POV - Kyas
After what seemed like forever, I finally heard the pack returning. As soon as I saw Alpha, I headed straight for him.
"Alpha," I begged. "Please, hurry!" Not taking my eyes off that path.
He was surprised at my urgency. "You may go." He said.
I didn't wait. I ran toward the schoolhouse road, following the bond. Sure enough, it turned down Ember's road. I didn't stop at the boundary line. I went right to the house, right inside, and found Roy delivering another kick to Ember, already on the floor, already knocked out. The heart bond faltered again.
I quickly got between them, jumping over a low coffee table, and used all my strength to push him back.
"Roy, stop! You're killing her!" I shouted.
"Stupid Bitch deserves it!" he screamed. He was drunk. Very drunk, swaying on his feet. There were empty beer cans everywhere, and other liquor too, including lots of werewolf bourbon bottles. Human alcohol burned off fast in shifter metabolisms, but the bourbon was made by shifters, for shifters, and was much stronger. One shot could lay a human out.
"You got her already, Roy. See? She's down, she's not fighting, you win." I said. "You can stop."
He took another drink of the bourbon bottle in his hand. "Said I needed her…" He spit at her. "I don't need Anyone! Especially not a stupid bitch like her."
I placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to turn him away from her. I had no idea why I wasn't trying to beat him like I had Elias. Maybe I knew he was bigger and stronger than me, and he could easily beat me. It wouldn't be a fair fight.
"You're right, Roy. You showed her. She got the message. You can leave her be now." I said.
I got him to turn and walk a few feet. He went to turn back but I jumped the table again, this time in front of him and tugged his arm, kicking discarded cans and clothing away from my feet. His armchair was nearby, and I tried to tug him to it.
"Come on, Roy. You got her good. She won't say that again. She knows better now." I said, inching him farther from her.
He finally registered that I had his arm, that I was in his house. He yanked his arm from my hands and squared off with me. I backed up, still trying to draw him away from her.
"Who the fuck are you? What are you doing in my house?" He demanded.
"Easy, Roy, I'm Kyas, Alpha's son. I just came to visit you. Make sure you're ok." I said, keeping my tone light, friendly.
"I'm Fine. Get out." He said, drinking from the bottle again.
"Ok, Roy, no problem, I'll leave, but I think first we need to take Ember to the doctor. She doesn't look good." I said.
"She don't need no damn doctor. Never needed one before. Can't afford it." he mumbled.
"Hey, don't worry about that, we're friends, you and me. I can pay for it. Friends do that right?" I said. "You showed her this time, Roy, better than last time. Best make sure she's ok, though, huh?"
I went around the table this time, back to Ember, watching him closely. I laid a hand on her and the pain in the heartbond eased. I put my arms under her knees and back and picked her up, she was small in my arms. I edged back around the table, backing toward the door.
"I'm gonna take her for help, and then I'll bring her back, Ok? Just to be sure?" I pleaded.
"The fuck you doin' boy? Get your hands off my daughter!" He yelled.
I wasn't letting her go.
"It's fine, Roy, just gonna take her to see the doctor, and bring her back, promise." I said, again, staying friendly.
"The hell you are!" he yelled and threw the bourbon bottle at me. It caught me a glancing blow on the side of my head, dropped on my shoulder and hit the floor, rolling back toward him. He made a move to come toward me, as I backed closer to the door, but his foot tangled in a shirt on the floor and he lost his footing. He fell hard, hitting his head on the table. He didn't get up.
I took Ember out the door and ran to the pack hospital with her. She was… what? Thirteen now? She didn't have her wolf yet. She was going to need a lot of help.
As soon as I got her there, just like with Mindy, I let the doctors take her. Immediately the heartbond pain intensified. I followed as they put her on a stretcher and put her in a room, trying to stabilize her.
"Kyas?" It was Dr. Collins. "What happened to her?"
"Her father was beating her again, but I was able to stop him. He needs help too though, he fell and hit his head on a table." I told him.
He was silent for a moment, then focused on me again. "I sent someone to get her father." He said. "You got a nasty cut up there, let's get it looked at, ok?"
A cut? Where? I reached up and sure enough, the place where the bottle had hit me was oozing blood. I hadn't even noticed.
"Ok, but, can I stay with Ember? Until her father gets here? I don't want her to be scared when she wakes up." I asked.
"Ok, but stay out of the way, they need to work on her, she's in bad shape, Kyas." He said.
"I know, she's very weak." I responded.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
I tapped my chest, where her heartbond was. "Bond." I said simply.
"Oh, right. Just stay out of our way, let us do our work." He instructed again.
I nodded, and went in, moving to the head of the bed, where the doctors weren't working. She was hooked up to a heart monitor, and her heart beat was erratic and weak. I reached out and touched her shoulder. The heartbond eased. Her heartbeat steadied.
Dr. Young saw my hand and made me move it and the pain got worse, and so did the heartbeat on the monitor. Dr. Young looked at me, then at her, and put my hand back. Again, the ease in my pain, and improved heart rate. He grunted. "Keep that there." He said.
After a while, the doctors stepped back, declaring she now needed rest and time. I let go of her shoulder and again watched and felt the effects, but not as bad. She was getting better. I pulled a chair up to her bedside, and this time just took her hand. I noticed tingles where our skin touched. We got better. For no reason, I started tracing the lines of her hand over and over.
While I was sitting there, Dr. Collins inspected the cut on my head. There was a small fracture of bone, but nothing serious, and the wound had already started healing, so he wiped away the blood and left me alone.