Tristan\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said quickly. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to undermine you guys bond. I\u2019m just\u2026 scared. I\u2019m terrified that we\u2019re going to lose her to this thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We won\u2019t lose her,\u201d Orion said. But his voice didn\u2019t sound convinced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah stood up and walked over to me. She put her hands on my shoulders and made me look at her. \u201cAthena is the strongest person I know,\u201d she said. \u201cIf anyone can beat this, it\u2019s her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wanted to believe her. But strength hadn\u2019t been enough in that cave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena\u2019s own strength had almost killed her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did your great\u2013grandmother do?\u201d I asked Orion. \u201cWhen the power tried to take over?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMom never said it tried to take over,\u201d Orion said. \u201cShe said our great\u2013grandmother learned to live with it. To coexist with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena can\u2019t coexist with something that wants to kill people,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it doesn\u2019t have to be about killing, Sarah said. \u201cMaybe there\u2019s another way to use it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head. \u201cYou didn\u2019t see what it did to Daxon and Seraphine. It didn\u2019t just kill them. It drained every bit of life from their bodies until there was\u00a0<\/p>\n
nothing left but husks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room went quiet again. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something else,\u201d Orion said quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to look at him. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Mom mentioned that sometimes, when someone with the power drained life from multiple people at once, they needed time to recover. Days or even weeks of being unconscious while the power settled back down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018How long?\u2018 Sarah asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t say exactly,\u201d Orion said. \u201cBut Athena drained two people completely. That\u2019s more than our great\u2013grandmother ever did once.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped. \u201cSo we could be looking at weeks of keeping her sedated?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d Orion said. \u2018Or maybe longer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like I couldn\u2019t breathe. The thought of Athena lying unconscious for weeks, of not being able to talk to her or hold her or know it she was even still in there, was almost too much to handle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll figure it out,\u201d Sarah said again. But even she sounded less certain now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a knock at the front door and we all froze. Sarah went to answer it and came back with Dr. Graze. He was a thin man in his sixties with gray hair and kind eyes. He\u2019d been the pack physician for as long as I could remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 196\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow is she?\u2018 he asked immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUnconscious,\u201d Orion said. \u201cWe gave her the sedative like you said.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood, Dr. Graze said. He set his medical bag down on the coffee table. \u201cI want to examine her, but I need to know what I\u2019m dealing with first. Sarah told me there was some kind of incident?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion and I exchanged glances. How do you explain ancient werewolf magic to a man of science?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe shifted under extreme stress,\u2018 I said carefully. \u201cThe shift was violent and took a lot out of her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Graze nodded like that made sense. \u201cTraumatic shifts can be very hard on the body. Let me take a look.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He followed us back to the guest room. Orion unlocked the door and we all went inside. Dr. Graze approached the bed slowly and knelt down next to\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena\u2019s still form.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He checked her pulse and listened to her breathing. He looked at her eyes and felt along her ribs. After a few minutes, he sat back on his heels.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018She\u2019s severely undernourished,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen was the last time she ate?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to think. \u201cYesterday morning, maybe?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not enough to account for this level of malnutrition,\u201d Dr. Graze said. \u201cThis looks like she hasn\u2019t eaten properly in weeks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew what had caused it, but I couldn\u2019t explain that to him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can we do?\u201d Sarah asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
IV fluids,\u201d he said. \u201cNutrients and electrolytes. But she needs to wake up soon so she can eat real food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow soon?\u201d Orion asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A few days at most,\u201d Dr. Graze said. \u201cAfter that, her body will start shutting down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt the blood drain from my face. \u201cWhat if she can\u2019t wake up yet?\u2018\u00a0<\/p>\n
70\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Graze looked confused. \u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t she be able to wake up? The sedative will wear off in eight hours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if we need to keep her sedated longer?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t recommend that,\u201d Dr. Graze said. \u201cHer body needs time to recover. Keeping her unconscious will only make things worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked at Orion desperately. We were caught between two impossible choices. Wake\/Athena up and risk the power taking control again, or keep her sedated and watch her body waste away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:28 Sat, Jan 10 G MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Biker Alpha Who Became My Second Chance Mate\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 196 Tristan\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d I said quickly. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to undermine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}