Dawn was clutching her dress and her gaze flitted around the place, never settling on anyone or anything. Her neck was stiff and a pained gaze was all one could see in her. She regretted accepting Lily's invitation. Neal had called her and informed her that they had taken Cole to emergency and that he seemed out of danger. He was just heavily drugged.

"Get the detailed report from the doctor," she said. She knew she would use it in the future.

​​

When they reached the Silver Mansion, Gayle received them. Muscles strained, his face was pale and as soon as the werewolves brought Daryn, he rushed them to the nursing room that was at the far end of the mansion. Dawn followed them. The room was equipped with modern facilities. It was small with a single hospital bed. The wall was painted white and the white curtains on the windows were of light material. What surprised Dawn was that apart from all modern equipment that one found in the hospitals, there was a small wooden shelf, which was filled with various colored potions.

The doctor who attended to Daryn must have been a werewolf. He looked at Gayle and said, "I will be extracting bullets from his body. You all have to stay out."

"Will he be okay?" she asked him in a shaky voice.

"He should be. After all he is our Alpha," said the doctor and then closed the room.

All the werewolves who had joined them for killing the assassins were massive, bulky and over six feet tall. They looked dangerous and feral. They were standing right outside the room to give their blood if needed. This was the loyalty that the Alpha was given. Dawn was mesmerized.

It took an hour for them to extract both the bullets. And by the time operation finished, three bottles of blood had already been taken and administered to Daryn. The werewolves said that more can be taken and they were ready, but the doctor had said that Daryn would recover fast, so it wasn't needed.

"Can I go and stay with him for the night?" asked Dawn. Her eyes were red and lines strained her cheeks from all the crying. In all these months of being with Daryn, she had never felt so miserable. Her heart writhed in pain. Her mate was in this condition because of her.

"I am sorry, Ms. Dawn," said the doctor, "but I can't allow you to meet him now. Let him recover a little and then you can meet, or else chances of infection increases. There's a nurse inside. She is going to stay there until Daryn is conscious."

Dawn pursed her lips and nodded. All others left and only Gayle was left with her.

"Tell me everything, from beginning to the end," he demanded.

"I— Lily Wyatt— my Grandmother had invited Cole and me for dinner," said Dawn. In the next fifteen minutes, she narrated the incident to him.

Gayle's face was red with fury. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you sure those were Lily's men?"

She shook her head. "No, we are assuming that. We don't know for sure." She was thinking that Gayle is going to hate her for putting his son in this condition because of her family, but he didn't say a word about it.

Gayle swallowed his saliva. If those were Lily's men, she was in for major trouble. He looked at Dawn with concern and said, "Why don't you go and rest? Daryn's room is on the first floor and I am sure you will find something to change in."

She looked in his eyes and asked, "Father, aren't you angry with me for putting Daryn in this situation?"

Gayle gave a faint smile. He kept his hand on her shoulder and said, "No Dawn. You are his mate, his Luna. This was expected. I would have been surprised if he hadn't gone for the killers."

Her eyes became blurry again and she smiled through her tears. "Thank you," she whispered.

Gayle patted her shoulder. "Now go and take rest."

She shook her head again. "No, I want to stay here."

Gayle took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I understand child." He left.

It was 1am in the night. Dawn went to sit on the couch that was on the corner of the aisle. She looked fixedly at the door until her eyelids became heavy with sleep. She woke up with a start.

"Dawn!" she heard him growl. There was loud pounding on a table. She looked at the wall clock. It was 5am in the morning.

Not able to stop herself, she opened the door of the recovery room and rushed inside. Daryn was moving his head left to right and with his eyes clenched tight, he was calling her name in whispers. "Dawn, Da— Dawn…"

The nurse was holding a syringe in her hands.

"Daryn, stay still baby," said Dawn and rushed to his side. He was burning with fever. Then she turned to look at the nurse and said, "Call the doctor!"

"He is on his way Ma'am," she said. "Can you please hold him? I have to give this injection in his arm."

Dawn sat down on the bed next to Daryn and rubbed his forehead and hair. "It's okay darling." She stroked his cheeks. "It's okay. I am here." Then she muttered under her breath, "All of this is my fault." She took his hand in hers and kissed his palm. She stroked his palm gently with her thumb. She couldn't help crying seeing how badly he was hurt. There was bruise on his left eye and a cut near his upper lip.

Daryn calmed down and instinctively, held Dawn's hand near his chest. The nurse gave him the injection.

"Ms. Dawn, you may go back to your room. I am here," said the nurse.

But Dawn was reluctant. "I will stay here," she said in a low voice. It was impossible to leave him in this condition.

A few minutes later, Daryn appeared sedated. His hand became limp.

"When will he become fine?" she asked the nurse.

'He should be fine by the morning."

Dawn nodded. Then she picked up her legs and slid next to him. She needed to smell him, to be with him to assure him, to assure herself that he was well.