Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (22 page)

“I want to see her,” she begged. “Please,
Talon. She’s my baby sister.”

“Come,” he said, wrapping an arm around her
shoulders. His other hand laid flat against her stomach.

Panthers and Guardians lined the driveway to
Winter’s cabin. Liberty hurried ahead of him to get to the door. As
soon as they stepped inside, the healer was coming out of the
bedroom.

“How is she?” Liberty demanded.

“She’s a little beat up, but otherwise
okay,” Harold answered. “Winter is with her now.”

“Can I see her?” she asked, squeezing
Talon’s hand for support.

“Yes,” Harold nodded. “She does need to
rest. So, don’t stay too long.”

Liberty nodded and walked toward the
bedroom. Talon knocked twice on the door and only entered when he
heard Winter call out a greeting.

“Liberty?” Nova mumbled against Winter’s
bare chest.

“Oh, Nova,” Liberty cried, rushing around
the side of the bed so she could take her sister into her arms.
“What can I do?”

“Nothing,” Nova sighed, looking down at the
bed. Winter sat up and wiped his hand down his face in frustration.
“You can do nothing. I’m fine.” With the way Nova spoke, she was
far from fine.

“Your sister needs to shower,” Winter
interrupted.

“I’ll shower in a few minutes,” Nova
growled.

“Can you leave us for a moment?” Liberty
asked, turning toward the two men. The hard glare to her mate got
him moving. Talon didn’t waste any time, clasping his hand over
Winter’s shoulder and escorting him out of the room. Liberty could
feel the tension rolling off of her sister’s mate, but Nova’s anger
was eating her alive.

“I wasn’t…” Nova paused, her voice barely
above a whisper. “I wasn’t strong enough to fight him off,
Liberty.” Tears leaked from her sister’s eyes and Liberty wrapped
her arms around Nova, holding her as close as possible.

“But you did,” Liberty said, hoping that her
words would give Nova strength. It wasn’t like her sister to be
this quiet and reserved.

“No, I made a stupid mistake,” she cursed.
“I got lucky. That’s all that happened.”

“You won’t be unprotected again,” Liberty
promised.

“Do you think I want a babysitter for the
rest of my life?” Nova rubbed at her throat and her arms. “I don’t
ever want to put another person at risk.”

Her sister was right. She would never be
able to defend herself against an enemy as strong as a shifter. It
just wasn’t possible. Just the thought that Perry could’ve taken
Nova away from Liberty sent her panther forward, pushing for
release.

“Talon and Winter won’t change you,” Liberty
said, lowering her voice, but knew that if her mate was standing
outside the door, he heard every word.

Nova seemed to struggle with her thoughts,
picking at an invisible thread on the sheet. When her sister raised
her eyes, she knew what was coming, and she was already shaking her
head.

“No, Nova,” Liberty protested.

“Yes, Liberty,” Nova begged. “You won’t let
me suffer.”

“I can’t do it,” she replied.

“Get your healer, Liberty,” Nova pushed,
taking a deep breath. “I want you to change me…tonight.”

“Nova,” Liberty warned. “I can’t. I’m
pregnant.”

“But I can,” Winter announced from the
threshold of the doorway. “You’re right, Nova. You can’t protect
yourself against one of us. It’s only right that I make you what I
am.”

Liberty changed places with Winter, meeting
her mate in the hallway. “I’ll call the healer.”

“I need all of my Guardians
here…
now
,” Talon ordered over his shoulder. Savage and Booth
left the cabin quickly, obviously getting all of their brothers to
Winter’s cabin. Liberty shivered when she thought about what was
about to happen.

“Is he going to have to be sedated?” Liberty
asked.

“I’m afraid so,” the alpha replied. “Are you
going to be able to stay with your sister when Winter won’t be able
to be at her side?”

“I’ll be there,” Liberty promised. “Just
tell me what I have to do.”

“Let’s get everyone into place,” Talon said,
kissing the top of Liberty’s head. “It’s going to be a long three
days.”

Chapter Eighteen

Nova watched Winter’s eyes change. The blue
faded slowly as the glow of amber bled into place. She reached up
and traced his brow with her fingertip. His head turned, and her
mate pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand. His mating scent
drifted from his body as a soft purr rattled in his chest.

“If you can tell the healer you are in pain,
please tell him,” Winter whispered. “Don’t fight through it.”

“What is going to happen? How does this
work?” Nova shifted on the bed nervously. She was trying to be
strong for what was coming, but she was honestly scared to death.
She’d never tell Winter that she was, because if she did, he would
change his mind.

“You will take my blood,” he said, turning
over his wrist. “You will drink it until I pull away, not a second
sooner.”

“When will I know that I’ve had enough of
your blood?” she asked.

“When you start screaming in pain,” he
choked out, his eyes blinking rapidly to clear the wetness that had
gathered at the corners. His hands cupped her face and he stared
meaningfully into her eyes. “I mean it, Nova. Do not try and make
it through the pain. You have to scream…do anything you can to let
us know you need medicine.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

The healer entered the room, a black bag
clasped in his left hand and a stethoscope around his neck. He
moved to place his bag on the dresser, but didn’t speak.

Nova’s heart raced as the realization of her
decision struck her. She looked into Winter’s eyes and found
comfort in his amber gaze. His panther was close, wanting out.
There was peace in knowing that not only did Winter love her, but
in some strange way, his panther did too.

“My two protectors,” she whispered, cupping
the side of his face. When she stroked his cheekbone softly, his
panther purred, making Nova smile.

“Always,” he promised, leaning forward to
kiss her lips.

“Ms. Raines?” Harold announced, coming
toward the bed. “Has your mate told you about what will
happen?”

“Yes,” Nova said, leaning into Winter’s
side.

The healer pulled out several syringes from
his bag, all filled with some sort of clear liquid. He placed them
side by side on a white towel he had already laid out on the top of
the dresser.

“Whenever you are ready,” Harold said, his
voice calm and sure.

“I’m ready,” Nova replied, her voice
stronger than she actually felt.

Winter took a deep breath and raised his
wrist to his mouth. The sound of tearing flesh was the only sound
in the room. Their eyes locked, his amber to her brown. His other
hand tangled in the hair at the back of her neck, tightening his
hold so that she was rendered immobile.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, a lone tear leaking
from her mate’s eye as he pressed his bleeding wrist against her
lips. “Drink, Nova.” His sharp command was spat with his canines
present, blood still dripping from the tips.

The coppery warmth slid down her throat and
she closed her eyes tightly. She could feel the blood as it landed
heavily in her stomach. Swallowing again, she whimpered when a dull
ache started in her stomach and branched out to her sides.

“More, Nova,” Winter snarled. “Come on,
little one.”

Nova’s eyes flew open as the first true pain
hit, causing her arms to seize and her legs to draw up against her
chest. Winter still held her even though she was in sort of a
sitting fetal position.

“Drink, Nova!”
Oh, God! This hurts so
bad! What have I done?

She bucked against his hold, but she didn’t
scream. The blood was making her arms warm, her face felt flushed.
Her muscles twisted and cramped.

“Don’t stop,” he snarled, just as the pain
struck.

The pain was excruciating and like nothing
she’d ever felt. The broken wrist she’d had was nothing more than a
small bruise compared to the feel of a million knives piercing her
body. She tried to scream, but Winter only urged her to drink more
of his blood.

A commotion sounded by the door and she
tried to cast her eyes sideways, but her vision blurred. A prick at
her arm barely registered as Winter removed his wrist, pushing her
back onto the bed. He immediately wrapped his body around hers as
she screamed.

There was no conscious thought as to what
time it was as she cried out in agony, the pain only subsiding
after the pin prick to her arm. How many times was the healer going
to give her pain medicine? And why wasn’t it working?

Her screams echoed through his mind,
overlapping as they sounded throughout the house. He hadn’t left
her side since she’d taken his blood. The females had come by every
hour to bring him some water. The food they’d brought for breakfast
sat cold and untouched on the nightstand at his back.

Liberty had to be removed from his home
after the first few hours. She’d gone into a bit of distress at
hearing Nova scream, and the healer had told Talon to take her
home. Winter, on the other hand, was barely holding on. His panther
was so close to taking over, he could feel his beast just under his
skin, rolling with anxiety.

He remembered the pain, the begging for
death. If there was some way to take this pain from his mate, he
would do it. Feeling her body jerk and shiver, her skin swapping
from hot to cold, was killing him. He’d shed so many tears in the
last half day, he didn’t think he had any more to shed. They still
had over forty-eight hours to go before she would shift for the
first time.

“Harold!” Winter barked when Nova began to
twist and turn, a garbled sound of agony bubbling out of her
throat. Her eyes opened for about two seconds. Small amber and blue
flecks floated in her brown eyes, signaling that the panther was
forming and taking over her body just as it had done to his not so
long ago.

“Give me her arm,” the healer ordered,
leaning over Winter’s back. He pressed the needle into her skin
right below the last injection. Only this time, the skin healed
immediately upon the withdrawal. There was no little red spot where
the skin had broken. That was another good sign. She was healing
quickly.

“I need to cut off her cast,” Harold said,
walking over to his bag. “She should be healed enough now.”

Winter held her as the cast was removed. He
rubbed Nova’s arm and wrist as he settled her back into a position
that seemed to keep her from fighting him. On her right side, she
was calmer, a little more relaxed. At least, she was until the
medicine wore off and she’d begin jerking around in his arms
again.

“Winter,” Talon’s mother announced at the
door. “We came to bathe your mate and change out the sheets. Why
don’t you go down and have some food while we take care of
her?”

“No,” he growled, flashing his canines at
the alpha’s mother. “I’m not leaving her.”

“Okay,” she sighed, holding up her hands in
defense. If anyone knew what Winter was going through, it would be
Talon and his own mother. It hadn’t been but two months since they
had done the same thing with Liberty. “You need to at least eat the
food we bring you, son.”

“I will bathe her,” he said, nodding toward
the bathroom. “Place your supplies in there and leave us.”

“She should be okay for a few more hours,”
Harold said, gathering a newspaper he’d been reading while he held
vigil in a high back chair in the corner of Winter’s room. The
healer followed the matriarch of the Shaw family out as she left
the room, pulling the door closed.

Winter stroked the strands of hair back from
Nova’s face. Beads of sweat dotted her brow, her eyes were closed
as she rested for a short amount of time.