They had just stumbled through the open doorway when the darkness receded into Marcus’s larger form. Bel blinked, adjusting his eyes to the light, to see Marcus carrying River’s limp form straight into the little-used dining room.
In there, a makeshift hospital had been pulled together with several bags of blood waiting at the ready. There were piles of gauze, tape, and more. And Aiden.
His father was there at the table, ready and waiting to save his wolf. Aiden had lived a long time, seen everything. He’d be able to think of something to pull River from the edge.
Philippe and Ethan hovered close by, waiting for orders.
Aiden spared him a quick glance, his mouth pulling into a hard line as his eyes passed over the burns.
“It’s just burns. I’ll live. Save River,” Bel bit out as he continued to lean on his twin.
Rafe gently set him into a chair close to River and stepped back while Wyatt moved to his uninjured side and picked up his hand. They silently watched as two IVs were hooked up to River, pumping blood into the wolf as quickly as possible. Aiden pulled away the now useless padding Bel had placed against River’s wounds and his father hissed.
“Bel—”
“No! You have to do something.”
Aiden stared at him for only a second before he went to work, trying to slow the bleeding so River’s natural shifter healing could take over. But the wounds were just too extensive. He was losing blood almost as fast as they could put it into him.
With a snarl, Aiden turned his gaze on Wyatt. “How would he take to becoming a vampire?”
“What?” Ethan shrieked, and Bel’s heart skipped. He would never have thought something like that was possible.
“You can change him to save him?” Wyatt asked.
“Maybe.” Aiden licked his lips and looked at River again. His poor father looked so damn torn. “I’ve got one more trick to speed up his healing, but he’s lost a lot of blood. Possibly too much for this to work. He could end up a vampire. Or he could end up dead. Right now, death is a guarantee if we don’t try something. But if he doesn’t want to be a vampire…”
“Yes.”
It was so soft that Bel wasn’t even sure he’d heard it. But it had come from River.
“Do it!” Wyatt shouted a second later.
Aiden nodded. “Ethan, hand me that syringe, and then I want you to step over to the far wall. Everyone else, grab River. You’re going to need to hold him.” When Bel started to push to his feet, Aiden shook his head. “Stay where you are. You’re too weak, Bel.”
“What’s going to happen?” Wyatt asked. He moved closer to River and gently placed his hands on his lover’s leg.
Aiden accepted the syringe from Ethan and nodded for the young man to move away before he inserted the needle into a vein on the inside of his own elbow. He pulled back the plunger, filling the clear vial with his dark blood. “I’m going to inject him with my blood. Seeing as I’m a vampire and quite a bit older, this should help speed up the healing process considerably.”
“Why are we holding him?” Rafe asked as he took up position on the other side of Wyatt. Marcus and Philippe were at River’s shoulders, trying to hold him without causing him more pain.
“Is this going to hurt him?” Philippe inquired.
Aiden actually chuckled. “Oh, no. He’s going to feel great in about two seconds. It’s the blood lust that’s going to drive him to kill all of us.” Aiden paused, the needle less than an inch from River’s skin, his eyes moving from each of the men gathered around the table.
Aiden jabbed the needle into River’s arm and pushed the vampire blood into his system. Nothing happened for a heartbeat, and then a harsh gasp of air exploded from River.
The young wolf’s entire body jerked and thrashed on the table. Five full-grown men struggled to hold River on the table as ugly growls and howls erupted from his throat. Any worry about injuring him further evaporated in an instant. It was all they could do to hold him in place. The wood of the table creaked and groaned, threatening to collapse beneath their combined weight.
Ethan surged across the room, grabbing River’s arm and holding it as the wolf tried to scratch at Wyatt.
“Ethan!” Marcus barked. “Get out of here!”
“No! You need my help! I’m not leaving you or him!” Ethan shouted, his voice strained as he forced River’s arm down to the gleaming wood surface.
Gritting his teeth, Bel shoved to his feet and limped around the table toward River’s head. Yes, Aiden was right. He wasn’t nearly strong enough to help hold River, but he had to do something to help. River belonged to him. His lover needed him.