[Bonus chapter]

Ram's Embrace

Ram was preparing to leave to meet up with Alpha Tyler, the leader of the Azzora pack, and the father of Tymarie and Tyla. He hated the male. The male was an arrogant prick and always looked down on the lower packs like his. The Alpha was even scum enough to hand over his own daughter to Ram as part of the deal they made a few days before. Ram could never respect an Alpha that didn't protect his own family or own pack, no matter how much money Alpha Taylor had.

The Azzora pack was now so weak because of their soft leader and the Alphas before him from the past decades. The males had abandoned the Moon and the Moon's traditions. It was sickening thinking about how unappreciative and ungrateful the pack had been. It was no wonder that they now needed other packs to fight their battles because they could barely even shift anymore. Taking the wolf form was a beauty and privilege that Ram could never see his life without.

Just thinking about the damn Azzora pack leader was getting Ram worked up, which wasn't helping matters since he was leaving to meet the male in just a few minutes. He took a look in the mirror. The scars on his face always bothered him. Not because he was some vain pussy, but because they were a harsh reminder of the night he got them.

It was five years before, but it felt like an eternity that he had been cursed by the reminder of the battle that took his own father's life. His father had been a great Alpha to the pack in a lot of ways that made them strong and fierce, but he was also cruel and prefer to lead his pack by extreme intimidation and constant terror. Ram agreed that you had to be a strong and stern leader, but he believed that you also had to love and devote yourself to the pack's safety. His father enjoyed punishing others and never connected with the pack like an Alpha should. Now, when he looked in the mirror each day, he was reminded of his father's cruelty and how not to lead his pack.

A strong pain cramped Ram's side. He hunched over for a moment and grabbed his stomach. Was it Tymarie? Was it his own pain or hers that he was feeling? Up until then, he hadn't felt the strong pain that she was feeling from the side effects of the forced bond. If the girl would just come out of the basement and be near him, maybe some of the pain would subside and she would be more comfortable. But telling that female to do anything was like pulling fangs. That forced mate of his was stubborn and bullheaded, and he wasn't sure what pissed him off more; the way she constantly disobeyed his orders or the way her defiance turned him on.

"Sir, you need to come quick!" One of his men yelled from his bedroom doorway.

"What is it?" Ram hurried towards the male, hearing the urgency in his voice.

"It's the girl, your mate, she was demanding you get down there, and then she collapsed." The male told him.

"Damn it." Ram pushed past the male and ran towards the basement.

As he reached the basement bedroom, he could feel a sickness in his stomach, a dull ache that swam from his stomach to his throat. It was his mate. The feeling was so overwhelming that he almost puked. Tymarie was unconscious on the bed, her face pale and her lips turning blue. The sight of her made his knees grow numb and he feared they'd buckle under the weight of seeing her so unwell.

"Call Iris, tell her we're heading to her now," Ram ordered one of his men. "Go grab the truck."

Ram picked up his mate in his arms, trying not to freak out at how limp her body was.

"What's wrong with her?" Her sister Tyla asked as she jumped in front of him. "Is she breathing? Is she going to be okay?"

"Get out of my way," Ram growled. He didn't care about anyone else but his mate. He needed to get her to his healer, Iris.

"Come on, Tyla." William pulled his bride to the side, allowing Ram to get by and hurry up to his truck.

"Hang on, Tymarie." Ram whispered into her ear. "Hang on, brave girl."

Iris only lived a few minutes away, in the cottage at the end of his property. She was waiting for them when he came rushing down the dirt path to her place and slammed on the brakes. One of his men opened the door and grabbed Tymarie out for him.

"Bring her inside and put her in the bedroom to the right." Iris directed them.

"What's happened to her?" Ram was panicking as he saw how Tymarie looked even worse than before. He had always been a levelheaded male, even under extreme pressure and conflict, so he wasn't sure what to do with himself as the look of his mate made his heart pound through his chest.

"How long has she been like this?" Iris asked as she mixed some kind of a yellow paste in a wooden bowl.

"I don't know. She started getting bad pains last night. The only thing that helped was being close to me." He explained as he followed close behind Iris, watching her closely.

Iris rubbed the yellow paste across Tymarie's forehead and cheeks. Then she grabbed an empty bowl and began mixing herbs.

"Is she going to be alright? Can you save her? Tell me you can help her, Iris, please." He had never known such fear as he had at that moment. The fear of losing her was scarier than any battle he'd ever fought.

"You need to calm yourself," Iris told him. "Remember, you two are connected and she needs peace from you if she is going to survive this."

If…

If she is going to survive…

Ram turned and punched the log cottage wall. It shook the room, causing pictures to fall from the wall and the bottle to fall around the room.

"Damn it, Ram." Iris grabbed him as though he was still the young child that she had scorned when he'd acted out. "Pull yourself together. Your mate needs you. If you are at turmoil, she will be at turmoil. Lay down next to her and relax yourself. Hold her. Give her your heart."

Listening to his healer, he got into bed next to Tymarie and pulled her close to him.

"I told you that the forced bond is messy. It was banned for many reasons, one of them being that it's dangerous and unpredictable. Often lethal. Many don't make it past the initial forcing, but you two did. That tells me that you are strong enough to get through this. But the bond is struggling because you two are fighting it. The Moon may not have given you this bond naturally, but she allowed you to give it yourselves. You can't collide with the bond, fighting it is fighting life itself."

Ever since Tymarie had forced the bond, Ram had been pushing her away, just as she had been doing to him. They kept colliding, instead of allowing themselves to accept it completely. Now, his mate may die because he was too stubborn to accept being bonded to Tymarie, whom he had honestly thought was the most beautiful female he'd ever seen.

Why was he fighting the bond so hard? After all, he had instantly been drawn to Tymarie at the first sight of her. It was that infatuation that caused him to suddenly add her to his negotiations with Alpha Tyler. Sure, he thought it was a humorous addition to the deal, taking the rich pack leader's spoiled daughter with him. He thought it would insult Alpha Tyler, but it didn't seem to faze the male at all. Now, he just wanted the stubborn spoiled girl to open her eyes and argue with him. He welcomed her sassy tongue and smart-ass mouth.

"What happens now?" Ram asked Iris.

"Do you want this bond?" Iris stopped mixing and looked him straight in the eyes. "Do you want this mate?"

"Yes." He didn't hesitate.

"Good." She came around to his side of the bed and wiped the same yellow paste over his face. "Stay with her. Hold her. Embrace her body, embrace her heart. Let your wolves embrace the bond."

Ram tightened his arms around Tymarie and kissed the top of the female's head. Iris took a match and lit the herbs, wafting them around the room and blowing it directly onto him and his mate. He closed his eyes and begged the Moon to give him one more chance to appreciate the bond and to save his mate. The bond may have been forced, but he was willing to do whatever he had to keep her alive and in his arms.