Verge of Insanity

Chapter Thirty Two

Mara Leigh

"Mara Leigh," Xander's soft voice came from beside me. I couldn't get my body to respond like I wanted to. I was sore all over. My eyes were stuck closed and my body just felt too heavy to move. I could tell I was on a bed, and assumed I was in our room. At least I hoped I was.

"How long is this supposed to take?" He asked someone.

"I'm not sure, Alpha. Humans are different from wolves, and she's been through a lot. I'm sure she'll wake up soon." I recognized the voice of the pack doctor.

"She better," he growled.

Xander, leave him alone, I tried to mindlink to him. I didn't get an answer.

I felt his lips on my head and heard a chair be pulled closer. I heard the chair creak the tiniest bit as he sat down and felt him take hold of my hand. I let myself fade out of consciousness. I'd lost track of time, and couldn't guess how long I'd been in this state. But I could hear and feel Xander beside me, and that kept me calm.

The door opening and closing brought me back to awareness.

"You wanted to see me?" It was Ella.

"How is Beau?"

Yep, that's what I want to know too.

"He's...okay," she hesitated. "He is still jumpy and really worried about me, even though I've healed better and faster than him. He didn't even want me to leave to come in here. He's still really sore from the shift, and he says his arms and legs are numb and he can't move. The doctor is wanting him to shift again, since that would probably speed up the healing process...."

"He isn't able to," Xander asked, more of a statement than a question.

"No, and it's understandably frustrating to him."

"I'm positive that when he saw you in the state that you were in, with Garrett about to kill you, that his emotions took over. That's the only reason I can think of that would cause him to shift without consciously trying to."

It was silent for a while.

"Why hasn't she woke up?" Ella finally asked.

Xander didn't reply, and Ella fell quiet. The silence dragged on for what felt like hours. I started to wonder if Ella had left. I could feel Xander tracing around something on my wrist, which felt like the Hawthorne bracelet he had gifted what felt like forever ago.

"What happened to you two?" Xander broke the silence. His voice had changed. I could tell that he was suppressing a lot of emotion. I wanted to move so badly and tell Ella not to answer. He didn't need to know everything.

Ella sighed, and I felt the bed dip where she must have sat down.

"We were surrounded as we left the bathroom after graduation. There were people around, and we tried to stay in groups hoping that they wouldn't be able to take us without making a scene. It didn't work. They had us on the road to a cabin out in the woods, which I know you found shortly after we had left. They separated us in the cabins. Garrett locked Mara up with him-"

A low rumbling growl from Xander interrupted her, and didn't falter as she kept talking.

"I don't know what happened to Mara while she was in there. Garrett had promised me to a rogue, and he put me in a room with him...." Her voice broke there, like she was thinking about how much more to share. "I don't know how long I was in there before a rogue came and told us that we were moving out. Garrett found out that Mara was your mate, so he got into a hurry. On the way to the clearing there was an altercation in the car where Mara had guessed what had happened to me, and the rogue was in the back of the car with me, acting...inappropriately. Mara took her heel off and stabbed it into the rogue's eye. Garrett pulled her up to the front with him. I heard him say something about wanting her as his."