Chapter 123

Alyson

I try to fight Olivera from going into the office, but he easily grabs my wrist, twists it, and nudges me out the doorway. He's too smart and too strong for me right now, my head blotted with the sleepiness that I can't seem to shake. I grab at his arm, at his shirt sleeve, and dig my heals against the ground. He drags me a few paces before finally stopping.

"You're a persistent little bug," he snaps, releasing my hands off of his shirt and giving me a stern look. "We have to find out what this cure does to an Alpha and as it stands, I'm the one best capable here of verbalizing the aftermath of taking this cure. If it makes things worse, so be it."

I feel my heart patter to a screeching halt. "What does worse contain?"

He looks to the healer, the vial on the desk nearby, and then back to meet my eyes. "I could die, of course, or I could only loose my wolf. I'm happy to put both on the line to see if this stuff is worthy of fixing Ryan, fixing all the rogues locked up, and freeing them all of the cage this infection has put them in."

Hearing the risk, I grab at his elbow again, forbidding him from continuing onward. "You could die? Olivera, no. You can't take this risk. It's too dangerous, please, don't."

He cracks his typical grin, snooty and snarky as ever. "Why are you worried about death, sweetheart? I am not scared of my fate."

My throat catches and I hold back a cry. "Please, Olivera. I am scared for you."

"Why is that, sweetheart?"

"Because I know death," I groan, flinching at the memory of y own passing. "It's not fun. It's terrifying and disorienting and—and you'd be gone. Away from this world."

"I have nothing left in this world to stick around for," he says, shrugging, like he is talking over the weather or something menial. "My mate would be happy to see me on the other side, anyways, and I'd get to meet our pup."

I can't miss his eyes scan the sight of my stomach. It makes me break into a weep.

"Don't do that," he says, wiping my cheeks dry but I still cry endlessly. "You can't be more upset over the probability of my death than myself. It doesn't work that way. Plus, this cure might just work enough to heal Ryan after all, and I will be fine."

"I don't want you to risk finding out," I exclaim. Turning my focus to the healer, watching him grasp the full needle. "Please, don't allow this to happen."

Olivera pulls his opposite sleeve up, exposing his arm as he nods the healer over.

"I have a duty to protect my Alpha," the healer breathes, holding the needle outward. "If that means running this test on a willing wolf, then I have to take that opportunity. I have to do this for Alpha Ryan Alexander. He has to survive."

I aim to scream, to push Olivera aside so this doesn't happen, but the rogue Alpha knows me far too well. He shoves me backwards and I hit the ground on my ass, watching the needle slide effortlessly into the back of his arm. I cover my mouth with my hand, seeing Olivera twitch lightly as the syringe leaves his surface.

Instead of trying to appear strong as always, I see the rogue Alpha's surface begin to crumble. He falls backwards into the nearest chair, drawing a long breath, and I crawl over to his side, resting my palms onto his knees. He stares at me blankly, shaking his head like he is trying to shake a headache.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" the healer prods.

I snarl a noise in his direction. "I told you not to allow this, dammit. If anything happens to him, you will be held accountable for it."

The healer looks petrified but goes about checking Olivera's pulse and his temperature. The rogue Alpha seems to be a little stirred up in his mind but other than the sheen of sweat over his forehead, he seems fairly normal.

"Please, say something," I beg.

Olivera tips his head down, his hands curling into fists. "It's odd—" he gasps, fatigued and panting now. "It—it feels like—like—"

His eyes go dark and glassy, his wolf shifting forward and trying to take control, but his irises shift back to their cyan color. They swap back and forth a few times, dizzyingly changing how Olivera relaxes and tenses between transitions.

I grab his hand, needing to relax him, but when he tenses, his fingers threaten to snap my wrist into a million boney splinters. The healer dislodges my hand from the rogue Alpha and we both back up, watching him struggle between shifting and not shifting. Olivera is trying hard to stay in this form but just in case he can't manage to do so successfully, we press up against the farthest wall possible.

"Is this suppose to happen?" I pant.

Olivera screams, ripping into the fabric of the chair where he struggles.

"I don't know, Luna, I don't know what will happen. I think this is the change in the blood compounds right now. He could possibly be taking the molecule change and when it stops, it could be just a taxing event and his wolf will be fine, but I don't know for sure."

"I hate this," I gasp.

Seeing the rogue Alpha thrash and scream and fight to stay in mortal form, it only makes me sob harder, needing this to be over, needing him to be okay. He bellows a roar so loud that I'm surprised he stays conscious after it, hitting the floor on his hands and knees and screaming into the tile floor.

I cover my ears, hearing my own pulse and watching helplessly as Olivera gives his life and his wolf up for the mere change that this cure will save my mate, save the rogues, and yet I only believed half of his reasoning.

Hearing I am pregnant with pups, I know it struck a cord in his heart about losing his pregnant mate. He hadn't known she was pregnant long, but since then, I can't deny that he has probably considered this moment a lot, just under different circumstances. He is content with dying in order to prove the cure works.

I don't take the same opinion at all.

If he dies, it will be heartbreaking beyond comprehension.