Capture

When Khan woke the room was shrouded in night and his body was shivering from the cold. His heart clenched in painful throbs. Every gasp of air felt like his last breath. His head throbbed in time with his weakened heart. It was as if someone had his heart in a tight vice grip. Sweat dripped from his half naked body as his bleary eyes adjusted to the darkness.

The drug was so potent in his veins he could feel his blood cells fighting the poison.

The room titled as he lifted his torso from the bed, the blood gushing to his head. Leaning over the bed Khan threw up what felt like the whole content of his stomach, intestines and all. When he was sure that he was done he shifted his body off the bed crouching on the floor until his heavy limbs felt strong enough to stand. Glancing around the room as his eyesight sharpened he saw telling signs that people had been in his room. On his bedside table there was a bowl of water with flannels inside. He must have caught a fever and they had tried to attempt to cool him down. Or maybe he had been given a bath. His memory was hazy, he had minimal recollection of what had happened all he could remember was a golden angel with brown eyes sitting above him before he had passed out.

Around the room there were scattered jars, the potent smell of herbs and antiseptic lingering in the air. He had to have been really ill for them to have used herbs on him. Herbal medicines were typically used for worse case scenarios or for human treatment. Whatever had transpired in this room had Neema written all over it, her sweet scent mingled with the overpowering sent of medicine. She was either the cause or his salvation.

His body felt like lead and the head palpitations were still as gripping as they were when he woke. The frosty night air drifting in from the window helped mellow his pounding head as he staggered to the door. Gently pulling it open as he stuck his head out he caught the eye of a surprised female. Her mouth dropping open as she ran down the corridor towards the kitchen, his appearance must have scared the living daylight out of her.

If he went by all the bloodied rags in the room he would say he had fought a mighty battle with a worthy opponent. He had to congratulate the person who had bested him, if they were still alive. Such a person would be welcomed in his pack. Khan knew it was best to have a person that cunning in his pack then not. Such talents were served better with him than against him.

He hoped the startled lady came with a glass of water because his throat was absolutely parched. Walking back towards the bed he took a seat on a chair placed by the window, his body sagging at the strain of the movement. He just needed to rest for a couple of minutes to stop his harsh breathing. The act of it not hurting as much as it did upon waking.

Small memories of him and Neema arguing flitted though his mind. His recollection would not go further than the sight of them bickering. It was like his mind had a block up and all it would show him was two scenes one with him arguing against a red faced, spitting mad Neema and the other was his favourite. It was the image of a pleasure riddled Neema saddled around his waist. Her flushed face was such an erotic sight, her slanted eyes pulled him in and eased his pounding head.

She was definitely his salvation.

Neema had 2 days to think over her actions and she was surprised to find that she didn’t regret it, not even a little bit. When Khan hadn’t made his presence known at breakfast or came to join her for their bonding time she had automatically known she had gone too far. When she had entered the room she was staggered to find how pale he had become, his deep brown skin had turned a sickly grey and his body was covered in sweat.

On a lesser wolf that amount of Wolfsbane would have resulted in death. She hadn’t wanted to kill him though. She just wanted to teach him a lesson and she definitely had. When Khan woke, whenever that would be he would feel as if death was greeting him.

Fear and regret were heavy emotions that constantly cloyed her mind. That night had been out of control. She was happy that she had bested him that was something that both her and Khan would remember forever. Lacing him with Wolfsbane had served its desired effect, khan would always think twice before he reached out to strike her. Yet she felt immensely guilty for nearly sending him to his grave. She wasn’t a murderer and she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she became one. She wasn’t an animal and she definitely had acted like one.

She had clearly gone too far but what was two days of suffering compared to her whole weak of torment. They weren’t quite even but these two days would have to do, especially as Sahina had just informed her Khan was awake.

If Khan was awake, then Emmaline needed to be informed so she could help administer more medicine and to check his prognostics. Khan needed to be functioning by the end of the day, especially as the mating trails were taking place in two days.

His pack had been beating down on her door requesting to visit with Khan but as it was his “official days off” she had told them he was indisposed and would be spending time with him. She had hardly been able to spend time with her siblings because she had to keep up pretences, if Khan was not with her the he would be available to his wolves.

Her siblings had spent an unprecedented amount of time in the company of Vanya and Sahina but every night it was with her they slept with.

Making her way down the long winding corridors she tried to make as little contact with any of the wolves that were present, though most hadn’t quite risen for the day yet. Long nights howling at the moon often made them late morning risers.

Pushing open the door Neema could see signs that Khan was awake and moving. The bed linens were shoved to the side and the pillows were thrown on the floor, vomit seeping into the pillow cases and the bitter smell lingering in the air. Heading towards the window, she unlatched the lock and opened it, the cool whoosh of air washing the smell away.

“I closed it for a reason” Came a wispy voice behind her. Spinning around Neema caught the gaunt face of Khan. His body leaning against the high backed chair and his skin a pasty grey colour. His eyes were sunken into his cheeks and he seemed to have lost some weight.

“The room smells” she mumbled out not sure if Khan could remember what had caused him to be so ill or not. The drug still running through his veins made him extremely calm which was a good and a bad thing. Good because he would not attack her and bad because its subduing effect meant that he would take longer to heal which was not an option they had. He had to be better by the time the sun rose on Monday morning or else they would begin to suspect something was wrong. He had a day to recover but being the descendant of a strong line of wolves she hoped it would be more than enough time.

Khan looked as if he had been waiting for her visit, as if her presence was welcomed it could have been a trap to lure her in but his body posture was way to open and trusting. She felt secure that he had no idea what she had done to him. If he had he wouldn’t be so accepting of her presence, his lack of memory gave her the confidence she needed to approach him.

Heading over to the drowsy Khan she flicked his hair out of his face, the sweaty locks had begun to cling to his face. Running her fingers though his stringy hair she massaged his scalp, hoping to elevate any pain the drug may have caused. she was aware that she was being nicer than he had ever been to her but she needed him alive and kicking and so she had to swallow her pride for the sake of her family’s safety.

He made purring noses as her hands stroked through his hair in calming moves tilting his head into her fingers for more attention. Her small hands trailed down his withered face to trial along his scars meeting at his dry lips the gesture soothing and erotic at the same time. Her nails lightly scratching at his skin caused goose bumps to rise along his skin.

His lids fluttered as a moan tumbled out of his mouth, her touch was calming his scattered and hazy thoughts, bringing clarity to the past events.

“Are you here to make sure you succeeded in killing me” his words carried no anger or resentment. He merely posed the question as if he was only the slightest bit curious.

Untangling her fingers from his hair Neema turned her back on his penetrating gaze, her arms wrapping around her body in an automatic defensive move. Her body glided across the room as she headed over towards the bookshelf where a glass of water sat picking it up, she made her way back over to Khan. Completely ignoring his question, she brought the water to his mouth prompting him to open his mouth.

“Is this laced with wolfsbane as well?” He mocked as his paw like hand reached up and pushed the glass away from his mouth some of the contents pouring out onto Neema’s skin.

Forcing the glass back in his direction she glared at him.

“If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead. Who do you think washed your skin and bandaged you up? A ghost?”

He may not appreciate the fact that she had damaged him but he had better be great full that she had saved his life. Nursing a wolf who had ingested too much poison back to health was not easy, especially when she wasn’t familiar with half the herbs used. She had sworn Emmaline to secrecy when Khan hadn’t risen the next day. Neema had confided in the healer hoping they she could be trusted to guard her secret. Between Emmaline and Sahina the two women had diverted so many wolves from knocking on Khan’s door and had more importantly helped Neema with treating him.

Emmaline’s knowledge had been crucial in the survival of khan, without her Neema would be in a very different scenario than the one she found herself in. She had tried to keep the two females as much out of it as she could but she had been desperate and their help had been paramount to his survival.

Emmaline had entered the room with her cloud of green smoke and six long syringes of a dark grey liquid to combat the purple that travelled in his veins, she lit candles and shut the windows leaving him to steam in the fumes of the billowing green smoke. The steam had brought the poison to the surface of his body and the liquid had stabilised him and combated most of the ingested poison. Emmaline spent an hour rubbing charcoal onto his body focusing on his abdomen and chest where his pores had opened due to the steam. She also prepared a cup of the activated charcoal used in the syringe that he was encouraged to drink. She left the powder behind and encourage Neema to make him a new brew every few hours.

After a few hours she had handed Neema a handful of injections filled with dark black blood that Neema was to inject into his neck every three hours. She had hardly any sleep that first night but with the help of Sahina who took turns she got through it and the next morning some colour returned to his skin and his heartbeat was stronger. His body had positively responded to the herbs and so she had continued injecting him but the dosages had increased. Four every two hours.

She had not wanted to implicate her friends but without telling Emmaline or Sahina the result would have been different.

At least she knew for future reference the correct measurements needed to incapacitate a wolf. Two drops full instead of eight she used would be more than enough to send him to sleep for a day without killing him, she had learnt the hard way but it was a lesson learned. For both of them.

“Why heal me when you have tried to kill me? Did you think I would be indebted to you”? His voice raspy with derision.

“No, it wasn’t my intent to kill you. Only to teach you a lesson, one that you’ve obviously learnt.”

Neema would never apologise for her actions just like Khan would never apologise for his. They were at an impasse. Both had committed unforgivable acts to their mates, it was now Khan’s choice as to whether he retaliated but Neema had made him aware that she would always fight back. He could continue down this path of destruction by punishing her publicly at the docks or concede to a truce. The choice was his to make.

“Give me some water, little witch” he growled out before choking on the rumble. A smile lit Neema’s face as she titled over Khan’s body, the cool clear liquid meeting his cracked lips.

The two were startled by Emmaline entering the room with a bag full of supplies and wicked gleam in her green eyes.

“It is nice to see you still have your fire Alpha Khan, you are going to need it” grinned Emmaline as she took a step further into the room and shut the door behind her.