His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Rade

I sat alone outside Abby’s room,

The treatment-room door had been closed for twenty minutes.

Maybe thirty.

I had stopped checking the clock.

Liam was still inside with her.

I had told myself that was how it should be.

He was her brother. He had raised her. When Abby opened her eyes, Liam should be the first familiar face she saw.

That did nothing to make waiting easier.

Knox had been pacing since the door closed.

Go to her.

Liam is with her.

We should be with her.

I rubbed both hands over my face.

Not everything is about what we want.

He went quiet.

The lesson had taken me too long to learn.

The door finally opened.

I was on my feet before Daphne stepped into the corridor.

Liam followed her.

One look at his face tightened my chest.

“How is she?”

“Still unconscious,” he said.

Daphne pulled the door closed behind them.

“She’s stable.”

1:07 pm

The word let me breathe again.-

Liam sat heavily in the chair beside mine.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then I asked, “Did she respond at all?”

He shook his head.

“I talked to her. Held her hand.” His voice roughened. “Nothing.”

I looked toward the closed door.

Daphne studied us.

“She needs rest more than anything right now. The last dose of wolfsbane was recent, and her body is still

processing it.”

Inodded. “Okay.”

She glanced between us.

“I need another half hour with her. Then you can both go in, provided you keep your wolves under control.”

“I can.”

Her eyes dropped to my clenched hands.

“Work on it.”

Then she went back inside.

Liam leaned forward, elbows on his knees.

I sat beside him.

Neither of us spoke.

There was nothing useful left to say.

Abby was alive.

That should have been enough.

It wasn’t.

Not while she was unconscious behind that door.

Not while I could still feel the weight of her in my arms.

V

1:07 pm

Too cold.

W

Too still.

Blood drying around her wrists where the silver cuffs had cut into her skin.

Knox had not stopped pacing since we brought her back.

I closed my eyes.

Stop it, Knox. We’ll see her when they let us.

His frustration pressed against mine..

Half an hour later, footsteps sounded from the treatment room.

Both Liam and I stood.

Daphne stepped into the corridor. She looked tired, but not frightened.

“Well?” Liam asked.

She glanced between us.

“She has a significant amount of wolfsbane in her system. Not enough that I expect permanent damage, but enough to keep Diana suppressed for a while.”

“And the silver?” I asked.

“Her wrists are badly burned and cut, but they’ll heal once the wolfsbane clears. She’s dehydrated, exhausted, and running a fever.”

“How high?”

“Not dangerous yet.”

Yet.

I hated that word.

“When will she wake up?”

“I can’t give you an exact time. The last injection was recent. Her body needs to process it.”

Liam rubbed both hands over his face.

“Can we see her?”

“In a few minutes.”

Daphne hesitated.

There was something else.

Liam noticed too.

“What?”

Her expression became careful.

“There was one more examination I wanted done while she was unconscious.”

My stomach tightened.

I understood before she said it!

Liam went completely still.

Daphne lowered her voice.

“We checked for signs of sexual assault.”

Knox erupted.

A growl tore through me before I could stop it.

Liam’s power surged beside mine.

Daphne did not flinch.

“There was no evidence of it.”

The rage disappeared so quickly it left me weak.

Liam closed his eyes.

“Thank Goddess.”

I looked toward Abby’s door.

For one second, breathing hurt.

Daphne studied me.

“Kade.”

“What?”

“You need to control Knox before I let you inside.”

“I am.”

1:07 pm

“You’re shaking.”

I looked down.

She was right.

My hands trembled at my sides.

I forced them still.

“He won’t hurt anyone.”

“I know. But Abby’s wolf is already suppressed and frightened. The last thing she needs is an Alpha filling the room with panic.”

That stopped me.

I drew in a slow breath.

Again.

Knox resisted.

Mate.

She needs calm.

His pacing slowed.

Barely.

Daphne watched me for another moment.

“Five minutes.”

Then she went back inside.

When we finally entered, Abby looked smaller than she had in the cave.

Clean sheets surrounded her.

Her wrists were wrapped in white bandages. An IV ran into one arm. A small monitor beside the bed tracked her heart rate.

Her face had been cleaned.

The bruising remained.

A dark mark along her cheekbone.

Another near her jaw.

1:07 pm

041

Rut without the dirt and blood, she looked less like someone we had rescued from a cave and more like Abby.

That hurt worse.

Liam reached her first.

He sat beside the bed and took her hand carefully.

“Hey, little one.”

His voice broke on the second word.

Abby didn’t move.

He lowered his head.

“You’re home.”

His thumb moved across the back of her hand.

“I know you promised to answer me.”

He swallowed.

“You don’t have to answer now.”

I looked away.

This belonged to him.

“You just rest,” Liam whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

He bent and kissed her forehead.

Then he sat back.

I remained near the foot of the bed.

Liam looked at me.

“You can come closer.”

I almost laughed.

I had carried her through half the forest.

Now I couldn’t make myself walk three steps toward her.

Finally, I moved.

1:07 pm

I took the chair on the other side..

Abby’s hand rested beside me.

I did not touch it.

Not yet.

Knox pressed forward.

Touch her.

I ignored him.

I had spent enough time taking what I wanted from Abby because I tord myself instinct made it right.

So I sat there.

And watched her breathe.

Minutes passed.

Maybe longer.

Liam eventually leaned back in his chair.

His eyes closed.

He was asleep within seconds.

I envied him.

I looked at Abby.

Without the bond, there was no way to know if she could hear me.

No pull.

No shared emotion.

Nothing.

Only her hand beside mine.

I thought about the night she turned eighteen.

About the way she had looked at me when she realized what we were.

Hope.

Absolute, unguarded hope.

1:07 pm

And what I had done with it.

I had told myself she was too young.

Too inexperienced.

That Moonhaven needed someone ready.

I had convinced myself rejection was a hard decision made for the right reasons.

It had taken less than a week for every excuse to fall apart.

Sloane had been the safe choice.

The familiar choice.

Abby had terrified me.

Not because she was weak.

Because wanting her meant accepting that the future I had planned might not be the future I got.

I looked at her bruised face.

I had thought the bond was the problem.

That if I severed it, everything would become simple again.

Instead, the bond was gone.

And nothing about what I felt had disappeared with it.

Knox was still obsessed with Diana.

That was instinct.

But this-

The way I knew exactly how Abby took her coffee because I had watched her make it a hundred mornings at the

packhouse.

The way she always stopped for injured animals even when Liam complained she would be late.

The way she laughed with her whole face when Noah did something stupid.

The way she tried to make herself useful whenever she was hurting because she could not stand the thought of

anyone worrying about her.

The way she had looked at me after I rejected her and still found the strength to walk away.

1:07 pm

None of that belonged to Knox

None of it belonged to the mate bond.

It belonged to me.”

The realization came quietly.

So quietly that for a moment I almost missed it.

I loved her.

Not because the Moon Goddess had chosen her.

Not because Knox wanted Diana.

Not because she might be some legendary wolf the Rogue King was searching for.

I loved Abby.

I looked at her hand.

Then, finally, I took it.

Her fingers were warm.

Too warm.

I frowned.

I touched the back of my hand to her forehead.

Hot.

“Liam.”

He woke instantly.

“What?”

“She’s hotter.”

He touched her forehead.

His expression changed.

“Daphne.”

I was already standing.

Daphne entered less than a minute later.

1

1:07 pm

She checked Abby’s temperature, then the monitur.

Her mouth tightened.

“How high?” Liam asked.

“Higher than I want.”

She adjusted the IV.

“Her heart rate is climbing too.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means her body is working too hard.”

“Is she getting worse?”

“Not dramatically.”

I hated the qualification.

Daphne checked Abby’s pupils, then placed one hand against her neck.

“Her wolf should be helping by now.”

Liam looked at her.

“Diana?”

“The wolfsbane is suppressing her too deeply.”

“What can you do?”

“We keep Abby hydrated, keep the fever controlled, and wait for the toxin to clear.”

“Wait?”

Liam’s voice sharpened.

“That’s it?”

“That is treatment.”

Knox slammed forward.

No.