Once His Mate Now His Rival (by Lord Browny) novel Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five

HOURS LATER

Amber slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by the beeping sound of the monitor. She felt pains all over her body, including a banging headache.

It took a while before her vision focus and when it did, she realized she was in the hospital room, putting on the pale blue patient gown. Turning her head slightly, she saw her best friend standing by the window and rubbing her temples as she spoke into the phone.

When Jessie noticed Amber’s eyes on her, she quickly disconnected the call and rushed to her.

“Oh my god, Bree. You’re awake!” She exclaimed throwing her arms around her in a tight hug.

“Uh… “Amber groaned weakly.

“Oh, crap! Sorry, sorry! I just got a little too excited.” Jessie said pulling back “How do you feel? Are you okay? Do you feel feel dizzy or weird? Should I call the doctor?”

She stood up and was about to run out of the room when Amber caught her hand.

“I’m fine, Jess… I just want some water.”

“Oh right, water.” Jess quickly rushed to the nearby table, grabbed a bottle, pour some inside a cup and hurried back

“Here, drink.”

Amber took slow gulps, then placed the cup aside.

“Oh, my head… ” she groaned and brought a trembling hand to touch her head.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to fetch you a doctor, babe?” Jess asked with worry in her voice.

Amber simply shook her head. “Yeah. I’m fine. My head just feels heavy and everything hurts… but I will be fine.”

“Yeah, well, that makes sense. You’ve got a bandage on your head and another on your arm. The doctor said you suffered a few burns and some fractures from the crash.”

“Damn. That explains the pain.”

“You have no idea how worried I was, Bree. One moment you’re telling me you are going on a date with Marc, and the

t a call from the emergency center telling me you were in an accident.”

weak smile. “I’m so sorry you went through that, babe. Honestly, I’m surprised I’m even here.”

nell even happened? Marcus called me and told me everything.”

oment Marcus’s name left her lips, Amber’s expression changed. The memories from the night before ne flooding back, the drive, the gunshot, Damon’s face, and then the darkness.

“Oh my God… Da–Damon? How’s Damon?” She whispered and her heart skipped when she saw her best friend sigh.

“It’s bad, Bree. He just came out of surgery but he’s still not waking up. The doctor said he’d never seen anything like it. There were these black lines spreading from the wound through his body. If I had to guess, I’d say wolfsbane. Whoever shot him meant to kill you.”

ber gasped, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Oh my God.” she sobbed softly.

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Chapter Thirty Five

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Jessie reached for her hand. “Hey, get a hold of yourself, babes. He’s going to be okay. His beta arrived earlier with healers from his pack, they’re doing everything they can to save him as we speak.”

Amber looked up at her. “Are you sure he’s going to be okay?”

Jess gave her a faint smile. “I’m sure. I may not be Damon’s biggest fan, but he’s an Alpha. If anyone can fight through this, it’s him.”

Amber closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “I knew I shouldn’t have gone on that date. If I’d just stayed home like I planned, none of this would’ve happened. Damon wouldn’t be…dying right now.”

Jessie squeezed her hand. “Don’t say that, babes. Damon’s not going to die. He’s going to be okay. And this isn’t your fault. If anyone’s to be blame, blame fate cause she sucks. You have every right to go out and have fun. It’s just unfortunate that something like this had to happen.”

“I know. I just don’t know why anyone would want me dead. I’ve never hurt anyone before.”

“Come on babe, we are not going to seat here and pretend we don’t already know who’s behind this. That bitch has been a pain in your ass since the moment you stepped foot in New York. This is exactly why I didn’t want you coming back here.”

“The cops already confirmed this wasn’t an accident. They checked your car and found it had been tampered with. A third–party device was connected to the system, controlling it. That’s why the brakes failed. They’ve ruled it as an attempted murder.

“They’re working hard to find the shooter and the driver who rammed into you. They’re still figuring out whether it was the same person or two people working together. The police are checking the CCTV footage from the streets. The moment they have something, they’ll contact us. And God help that bitch if she had anything to do with it, because if I find out she did, I swear, Bree, I’ll kill her myself and gladly do the jail time.”

“I just hope they find them. I really thought I was going to die. One minute Damon was holding me, and the next… we were on the ground.”

“Yeah, I heard from Marcus. Damon took the bullet for you.

“I don’t like that, Jess.”

“Well, I don’t like it either, but I’m grateful he did. Otherwise, you might not be sitting here right now.”

“And now it’s going to be harder to ignore him. After everything I said about not wanting him in my life.”

“You’re right. You can’t ignore him anymore, not after this. He did the bravest thing a man could ever do for the

oman he loves. And he didn’t even hesitate.”

Perfect. Now he has every reason to push his way back into my life, after all my efforts to keep him out.”

“Would you have preferred if Marcus took the hit for you instead?”

“Of course not, Jess. I wouldn’t want that to happen to him or anyone else. But… maybe if Marcus had been the one, I’d have had a real reason to say yes to him and marry Him.”

Jess frowned. “That’s a terrible idea, babe. You know you can’t force love.”

“I know. I just hate myself for everything that happened. Marcus didn’t deserve that. He’s been nothing but good to me, and I still can’t bring myself to say yes.”

“Then you’re doing the right thing. If you don’t love him, is better to let him go. Saying yes when you don’t mean it… that would hurt him more. And Marcus doesn’t deserve that kind of pain.”

Amber just sighed deeply. “I just hate myself right now.”

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“Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Jess said softly, giving her reassuring smile.

“I’m guessing he’s the one who brought us here right?”

Jess nodded. “He said he saw you driving behind him right before the truck slammed into your car. He made a U- turn and raced after you, but, by the time he got there, Damon had already reached you. He saw the shooter approaching, but he ran off the moment he saw Marcus. He could have chased after him but he choose to bring you guys to the hospital instead.”

Amber took a deep breath. The image of Damon lying in bed covered in blood, flashed through her mind and she exhaled shakily.

“I just hope he makes it. I don’t think I can live with the guilt if he dies because of me.”

“Why? Because you suddenly can’t get enough of him after seeing him play hero?”

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