Fated

Chapter 36: Just A Scratch

Addie's POV:

A sharp pain went through my chest so intensely I gasped, clutching my chest. Something was wrong. Something happened. Xander was hurt.

"Luna, what is it?" Katie asked, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't know," I breathed. "Something happened. Something happened to Xander."

I regretted it the instant I said it because my fear suddenly became amplified by about a thousand as I felt everyone else's. Damn, that pack connection.

"He'll be fine," Cassie said, scooting Katie over and sitting next to me, setting her hands on my shoulders. "Addie, look at me," she said, squeezing my shoulders gently. It was hard because I just felt like crying having the two most important people to me out there while I did nothing. Cassie squeezed my shoulders again and I looked up at her. "Xander has done things like this so many times he's going to be fine. This isn't the first time we knew something was up. He sometimes gets hurt. Sometimes other people get hurt. But they always pull through. Always."

I tried to feel reassured by her words but I just felt in the core of my being that something was wrong. Then I noticed Katie's expression. The same one Xander had when someone was speaking to him. I looked at her expectantly and she nervously brought her eyes to mine.

"Alpha was hit in the chest with a silver bullet," she said, swallowing hard. "But they think he's fine, it went on his right side, it didn't hit his heart. Kaden's carrying him back now. Tess has Travis and he's a little beat up but fine. It's over. They just need to get Alpha to Anna."

"Oh my God," I said, covering my face with my hands and allowing myself about two seconds of wallowing before I jumped up and headed to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Cassie asked, following after me.

"I'm going to be in the infirmary when he gets there," I said, running out the front door and across the field to the infirmary. I planned to inform Anna but I should know better by now that she already knew. She was rushing around and paused only briefly to give me a sympathetic smile.

"He'll be fine," she assured.

"Why isn't he just healing?" I asked. "Did the bullet stay in him? When Kaden's chains were off, he healed pretty fast."

"No, it went through but silver still takes longer to heal than normal and a bullet wound takes even longer," she explained. "His body has to heal internally and externally. Kaden may have looked healed on the surface but he was still sore afterwards. Don't worry, this isn't the first time he's been hit with silver."

Yeah, like that made me feel better. I wrapped my arms around myself and turned towards the door, waiting to see them come through. It felt like forever before Kaden burst through the doors, covered in blood. I reminded myself to keep my breathing even when I saw Xander in his arms, breathing harshly and covered in even more blood.

Oh, God, please let him be okay...

Kaden set him down and I stood back so Anna could work. It wasn't easy. I wanted to run to him, I wanted to hold his hand and tell him it would be fine.

"Kaden, are you okay?" Anna asked, only glancing up at Kaden briefly. "I could use the help."

"I'm good," Kaden nodded, opening one of the cupboards lining the wall and pulling out a pair of shorts and slipping them on. "He's going to be fine. We got this," Kaden assured as he walked past me and washed his hands before going to Anna's side.

"Luna, it's okay," Anna said, glancing back at me. "You being close might actually help because of the bond."

I definitely didn't need more prompting than that. I ran to his side and picked up his hand, trying desperately not to stare at the spot where the blood was pooling while Anna tried to stop it. Kaden was prepping an IV and I reminded myself I needed to be strong for Xander. He needed to feel assured in our bond, not freaked out.