"What?" Hector's crestfallen demeanour shatters my already breaking heart.

"Alpha Kaia demanded she was placed on to life support..I can take you to her now." He states with a tensed tone.

"I don't understand." Hector softly states, his hands running through his hair before landing on his jawline.

"Her heart gave out...we are keeping it pumping but only by machines."

"No..." Jaxon cries out pushing past me as he barges through the double doors...Hector and I hot on his tail. We race up three flights of stairs, entering onto a new level...named Intensive Care. No this can't be.

I follow Jaxon, not knowing this level of the hospital, as he moves towards gathered pack members. She's there, a crowd of staff members standing outside her room...all of them praying to the moon goddess.

I push through the crowd behind Jaxon and Hector, before closing the hospital room door and closing the blinds. They needed privacy, we needed privacy.

My world wasn't prepared for the sight of her, for my eyes to land upon her broken body upon the bed. I feel as if the world has vanished beneath my feet.

There she lay, as if she was only sleeping. My heart pounding in my chest at the very sight of her.

Her skin was a dull grey, her red hair taking on a more brown tone to it...her life's force really had left her. I could see, I could tell...that she was only alive because of these machines. The beeping a clear reminder on the ears, if the eyes didn't understand. "Josie?" Jaxon places his hand on hers, his approach to her void of any arrogance. He looked

lost. Kaia places an arm around her eldest, comforting him even though her own eyes were red raw and her hands still shook.

"We got the bullets out...but she wasn't breathing and her heart stopped. I wasn't ready...I wasn't ready to say goodbye." Her voice starts to break as Hector moves towards her. "Kaia?"novelbin

"Forgive me Hector, I wasn't ready to say goodbye."

"Doctor Abel says we need to be prepared that she might not respond to the machines." Jaxon's voice is shallow, cold.

"She will, she has to." Hector says, no level of negotiation possible within his expectations.

"I just keep thinking..."

""What Mum?"

"If she didn't have the gun, would they still have shot her." She starts to sob again but I can't handle the thought of them thinking she might have deserved this.

I know they wouldn't, I know they don't, but she didn't cause this. I know Kaia and Hector have never seen eye to eye on Josie having a gun, even Jaxon...even me, but it just saved the pack.

She was out there alone, she acted with such bravery that any question of her character...I would shut it down immediately.

"Yes, you don't bring silver bullets to a wolf pack without the intention of shooting. Her having a gun saved many lives tonight, and she managed to raise the alarm. By the time they reached her, they had already killed your guards at the border." I grunt out, I can't help but feel protective of Josie's actions. I didn't like her having a gun, I hated her having the silver bullets, but tonight she saved the pack.

But look at the cost.

"Have you tried Jace?" Hector nods to me in agreement before turning to Jaxon.

""Yes, non stop."

"He needs to be here. He needs to see her before..." Kaia can't finish her sentence, her emotions overwhelming her as she breaks down. Hector is by her side, pulling her into his chest as he soothes her.

The door opens, my head turning to find the crowd still gathered outside as Doctor Abel walks in, followed by Alora and Ezra. As soon as they enter, a gasp escapes Alora...before she rushes to her twin and flings her arms around her.

"What can we do?" Alora whispers to her sister.

"Pray."