Chapter 124: The Blood it needs

He looked up at her, questioning why she had stopped him from giving Della more of his blood.

Alpha blood had the ability to heal any kind of wolf. And he couldn’t just sit here waiting for her condition to worsen.

"Why are you stopping me?"

Annelise sighed, then she looked at Della’s stomach, "It won’t work on her. You shouldn’t waste your blood,"

"Why wouldn’t it work on her?" He was more curious now. More terrified.

"It’s the baby. It’s...not really responding to anything right now. Its heartbeat is now in a suspended state. I think...," She let out another exhausted sigh, "I think the cub would only accept his father’s blood,"

"What?"

"I...also can’t explain it," She continued, confused herself because she didn’t quite understand much of what her mother had explained to her about Della’s condition a few hours ago, after she’d finally convinced her to check up on her

"Before the attack, the baby was developing much faster than a normal wolf cub should. Della’s body was struggling to keep up with it. Mother said it wasn’t necessarily dangerous by itself, but it meant the cub was already unusually active and drawing a tremendous amount of energy from Della." Her gaze lowered to Della’s still stomach again,

"Then the beating happened. The kicks and stomps caused severe trauma to the abdomen, and whatever was making the cub develop so quickly seems to have gone into some sort of survival response. Its heartbeat became weaker and weaker until it eventually...stopped behaving like a normal heartbeat."

Cassian’s expression seemed to tighten.

"Not stopped," Annelise quickly clarified. "That’s important. It’s still alive. It’s just suspended. Almost like the cub has withdrawn completely into itself. Mother thinks the baby’s bloodline is reacting to the trauma. Alpha blood can heal the mother’s body because Della can absorb its healing properties. But the cub isn’t accepting anything from outside itself anymore. Not medicine. Not healing energy. Not even your blood."

"Why his father?"

"Because the father is the other half of its bloodline." Annelise looked at him. "Mother believes the cub may recognise its father’s blood differently from every other source of power. If the baby’s own blood is what’s keeping it suspended, then perhaps its father’s blood is the only thing strong enough—and familiar enough—to reach it without forcing it out of that state. Forcing anything else into the mother could kill it."

Annelise’s eyes returned to Cassian.

"So until we understand what we’re dealing with, your blood won’t save them. It might actually make things worse."

"I fed her my blood before,"

"That was what caused the continuous bleeding she suffered. The baby was rejecting your blood,"

Wow. Cassian looked at Della’s bandaged face again. He wouldn’t have done that if he knew it would only cause her more pain.

"What about her? Is she healing?"

"Like an average human," Annelise replied, "It’s actually a good thing the baby’s in a suspended state, which means it has stopped growing and would give Della some time to heal properly. But that doesn’t guarantee any progress yet. What we really need right now is the father’s blood," She explained further, then looked up expectantly at Cassian with trembling eyes, "Could you please convince Alpha Malachi to help?"

Cassian almost groaned.

He’d already tried convincing the man many times about Della and had always ended up making the situation worse. Right now, Malachi doesn’t believe the baby is his.

"Speaking of Malachi, does he even know what happened? Has he been here to see her?"

"He came in once. Not too long after she was brought in," Anne said, curling her hand into a tight fist.

"What did he say or do? How long did he stay for?"

"He asked about her. He...sounded sympathetic. He left shortly afterwards in a hurry,"

"That Bastard!!" Cassian roared.

"A mother fucking bastard!" Anne roared immediately after him, hers so much more deafening and aggressive that Cassian instantly froze in shock, "Can you imagine that man?! She’s carrying his child for crying out loud, and he did what? He withdrew the guards that were supposed to be protecting her? He’s the reason she’s lying here fighting for her life, and he won’t even stay with her! After everything he made her go through! He doesn’t deserve her! No one in this Pack deserves her. If I had the power, I would burn it all to the ground!"

Cassian’s eyebrows had climbed so high they nearly disappeared beneath his hair, and his mouth hung slightly open as he stared at the healer who had somehow gone from quietly explaining Della’s condition to declaring war on an entire Pack in the span of a few breaths.

Then the corner of his mouth twitched. Meanwhile, Anne was still glaring like Malachi might materialise there purely to give her a reason to commit murder.

"I have no objections," The humour in his eyes was back, "Just make sure you give me a heads-up before you burn it all to the ground so I wouldn’t be one of your abundant victims,"

That made her laugh.

Or at least, she smiled for the most part of it.

She was still holding Della’s hand when she felt a twitch from her.

Anne immediately went still, "Della?"

There was another movement.

This time, Della’s entire body jerked beneath the blankets, her brows drawing tightly together as though she were fighting something only she could see. Her breathing suddenly quickened, each breath catching painfully in her chest.

"What’s happening?" Cassian asked.

Annelise touched her forehead,

Annelise leaned closer, carefully watching her. Then she placed the back of her palm on her forehead, and what she felt made her happy and scared at the same time, "She’s... burning up,"

Della’s head shifted against the pillow. Her lips moved, but whatever sound escaped was too faint to understand. Then her broken hand moved.

Annelise’s eyes widened when Della suddenly tried to drag both arms toward her stomach, "Don’t—Della, your wrist!"

She caught her before she could hurt herself further, but Della fought weakly against her hold.

"No..." She groaned.

Della’s fingers trembled violently as they finally reached her abdomen, curling protectively over the place where her baby lay suspended.

Della wasn’t awake. Her eyes remained firmly shut, lashes trembling against her bruised eyes and cheeks as though she were trapped somewhere inside the memory of the marketplace again.

Then her lips parted, "My baby... please... don’t hurt my baby..."