Reading Online Novel

Unbound (Forbidden Bond Book 1)(54)



Any minute the others would arrive, and surely Kayden's father would be  leading the cavalry. Chase holstered his gun, clearly in shock. As far  as Kayden knew, Chase had never fired a weapon in his life, and today  he'd killed a man in defense of the woman they both loved.

Kayden saw other vehicles begin to filter in from different directions  and surround the scene. For the second time that day Chase reached out  his hand to Kayden. They held each other's forearms, just like old  times. They'd brought her home together, but their truce would end the  moment Dani was safely delivered to the Enclave.         

     



 





Dani had been unconscious for two days. Kayden sat at her bedside,  holding her small hand in both of his and listening to the steady  beeping of the machines connected to her. The helplessness was  overwhelming. He was supposed to be a warrior. He should have been  strong and fearless. He'd been anything but that for the past several  days. He'd been scared to death of losing her.

Warriors were supposed to protect their charges and deal with losses as  they came. He'd failed at both duties and was waiting for the  consequences. His father had likely not approached him yet due to Dani's  condition, but he'd the distinct feeling he would be relieved of his  charge.

Doc had him talking to her and trying to reach into her mind the way  Chase had, but it didn't work. Kayden had never done it before, but he  wanted it to work so badly that he refused to take a break at all. He'd  even allowed his mother to bring him bags of blood, instead of heading  out to hunt. It was unthinkable to him before, but it was better than  leaving her again. It worried Kayden that Doc spent so much time at the  Enclave tending to Dani. It was out of the ordinary and made Kayden  wonder if he was holding back information regarding Dani's prognosis.

"How is she doing?" Doc queried when he and Griffin entered the room.

"No changes," Kayden replied, moving to allow Doc to look her over. Doc  went through the normal exam he had performed several times a day.

Griffin stepped up to the other side of the bed and ran his hand through  Dani's streaked hair. "How are you doing, kid? Can you hear me?"  Unexpectedly, her heart rate picked up, and the beeping of the heart  monitor became faster. Doc and Griffin looked at each other.

"Danielle, can you hear me?" Doc asked, and again her heart kicked.

"Maybe he's right," Doc said to Griffin.

"Who is right? What are you talking about? Do you think she can hear  us?" Kayden asked. A look passed between the two elders. There was  something they weren't telling him. "What is going on?"

"Kayden." Doc seemed to steel himself for a fight. "You know Chase has been here waiting to see her."

"Here's the problem, son." Griffin came around the bed and rested a hand  on Kayden's shoulder. "Chase says Dani has been trying to talk to you  since yesterday, but she can't reach you. He can hear her, as long as he  stays close. She's been reluctant to talk to him, but today she says  she's lost. She can't find her way out of wherever she is in there, and  she can't reach you to help her get out."

A light came on in Kayden's head. Memories of seeing Chase and Dani in  Chase's bed, Chase holding her mostly naked body, rushed into Kayden's  head and burned him. "It's comparable to a coma in some ways, I  believe." Doc shook his head. Dani's heart rate kicked again, and Doc  took her hand. "The brain will shut down to give itself time to heal.  She's in there and she can hear us, as we suspect some coma patients  can. Sometimes they wake up spontaneously after years of being under.  Sometimes it just takes the right trigger to get their brains firing  again." Then he looked past Kayden to Griffin. "We are going to need to  try a blood transfusion, or she won't have the strength to fight. She  hasn't fed in at least three days." He left the room at a clipped pace.

It was quiet for a long time. Both men stood and watched the sleeping  girl. "Something my father taught me comes to mind," Kayden said. "Being  a warrior means making decisions in the best interest of your charge.  Being a mate means doing that, plus putting your mate's needs before  your own. I know what needs to be done. I just hate the idea of not  being able to provide everything and anything my female needs." He  looked over his shoulder at Griffin.

Kayden sat there, brooding over the idea of Dani being in close physical  contact with Chase. Kayden never had a jealous thought in his life,  until Dani came along. She made him crazy and possessive. He'd dealt  with her living under Chase's roof in the past for her safety, because  he'd had no choice in the matter. But giving Chase permission to touch  her made his skin crawl. What else could he do? Her needs were more  important than his jealous pride.

"I won't be gone long, baby," he whispered next to Dani's ear. "I guess  I'm gonna need to go, so you can get some help. I'll be back soon." He  kissed her lips softly and turned to Griffin. "Tell my father I'm going  to take a break. Please have someone call me if she wakes." Kayden left  the room with one last look over his shoulder.         

     



 



In the hall, Chase paced and listened to the soft whimpering in his  mind. He could feel her confusion and distress. She was getting further  and further away. His Lovely was lost and couldn't find her way out of  the darkness. As time passed, she became completely silent. Even the  soft whimpering faded away. Chase was deep in thought, trying to talk to  Danielle, when Koren startled him, poking her head around the corner.

"Alright, let's see what you can do. Kayden's out of the room, but who  knows for how long, so let's get moving." She prodded him into action.

Chase's heart leapt in his chest, and he tore down the hall ahead of  Koren. At the door to Danielle's room, he was met by Gage, who gave him a  stern look that was clearly a nonverbal threat. All Chase cared about  was getting to Danielle.

The room was dark and quiet, except for the beeping of the heart  monitor. She looked so small and fragile in the bed that was meant to  hold warriors three times her size. He lowered the bed rail and pulled  off his shirt. The last time, Doc had said skin contact might help. He  crawled into the bed next to Danielle and began to search, reaching out  to her verbally and telepathically, as he had before. His bare chest  against her arm, holding her hand and resting one of his on her  forehead, just like before, he called to her.

"Lovely, I am here now. Can you hear me? I've come to find you." He said  it over and over again, until he noticed the heart monitor beeping  faster. He lifted his head and said, "Danielle, can you hear me? Come  toward the sound of my voice."

Then, it started just as it had before. First, he got pictures only. She  was flashing clips of J. R. with a knife to his throat and a syringe in  his arm. It felt like a question, somehow.

"J. R. is fine. He didn't even need stitches, but he's been worried  about you. I think he's still here with Griffin. If you wake up, you can  talk to him."

Then, he listened but there was no sound. He saw flashes of her memory  of being loved and pleasured in his bed. Then the next morning when  they'd had breakfast. It felt warm and happy. She was enjoying their  time together. He saw himself through her eyes and was surprised at her  view of him. He could feel the affection for him that she usually  suppressed. Then, he saw Sam wearing her best bitch mask. "Don't worry  about Sam. I'm very sorry you felt the need to leave alone because of  that situation. I blame myself for what happened to you, but none of  that matters now, Lovely."

I was hungry. I needed to feed. That is not your fault, Chase, she acquitted him.

"I hear you now, Lovely. Keep moving toward my voice. Doc says you  should try to visualize an exit door. It may help. We can find the door,  together." It had been too long since he'd heard her mental voice.

I don't want you taking the blame for my crap. He heard her agitation  with him, and it was wonderful. He would take what he could get, even if  it was annoyance.

"You wouldn't have left alone, if not for the rude interruption, and I left you in order to deal with her."

He felt a flash of something hot and angry from her. She is your mate.  What else are you supposed to do? He could feel her getting closer to  him.

"She is not my mate yet, Lovely, and you know I don't love her. You know  I only want you. I wish you would give me a chance to rectify the  situation, before you write me off. I think I'm making some headway.  I've got my mom on my side now.

"Please come to me. We can talk about this later. It's time to get you out of there. You need to feed and so do I," he coaxed.

Then, he had the strangest sensation of being touched, but it was in his  mind. She grabbed on to him and held tight. There was no way to explain  being telepathically embraced by another person. Especially one he  craved so deeply. She wrapped herself around him, and he held on to her  for dear life. It was like floating in a dark cloud with her very soul  snuggled to his chest. They just hung there, unspeaking, entwined with  each other's thoughts. He heard her take a deep breath, and her  eyelashes brushed his cheek. He didn't move a muscle. She felt too good  in his mind to release her and not be allowed to touch her again.