"Look where you are going!" Tara heard the words as if in a daze. She looked up from the solid, muscled chest with which she had collided, to gaze into Neil's eyes, her heart stopping for a moment. What was he doing here? Did he somehow come to know about their plan? "What on earth are you doing here Tara, and why are you running around blindly?" Neil exclaimed, surprised to find his young cousin at Tanya's doorstep. What had she been up to? Tara decided to speak the truth for once. "Re….Renee….and I…...had made a plan…..to….kill…..Tanya, but I couldn't do it," she stammered out through dry lips. "Oh my god! Where is Renee?" Neil asked, already seeming to know the answer. He did not wait for her reply, but ran inside to where he could hear the growl of a wolf and the muffled screams of a woman. The scene which met his eyes was enough to freeze the blood in his veins.
Tanya lay on the floor, her face bloodied, where Renee had scratched with her steel like claws. There were numerous scratches on her body too and her clothes were torn. Renee had one of her large white paws on her neck and was pressing down with enough pressure to break her wind pipe.
Neil took out his pack of cigarette then seeing that he was standing in a hospital foyer, he kept it back into his pocket. Ray rose from the sofa in the waiting room, to approach him. "How is she?" he asked, his face pinched with worry. "There's no change. The doctors refuse to say anything about her chances," Neil's voice wavered. He had just peered inside the ICU from the glass window. Tanya lay on a sheet which was as white as her face. Various tubes and wires connected her to a couple of monitors, recording her vitals. Her arms were covered with bandages. Neil's heart ached to see her lying so lifeless. "Don't worry Neil. She is a fighter. She will surely pull through, as will the cub," Ray tried to reassure him. Well, Ray seemed to have more confidence than Neil did. He turned away to go back to the empty corridor in front of the ICU, to sit on a narrow wooden bench, leaving Ray in the comfort of the waiting room.
His heart sank every time he remembered the scene when he had entered that room to find Tanya lying on the ground with her neck about to be broken by Renee. Neil could never recall transforming so quickly into his wolf, but he had, in the blink of an eye. Renee had smelled him, backing away from Tanya, but he had still driven her away, but not before he had gouged a hole into her side. Then, quickly he had changed back, calling an ambulance, while picking up his wife from the floor and carrying her to the couch in the living room. He had wrapped her into a warm blanket, then paced impatiently, waiting for help to arrive. His heart had almost sunk at the sight of Tanya lying there unconscious, and very obviously pregnant with his cub. Why had he not realized that she was in danger? What would have happened had he not decided to come to meet her that day? He shuddered to even think of it. She had been unconscious for two days now. The doctors said it was shock and blood loss, and some internal injuries too. Neil paced the corridor, praying to the Moon God, like he had never prayed before.
"Neil, why don't you rest for some time while I keep watch here?" Tanya's mother, Jane, had arrived while he had been lost in his tormented thoughts. Neil forced a smile, shaking his head. "You must be tired after your stint at the office. I can easily manage here," he assured her. She had been devastated that day when he had informed her of the attack on Tanya. Of course, he had left out Renee's role in it. He did not know how much Tanya had told her about her married life or about their break up, but it was clear that she harbored no grudges against Neil. Maybe Tanya had not shared the complete truth about the failure of her marriage. "Come Jane, I will drop you home," Ray had seen her coming and now he joined them too. Neil saw them off, then settled on the bench for the nightlong wait.
What would he say to her when she opened her eyes? How would he ask her forgiveness? Had he been too late to save her and their cub? The questions crowded in on his mind. He had just expected to meet her for one last time, maybe to discover that his hunger for her was nothing more than physical, but when he had seen her almost lying dead in front of his eyes, the truth had dawned on him with a vengeance. His destined mate, the one chosen for him by the Moon God, had been before him all this time and he had not recognized her. He had been blinded by preconceived notions about the weakness of humans and his love for Renee. Why had he not seen Renee for what she was….a selfish, unscrupulous woman. Well, he was not much better than her. Did he really deserve the love and devotion of that woman who at this very moment was lying unconscious? Was it not partly his fault that she was in this condition? Maybe it was the Moon God's way of teaching him a lesson for all the sins he had committed.
"Neil, can you come for a moment?" the pack doctor called him to his cabin. Dr West had been called from the pack hospital as he was a specialist in the cases of rogue attacks. Though Tanya was human, but the baby inside her was not. The doctors at the hospital would not have understood the intricacies of a werewolf baby. Neil had used his influence and money to have a doctor of his choice attend on his wife. Now he sat facing the doctor, his heart racing in fear, while he waited for him to share his news. "Alpha Neil, our Luna has lost a lot of blood in that rogue attack. She is extremely weak, but she is somehow hanging on. The baby, though is unhurt, by some miracle." Neil let out a sigh of relief to know that his cub had survived. He had never in his life felt so protective for someone, as he did for this unborn child. "I think it would help if you could sit for some time with the Luna," he advised. Neil nodded, rising with tired feet and following the doctor into the ICU.
Neil sat beside the bed on a small chair, staring at the woman lying before him. Was her face too pale? He slowly reached for the thin hand on the bed, entwining his fingers with hers, then he bent forward to whisper in her ear, "Tanya, sweetheart, I am here with you, and I would never let you go. Please come back to me, darling." How long he sat like that he had no idea. Some time during the night there was a tiny indiscernible movement of her lashes. Neil, able to feel it with his heightened werewolf senses, bent over her, rubbing her hands, and crooning lovingly to her, as if to a child. Slowly, she opened her eyes, raising her lids seemed to be an effort too, but she did it, her puzzled gaze falling on the man bent over her. "Wh...what...happened?" she whispered through cracked lips. "You are safe sweetheart. Just relax. I am here, and I won't leave you for a moment," Neil promised, stroking her hair. He rang for the doctor, who came running, a nurse trailing behind him.
Tanya leaned against the pillows on the hospital bed, eyeing the man who was pacing the tiny room. Was it all a dream, or was Neil really here, taking care of her? He stopped for a moment to smile at her, then came to sit by her side. Picking up the soup bowl, he coaxed her, proffering the spoon. "Drink up Tanya, you need to regain your energy," and when she shook her head, "For the sake of our cub, please," he pleaded. She had never thought that she would hear him pleading, but here he was. Maybe once she was out of the hospital, he would leave her again. Sadness reflected in her eyes, and Neil could read it plainly. She had been hurt by him badly, and it was up to him to make it up to her. Pulling her into his arms, he placed a kiss on her lips. "Please concentrate on getting well. We will talk about what happened, later. I am not going anywhere darling," he assured her before pushing the spoon into her mouth, making her drink the soup bit by bit.
"Well, Luna, you are fully recovered now, fit to be discharged from the hospital. I wish you all the best," Dr. West smiled at her, handing her a tiny bouquet of colorful flowers. Neil and Ray were there to take her home, both smiling as she waddled out of the room into the corridor. "Here, lean on me," Neil caught her arm, and then with an oath, picked her up and carried her to the car to place her gently on the front seat. Ray got into the back, and they drove to her house, where her parents welcomed her with cries of joy, and some tears too. Where did they go from here? Tanya remembered what Renee had said before she attacked her. Weren't she and Neil getting married shortly? Why was he still here then? Now that she was out of the hospital and the cub was thriving too, there was no reason for Neil to stay by her side. Why was he raising her hopes again? Was she in for more heartache?