Chapter 59

Chapter 59

“You’re not doing this,” Kale managed to get out on a pained groan before the last bone had a chance to snap back in place as his legs gave out, dropping him to the floor on his hands and knees.

Gasping for air, Kale shook his head only to bite back a groan of pleasure as power tore through his body. God, he’d missed this, Kale thought, dropping his head forward as pleasure continued to make its way through his body, from his fingertips all the way down to his toes.

It felt so fucking good.

God, the fucking pleasure was-

“You are the best brother ever,” the little traitor said on a wistful sigh, drawing Kale’s attention to find Ashley perched on the edge of his bureau with a large coffee cup in her hands, sipping the Pyte’s blood through a fucking pink straw.

“Feel better?” Christofer asked, smiling down approvingly at the little brat that was driving Kale out of his fucking mind.

“Much better, thank you,” Ashley murmured as she happily continued sipping the cup of blood like it was the most delicious fucking thing on earth while Kale knelt there, glaring at the little brat. He’d just shifted for the first time in centuries to protect her and this was his thanks? He should definitely spank her ass, Kale thought, only to decide that she definitely needed her ass spanked for that comment she made about him being adorable as a werewolf.

Never taking his glare off his mate, Kale reached over, grabbed hold of the comforter on his bed and-

“So, what’s new?” Jacob asked conversationally with a satisfied sigh as he threw himself across the bed.

Narrowing his eyes, Kale bit out, “Tell me that you really didn’t pretend to throw a fucking stick and tell me to go get it,” making the large shifter’s lips twitch.

“Got you to let go of Caine’s leg, though, didn’t it?” Jacob said, chuckling as Kale tightened his hold on the comforter and yanked it free from under the large bastard so that he could wrap it around his waist.

“No, Jessica running into the room demanding to pet the ‘doggy’ did that,” Kale said evenly as he stood up, keeping the comforter tightly secured around his waist just in case the little girl managed to break out of the nursery again.

“I can see how that could be a problem,” Jacob murmured as Kale shifted his attention back to find Ashley happily sipping her cup of blood, completely oblivious to just how close he was to spanking her beautiful ass.

“She’s too nice,” Jacob pointed out as though Kale wasn’t already painfully aware of that fact.

“We need to get her out of here,” Kale said as his attention shifted to the Pyte that had taken him by surprise to find Caine sitting on the floor, his head dropped in his trembling hands, his broken leg completely forgotten as he mumbled, “Please, God, let this work.”

“She’s safe here.”

No, she wasn’t, Kale thought, swallowing hard as he was forced to look away. While Kale had been struggling to get his body back under control, Caine had been explaining to Ashley about how her blood helped Izzy, about Danni’s cancer, the baby, and how much he loved his mate while Jacob and Christofer struggled to get his bleeding under control to stop him from going into bloodlust. Then, the Pyte had taken him by surprise and did the one thing that Kale never expected.

He’d begged.

Caine had barely managed to get the first “please” out when Ashley cut him off, telling him that she would do it. Kale didn’t want her to do this, especially when they didn’t know how the cancer would affect her. He couldn’t imagine going through what Caine was going through, forced to watch his mate and child die over and over again, and-

God, he hoped this worked.

* * *

“It’s going to be fine,”Ashley said, forcing a hopeful smile even as she couldn’t help but wonder when Kale was going to say something.

She’d expected an argument, threats of locking her up in the basement, promises of spanking her ass, but so far, he hadn’t said a word to her. He-

“Oh, god…” Ashley mumbled weakly when she felt the gurney that had been pushed up against the one that she was currently lying on shake slightly as an incredibly sweet smell that she was really hoping wasn’t what she thought it was, reached her. “Please tell me that’s not a Sentinel,” she whispered hollowly as she slowly, ever so slowly, looked over her shoulder and-

“You’re adorable,” the large man covered with large scars and tattoos said with a teasing smile as he reached over and left her struggling to remember how to breathe when he patted her on the head. Whimpering, she turned her head to find a small woman, who was definitely a Sentinel, glaring up at Kale.

“We,” the woman began as she gestured between herself and Kale, “are no longer speaking.”

“And yet, you won’t leave me alone,” Kale drawled, his glare never leaving Ashley as he spoke to the small woman who really wasn’t what Ashley expected a female Sentinel to look like. She was short, curvy, and adorable, and the man next to her…

Definitely wasn’t, Ashley thought as her attention shifted back to the large Sentinel, taking in the unholy glimmer of amusement in his eyes, the large pink scars on his neck, the muscles bulging as he crossed his arms over his chest, and decided that she really didn’t want to find herself alone in a dark alley with him one day and realized that this was Marc’s brother, Chris, which meant...

“That’s because I’m here to support my new best friend,” the woman that Ashley was guessing was Izzy, said with a pointed look at Ashley, making her frown in confusion.

“Sorry, Munchkin, but she’s my new best friend,” Chris said while Ashley lay there, really wishing that Sentinels weren’t fighting over her.

Deciding that her attention was needed elsewhere, Ashley shifted her focus from the Sentinel couple now glaring at each other and felt her heart break as she watched Caine carry his mate into the room. She looked so sick, Ashley thought, swallowing hard as she watched Caine carefully lay Danni down on the other gurney as though she was the most precious thing in the world to him and-

“What the hell is going on here?” a tall man with a military cut, who was definitely a Sentinel, demanded as he walked into the room.

“We found a way to help Danni. I’ll explain everything later, Michael, but we need to do this before she slips back into a coma,” Noah said as he quickly worked to hook Danni up to monitors with Samantha and Cloe’s help while Ashley took in the large Sentinel, noting everything from his neatly combed dark hair to his warm brown eyes as they searched the room and landed on her.

“How?” Michael asked, his eyes never leaving Ashley as he waited for an answer.

“We found a way to filter her blood to kill the cancer,” Noah said, rushing to finish hooking Danni, who really wasn’t looking good, up to the rest of the machines.

“What are you filtering her blood with?” Michael asked, glancing back at the human, who focused on what he was doing as he ground his jaw and-

“My blood,” Ashley said, swallowing nervously as she watched Kale’s eyes turn silver when he suddenly went still.

“I don’t understand,” Michael said, frowning in confusion as he glanced from Ashley back to Danni.

“She’s my sister,” Christofer said, allowing his eyes to turn red as he watched the Sentinel, who looked genuinely shocked by the news.

“This is a mistake,” Michael said, shaking his head as he moved to stop them, only to have Caine step in front of him before he could reach Danni. “This isn’t going to work. We tested Christofer’s blood to see if we could filter Danni’s blood through his body, but his blood only made the cancer stronger. It’s going to make her sicker. Please don’t do this. Just give me a little more time to figure this out.”

“Noah?” Caine said, his gaze never leaving the Sentinel that looked like he was going to be sick.

“The cancer died in all the tests. Ashley’s blood destroyed it on contact,” Noah said, finishing setting up Danni and quickly moved around the men in a glaring match so that he could start working on Ashley.

“How are you holding up?” Noah asked with a warm smile as he began setting up a tray with more needles than she ever wanted to see in one place.

“I’m fine,” Ashley mumbled as she struggled to stop her hands from trembling only to slowly exhale when Chris reached over and took her hand in his.

“You’re going to be fine,” Chris promised her as she watched Michael move to come closer, only to rethink that decision when Kale and Christofer stepped in his way.

“It’s going to make her worse. Please, don’t do this. At least, hold off until we can run more tests to make sure that it’s not going to make the cancer stronger,” Michael argued, moving to step around them only to frown when he spotted Izzy standing in the corner. “What happened?”

“We were able to fix her,” was all Noah said as he examined the veins in Ashley’s arm. “This should work.”

Swallowing hard, Ashley simply nodded as she glanced over at the other gurney and watched Danni, telling herself that everything would be fine.

“You’re making a mistake,” Michael said, sighing heavily before adding, “But, if you’re going to do this, we should use a second pump. It will be the fastest way to move the blood through her system.”

“That’s a good idea,” Noah said, giving her a reassuring smile that she didn’t really find reassuring at the moment.

“Let me help,” Michael said only to add, “Please,” as Ephraim and Trace walked into the room.

“I could use the help,” Noah said when no one said anything.

After a slight pause, Caine and Kale moved aside and she watched as Michael joined them, giving her a warm smile that immediately put her at ease as he said, “Tell me what we’re doing.”

Slowly exhaling, Ashley lay there, listening as Noah explained everything that he’d found out about her blood, what it did, and what it was going to take to destroy the cancer. The entire time, Michael simply nodded, murmured his agreement, and asked a few questions as they set up IVs in her arms while all the Pytes in the room gorged on bagged blood, getting ready to start donating blood so that she could keep up with the cancer.

She could do this, Ashley told herself as Kale sat down by her side and took her trembling hand in his, his thumb absently caressing the back of her hand while they both watched Danni as her breaths became shallower. Please let this work, Ashley thought as Noah and Michael finished setting everything up while Samantha and Cloe started drawing Chris’s blood. Once they’d finished, he was climbing off the gurney and Izzy was taking his place.

A few minutes later, they were pushing Danni’s gurney next to hers and they were ready to go. “Ready?” Michael asked as he reached for the pump.

Nodding, Ashley said, “Ready,” as she slowly exhaled, watching as he reached over and turned the machine on. Within minutes, Danni’s blood was making its way through the first tube connecting them while hers was making its way to Danni and-

She flinched violently when Danni’s blood reached her.

“I’m fine. It just took me by surprise,” Ashley said with a reassuring smile as she placed her hand over Kale’s, stopping him from pulling her IV out as she told herself that she’d get used to the burning sensation.

She was wrong.

For several hours, Ashley lay there, struggling not to scream as what felt like fire tore through her body. It hurt. God, it hurt so much, she thought, struggling not to cry as she bit down on the feeding tube they’d been forced to put down her throat when it became obvious that she wasn’t able to consume blood fast enough to keep up with the cancer. Everything hurt, Ashley thought, choking back a sob as she focused on Danni.

She looked so much better than she had when Caine carried her in here earlier. Her skin was no longer deathly pale but was now a healthy tan with a flush of pink marking her cheeks. She’d also put on weight and so had her baby. The soft swell of her belly had filled out, forcing her mate and Ephraim to turn her onto her side to make it easier for her to breathe. Her blood was definitely working, Ashley thought as a fresh wave of pain tore through her arm and-

She had to do this, Ashley told herself as she tightened her hold around Kale’s hand, wishing that he’d say something as she struggled not to cry. He watched her through silver eyes, his jaw clenched tightly, his eyes never leaving hers as she saw the same pain in his eyes that she saw when he told her about his sister. Swallowing hard, Ashley looked away and watched as Noah took another sample of her blood to make sure the cancer wasn’t taking over while Christofer monitored her baby girl, making sure that she was safe.

“It’s almost over,” Michael promised her with a reassuring smile while she watched Danni sleep.

No, it wasn’t, but she appreciated the lie, Ashley thought as liquid fire continued pouring into her arm. The pain was getting worse, a lot worse, she realized as a loud chime had Kale’s jaw clenching. The second had him frowning, and the third had him pulling his phone out of his pocket and his eyes turning silver as his jaw clenched and-

She felt herself dragged into oblivion as the pain suddenly swallowed her whole.