BEAST IS SAYING GOODBYE (Sob) and because of that, Reth doesn't need your powerstone or Golden Ticket votes anymore! If you'd like to support me as an author, please consider transferring your votes

/GT to my new book

"Rise of the Dark Alpha.

" But if not, then use them on a different author

/book because they're FAR more valuable to a book that is ongoing! Thank you for ALL your support this year. I am humbled and amazed!

*****

RETH

"Please, daughter,

" Aymora whispered through her teeth,

"Please. Don't leave us.

"

Thrub… thrub…

Thrub.

Reth's entire body went rigid and he rolled onto his side, pushing up onto his elbow, though he wasn't supposed to move that arm because it was where they connected. He patted Elia's face gently.

"Elia, Love, please… please… don't give up. Keep fighting. We're almost there.

"

"I can't… the bleeding is too…

" A small cry of frustration and fear shoved out of Aymora and she leaned into Elia's stomach, her head tipping back, eyes screwed tight against tears.

"Open the pipes again, Reth, just in case… just in case we can—

"

"We never closed them,

" he croaked, his thumb tracing Elia's cheek that was growing more pale. Her skin was dry, but she'd taken on an unhealthy cast, as if she were turning blue.

"Elia, please!

" he pleaded. His head spun and he lost his grip on her for a moment, but then he was back, and growling against the injustice of all of this.

"She's losing too much blood!

" Aymora cried.

"I found the tear, but I can't get the layers closed… she's… we're losing her Reth! I can't see. I have to get more of this blood out of the way.

"

Throwing down the pincers she'd be using to try and stitch Elia, Aymora turned away to hurriedly gather up an armful of cloth.

Everything slowed.

Reth swayed, but even as his head grew lighter, everything came into much, much sharper focus.

When Aymora had healed Elia before, the wounds had been held closed and healing. Sharing the blood had merely helped her body strengthen to heal it naturally.

But when he'd healed Elia. when she would have lost her arm because of that bitch Lucine, it was exactly the same problem as now: She'd been bleeding so quickly, so profusely, that there was no time for the body to heal itself.

It had taken his blood, directly, and a lot of it, to do the healing for her.

As Aymora scrambled in slow motion, Reth blinked and looked at the place where they'd connected him to Elia's bloodstream, where his body, his own lifeblood, pumped for her. But it wasn't enough.

She wasn't getting enough of his blood. And not to the right place.

It must have been a split-second, but it felt like forever.

Aymora's back was briefly turned and Reth looked.

Down between Elia's thighs was the blade Aymora had been using to cut out Elreth.

As quickly as he was able, Reth reached for it, placing it in the hand that was still connected to Elia, and holding his forearm in front of him, sliding the blade along it to open his vein.

The searing, nerve-rending pain was nothing. It was his heart…

His chest clenched as he dropped the blade and extended his arm over the wound on her belly—the ugly, gaping hole that bled worse than his arm—fitting his own wound carefully over hers and holding it tight, allowing his blood to wash hers.

"Elia, please,

" he croaked.

"Please. Don't give up, Love. I'm here. I'm doing everything I can. Stay with me.

"

Thrub… thrub… thrub.

Reth sucked in a breath and blinked, praying as he began to sweat, his hand suddenly cold. Then Aymora turned back, cloths in her arms, and she shrieked.

"Reth! No!

"

He growled, holding to Elia with the arm that would not let her go until he no longer drew breath.

"Don't fight me, Aymora. I'm healing her.

"

"Reth, you can't. You've already given too much—it's your blood she's losing, too!

"

"I don't care!

"

Jayah sprinted back into the room, then slid to a halt, her eyes wide and scanning the scene—Reth bleeding and holding himself over Elia—holding her close, his arm cupping her wound. Aymora standing alongside, hands in her hair, her face aghast.

"Reth you can't! Elreth can't lose you too!

" Aymora snarled and leaped for his arm, to pull him away.

But then they all heard it.

Thrub. Thrub. Thrub.

Elia's heartbeat increasing. Still faint, still far too soft, but faster now.

Jayah closed her mouth and rushed to Elia's side, thumbing up her eyelids and leaning into her chest as Aymora gaped.

"Her color is improving,

" she said quietly, calmly.

"What he's doing is working, Aymora,

" the wolf said hesitantly.

Aymora's hands went to her mouth and she stared at Reth over them. He saw it then, the choice she believed she was making, the argument in her mind—her daughter, or her King?

He held her gaze and said, with every ounce of his Alpha power,

"Her. Always choose her. Every time.

"

Both women shuddered with the urge to submit and Aymora's eyes filled with tears.

"But… Reth…

"

"Always choose her, Aymora. I always have. And I do not regret it.

"

Aymora covered her face, sobbing into her palms. Jayah listened to Elia's chest with her cone and nodded.

"She's still weak. It's not… I can't be sure, Reth. But she's not as far gone as she was minutes ago.

"

"Good, good,

" he said faintly, blinking.

His eyes stung with the sweat dripping into them, and his head spun. But it was his chest that worried him—his heart sputtering and pounding, fluttering, clenching with squeezes on the edge of pain.

He had to stay alive. Had to stay there long enough to give her enough to heal.

Then her heart picked up again, stronger—though still not strong—and steadier than it had been all day.

Thrub, thrub, thrub.

And Reth sobbed with relief as tiny spots of pink rose in her cheeks.

"It's working,

" Jayah gasped.

"Aymora, it's working.

"

Aymora dropped her hands to leap to Elia's stomach, trying desperately to continue her work under Reth's arm to stitch Elia and close her wound.

The pain in his arm had stopped. When Aymora pushed it slightly higher to reach underneath, it didn't even pinch. He was grateful for that.

His head spun and his vision was beginning to tunnel—small sparks flaring at the end of his vision. But he kept listening, hearing her heart grow stronger and steadier, and his heart sang—even as it stuttered.

He was beginning to fade, and he did not regret it. He leaned down to drop a kiss on her cheek.

It took a herculean effort to push himself back and up onto his elbow again, but as his head began to droop, Elia's eyes fluttered, then opened and after she blinked several times, focused on his.

"Reth,

" she breathed.

His heart leaped in his chest, stabbing him with pain and overwhelming him with joy in the same moment.

"My life for yours…

" he whispered.

"My blood that yours might not be spilled.

"

"Reth… what?

"

Then he dropped to the furs next to her as a wave of darkness washed over him.

His last thought was to inhale as deeply as he could, to take her scent with him.

*****

DAY 7 of #12DaysOfGiveaways (remember, ALL my giveaways can be accessed and include links to the mission books on Facebook. Go to bit.ly

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"