he
had yet to regain consciousness, but she felt like it would be soon, and he
needed food. Earlier, she had cleaned him off as best she could and then
removed the bloodied sheets. She had placed a heavy blanket over the mattress
and then put a clean sheet over it. That was no picnic as she had to roll Slate
on his side and do one side, then roll him over to do the same on the other.
But as she looked at him now, she saw just a hint more color in his skin from
the elevated temperature his body sported to heal, which was why she had only a
sheet covering him up to his waist.

Placing the food on the nightstand, she headed back
out for drinks. She moved a chair closer to the bedside and started to eat her
meal. As she ate, she took the time to study his tattoos. The larger one was on
his shoulder. It was a black-hilted dagger with two arrows crossing over it in
an X. Around it was a lion’s mane and underneath was written “De
Oppresso
Liber”. The other tattoo, which stretched across
the right side of his ribs, simply read “It is better to conquer yourself than
to win a war”. It was obvious these two tattoos had meaning, and she was
curious what they meant to him.

 
She was almost
done eating when she saw him stir just a little. Katie’s heart pounded in her
chest with excitement and anticipation. Reaching her hand out and placing it on
top of his, she watched his face while praying silently for him to wake up. His
skin still felt feverish under her hand.

His eyes rolled under their lids then tried to flutter
open.

“That’s it, Slate, wake up for me.” She kept her voice
low. Light brown eyes fluttered more, then fixed onto hers. She spread her
mouth wide in a smile of relief. “There you are.” She placed her plate back on
the nightstand. She slid one hand under his and used her other hand to cover
the top. “How do you feel?”

His hand lightly squeezed hers. “Better now that
you’re here.” She snickered at his corniness, and he joined her at the
derision. “Seriously though, I feel complete with you here.”

Katie brought his hand up and rested her forehead on
the knot of fingers. “I feel better with you, too.” Suddenly, she couldn’t
carry her emotional burden any longer, and she started to cry. After a moment,
she was able to regain control. She felt his thumb rub her cheek. “Slate, I’ve
got cancer. If we mate, you’ll die if I can’t get better. I don’t want you to
die.” She was barely able to get the last sentence out before she broke down
again. Her shoulders shook with her sobs, but she didn’t let go of his hands.

“Baby-Kate, look at me.” His rough but gentle voice
pulled her to do what he asked. She sniffed her runny nose and listened to what
he had to say. “I love you already. If anything should happen to you, whether
we are mated or not, I’d die. I could never be with anyone else, ever. I don’t
need a mark to bond to you, I already am.”

Katie drew in her breath. “You love me?” Even as she
said it, butterflies tickled her belly, and she felt in her heart it was true.
What’s more, she felt the same way about him. Her one and only argument for
keeping her distance was just lost, and now there wasn’t anything holding her
back from a destined mating.

Slate smiled.
“Yes, even more then
my own breath.
I know we don’t know each other well, but fate never
makes mistakes, and as I get to know you more, I could only fall more in love
with you. The mating pull isn’t the foundation, it’s just the beacon a shifter
is granted to show them out of the billions on the planet, that that one person
is the one meant for them. If you’ll let me, I want to have that connection
with you.”

Katie opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted
by a knock on the door. She turned and looked to see Seamus walking into the
room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Katie, but there is a pack meeting taking place
in just a few moments, and the alpha’s orders are everyone, including you, is
to be there.”

Katie looked back at Slate and turned back to face
Seamus. “What about Slate?”

“He’s the only exception. I’m sure you’ll agree he’s
in no condition to be getting up and around.”

She nodded and turned back to her mate. “I’ll be back
later, so why don’t you try to eat while I’m at the meeting?” Leaning over the
lion shifter, she brushed her lips across his then pulled back. A plan started
forming in her mind.

After leaving the room, she found a seat in the
crowded living room. Every member had to have been there. She stood in the back
of the room next to her sister and dad. The flutter of nerves rippled through
her stomach at seeing them and how her plans would affect them. While others
still situated themselves, she thought now was a good time to mention
something.

Leaning towards her dad and keeping her voice at a
whisper, she told him what she wanted to do. She didn’t have to look at her
sister to know she was listening, too. Katie stopped when the alpha stepped
into the room and raised his hands to quiet the group.