Chapter 517

Nina

Gasping, I came to a skidding halt and dropped to my knees next to the dark form laying on the forest floor. “Enzo,” I murmured as I rolled him onto his back. Blood and foam trickled out of his mouth, and I cursed under my breath.

Upon closer inspection, I saw it: the large gash in his abdomen. He must have been injured during the fight, and had clearly lost a lot of blood.

“Help!” I called out over my shoulder. “Help, he’s unconscious!”

“Nina!” my father’s distant voice replied. “Where are you?!”

“This way!”

While I waited for the others to arrive, I knew I had to do something quickly. Even though it likely wasn’t the best idea with the pregnancy, I had to act; I quickly pressed my fingers against the wound, wincing as I heard the blood and flesh squelch.

By the time the others came crashing through the woods and found me, I had managed to channel some of my healing energy into Enzo’s wound. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep him somewhat stable.

But when I went to stand, I felt myself turn lightheaded.

“Careful,” my mom said softly, grabbing my elbow before I could fall. “I’m here.”

“Enzo…” I murmured. I felt Lori and Jessica come to me, helping me steady myself as well.

“He’s alright,” my mother said. “They’re taking him to the infirmary now. Come on, let’s get you inside.”

…

By the time we reached the infirmary, they had already moved Enzo and Matt to their own beds. I gulped as I entered, hoping that neither of them was in horrible shape.

The infirmary was a long and narrow room, dimly lit by lanterns with several beds separated by curtains. A servant carrying a tray of various medications and ointments scurried through and slipped into one of the small areas without a word.

“Matt is behind there,” my father whispered as we passed through.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

My father nodded. “He’s banged up, but he’ll be okay. Same with Enzo. We have the best medicines here and a doctor on call.”

I let out a soft sigh of relief as I peered into Matt’s ‘room’ and found him awake. He was moaning under his breath because of the pain and there were various bandages covering parts of his body, but otherwise he seemed okay.

At least, physically he seemed like he was going to be okay. Mentally, though… How could someone recover from being nearly murdered by their best friend, not for the first time, but for the second time?

When I wandered further down and pulled the curtains aside and saw Enzo’s wrists strapped down, though, I felt a bubble of panic rise up inside of me.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing. “Why did you tie him down?”

My father ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Nina, you must understand that none of us wanted to do this,” he explained. “But he could be dangerous.”

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell my father that my husband wasn’t dangerous, but then closed it again. My father was right. Something was off with Enzo lately; he wasn’t in his right mind.

“I just want to know why he did this,” I whispered. “This is so unlike him.”

“I’ll tell you why.”

We turned at the sound of Matt’s crackled voice. When we pulled his curtain back again, he had cracked his eyes open and was looking right at us. The nurse was applying some sort of ointment to one of his wounds; perhaps it was giving him enough strength to speak.

“Matt, you don’t have to—” I began, but was quickly cut off.

“He said that I’m trying to usurp him as Alpha,” he croaked. “And that I… slept with you, Nina.”

I almost laughed out loud. “Slept with me?” I asked. “I’d never cheat on Enzo.”

Matt nodded stiffly. “I know. I tried telling him that neither of us would ever do something like that, but… I don’t know. There was something in his eyes. Something… unnatural.”

My father and I looked at each other, blinking with confusion. Something unnatural?

“What do you mean, son?” my father asked.

Matt shrugged. “I can’t really describe it. He just looked feral or something.”

“Feral…” My father ran a hand through his hair again and glanced over at the curtain behind which Enzo still lay fast asleep. I wracked my brain to think of reasons, but then it hit me.

“When we were trapped in Mila’s palace,” I said, “she made him fight a bear shifter. He said that that shifter looked feral, too. Like it had been—”

“Poisoned,” my father interrupted.

There was a tense silence as realization dawned on the three of us. “Do you think that’s what happened to him?” I asked, looking up at my dad. “That the same gasses that turned Mila and her followers insane affected him, somehow?”

My father furrowed his brow. “It’s a possibility,” he said. “But he’s been out of there for weeks now, and he was only there for a few days. It shouldn’t affect someone—especially not someone as strong as Enzo—that quickly.”

I bit my lip and turned away, my mind racing. If Enzo had been affected by the poisonous gasses, then that would explain the strange behavior he had been exhibiting lately.

But then again, Luke, Daphne and I had all been in there, too. And we were all fine.

“Well,” my father said, “we’ll get to the bottom of it eventually. But for now, let’s let everyone rest.” He released the curtain and Matt’s face disappeared from view. “Come, Nina. Let’s get you to bed.”

I shook my head, already taking a step toward Enzo’s bunk. “I’ll sleep here tonight,” I said.

My father knit his eyebrows together. “Nina, it’s not safe to—”

“He’s my husband,” I replied firmly. “He won’t hurt me. You already saw what happened out there.”

For a moment, my father opened his mouth to say something, probably to protest. But then, clearly thinking better of it, he nodded. “Alright. But leave his wrists tied,” he ordered. “If I come down here and find…”

“Don’t worry, Dad,” I said, opening the curtain to Enzo’s bunk. “I won’t.”

When I stepped into Enzo’s room and closed the curtain behind me, I drew in a shuddering breath. He lay motionless on the bed, his chest wrapped up in a large white bandage where he had been hurt.

I took a tentative step toward him, biting my lip as I took him in. “Oh, Enzo…” I whispered. Seeing him like this broke my heart. And to think that he believed that I had cheated on him broke it even more.

That night, I fell asleep with my head on his lap. I never once let go of his hand, not even for a moment.

Eventually, though, I came to when I felt movement beneath me. I jerked my head up, instinctively wiping a bit of drool away from my cheek with the back of my hand. A gasp escaped my lips then when I saw that Enzo’s eyes were open.

“Enzo,” I said softly. “You’re awake.”

But he didn’t look at me. He just stared past me, his eyes burning with that same feral fury that Matt had described.

“Enzo?” I whispered, reaching for him.

Suddenly, as I reached my hand out, his limbs jerked in his restraints as though trying to lunge for me. I leaped backwards, gasping as he snarled at me and continued to struggle against the straps holding him down. The leather creaked beneath the strain, threatening to snap at any moment.

“You fucking traitor,” he snarled, foaming at the corners of his mouth. “You bitch.”