The Maverick Pride Tales - Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Reg was a complete asshole. He hadn’t explained a thing to her. She was definitely going to hate him now. Fear and sadness enveloped him like a lead blanket.
Stop. She is our mate. We will keep her safe, make her happy.
His Tiger’s words offered some comfort, but Reg was doubtful of the welcome he’d receive. But none of that mattered right then. He was not important in the greater scheme of things. The only thing that mattered was Gretchen.
She was in pain. She would be hurt, confused, and afraid. It was his fault. All of it. Still, now was not the time for self-pity, and maybe he could help her deal with all of that.
No.
There was no maybe about it. Reg would help her. He would be there for her like he should have been in the beginning instead of thinking with his dick.
“Brayden, step on it, man,” he begged the older man, refusing to give in to the anger that threatened to choke him.
He needed to be better than that. For her. A low growl sounded from his throat as the big Bear rolled to a stop just outside of Cut It Out. Reg was already jumping out of the vehicle before the Bear could put it in park.
Reg scented his mate from outside the shop. Tiger blossoms and something else. Something new. Fear and pain were thick in the air, but so was the heady sweet musk of her Tiger.
Mine, his Tiger snarled, but Reg pressed the beast back as his Neta stepped forward.
“Let me go first,” Hunter said, but Reg snapped at him.
He shook his head and took off for the door. He’d apologize to Hunter later. Right then his animal was riding him hard, holding on to control by a thread. He had to get to his mate.
His Neta raised his eyebrows, but Reg shook his head and wrenched the door open. Her scent was stronger now, and he felt her pain as if it was his own.
“Gretchen!” Her name tumbled from his lips as he saw her prone figure laid out on the floor.
She was sweaty and panting, clutching her stomach while the other women crowded her. That was no good. She needed space.
“Please, back up,” he growled, and four pairs of eyes zeroed in on him.
“Well,” Uncle Uzzi said. “Her mate is here. Let’s go, ladies, give him room.”
“Reg, take care of her.” Elissa looked at him with tears in her warm brown eyes, and he nodded helplessly. He would try.
Hunter pushed past him to help his Nari stand, but Reg hardly Registered the move. He was trying to calm his Tiger’s need to snarl and snap at everyone in the room. He wanted his mate.
Alone.
With a supportive arm around her waist, Hunter led Elissa to a chair and stood by her side. Reg looked at him and his Neta nodded. It was his turn now to help his mate.
“Reggie,” Gretchen whimpered, and turned her head towards him though her eyes remained firmly shut.
Sweat dotted her brow, as she clutched her middle and moaned aloud.
“I’m here, shona,” he said, and watched as she extended a hand to him.
Thank the fucking gods.
Reg took it in his and held on tightly. Hope erupted through him like a volcano. She opened those baby blues that he loved so much and looked at him for one second before glancing behind him. Reg turned around and snarled. Mikey was there, hands raised as if in surrender.
“Reg, I have to check her vitals, to see how she’s doing,” Mikey said.
The reasonable part of Reg understood the necessity, but his Tiger wanted to rip the fucker to shreds. He nodded his ascent but could do nothing to stop himself from growling as the man reached over.
First, Mikey felt her forehead, then checked her pupils, and lastly, put two fingers on her throat to check her pulse. Gretchen whimpered, and tried to bat him away, but she was too weak to do much.
“Stop. Not you. Don’t touch me. Only Reggie,” Gretchen moaned and shook her head back and forth.
Reg reached out and grasped her hand, shouldering Mikey out of the way.
“Stop it. She doesn’t want you touching her,” Reg growled, and Mikey backed up immediately. Smart man.
“Okay, alright. Look Reg, this is definitely the Puspa, but she isn’t reacting the way Elissa did.”
“How do you mean?”
“This is new to me. Elissa is the only other person I have ever seen go through this. Maybe it is because you aren’t an Alpha pair.”
“So?” Reg grabbed Mikey by the shirt and shook him. “Tell me what that means! What are you saying?” he cried out, tears of fury escaped his eyes as he released his friend.
“Her pulse is weak. She is tiring. I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry,” Mikey told him, shame, and sadness in his eyes.
Reg refused to accept what his friend said. He dropped back to the floor, next to his mate and shook his head. Wiping her brow with a wet handkerchief that he found next to her, Reg started talking to her.
Nonsense words and apologies at first. Random things that they’d talked about on their one date. He whispered anything and everything he could to keep her from fading. Gretchen moaned again and clutched her stomach.
A wave of tremors caused her to shudder and gasp. He tuned out everyone else in the room. He heard their gasps and his Nari’s tears, but Reg couldn’t concentrate on them. They were not important in that moment.
Someone handed him a pillow, and he lifted her head and placed it beneath. She whimpered in response and flailed about until he took her hand. Her breathing was heavy and pained, it was all he could do not to break down. Tears fell from his eyes, but he didn’t care. This was his mate, and it was because of him that she was suffering. He listened helplessly as her heartbeat slowed.
“Mikey!” he yelled for his Pride mate and their healer. “Help her! Please!”
His cries echoed in the salon as his friend rushed to his side. Mikey checked her over. Doing all the things Reg would expect of a doctor, but it didn’t seem to help. She was still fading. The minutes ticked by like hours, but they were still no closer to an answer.
“I am sorry, Reg,” Mikey began. “I just don’t know how this will work. If it will work out.”
“Don’t say that, of course it will. You’re strong, shona, show him how strong,” Reg said to her, kissing her hand. He squeezed it, hating how weak and limp it was.
“She seems to be fighting it, fighting her Tiger, and I don’t know what happens if she does, but it can’t be good,” Mikey said, and the healer couldn’t meet Reg’s eyes.
“No,” gasped Elissa from somewhere behind them. Everyone else in the room went quiet.
Reg’s heart beat inside his chest like mad. Everything in him, his Tiger especially, rejected what Mikey said. This couldn’t be right. This couldn’t be it.
He turned to Gretchen. He could scent her fear and confusion. The fact that she was in pain because of him because he’d put her in that position, was tearing him apart.
“Reg, I’m so sorry,” Mikey spoke, and Reg threw his head back and roared out loud.
He’d only just found her. Gretchen was his mate to love and cherish, to protect and care for. There was no fucking way she was going to die. He wouldn’t allow it.
“No. You’re wrong. She’s going to get through this,” he said, and turned to his mate.
Reg ripped away the blanket and the pillow. He wanted her awake, not complacent. Maybe even angry. Hell, he could take her anger. He could take anything if she just woke up.
He turned her face to his and dropped a kiss on her brow, holding her with two hands on her cheeks before speaking intently.
“Gretchen, you have to listen to me. Get up, shona. I know you’re scared and angry right now. I know you don’t want to see me anymore, and I don’t blame you. I fucked up. I did this, but you are not a coward. You are not going to lay down and die because of my fuck up, now open your eyes!” Reg growled at her weak whimpered response.
“Get up, baby. Wake up. Let your Tiger in. She is part of you now. You are stronger than ever before, now show me. Show me how fucking strong you are, shona. I know you are pissed, and you deserve to be. I promise you, Gretchen, I will let you kick my ass later. I will even try to leave you alone if that is what you want. But not till you get the fuck up. You hear me? After this is all finished, I will take a ship to fucking Antarctica, if you want me to,” Reg told her.
She whimpered, the movement behind her eyelids picking up pace. She didn’t like it when he yelled at her, and he could have laughed. But he was not about to stop. Not when he needed her so damn bad. Without her, he didn’t think he could go on living.