Chapter 8

Harvey

My whole body froze when I heard Jordan's words. Alice was dying and I need to be there right now!

I bolted so quickly to where Jordan was. Jacob was also there. And there she was. Lying on the ground with blood all over her body I couldn't even see any of her body parts that weren't covered by blood.

I marched my way to her. My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't even keep myself calm anymore.

"It's Ironmaws," Jordan said in a stern voice.

I groaned and clenched my fist. Those damn cunning wolves and their leader, Roman, really got their hand dirty on this. Their kind were the ones who tainted werewolves' reputations in general. The one who made us look like a monster in the human mind.

My hand reached out and tried to touch Alice's body but I realized it would give another pain to her. There were deep scratches all over her body. Claw marks from those filthy wolves.

"I will make them pay for this," I muttered under my breath.

I could hear the same angry groan from Jordan and the pack's members. No matter how denial Alice was, her identity as our Luna wouldn't have changed a bit. And no wolves would do anything when they saw their Luna was being attacked. Moreover, by another pack.

Just when I thought we almost lost her, I heard her writhing in pain. The first signal for me to push my revenge back to my head and save her first.

I ordered each one of them in mere seconds.

"Go to pack house and call Doc! We should save her no matter what it takes!"

I took her into my arms and headed back to the pack house in a rush. We arrived only in ten minutes span but my heart already beating like a drum. I was afraid that I might lose her by a single mistake.

She was fragile and my heart twisted in pain seeing her on the verge of death like this.

I walked into the master bedroom and laid her down carefully. It didn't take too long for our pack's doctor to arrive. When she reached the pack's house, my house, Helen, our doctor, went straight to the master bedroom with Jordan. And I couldn't forget how she gasped when she saw Alice's horrible condition

"What the hell happened? Can someone explain to me why Luna became like this?"

"Work now, talk later, Helen. Please." I told her firmly.

She looked at me and seemed like hesitating for a bit.

"Okay, Alpha."

Then Helen nodded while walking to the bed to check on Alice.

It took her approximately one hour to do a thorough examination of Alice. I kept pacing on my feet out of nervousness while my eyes would glance at her and Alice the whole time.

After finished her job, she took a seat beside Alice and scanned her sight again. All of her wounds had been covered in bandages. The deep ones were stitched carefully.

"How is it? She will be fine, right? I asked her.

She shook her head. Bad sign. I could smell her worry hanging in the air. Something happened and I just hoped that it wouldn't take the worse turn.

"What do you mean? Tell me, Helen!"

She sighed and stared at me.

"Tell me what happened first. Because I am sure these many wounds didn't come simply from getting lost in the woods."

My mouth went silent. I froze and couldn't tell anything for a while. She rose and patted my shoulder. Her eyes looked at me with concern.

"Alpha, I need you to tell me everything so I can help her." She muttered.

I never knew that it would be this heart to tell this story. Telling her about my failure to protect their Luna. Telling Helen about everything that happened would make my heart clenched in pain. I knew it.

I always tried to keep the painful memories at the back of my head. Because I thought speaking it out loud only made me feel worse. But I had no other choice right now.

"She escaped from my house last night." I finally said.

Her eyes grew bigger and her mouth gaped because of the shock.

"How could that happen? Did someone not guard her last night?"

I sighed. My lips curved into a bitter smile.

"It was all my fault. I left her on the full moon to do some jobs with Jordan. I never thought that she would go to this extent of escaping from here."

Another silence. Maybe if I wasn't her Alpha, Helen definitely would punched me in the face. A useless man who couldn't even protect his mate.

"So? What happened next? How could she get injured this bad?" Another question from her.

"It was Ironmaws. We're sure it was Roman and his underlings who tortured her that night. You know how deep the grudge toward her father runs in their blood, aren't you?"

She nodded. Of course. I believe every pack in this area indeed knows about the long-time feud between Albert Baxter and the Ironmaw. After all, that man had slain the whole pack in a single night. Leaving only a few who successfully fled from the scene.

But I wasn't the one who picked a side either. It was his job as a werewolf hunter to banish the vile ones. And Ironmaw, unfortunately, was one of those immoral wolves. They would go on hunts and kidnap young girls to assault them only for the sake of fun. No wonder it would eventually poke Baxter's patience at the end.

"The thing is Alpha. Her wounds were too severe. Some even too deep to the point I could see her bones showing. Roman has indeed done each of his attacks with deep resentment."

I knew it. I even could see it with my own eyes from the very first time I found her. It even baffled me how she could hang on for these hours.

"Can you save her, Helen?" I asked seriously.

She shook her head.

"I can't. The only thing I can do is give her the best treatment to prolong her life. But I believe it wouldn't be enough to heal her and make her awake."

We went silent again. Both Helen and I were so deep in our endless thoughts about Alice. Then after what felt like a few minutes or so, Helen clapped her hand along a bright idea entered her head.

"I actually have a solution for this, Alpha."

Her words picked up my interest instantly. I gazed at her while waiting for the rest of her sentences.

"Turn her into one of us."

I was taken aback by her so-called solution. It wasn't a way to solve this problem. It was a way to make Alice kill me with her bare hand.

"I mean, you know how we have amazing healing ability. And making her into a werewolves will definitely speed up the process."

She was right. It was hard for me to admit it but Helen was right. Turning Alice into a werewolf would double or even triple up her healing process. No wound is ever dangerous enough to injure a werewolf's body. That amazing healing ability made us practically invincible to any attack.

It seemed like Helen could smell my doubt. She strode closer to me and touched my shoulder.

"Just think about it, Alpha. It wasn't a bad option after all."

Then she left me alone with a tangled mind inside my head. I was in a dilemma about which step should I take. I felt like I was standing between two roads and I wasn't sure which one to take. In short, I was doomed.

***

"Hey, what's wrong Harvey? Why are you calling me?"

"I need to talk about something with you, Jordan. My mind is in a total mess right now."

He quickly pulled out a chair and sat on it.

"Spill it. What did Helen just say?"

Jordan knew it. Of course. I had the strongest link with him since we were best friends for two whole decades. His father was my father's Beta. He is also the Beta I chose when I took over this position. Jordan was the only one who had the privilege to call me by my name. Harvey and not Alpha.

It was good. It reminds me of how was my life before everything changed.

"Her condition is terrible, Jordan. Helen even said that she couldn't do anything other than treat her and only lengthened her vegetative state."

He looked at me, waiting in anticipation.

"Unless..." I said it again.

"Unless what?"

"Unless I make her into a werewolf like us."

Jordan gasped. Well, the same reaction happened to me a few hours ago.

"I don't think it was a good idea, Harvey."

I nodded and sighed heavily. I leaned into my chair and threw my head back - looking at the ceiling with an empty stare.

"I know. After all, she despised our kind so much. She thinks that we are some kind of cruel monster although we aren't."

"And to turn her into one of us will make her resenting our choice right?" Jordan continued on my words as if he could read my mind.

I bobbed my head. It was okay if she didn't want to be my mate. It was even enough for me as long as she didn't hate me. But by doing this, she would definitely hold so much hatred for me. A wrath that boiled deep inside her. And I couldn't stand that.

I couldn't let the love of my life labor so much hate to our ill-fated relationship.

***

I spent the whole three days rummaging inside my head and trying to find every other possible option I could do. But my effort returned to no avail. The ugly truth is that Helen's advice was the best and most efficient one.

I sat on the bedside and caressed Alice's cheek carefully.

"I'm sorry, Love. I can't protect you and now you must endure this much pain."

She looked awful. Alice looked practically like a mummy - covered in a bandage all over her body. And seeing her like this only urged me to make a decision faster. I couldn't let my doubt take over me again. I should make my move right now. It's now or never.

I would do anything to save her. Hell, I even could try to live with the possible hate she gave to me. I would be okay as long as she is okay.

Just like that, a determination came to me. I had made up my mind. I reached for my phone and dialed Helen. It only took a few seconds before she answered it. And I said it with the clearest certainty in my voice.

"Let's do it tonight."