Chapter Eleven

Sutton

“Do what you have to do,” I demanded frantic with nervous energy. I’d never been a nervous one. Cool under pressure. A rock in the storm. Others could lean on me.

My mate, my fated omega, edging toward death? I was a fucking mess.

“Okay. He’s going to be in some significant pain, but I’m going to do what I can to help him. This isn’t going to be pretty, but at no point are you going to attack me.” Sebastian, the healer they’d called in for the purpose of torturing my mate, had a point.

“Get the bear,” I growled.

Sebastian phoned Tyrus. In a matter of seconds, my bear friend came in and stood next to me.

“He’s going to try and break the bond Raven had with his old mate. It’s going to hurt him. I’m afraid…”

“Yeah. No worries. I won’t let you take it out on the healer.”

I nodded once and gripped the side of my chair for some kind of anchor. “Go on, Sebastian. If this bond is killing him, then break the damned thing.”

“I’m going to try.”

Two days after that conversation, my omega was in more pain than ever. He only woke to thrash and scream before passing out again. Sweat dripped from his body, although the cabin was cool, no heat on at all. Two days since he’d eaten anything.

Two days since I’d seen anything in his eyes that would reveal the bond had been broken.

Raven was worse off than ever.

“How is he?” Tyrus came in without knocking. He and Sloan were the only ones who had checked on us. I didn’t blame the others. They had beef with him. But, for my sake, because they were my friends, I wished they had stopped by or called.

“Worse.” I tugged at the roots of my hair. “I don’t know what to do. At this rate, he’s going to die.”

That was the first time I’d uttered the words, but they had never been truer.

“Let’s ask the healer to come back. Maybe there’s something else that can be done. Hell, we’ll call in some witches if we have to. You’re a part of this team, and this is your mate. Period.”

“Call him, please.”

I took the opportunity, listening to Tyrus speak to Sebastian, to change Raven’s sheets and whisper my love into his ear. There had to be a part of him that could hear me.

If this didn’t work, and Raven was never whole again, I would make an enemy of Fate.

Never trust my life to her again.

Less than a half hour later, Sebastian came in and checked Raven’s vitals—none too impressed.

“We’re going to have to do this the more dangerous way, Sutton.”

“The more—” I choked on the response. “What’s more dangerous than what he’s going through now? Look at him. He hasn’t done anything but writhe in pain for days.”

“You’re going to have to mark him. Force the other bond to break.”

Everything stopped. The only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat and the faint breaths from my mate.

“Mark him? He’s barely lucid. He hasn’t spoken in days. How am I supposed to…”

Sebastian put away his tools and nonsense and sat on the chair on the other side of the bed. “Without his permission.”

“That’s…no. How is that any different than the forced bond of the other alpha. Forcing omegas to bond and breed.” I growled loud and angrily. “It would make me no better than the alphas we’re fighting to protect these omegas from.”

“That’s not true,” Tyrus interjected. “I’ve got an idea.”

He sent a text and, in minutes, his mate, Sloan, came in. Oh, he was calling in the big guns.

“What is it?” Sloan asked with big eyes.

“They want me to mark Raven without his permission. He’s not conscious,” I said

Tyrus cleared his throat. “Sutton thinks that makes him no different than Raven’s first alpha.”

Sloan took a moment, looking between Raven and me. “He is yours. He risked his life to get here to you, Sutton. This isn’t the same as last time. That alpha forced an unwanted bond on Raven. Your bond would be welcome, and we already know Fate has blessed it. Think about the turns of events around here. He walked into his death for the chance to find you. If he wasn’t your mate, I have no doubt that King or Aziz would’ve killed him.”

Sebastian leaned back in his chair. “If you don’t do this, your mate will die. The pain and agony he’s in…it’s only a matter of time.”

“What’s the risk?” I asked.

“I can’t see a physical risk. He may be angry with you for forcing the bond while he was unconscious, but I fully believed that a fated bond will overtake and erase the unnatural one.”

Sebastian stood up. He’d said his peace and was now leaving.

“So, he would be healthy, but he might hate me. He wouldn’t be in pain, but he could leave me behind.”

Tyrus clapped me on the shoulder. “He would be alive and free, but there’s a chance it would be without you.”

“Get out. All of you. Sloan, thank you for your words. Tyrus, you have one hell of a mate. Sebastian. Thank you.”

“Will you…” The healer asked.

“I would do anything in my power to have him live. What kind of fucking alpha would I be if I didn’t?”

Once they were gone, I cleaned my mate up, wiping his skin with a clean cloth. Once he was in clean pants again, I sighed. He was so damned beautiful.

Goddess, if you’re listening, please let this work. Even if he hates me.

Let him live.

I let my bear take over, biting down on his shoulder. His blood filled my mouth, and my bear reached out telepathically, trying to forge our bond further. It was only a sliver of a thing so far, but hopefully my mark would change all of that.

Pulling back, I swiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “Forgive me, Raven. Forgive me, omega.”

He didn’t wake. Didn’t stir. Nothing happened.

Damn it. I’d failed him. The one person in this world I wasn’t supposed to fail.