he dies.â
Jake was silent, keeping pace. Theyâd left the keys in the car, and heâd barked an order into his radio so Trey had made his way through the trees to get to the vehicle.
âToo much blood,â Elijah said.
âDonât think, letâs just get her there.â
Elijah tried to keep his mind blank. He didnât slow down when he reached the helicopter, he just ducked and ran, leaping at the last moment with Siena in his arms to get inside. Jake was right behind him. Both threw themselves into seats and Joshua took the bird into the air.
Siena moaned softly as the helicopter banked and then moved fast toward the hospital. Jake covered her naked body with a blanket, dragged on headphones and talked into the radio, obviously communicating with the doctor, relaying as much information to him about Sienaâs injuries as they could see.
Elijah wanted to brush away the bloody strands of hair that hung in chunks over her face, but the thick strands were helping to stop the flow of blood. Instead he ran his finger along her eyebrow. âIâm here, baby. Right here with you. Hang on for me. Can you do that, Siena? Promise me youâll hang on.â
Her lashes fluttered. His breath caught in his throat, but she didnât open her eyes. Everything after the landing felt like a terrible blow. The gurney waiting, the team of doctors racing her to the operating room where Doc was waiting for her. He couldnât go with herâhe triedâbut four huge security guards blocked him from the room.
He would have gone right through them had it not been for Jake and Joshua. The two men moved up on either side of him, and Jake backed him up with one hand. With three words. âYouâre not helping.â
It was the longest wait of his life. Hours. He didnât sit down. He paced. His leopard raked at him savagely, needing to get to his mate, to ensure no harm was coming to herâto ensure she lived. Elijah found he couldnât pace away the rage that rode him so hard, or the need to go find Paolo andAlonzo and retaliate in a way that would make them suffer for a long time before they died.
He pushed both hands through his hair and stopped moving, going completely still, his breath holding there in his lungs as the doctor came through the doors. Jake and Joshua immediately were there, on either side, caging him in. Not touching him, but close just in case.
âSheâs alive. Sheâs strong. She fought him off of her. She fought hard. There was no evidence that she was raped, thanks to her determination. Because you told me you had sex with her last night, I gave her the more advanced pregnancy test, but it hasnât been twenty-four hours. Her body is flooded with hormones, so we treated her as if she were pregnant. Iâll give her another test tomorrow, because if sheâs pregnant that will determine the pain medications we can give her.â
Elijah shook his head and took a deep breath to let it out. Of course she could be pregnant. With her leopard rising, both the cat and the human were fertile at the same time. Heâd been so out of control he hadnât thought about anything but being inside of her.
âShe has four cracked ribs and another one fractured,â Doc continued. âThe laceration on her hip and leg is the worst. It took us hours to close that one. Michelle, a friend of mine, is an amazing plastic surgeon. She spent a long time on Sienaâs face as well as all other surface closings. The four rake marks on her back are deep, and sheâs going to experience pain for a long while. She was lucky. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to punish her, but he didnât want to kill her.â
âHer leopard didnât accept his,â Elijah guessed.
âI would say thatâs what happened,â Doc agreed. âThe puncture wounds indicate he tried to cement a relationship. The fact that the male leopard raked her