11. Troubled times

Snow walked over the golden werewolf, her face darkened by a harsh expression. The jokes and the good humor immediately ceased. Cherry and Dante lowered their heads as the Luna spoke to the healer.

"So? How is he?"

"Well, besides the bruises over his body, he has a few broken ribs and probably a contusion. From what I see, nothing that a good rest won't heal. The healing process has already started so I'm just going to clean the open wounds and bandage his chest to help him recover. Nothing to worry about, "she said, ruffling his hair affectionately.

Snow scoffed at the comment, her gaze still so hard. Eden looked up timidly towards her and tried to smile.

Unfortunately, with his face covered in bruises, the result was the opposite. The omega female's eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

She moved closer to speak to them without the rest of the people around hearing them.

"Your father is in serious condition. Healers cannot take care of him without extracting the claw inside his body. Our leader is in danger and you, who has to ensure the survival of our pack, you were... "

"Dad wouldn't be here if I hadn't been there!" Eden exclaimed. The omega male couldn't help but find it unfair that his mother didn't believe what he had done mattered.

"Your father had asked a team of fighters to stand by if they heard a signal for backup. You didn't need to ... "

"Yet, I was the one who killed the alpha who came after him! If I hadn't been there, by the time they came to help him, Dad would be dead already. Would you have preferred that?" Retorted the teenager, angrily. His eyes were teary and his hands were shaking with emotion.

He winced slightly as he felt the pain in his body wake up. After hearing these words, Snow turned to Dante with a furrowed brow, and the young beta nodded to confirm what Eden had just said.

Snow's mouth quivered and she pursed her lips to swallow her emotions before exploding.

"Still, you had no right to step out, Eden! You have to know your place! " Snow yelled as several heads turned to them.

"My place? And which place are you talking about? That of a coward hiding and waiting for others to do what he can do by himself? "

"You almost died!" Snow cried on the verge of hysteria.

"I will die for my Alpha! I will die for my pack! I'm a Bloodhood for crying out loud. "

The teenager who had risen in emotion let out a whimper and fell back on his bed, his features contorted with pain. Large drops of sweat were forming on his face. Trinity put her hand on her forehead and frowned at the slightly high temperature.

"Luna, I have to move him to treat his wounds. He needs rest and moving is not good for his recovery. "

Snow looked at her son with a heavy heart. Her hands were shaking and the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. She felt Trinity's hand resting on her shoulder to bring her back to reality and just nod weakly.

"Dante, please carry him!"

"Put your hands on me and I will make you undergo the same treatment to these bastards of rogues.", Said Eden, threatening despite his face twisted by the throbbing all over his body.

"I'll take care of it, Tri," replied a voice behind them. "I'm on a different level from that little brat and the scum you took care of tonight, Kid. You won't be able to do anything to me even if you don't like my bridal style. "

Acher ruffled his son's hair and stepped forward before he kneeled next to the bed.

"Put your arm around my neck, Princess." The beta continued without hiding his amusement.

Eden glared at him but obeyed his command. Carefully, the huge silver-gray werewolf lifted him before everyone's eyes. Eden's face flushed red under the bruises.

"Man! That's embarrassing! "Eden whimpered and Acher chuckled.

They walked slowly, the beta doing everything to avoid waking up his pains even though he noticed the omega winced several times. Once laid on the bed in the room where the healer was going to treat him, Eden let his body relax against the soft mattress. Acher stared at him for a second.

"I'm sorry we didn't listen to your advice. Nothing would have happened if we had listened from the start. "

"Honestly, it was a bit hard to swallow even for us. I know we won't escape our punishment, but, if it had to be done again, I would do the same, "Eden declared. "Well, not exactly. I think I would try to avoid a few more blows because I feel like dying right now. "

Acher chuckled and turned his head to Trinity. She nodded to him and he understood that he had to let her take care of Eden.

"I'm proud of you, Eden."

He stroked the omega's cheek, which gave him a bright smile. The beta planted a kiss on his mate's temple and left the room. His fists clenched and he strode back to where the injured werewolves continued to arrive. He looked around the room and spotted the person he was looking for. Acher walked over to Snow Bloodhood who stood, worried, next to his mate. The Alpha was sweating profusely and his breathing was uneven.

"We have to go to the hospital," pleaded the Luna.

"Stop… over… reacting! It's just a claw! Enlarge the wound and remove it so I can get over with it. "

Silver Bloodhood was out of breath and struggling to keep his eyes open. Acher glanced at Snow to observe her reaction. Her hands were clasped as if she was praying and worry was marked all over her face. The beta turned his head to his leader and met his gaze.

"It… It's an order!"

"Yes, Alpha."

The healer approached the wound on the left side of his torso. He cleaned the area first with water, to improve visibility as the Alpha was still too weak to shift. Then he grabbed a scalpel and cut through the skin without hesitation. The caregiver remained stoic and his hands remained steady, despite the tremors that gripped his patient's body. When the wound was enlarged enough, he slid his fingers inside the bloody hole. Snow looked away, eyelids tightly closed. When she heard the sound of an object falling into a metal container, she finally opened her eyes and rushed to her husband's bedside. Her hand affectionately stroked his fur as tears silently rolled down her face. The alpha raised his arm and put his hand on the top of her head in a protective gesture.

"Don't worry, I'm not ready to go anywhere any time soon."

________

When Eden opened his eyes, he was in his nest. He tried to move but realized that a dead weight was across his abdomen, and he quickly realized it was Cherry in her wolf form. He moved his hand to grope and encountered something warm and furry. He turned his head and saw Dante snoring without a care in the world. He was lying on his back with his stomach exposed, also in his wolf form. Eden chuckled when he saw his paws move in his sleep as if he was running.

The noise made Cherry move, turning to change position, pressing a little more on the abdomen of the male omega in the process.

"C'mon. Why are you trying to murder me again? I just barely escaped death! That wasn't enough? "

The female omega whimpered and moved again in her sleep before opening one eye. When she saw that Eden was awake, she suddenly straightened up and jumped on him. Cherry began to lick his face enthusiastically, her tail wagging furiously. Beside them, Dante growled.

"Awn, look at you so cute and grumpy because it's early in the morning."

It took a moment for the young beta to realize what he had just heard. His eyelids opened and he saw Eden who was trying as best he could to restrain the omega girl who was licking him happily.

"Cherry! Enough! That tickles !" Eden complained, laughing.

Seeing this, Dante joined the white and red wolf. Poor Eden was helplessly pinned to his nest by two wolves determined to show him their affection.

After several minutes, the two friends calmed down and finally stepped back to breathe. Eden pushed them to get up and his legs trembled a little. Dante immediately stepped forward. He placed the muzzle on his back and gave it a slight push to help him keep his balance.

"Don't worry, everything is alright, it's just that I ..."

A huge growl escaped from Eden's stomach and Dante snorted. Even though a wolf couldn't laugh, he could see that his childhood friend was laughing at him. Before he could react, a voice called out to them from the threshold of his cave.

"I see you're finally awake. Nice to have you back on your feet, kiddo. "

Trinity Rivers had pushed the curtain aside to clear her way inside the omega cave and the two wolves happily leaped around her to greet her. She bent down to scratch Cherry behind the ear before granting the same favor to Dante who had barked for her attention.

"I hope these two terrors didn't disturb your recovery. "

"I woke up because Cherry was trying to suffocate me while sleeping on me."

The little white wolf swiveled to glare at Eden then turned around smiling sheepishly.

"I'm glad you managed to survive all of this on top of the rest," chuckled Trinity.

"Barely! She's heavy! "

Cherry turned around once again, and this time, with a shocked look. Eden, who had said that voluntarily, restrained himself with all his might to not burst into laughter. When he saw the body of the huge gray wolf vibrating, he realized that Dante was probably laughing and he couldn't hold back any longer. He burst out laughing as he held his ribs, tears beading at the corners of his eyes. He got up a few moments later. Cherry was sitting with her back to them, obviously sulking.

"Cherry! It was just a joke, I was kidding. "

The female omega didn't flinch and ignored Eden's words. He still had a smile on his face and she could tell by the sound of his voice. Dante walked around his mother and came to sit next to her trying to nuzzle. Cherry stood up without a sound. Just before she walked away, her tail wagged and slapped her lover's cheek loudly. The laughter that Eden had just calmed started again. The young beta turned a little worriedly towards his mother, who gave him a sympathetic look.

"Yes, buddy. You're in trouble. "

Hearing these words, the grey-furred wolf ran off after his fiancée, leaving Eden rolling around in his nest.

Trinity waited for him to calm down and sat cross-legged on the floor. When he straightened up to face her, the omega saw the serious look on her face and his smile faded.

"So… how much trouble I will have?"

"Ah that… It's not easy to foresee. Everyone agrees that without Dante and you, the outcome of this attack would probably have been dramatic for our pack. Still, you've broken so many rules… " She let out a long sigh. "I don't know where to start."

"Well, start with my father. How is he doing?"

"The Alpha… was taken to hospital. Although we removed the claw, it had remained in his body for too long and the tissues of his left lung were damaged. Choosing to extract it here and not in the hospital didn't help matters either. He developed an infection because his healing process was delayed too much because of the toxin."

"I don't understand, didn't he get the antidote on time?"

"It was impossible to give him the antidote while the claw was still inside his body. The antidote forces the body to shift to wolf form while the organism gets rid of the toxin. It was, therefore, dangerous to inject it without having removed the claw. The infection had already started when he was given the antidote. "

"What will happen to him?" Eden asked in a small voice.

The healer could smell the pheromones of distress the omega had started emitting.

"So far, his condition has stabilized, he has been operated on and then placed under an antibiotic to treat the infection."

"I wish I had been faster..." Eden began.

"You did a lot more than you had to, believe me. You have nothing to be ashamed of. "

"I want to see him," he replied after a moment.

"Are you in such a hurry to receive your punishment?"

He shook his head without answering and the healer sighed.

"I'll take you out as soon as you finish eating. You must be hungry after sleeping so long, "she said softly.

"How long have I slept?"

"About thirty hours. Rather normal after a first battle."

"And…" He paused as if hesitating to ask the question.

"Did Crescent Moon say anything about the attack or Mandy's death?"

Trinity Rivers' gaze darkened and her aura grew threatening. The omega strove to remain calm. All the muscles in his body were tense.

"Crescent Moon's alpha denied any involvement in the attack, claiming that he did announce that Moon had been declared rogue."

"I suspected he would react that way."

"However…" She spoke dragging her words. "He has shown tremendous animosity since the news of the battle and several fights occurred on our border with Crescent Moon ..."

"Does he know about our Alpha?" Eden cut her off.

"No. The hospital is in a neutral zone and doesn't release any information about its patients, and none of us would make the mistake of mentioning the state of the Alpha to an outsider. But I fear that it doesn't matter. Draken Hook is thirsty for blood and power. It's just the beginning. I think you have to be prepared for troubled times, maybe even worse. "