Eighth-Born Luna (Emily and Nathan) novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Nathan’s POV

“Alpha, it’s Emily! We found her at the bottom of the slope by the northern cliffs. She’s unconscious. We’re rushing her to the clinic right now!”

I was already running before Blake finished speaking.

Emily was hurt. I needed to see her. Asher was howling inside my head, and I could barely think.

By the time I reached the clinic, Blake, Liam, and Kane were already there.

Kane stood in front of the hospital room door, his face pale and tense. Through the narrow gap between the blinds, I saw her. Emily lay motionless in the bed. Too still. Far too still.

Jessie sat beside her, holding her hand, while Poppy paced back and forth across the room, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“Damn it.”

My fists clenched and a low growl tore from my throat. I had to force myself not to rip the door off its hinges.

“What happened?” I demanded.

Blake rubbed a hand over his face. “She fell during the wolf run.”

My body went cold. “Fell?”

“From the northern cliffs.”

The northern cliffs were almost two hundred meters high. Wolves didn’t simply fall from there and survive.

“What do you mean she fell?” I asked, my voice dropping.

Blake’s jaw tightened. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Kane found her at the bottom of the slope.”

Kane lowered his eyes. “She was unconscious when I reached her, Alpha.”

Asher slammed against my control. “You failed her.” The words hit harder than any blade.

Doctor Reed stepped into the hallway with a patient file in his hands. “Alpha Nathan.”

His face told me enough. “Doctor.”

“She’s stable.”

Relief hit me for half a second, but then I saw his expression. He wasn’t relaxed. He looked worried.

“I need to speak with you privately.”

Reed swallowed hard. “Alpha, please.”

Liam stepped closer, his voice low. “Nathan. Let’s go.”

I forced myself to breathe. Once. Twice.

Then I nodded stiffly. Reed led me down the hallway into his office. The second the door closed behind us, I turned on him.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

He motioned toward the chair. “Please sit.”

“I’m not sitting.”

Reed sighed softly and opened the file. “We managed to stabilize her condition. Her heart is functioning. Her brain activity is present. She’s breathing on her own.”

“But?”

“But she hasn’t woken up.”

The words felt like a punch. I stared at him. “What does that mean?”

“It means we don’t know when she’ll regain consciousness.”

When. Not if. I held onto that word like a lifeline.

“When,” I repeated.

Reed nodded carefully. “Yes. When.”

My claws pressed hard against my palms. “What else?”

The doctor looked back down at the file. “She fell from a dangerous height. Judging by the injuries, she rolled down the slope and struck several rocks on the way down. She has three fractured ribs.”

My jaw clenched.

“A dislocated ankle,” he continued.

The wood of the chair beside me cracked under my grip.

“She has cuts and bruises all over her body,” Reed hesitated. “And a bad concussion. Her head was split open. We had to give her stitches.”

All I could see was Emily lying in that bed, broken and alone.

“If she had landed differently,” Reed said quietly, “one of the ribs could have punctured her lung. Or she could have broken her neck. That would have been it.”

Asher went silent. That was worse than his howling.

“She’s lucky,” Reed added gently.

My head snapped up. “Lucky?” The word came out as a dark growl, and Reed froze.

There was a pause. “She’s in good hands, Nathan.”

“I know,” I snapped. But it didn’t help.

Another pause. Then she sighed. “Your father needs you.”

My frustration flared. “No.”

“Nathan.”

“I’m not leaving Emily.”

“I know you want to stay with her,” my mother said gently. “I’ll stay with her, I promise. I won’t leave her side.”

My throat tightened. “Where does he need me?”

“There’s an emergency council near the destroyed Brookstone pack. Marcus has already set up a temporary command post. Crystal Waters pack is hosting the meeting. Your father and Liam leave in two hours.”

I closed my eyes. The rogue attack. The destroyed pack. Duty. Always duty.

“Liam can go with him.”

“You are the future Alpha King,” the words landed heavily. “This is exactly the kind of situation where the other Alphas need to see you.”

I stayed silent.

“And your father knows asking you right now would only make you angrier,” she added softly. “That’s why he asked me to speak to you.”

A bitter laugh almost escaped me. My father was a strategist even when dealing with his own son.

“I can’t leave her,” I said.

“You are not abandoning her. I will be with her. Jessie and Poppy are already there, and Doctor Reed is watching her closely. I will tell you the second anything changes.”

I wanted to refuse. Every instinct in me screamed to go back to the clinic, to sit beside Emily, hold her hand, and wait until she opened her eyes. But another part of me knew my mother was right. The packs were under threat. If I was going to be Alpha King, I didn’t get to choose only the duties that didn’t hurt.

“Fine,” I said at last.

Asher snarled instantly. “Traitor.”

I shoved him behind a mental wall. He had taken enough from me tonight. “I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” The link faded.

I walked toward the nearest supply box at the edge of the forest. We kept them around the territory perimeter for shifted wolves who destroyed their clothes during transformation. Inside were folded black pants, a shirt, and a pair of shoes. I dressed quickly and headed back toward my quarters.

Halfway there, a nervous knock touched my mind. “Alpha Nathan? This is Doctor Reed. It’s about Emily.”