Chapter 0745

Nina

Gasping, I came to a skidding halt and dropped to my knees next to the dark form laying on the forest floor. Enzo," I murmured as I rolled him onto his back. Blood and foam trickled out of his mouth, and I cursed under my breath.

Upon closer inspection, I saw it: the large gash in his abdomen. He must have been injured during the fight, and had clearly lost a lot of blood.

"Help!" I called out over my shoulder. "Help, he's unconscious!"

"Nina!" my father's distant voice replied. "Where are you?!"

"This way!"

While I waited for the others to arrive, I knew I had to do something quickly. Even though it likely wasn't the best idea with the pregnancy, I had to act; I quickly pressed my fingers against the wound, wincing as I heard the blood and flesh squelch.

By the time the others came crashing through the woods and found me, I had managed to channel some of my healing energy into Enzo's wound. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him somewhat stable.

But when I went to stand, I felt myself turn lightheaded.

"Careful," 'my mom said softly, grabbing my elbow before I could fall. "I'm here."

"Enzo..." I murmured. I felt Lori and Jessica come to me, helping me steady myself as well.

"He's alright," my mother said. "They're taking him to the infirmary now. Come on, let's get you inside."

By the time we reached the infirmary, they had already moved Enzo and Matt to their own beds. I gulped as I entered, hoping that neither of them was in horrible shape.

The infirmary was a long and narrow room, dimly lit by lanterns with several beds separated by curtains. A servant carrying a tray of various medications and ointments scurried through and slipped into one of the small areas without a word.

"Matt is behind there," my father whispered as we passed through.

"Is he okay?" I asked.

My father nodded. "He's banged up, but he'll be okay. Same with Enzo. We have the best medicines here and a doctor on call."noveldrama

I let out a soft sigh of relief as I peered into Matt's 'room' and found him awake. He was moaning under his breath because of the pain and there were various bandages covering parts of his body, but otherwise he seemed okay.

At least, physically he seemed like he was going to be okay. Mentally, though... How could someone recover from being nearly murdered by their best friend, not for the first time, but for the second time?

When I wandered further down and pulled the curtains aside and saw Enzo's wrists strapped down, though, I felt a bubble of panic rise up inside of me.

"What's this?" I asked, pointing. "Why did you tie him down?"

My father ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Nina, you must understand that none of us wanted to do this,' he explained. "But he could be dangerous."

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell my father that my husband wasn't dangerous, but then closed it again. My father was right. Something was off with Enzo lately; he wasn't in his right mind.

"I just want to know why he did this," I whispered. "This is so unlike him."

"I'll tell you why."

We turned at the sound of Matt's crackled voice. When we pulled his curtain back again, he had cracked his eyes open and was looking right at us. The nurse was applying some sort of ointment to one of his wounds; perhaps it was giving him enough strength to speak.

"Matt, you don't have to" I began, but was quickly cut off.

"He said that I'm trying to usurp him as Alpha," he croaked. "And that I... slept with you, Nina."

I almost laughed out loud. "Slept with me?" I asked. "I'd never cheat on Enzo."