From Here to Ecstasy

Dedicated to oddball, PenumbraMINE, and N.Y.O.B. Your comments are what keep me writing with a smile on my face.

Recap

“Hey, Maximus, are the rest of those vampyres ones you have been looking for?” I asked as I cocked my head to the others standing around with their mouths agape. I had never seen a vampyre as pale as these were. I knew vampyres were pale but not almost translucent.

Casper had nothing on them.

Maximus nodded and looked at Sonny, his eyebrow raised. I saw Sonny nod his head and knew these vampyres would be joining their old king and queen. It didn’t take a minute to confirm those thoughts. Their heads rolled right in front of the Bruja, a move I knew was planned.

“What have you done?” The Bruja asked as she looked at the heads and shuddered. “How am I supposed to get more skinwalkers?”

Seriously?

Zane’s POV

I heard the gunshot go off, ducking as if my life depended on it - which was stupid. The shot ringing made it too late to duck. I watched as Summer looked all of us over, furrowing her eyebrows in question before she started swaying. I watched her look down, drawing my eyes down to her stomach. I almost fainted upon seeing her injury. I didn't understand how she got hurt. I knew she was spelled. My heart broke at the pain on her face. I hated seeing her hurt.

I moved quickly and grabbed her before she hit the ground, listening to Blaine's orders - and they were orders. I nodded my head and teleported her to our packhouse as I screamed for the doctors. I heard their feet pounding down the hallway before I saw them enter the operating room. I was shaking, scared I was going to lose her.

No!

I laid her down on the bed. “You need to take her blood and see what poison is keeping her from healing.” No one moved. “Now!” Everyone moved at the same time. One of the nurses started an I.V., taking her blood at the same time. Another ran the bloodwork to our chemist. Another one cleaned up the wound in her stomach and got to work removing the bullet. As soon as the bullet was out Summer’s heart stuttered, stopping a few seconds later.

“No, no, no!” I screamed as the doctors worked on her. “No! Moon Goddess, I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me without question. Please, don’t take her from us. We can’t lose her. Our children can’t lose her. Please, please, Moon Goddess, please listen to my prayers.”

I heard Summer’s heart start beating again and almost cried in relief. My heart started beating along with hers. My breathing slowed and steadied as I felt her back in her own body. I wanted to believe with everything in me that she would make it. I had to believe she would make it and no one could tell me any differently.

A minute later her heart stopped again. I fell to my knees and prayed to our Goddess. I couldn't lose Summer or our babies.

I stood up and walked over to her. "You can't decide to leave us! Your unborn children need you, we need you. Snap out of it Summer and come back," I ordered as tears fell down my face.

The doctor looked at me and shook his head, calling the time of death of my mate. I wailed and howled as I begged with everything in me. 'Please, please, please', was all I could say.

The nurses came over to pull the heart monitor off when Summer's heart started beating again. She yelled for the doctor as I thanked the Moon Goddess and held on to Summer's hand.

"She's alive," the nurse told all of us as if I didn't know. The doctor ran over and checked her out, letting me know this could happen again. I had to believe everything would be okay.

I heard movement from the doorway, causing me to quickly turn towards the sound, my shoulder sagged in relief when the chemist showed up. “Alpha Zane, your mate was poisoned with a mix of herbs, very strong herbs. I can counteract them but it will take me a while to find all of my ingredients, I don’t have all of them and they are hard to come by.” I nodded my head, gesturing to him to continue. “While I can fix this I found out she’s pregnant.”

I gasped in surprise, hoping our children would be safe. “Your children will be able to hold off the poisoning to their mother. It looks as if they are safe from the poisoning for some reason. It hasn’t affected them at all. Do hear what I’m saying, Alpha?”

I looked up at him, shock written across my face. “Our children are keeping their mother safer at this time and the herbs don’t affect them. Yes, I understand. What herbs do you need? I need to see a picture of them and where they would be located if you need these. And, you need them or I won’t be accountable for my actions.”

The chemist, Joey, nodded his head quickly. “Yes, Alpha, I understand. I’ll go get my books right now, okay?” I nodded my head, giving him the signal to get moving.

And, move he did.

I turned back to Summer, wiping the sweat from her brow and laying a kiss there instead. I took in her scent and reached for her hand, kissing the back of it. I sat in the chair next to her bed, making sure to keep her hand in mine, hoping it would settle her and offer her some peace. I wanted her to know that someone was there for her, someone could trust to watch her back as she laid in her bed. I wouldn’t be going anywhere until she was out of the bed she was in. I hated hospitals, but for her, I would stay.

There was a knock on the door before the chemist stuck his head in. I gestured for him to enter. I kept a close eye on him, making sure he didn’t make a move towards Summer. I knew I wasn’t being rational but I couldn’t help the way I felt. My mate was vulnerable and I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.

“I tore the pages out of my books, sorry.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I figured it would be faster for you to see them and not have to go through twenty or so books. I wrote exactly where each herb could be found.”

I picked up each picture and read their uses and where they could be found. I thought about how I was going to get these herbs without leaving Summer. I felt a light breeze and threw my hand up and over Summer, causing the chemist to fall over and out of his chair.

“Sorry, Zane, I thought you could use the help. I tried to mind-link you but your mind-link is blocked. We all felt mom’s heart stop. What do you need me to do?” Ander asked as he laid a hand on my shoulder.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and hugged Ander with one hand. I need you to go get these herbs, taking Joey with you. He will be able to tell if it’s the plant he seeks.” I looked at him closely, a thought coming to my mind. “Did you hear about any herbs they were making into weapons?”

“Uh, yeah, but I never heard of any cure.” I watched as he tilted his head in thought. “I was out of it with the shot they gave me, but I remember one herb they used to make the bullet lethal.” I watched him scrunch up his eyebrows and nose. “Dang it! I can’t remember what it was but I will. Let’s go get the herbs, Joey. Ready for a wild ride?”

I watched in amusement when Joey didn’t have a chance to answer Ander. Poor Joey was going to be puking his toenails up. Joey didn’t get out of the office unless he was ordered to. He liked being behind his lenses and machines. I think he felt as if he could hide considering he was one of the men we had rescued from an abusive Alpha, an Alpha who wasn’t alive anymore. Joey didn’t want to stay around the same pack who abused him sexually and physically. I had high hopes he would find his mate but he didn’t act as if he would look for her anytime soon. No matter, at least he was getting help from our excellent staff of therapists.

I talked to Summer, letting her know the rest of our family would be taking care of the last Bruja, that the defunct King and Queen were dead. I wanted her to know she didn’t have to worry anymore. I told her about our children, about the ones she was carrying even now. I wasn’t sure how she was going to take being pregnant again. It wasn’t as if we had planned for more babies, but I was happy about it. I loved our children and I had wanted at least one more. She didn’t.

I hadn’t heard anything from Joey or Ander and I was getting worried about them. “Ander? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Joey found his mate and he doesn’t know how to talk to her. She’s the assistant doctor of her pack. She’s still in training,” Ander explained to me as I rolled my eyes at Joey’s response.

“Joey! You need to accept your mate and talk to her about moving here. She can train with our doctors and help you with your work. You will never find another woman made for you. She could have the same past, so I order you to talk to her and bring her home if she wants,” I told him through the mind-link, watching as he walked towards her and lifted his hand to her cheek. “Now, see if she can help you find the herbs you seek. You may let her know the reason why but please ask her to keep it quiet.” I watched as Joey nodded and spoke quietly to her.

I stopped looking through his eyes and focused back on my surroundings, my wolf standing guard for any intruders. I sighed and talked to Summer about Joey finding his mate, about his mouth being sewn shut when he saw her. I told her I had to order him to talk to his own damn mate, chuckling at the thought and wishing Summer could chuckle with me. I knew she would have ordered him to do the same and smiled while doing it. She loved to see people happy, it gave her a sense of peace in helping others. I knew Joey thought of her as a surrogate sister. Believe me, they acted as if they were siblings. My Summer was the only woman Joey let around him for a long time. He loved Renee and Marylynn, he thought of them as his grandparents. I guess he thought of us as brothers, too. At least he didn’t shy away from us as did the others.

I sighed and laid my head back against the chair, Summer’s hand still in mine. I wanted all the fighting and jealousy the other people had to stop. They had always wanted our pack and I couldn’t figure out why, well, until recently. The whole damn fighting was all due to the…

I jumped up when I heard someone in the hall. They were moving slow and quietly, or so they thought. I was happy my wolf was keeping watch or I might have missed the sound. I wanted to let out a huge growl, but I wanted to see who was trying to sneak in and what they wanted. I hid in the shadows and waited.

I heard the door open slowly and someone take a deep breath, their heart beating in fear. I waited until the person walked over to the bed and looked down at Summer. “Who are you and what do you want with my mate?” I asked her quietly, my hands around her throat.

A/N: Extra-long chapter for you and, of course, a cliffhanger.