Fallen Alpha

The moment she saw Cedric lying on the stately king bed, his fur completely matted and gunked over with blood, his bare feet caked with dirt and mud and dirtying the bedsheets, the anger inside her chest bloomed.

They were treating him as if he was a defeated alpha about to be driven from the pack!

She placed Devin on the sofa and ran towards Cedric, her eyes narrowing with concern.

There were four attendants standing around him, all with their hands clasped and their heads bowed.

What the hell were they doing, praying???

Useless air breathers!

"You!" She pointed at the closest one. "Go get me a pail of very warm water."

She pointed at another. "You. Go get me some clean towels and bandages."

"You!" She pointed at the third person. "Go make some warm milk, put it into a bottle and give it to him," she pointed at Devin.

"You!" She pulled at the last attendant. "Go to the kitchen and tell the cook to get a jar full of fresh warm blood that has just been extracted from a chicken. Bring it to me now!"

"Yes, Your Grace." They all hurried away to do her bidding.

Vander, who had followed immediately behind her, had witnessed the entire scene. He was standing next to Devin, trying not to double over with awe.

As she began to do her work, he held his breath, trying to calm the thudding of his heart.

This woman with the brilliant blue eyes and wild tangled black hair—this woman wearing a dark blue dress that was too thin for this weather and a coat that was barely adequate for the snow—.

This woman was so impressive that he fell through the perilously thin ice of ardor and was quickly subsumed by an unfamiliar ache that took root within his heart and refused to let go.

Talia, over by the bed, was unaware of any internal angst or strife that Vander was succumbing to. She had a patient to tend to!

She threw off her coat, rolled up her sleeves, and began checking Cedric's body for signs of trauma. He had so much fur covering his entire body that it was difficult to see clearly, where the damage was on his body.

Her experienced fingers touched his head, neck, shoulders, going down further into his chest, and abdomen. Where she found damage and blood, she made a mental note and kept going.

From his abdomen, she checked his pelvic area, thoroughly making sure his manhood was unharmed before moving downward into his thighs and calves, and then his feet.

As she was going through her examination, her warm water and the towels and bandages began to arrive.

"One pail of warm water is not enough. Get me two more." She barked out her demand.

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Where is the warm milk and the fresh blood?" She threw over her shoulder as she began cleaning the caked blood from Cedric's abdomen.

"It is coming, Your Grace. Here are more towels and bandages." The attendant bowed.

Talia threw a glance over her shoulder. Although the door was closed, it was still quite cold inside the train—cold enough for her to see her own breath.

"When is the train going to start moving?"

"Soon, Milady."

"Get the fire going. It's too cold in here for Little Lord Devin."

"Yes, Milady."

At that moment, the attendant in charge of the milk and blood came back with a small tray which he placed on the table.

Talia threw a glance at him.

"What are you waiting for? Give Devin his milk and get a small blanket over him. His face is white with cold!"

"Yes, Milady. And the—the blood?"

Talia threw a cursory glance at Vander, who chuckled.

"Leave it there. I'll take care of it." He threw a smile at the attendant who gave him a scared look and scampered away in search of a small throw.

He quickly found one within a chest of Cecil's things and covered Devin with it before bowing and leaving the railcar.

Once all the attendants had left, Vander moved over to the table where the blood was.

"Thank you for the blood. I don't normally ask for it so blatantly because I don't want to scare people, but the way you demanded it was so effective."

"Hmmm." She huffed with indignation. "You used up so much energy looking for me and then you had to haul my heavy ass back here. The least I can do is to make sure you don't faint for lack of nourishment."

Vander smiled tenderly at her and picked up the jar of warm blood.

"Cheers." He raised it in the air and began drinking it with a grateful heart.

Truth was, he'd been starving and was getting by with the little blood that he had managed to sneak from wild rabbits and the occasional deer whenever he could.

And here she was, boldly demanding the blood from an entire chicken, which was most likely going to be part of her dinner for the evening.

And she didn't even care what they thought of her demand!

Talia threw a glance over at Devin. He was still sitting on the sofa where she left him, sucking on his bottle of warm milk and holding onto the only personal item he had left, his little brown bear.

His eyes were glazing over and he was so tired he could barely keep himself upright.

"Finish your milk and lie down. Try to go to sleep Devin." She gave him a gentle smile as she continued to clean the blood off Cedric.

He stared at her with drowsy amber eyes as he continued to suck on his bottle. He was starting to nod off, so Vander took his mostly empty bottle and gently laid him down so he could sleep.

The air was starting to warm up from the fire that one of the attendants had started.

Talia sighed, thankful that Vander was sitting with Devin and keeping a watch over the boy as she worked on her patient.

Cedric's wounds were worrisome. Even with his seriously rapid rate of healing, the wound was so gruesome that it was still gaping and bleeding.

Some werebear had ripped open his chest with its claws. She was going to need to help it along a bit so he could heal more quickly.

She rummaged around in Cecil's things and found a small sewing kit, along with several bottles of high proof drinking alcohol.

She ran the needle over the open flame of the fireplace to sterilize it and she used the drinking alcohol liberally as antiseptic wipe for his wounds and her hands, along with anything else that would be touching his wounds.

Then, she took advantage of the fact that he was still unconscious and closed his wound as well as she could. Without anything to stem the tide of infection from the wound, all Talia could hope for was his strength of healing to kick in.

Once she was able to staunch his blood flow, she began cleaning his face and body with the warm water and some soap. By the time she got to his feet, she had used up the last of the hot water that she had asked for.

His bed sheets were a mess, so she found a new set of sheets within the chest of Cecil's things. With Vander's help, she changed the bed sheets around his body and then covered him with a thin blanket.

"When is he going to awaken?" She asked Vander.

"Whenever you wish. I can wake him up, but it's better if you allow him to sleep a bit so his body can heal faster."

She nodded.

She wasn't going to awaken him. She only wanted to know so she could time her sleeping schedule. Since there was no way to know when he would naturally awaken, Talia would have to remain awake to monitor his condition while he slept.

"Where is Cecil? Why is he not here?"

Vander laughed. "He doesn't actually use this railcar."

"What do you mean?" Talia shot him a questioning glance. "All his stuff is here."

The vampire leaned closer to her, the twin flames within his dark eyes gleamed with mirth.

"He only comes to this railcar to get changed and to grab the things he needs. He's been staying with that Larabee woman in her room throughout the entire journey."