Van, Becca - Keira's Wolf Saviors [Pack Law 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (13 page)

Keira must have closed her eyes, because when she opened them, her mom and dad were standing before her.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?” Keira asked with confusion.

“It’s not your time, Keira. You must go back,” her mom said.

“I’m so tired, Mom. I just want to sleep.”

“No, Keira.” Her dad spoke up. “You must fight. You can’t give up. You have three very special men who love and need you. You will go back, daughter. Everything is done for a purpose. You must remember that.”

“I don’t know if I have the strength to fight anymore,” Keira sobbed.

“You have more strength than you’ll ever know,” Keira’s mom said with a smile. “Do not worry over David. It was not your fault. He only has himself to blame. You tried so hard, baby. We are so proud of you. We will always be watching over you, Keira. Never forget that. You are going to be so strong. There is a greater purpose at work here. Embrace your new life, daughter. Don’t let the rules of society impinge on the love you have for those three men. Take what they give you and hold on tight. It was meant to be. We love you, Keira.”

“Don’t go. Stay with me! I love you,” Keira called out as her parents began to fade back into the light. She tried to keep her eyes open, but she was so tired. Her eyelids slid closed, and she drifted away.

* * * *

Greg, along with his brothers and Alphas, launched himself into the air at the sound of gunshot fire. They had changed from man to beast in the blink of an eye, before their four paws landed back on the floor. He was outside in a flash and pounced on the man who was standing over his mate and queen. He leaped up and ripped his throat out before the man could raise the gun at him. The stranger hit the ground moments after his death. Greg was at his mate’s side an instant later, once more in his human form.

The sight of his mate lying on the path with blood pouring from her side sent tears coursing down his cheeks. His Alphas’ queen was lying beneath Keira, her face white with shock. His Alphas and his brothers helped to lift his Keira from Michelle, and Greg placed his hands over her rib cage where the bullet had entered. In moments his hands were covered with her blood. He pushed down hard, trying to stem the flow, but it didn’t seem to help. He could hear how slow and erratic Keira’s heartbeat was and knew they were about to lose her. He looked up at his Alpha Jonah when he felt the man place his hand on his shoulder.

“You have to turn her, Greg. It’s the only chance she has at surviving,” Jonah stated quietly.

“I can’t, it will kill her,” Greg cried with anguish.

“She’s dead if you don’t try. I can feel her slipping away just as you can,” Jonah said.

“I don’t know if I can. The thought of ripping into her flesh sickens me. It goes against everything a mate does to protect his woman,” Greg said through his tears.

“Let me do it,” Chris Friess, Jonah’s cousin and Beta said, stepping forward. Greg saw him look to Jonah, who gave a nod in acquiescence. “Get a hold of Greg and his brothers. I don’t want them trying to rip my throat out.”

Greg resisted being pulled away from Keira, but he was dragged back several feet. He and his brothers had four men apiece holding them back. He knew this was the only way Keira had a chance of survival, but he knew what came next. He could feel his beast pushing against him for dominance and tried to keep control. He watched as Chris transformed into his wolf, and then he ravaged his woman violently. The sound of Chris’s snarls as he tore at Keira’s stomach and organs made fur erupt out of his skin, claws piercing through his fingertips, and his face contorting. He and his brothers howled as their mate convulsed and was ripped apart. He was aware of Chris backing away from his mate and changing back to his human form, but the sight of Blayk working on Keira’s body transfixed him. He pumped her chest and breathed for her, keeping her alive with his own breath.

Blayk didn’t let up once on Keira. Not when his Alphas helped to transfer her to a portable stretcher, or while they wheeled his mate to the doctor’s office at the back of the house. Greg and his brothers followed. His body felt as if it were on automatic. He was aware of everything around him, but it all seemed so surreal.

Greg stood at the back of the room with Jake and Devon, willing their mate to breathe on her own. An oxygen mask was placed over Keira’s mouth and nose, while Blayk kept her heart pumping. Blayk told his brothers Chris and James to place the heart monitor tags on Keira’s chest. His woman was linked up to the ECG moments later, and her slow, erratic heartbeat was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.

Blayk hooked his mate up to a drip, and then he worked on her injuries. The sight of her stomach ripped to shreds and the jagged bullet hole made his wolf push against him again, but he was more in control now that Chris had finished tearing his mate apart. Blayk pulled the bullet from Keira’s side and began washing her wounds with saline and disinfectant. Greg knew there was no need to do anything more. If the attack on his mate from his cousin had taken, Keira’s transformation into a werewolf had already begun. Now it was just a waiting game.

Blayk collected a couple of bags of blood and hooked his mate up to begin the transfusion. Greg knew that the blood would be from him and his brothers. All the pack members gave blood regularly in case of any grievous wounds to the wolves of the pack. By giving Keira blood from him, Jake, and Devon she would have a better chance of survival since their DNA was already in her system.

His knees buckled as the heart monitor went crazy. His mate’s heart was beating so fast and erratically that he was scared it was the end. He rushed over to her side and took her hand in his own. Her body began shaking, and then she convulsed on the table. He helped Blayk hold his mate down so she wouldn’t fall from the bed. She had foam frothing around her mouth, and her eyes snapped open. She opened her mouth and screamed. The sound was so full of pain. He felt tears running down his cheeks again. When he looked up he saw Jake and Devon at Keira’s side, and they each touched her anywhere they could. Greg heard the sound of his own tortured voice from a distance, pleading with his mate to fight and live. Her body stopped mid convulsion, and she slumped back onto the bed. She was so quiet and still. Her back no longer bowed. He laid his head down next to Keira’s and wept.

The sound of the steady breathing and the now-steady heartbeat blipping on the monitor began to penetrate his senses. He lifted his head from the bed, not caring that everyone in the room could see the tears he’d shed for the woman he loved. He saw his brothers’ eyes and cheeks were just as wet as his.

Greg looked over to Blayk and saw his cousin smiling. Renewed hope surged into him, filling his empty heart with joy, but he gave Blayk a questioning look.

“She’s not out of the woods yet. The next few hours will be the most critical, but I think the change has taken. Her heartbeat is stronger and she’s resting peacefully. The wounds should close up in the next hour, and then she’ll sleep a deep, healing sleep,” Blayk explained.

Greg was too choked up to speak, so he gave his cousin a nod of thanks. He looked to Chris, who now stood at the back of the room, away from his mate. The man looked really worried as Greg stood up and walked toward him. He reached out and thumped Chris on the back.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving my mate,” Greg said, his voice sounding emotional even to his own ears. His cousin gave him a nod, smiled, and thumped him in return. He watched as Chris left the room without a backward glance.

Greg sat at Keira’s bedside without moving for the next four hours, his brothers right beside him. He watched as Blayk checked Keira’s vital signs every hour on the hour. He gave her two more pints of blood, and his mate rested peacefully. Her wounds had closed, and if he hadn’t seen them with his own eyes, he would never have known they existed.

Blayk had tried to get Greg and his brothers to leave the room to rest, but there was no way in hell he was leaving until he knew for sure his mate was out of the woods. Pack members were in and out of the room checking on him, his brothers, and his mate all throughout the long night. Angie the housekeeper kept sending a different person out with food and drink for him, his brothers, and Blayk. He wasn’t interested in the food, but the coffee helped to keep him alert, especially in the early hours of the morning. His eyelids were so heavy and his eyes so sore from crying earlier that he ended up closing them for a moment, his head resting on the side of the bed, his cheek against the back of Keira’s hand.

The next thing he knew was the light touch of fingers running through his hair. He opened his eyes and looked up to see Keira looking at him from beneath lowered lashes. She smiled at him as her eyes closed once more, the sound of her sweet voice filling him with love and joy.

“I love you,” Keira whispered, and then she was sound asleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Keira gained strength steadily over the next few days. She was released from the medical room and allowed back into the house and her mates’ bed, but only if she rested. Of course she agreed. She felt so much stronger than she had before and knew she had been changed into a werewolf. She had found out from her mates the stranger who had tried to shoot Michelle had been one of David’s cronies out to get Keira but aimed for the wrong woman. Fate had stepped in, and Keira had ended up shot anyway. She had nearly died, and the only way for her mates to keep her by their side had been to change her.

Michelle visited her often and had told her how Chris had ripped into her stomach and organs to begin the change. The DNA of a werewolf was like a virus to a normal human being and had to be deeply embedded into the body to take. The only way the Friess Pack members had heard of a change ever taking was by violently ripping deep enough into the flesh so the virus could begin to mutate.

Keira thanked God she hadn’t been aware of any of that. The thought of the pain she would have endured if she had been conscious still made her feel ill.

Greg, Jake, and Devon were with her nearly all the time. They took shifts to keep her occupied by playing games of cards, checkers, and chess with her. Even Jonah, Mikhail, and Brock visited her regularly. They had each thanked her for saving their mate’s and unborn child’s lives.

Keira was getting sick and tired of being cooped up in the same room night and day and, after the fourth day of convalescence, decided she’d had enough. She decided she was going to have her lunch downstairs with the rest of the pack. She missed the having lots of people around her.

“What the hell are you doing out of bed? God, Keira you shouldn’t be up,” Greg stated vehemently.

“Oh, yes, I should. I feel fine. In fact I’ve never felt better. I need to get out of that room, Greg. I’ll go crazy if I have to spend another minute in there,” Keira replied.

“Okay. But if I see any signs of you getting tired you’ll be back in that bed before you can blink,” Greg stated quietly.

“Deal. Let’s go,” Keira said with a smile and headed downstairs, Greg on her heels.

Keira walked into the dining room and took her seat beside Jake. Devon jumped up from his seat and moved over to where Greg usually sat. He and Jake glared at her.

“What the fuck are you doing down here, Keira?” Devon snapped.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to eat lunch,” Keira replied.

“Don’t you get sassy with me, little girl. You should be in bed resting,” Devon grumbled.

Keira had had enough of being looked after. She glanced down the table to see Blayk smiling at her as he watched Jake and Devon scowling at her.

“Blayk, you gave me the all clear, right?” Keira asked loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“Yes, Keira. You’re right as rain. I’d say you’re even better than before,” Blayk replied with a smile and a wink.

“Thank you,” Keira said to Blayk and turned back to Devon and Jake, who were now eyeing her surreptitiously. “I’m hungry. Can you please pass the steak?”

Keira sat back after eating and wondered where she put all the food she had consumed. She felt like she’d made an absolute pig of herself and looked up to see her mates smiling at her. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment and lowered her eyes to her plate, but she could still feel their eyes on her. She finally looked up at them and glared.