Page 78 of Lion Conquers All
Her pain was excruciating. He could feel it through their bond. It was so much.
He pushed hair from her sweat-coated face and neck and then ran his hand over her shoulder, pausing when he got to her mid-back. He knew what her back looked like, but it didn’t feel the same as he remembered. Her scars were thick and ridged on her shoulders and back. They weremissing. At least some of them.
He pulled back the blanket he’d wrapped around her.
Sure enough, some were gone. Some were halfway faded. Some were still exactly as they had been.
She lurched in his arms again and cried out. She clung to his arms and her fingernails dug desperately into his skin.
The magick wasn’t only changing her, it looked like it was slowly eating at her scars and erasing them. It was healing her. All of her.
He’d seen bitten people heal from current wounds, but he’d never witnessed the magick affecting old injuries. But most Reyleans didn’t have old injuries. Their magick healed them on a regular basis.
A vehicle arrived outside. Footsteps. The door opened.
“Aarav? Connie?” It was Katherine’s voice.
“Back here.” His voice cracked. He wiped tears from his face, but they continued to fall. He wished he could take her pain, instead of just being aware of how badly she was hurting. “Hurry.”
Footsteps thundered through the house, down the hall, and then people burst into the room. A few of them eyed the suspicious hole in the wall next to Connie’s door, but to their credit, no one said a word about it.
Dina and Mira walked straight to the bed.
“Lay her down and move back.”
He reluctantly did as he was told. Leaving her alone and sobbing and curled into the fetal position nearly made his lion come roaring to the surface.
“Move.” Dina waved her hand again and halfway pushed him toward Knox and Katherine.
Katherine grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the bed. “Hey. They can help her. They saved your brother and he had a freaking bullet hole in his chest.”
“It’s my fault. I did this. My bite shouldn’t have done anything. I don’t understand.” He patted Katherine’s hand where it held onto his arm. She was holding him back. Literally. Pulling.
He took a deep breath and stepped back again until he could lean on the wall. He wasn’t helping anyone by being an emotional mess. Least of all Connie.
“Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“Of course. That’s what family is for, Aarav. We are Tribe.” Knox spoke this time.
The Magick-Benders both had their hands over Connie. Light glowed from their palms, but still his mate continued to cry and writhe.
“What’s wrong with her? I’ve never seen anyone in this much pain during the transition. Rivian changed quite a few women.”
Dyna looked up and met his gaze. Her eyes were bright white and he could almost taste the power in the room it was so thick. “We are rebuilding her body. She has many internal scars in addition to the external ones. Your mate is a survivor, Aarav, but it will take time. More time than usual.”
“We will sedate her so that she can move more comfortably through the transition.” Mira looked up from Connie and put a glowing hand on his mate’s forehead. The thrashing and whining stopped almost immediately. She was still. Calm.
Her heart was steady. Her breathing wasn’t labored. She was asleep.
Dyna motioned him to come forward. “Make her comfortable, Aarav.”
He lifted his mate and arranged her so that Connie’s head was on a pillow and the rest of her body wasn’t sprawled across the bed like she’d been tossed from across the room. Then he tucked the sheet and blanket around her and kissed her lips. She was still warm. And sweaty. But she was at peace now, at least on the outside. He could handle her like this—calm, not writhing in pain. So could his lion, who’d only been seconds away from losing his shit.
“Can you explain why my bite started the transition?”
“I thought you said Rivian had you bite others?” Katherine piped up before one of the magick-benders could answer.
He shook his head. “Both my brothers did, but I was never personally called on to attempt a transition. But neither of my brother Shenn or Ivann cause a transition in either woman. They convinced Rivian there was no point to have us all bite a woman. We are all the same bloodline.”
