Chapter 7 Nate's Pov

• As I climbed over the rocks that led to the tree where the tear grew, I grabbed one in my hand, I felt a sharp pain. It was as if I was pricked by a thorn.
• I took the other one because it was two I needed. I felt the pain again as I took the other one but it did not matter to me. The most important bathing was not my pain by that of my mate.
• It would take me another two to three days to return to the pack so I set off early to return back home. I hadn’t noticed how weak I was until I was staring at home from afar, I was too weak to even breathe.
• It was as if something was sucking the life out of me. I looked down at my throbbing finger and my eyes went wide with shock.
• It was swollen and it looked like its spreading.
• How did I not see this all along?, My eyes became heavy as I wobbled on my feet. No one told me the herb does this to anyone who touches it or was an allergy?
• That would be ridiculous because wolves do not have allergies.
• I managed to mind link the beta to find me just before my eyes closed and I fell from the hill that overlooked the pack. That was the last thing I remembered until I woke up and found myself on a bed.
• “What happened?”
• I asked as I looked up to see Freddie lingering in the doorway if the room. He rushed to me as soon as he saw me.
• “I slowly opened my eyes which was struggling to stay open, groggily taking in my surroundings. I was in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines and sterile white walls. I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my head, making me wince. I fell back onto the pillow, trying to remember what had happened.
• As I lay there, my best friend Freddie appeared beside me, a worried expression on his face. “Alpha, thank goodness you’re awake! We were starting to get worried.”
• I tried to speak, but my voice came out in a croaky whisper. “What... what happened?”
• Freedom handed me a glass of water, which I gratefully sipped. “You sent us a signal to find you and when we found you, you were passed out and we bright you here only to see that you have been poisoned. The here had forgotten to tell you that you cannot touch the years with your bare hands. You were lucky that the poison had not spread too far before we found you.”
• I nodded, slowly remembering the events lead up to here. I had been so focused on saving her life that I hadn’t thought about the risks to my own.
• But now, as I looked around the hospital room, I realized that something was off. Freddie’s expression was too serious, and the machines beeping around me seemed to be echoing a sense of urgency.
• “Layla?” I asked, my voice a little stronger now. “How’s Layla? Is she okay?”
• Freedom hesitated before answering, and my heart sank. “There were complications, apparently because the tears has given the poison that affected you part of its potency and now all we have to do is wait to see if what is left would be enough to heal her.
• My world came crashing down around me. Layla, my mate, my love, was fighting for her life, did I do all of that on vain?
• I struggled to stand, my legs feeling like jelly beneath me. Freedom rushed to my side, supporting me with a firm grip on my arm. “You need to take it easy,” he admonished. “You’ve been through a lot, and you’re not out of the woods yet, you have done your best and now all we need to do is to wait till the cure took its course.”
• But I was determined to see Layla, to apologize for my failure and beg for her forgiveness. I had been so sure that I could get the Tear of the Moon, the cure for her illness, but now... now I felt like I had let her down in the worst possible way. Getting it was not as important as it’s healing her.
• I took a few tentative steps forward, my vision blurring momentarily. Freedom steadied me, his expression worried. “Alpha please,” he said. “You can’t even stand on your own. How are you going to help Layla like this?”
• I gritted my teeth, frustration and guilt warring within me. “I have to see her, Freddie. I have to know she’s okay. I have to tell her how sorry I am for failing her.”
• Freddie sighed, relenting. “Okay, but you have to take or slowly. Here, I’ll lend you a hand.”
• I nodded, grateful for his understanding. With Freddie support, I made my way to Layla’s room, my heart heavy with anxiety and regret. What would I find when I saw her? Would she even know I was there? The questions swirled in my mind like a maelstrom, threatening to consume me.
• As we approached her room, I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I steeled myself for what I might see, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of Layla lying in that hospital bed, her beauty marred by the machines and tubes surrounding her.
• I felt a sob rise in my throat as I stumbled forward, Freddie's grip on my arm the only thing keeping me upright. Layla’s eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm. I reached out a shaking hand and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, feeling a wave of grief wash over me.
• “Layla,” I whispered, my voice cracking with emotion. “I’m so sorry. I failed you. “It was more to myself than to her because it was shamefully enough that I have let her down again like I always have.
• Freddie’s hand on my shoulder was the only thing that kept me from collapsing to the floor. I stood there, frozen in anguish, as the machines beeped and whirred around us, a constant reminder of my failure.
• Suddenly, the machines began to beep and I looked around for what was going on.
• “What is going on?”
• I asked as the healers rushed in to have a look at her. After a little running around, the head here looked at me sadly.
• “I’m afraid you might have to say your goodbye now, she will not make it.