Shaw (Alpha Geek #6) - Milly Taiden Page 0,27

She had seen her mother in much the same situation as she stood over her father. It had taken only a few weeks for her mother’s health to disintegrate after that. Mates weren’t meant to live apart.

And here she was, losing her own mate before they even got a chance at getting started. Poppy was a nurse. She was an intelligent woman. She knew two things at that precise moment. First, she couldn’t do anything for Shaw. She could try to staunch the bleeding, but without some serious surgery, he would continue to bleed out. Second, she knew he was going to die. Soon, the shock would set in, and his body would begin to fail as he lost blood.

That’s all it would take for Shaw to bleed to death. Using all of her remaining strength, she sat in the back seat, while Dakota drove like a madwoman.

“Shaw, listen to me, okay?” She pressed down on the worst part of the wound, refusing to think of all the germs that were being let in. One of his lungs was punctured, and there were countless other injuries. “You can’t die. We have some things to do together. You know all about shifters, right? So, you’ll understand what I mean when I say this. You’re my mate, Shaw Eagan. And I refuse to lose you before we even get to the good parts of mating.”

She leaned down to kiss his lips. They were cold. Poppy sniffled hard. That was definitely not a good thing.

“Keep talking to him,” Dakota coaxed from the front seat. “We’re almost there.”

Poppy had no idea where there was, but it didn’t matter just then, so long as it meant that she could get help for Shaw.

Moments later, she was vaguely aware that the car door opened. Bennett was there, armed with a small black case. He nudged her aside and began to inject all kinds of needles into Shaw’s broken body.

“This is adrenaline,” he said as he drew out a scarily long needle. He punched it straight through Shaw’s chest. The shot of pure adrenaline would make the heart continue beating. That could only mean that Shaw would continue to pump out his life’s blood.

“Give me your arm, Poppy. He needs blood.”

It was then that Poppy noticed that there was already an IV snaking out of Shaw’s arm that led to Bennett. He added hers to the mix.

“Shifter bodies aren’t fussy about blood types. If anything, the fact that we’re both shifters with strong blood will only help his change and increase his chances of survival. Do you understand, Poppy?”

She nodded. She was a nurse. She understood blood transfusions. This was something else entirely. Bennett passed her a bottle of energy drink and instructed her to chug it down. She did as she was told without knowing why she had to. Something tugged at the back of her mind. The sugar and electrolytes of the drink would help with the shock and also help her recover from giving blood.

Her mind was foggy. Not because of any injuries. The pure horror of the night was starting to creep into her consciousness.

Her cousin had tried to kill a man.

For all Curtis knew, he had killed Shaw.

What kind of fucked up things were her cousins involved with if they didn’t mind going around breaking human bodies? A shiver racked her body.

“Hey, no,” Bennett said, “Poppy, don’t let the shock set in. Keep talking to Shaw. He needs to hear your voice.”

“I’m mad at him,” she whispered dully.

Bennett’s laugh was dry. “You and me both. Keep talking,” he added softly. “It’ll help both of you.”

“I am really pissed at you, Shaw. I don’t know why you emptied all of the bank accounts. Including mine. I don’t know why you wanted to go out with me. I think you were using me to get to my uncle and cousins. That makes me fucking mad, Shaw. I think I hate you right now. It makes no sense because I am also terrified that you’ll never open your eyes again. I can’t pick an emotion. You’re making me all confused.”

A few other men Poppy vaguely recognized, circled the car. There was a stretcher and a lot of medical talk. A lot of it she understood, but only in a vague sort of way. Had she not been convinced that Shaw was going to die, she would have been able to follow along to all of it. It was too much for her just then.

“Come on,