Forsaken by the Moon Goddess novel Chapter 85

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Benedict

I wake slowly with the smell of antiseptic mixed with the scent of Sloane’s honey smell in my nose. The moment I shift my body, fire erupts in my neck.

I try to lift my hands, but one is being held.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you?” my father’s soft voice says. He places his hand on my chest, holding me steady and grounding me at the same time.

I open my eyes, and blink, waiting for them to focus.

“Wh…” I begin, then quickly stop when that fire erupts in my throat again.

“Don’t try to talk. Do you remember what happened? Answer in the mind link,” he says, keeping his voice low.

‘I don’t remember,’ I say and realize that Marrok is being quiet. Too quiet.

‘Marrok?’

I know my eyes go wide when I look at my father and I hear the sound of a heart monitor speeding up as my heart rate increases.

“Calm down, son. You almost died. I’m sure Marrok is silent at the moment, but he’ll be back. You couldn’t mind link if he was gone for good.”

I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths, ignoring the pain that it causes.

‘What happened?’ I ask.

“Sloane’s pack was attacked. You and the pack answered her call for help. I wasn’t here, but from what I’ve gathered from talking to Bethany and Alpha Roman, there was some Beta who was trying to force his mark on her.”

‘Did I get there in time. Is she okay? Is Sloane okay?’ I ask, terrified that I was too late.

He looks down at the other side of my bed. I have to shift to see, and there, sound asleep, holding the hand that I couldn’t lift, is Sloane.

“She’s been here for about fourteen hours. I understand that she went about forty-eight hours without sleep before that, so everyone agreed to let her sleep and let the mate bond heal you, which it seems to have done. You kept her from getting marked son, and she paralyzed the Alpha who nearly killed you. Then, she and her wolf flooded your body with her venom to save your life. After that, she apparently went to Felix’s pack, intent on killing everyone left, because all the warriors who attacked this pack are dead. She didn’t, though, and earlier today, a group of individuals from that pack came to join her pack.”

He looks at Sloane and I pull my hand from hers, smiling when she whimpers softly at the loss. It quiets the moment I begin running my fingers gently through her soft hair.

“Your mate is extraordinary,” he says. “I never paid much attention, but I didn’t have the animosity for her that your mother did. She not only went to Alpha Felix’s pack, that’s the Alpha who attacked, but then she came back to check on you and Bethany and her pack members who were injured and lost family members. copied j_obnib:c;omThen, she went to our pack to make sure that everyone there was settled and safe before returning here to lay her own dead to rest. There aren’t many established Alphas who could have kept up that pace for as long as she did, but she didn’t stop until it was done. It says a lot about the kind of man you are that the Moon Goddess gave you a mate like her,” he says.

‘I’ve known for a long time just how extraordinary Sloane is.’

“Yes. Yes, you did,” he says, smiling sadly and looking away. ‘What is it?’

He clenches his teeth together, then turns to look at me. His eyes are haunted in a way that I’ve never seen before, not even after he rejected my mother.

“Your mother was there, Benedict. She was in Alpha Felix’s pack and it’s pretty obvious that she gave them information to help them infiltrate this pack. Your mother is partly to blame for you being in this bed right now and for that Beta trying to force his mark on your mate.”

‘Where is she now?’ I snarl, but the sound isn’t as strong without Marrok behind it.

“Sloane sent her to the cells in Alpha Roman and Luna Samara’s pack. She told Bethany that she was afraid she’d kill her if she kept her here. We both agree she did that for you, so that you could decide what to do with her. But it’s not your decision to make, Benedict. It’s a decision I should have made years ago, but didn’t. I’m going to go to Alpha Roman’s pack and I’m going to end this, once and for all.”