Chapter 119

**Eli** **POV**

Two hours have passed since we rushed Maya here and still no one has told us what’s happening. Tommy has been pacing in the waiting room releasing low growls and grunts that had everyone around moving away as far as they could. An unstable wolf was extremely dangerous and the amount of anger rolling off Tommy right now was not a good sign. He is blaming himself for what happened to Maya, and even though I wasn’t there, I’m sure it wasn’t his fault. There is just so much we don’t understand about Maya and her powers. They are unstable and unpredictable. Even when she had seemed to master them something would happen and all her progress would disappear in an instant.

This was different though. She tapped into her wolf side which she hardly if ever did and it sent her body into some kind of shock. Maybe because that side of her is mostly dormant her body didn’t know how to handle the foreign feeling.

“Why haven’t they told us anything yet? It’s been two god damn hours!” Tommy growls out.

“Her condition must still be unstable for it to take so long. There is nothing we can do but wait, and if you keep making those sounds they are going to throw you out. Other families are here waiting to hear about their sick relatives and you are making them all uneasy.” Thomas warns Tommy and I tense up bracing myself for Tommy to lash out.

Thankfully his words get through and Tommy drops into the seat next to me. He isn’t sitting longer than a minute before the doctor who had taken Maya away walks down the hallway toward us. Her head is hanging low and she isn’t looking at us which makes my chest clench. Why cant she look at us?

The three of us stand to meet her and only when she is a few steps away from us does she lift her eyes.

“Doctor, how is she?” Tommy asks stepping ahead of us and meeting the doctor before she can meet us.

She lets out a sigh. “The Alpha is in a coma.”

The air is knocked out of me and the world goes silent.

“What do you mean? She hasn’t woken up? Will she wake up? What is wrong with her?” Tommy asks his voice strained and panicked.

“I’m sorry. It’s hard to say. We have never dealt with anything like this before. She is stable and doesn’t appear to be in any pain. She simply won't wake up. I can't say what more can be done at this time. We will monitor her and watch for any signs of change but that is all we can do for now. You can come back and see her now.” She holds her hand out for us to follow and we do.

She leads us past the area where they had taken Maya when we arrived. We followed her past a few open beds before we are led into a hallway full of doors. People come and go past us as we walk further toward the end of the hall. The doctor stops at the last door and turns to us.

“She’s right through here. She may not be able to see you but it’s theorized that patients in comas can hear and feel. Talk to her and hold her hand, it may be enough to bring her back when she is ready.” She lowers her head to us and moves past to let us move closer to the door.

We all hesitate for a moment, fear of what is behind the door crashing in on us. My chest feels tight and my breathing is erratic and making me light-headed. Tommy reaches out slowly and grasps the doorknob and turns it silently. He pushes in and Thomas and I follow quietly as if we might wake our mate. Of course, that wouldn’t happen but we still move as quietly as possible. Tommy pulls back the curtain separating the bed and the door and the sight of Maya on the bed knocks the wind right out of me.

Her body lies still and motionless as if she is simply asleep. I was expecting lots of wires and machines around her but there is none of that. She has a small cord across her nose for oxygen, an IV, and she is connected to one machine that’s monitoring her heart rate. To my eyes, it looks like nothing is seriously wrong but when we stand around her and each of us reaches a hand to touch her and she doesn’t react the truth is clear.

The doctor was right, Maya is unresponsive. Does she know we’re here? I stand to the left of her and grasp her hand. Tears are burning my eyes and I want to fall to my knees and beg for her to wake. I don't do so because I need to be strong for her. With my free hand, I brush my fingers softly on her arm. The sound of her machine beeping startles me and I pull my hand away. I watch the machine for a moment and everything seems fine, so I return to what I was doing. The same thing happens but this time I watch the machine as I repeat the action.


“She can feel you,” Thomas says.

'When I repeat the action again a trail of goosebumps appears along her skin.

“She is reacting to my touch," I say with a small amount of hope.

Tommy and Thomas both touch her on a section of bare skin and the same thing happens. My body thrums with excitement. Could she sense it's us?

“Can you sense anything?” Tommy asks Thomas.

Thomas shakes his head. “It’s unclear. Her mind is overfiring. There is too much happening to see clearly.”

“What can you feel?” Tommy asks with a more pleading tone.

“She doesn’t seem to be in any pain. It feels like she is trying to contain everything. There are areas I can’t break through. Like she is trying to rebuild her mind. It’s hard to explain.” Thomas replies moving toward Maya’s head.

He rests his hand on her forehead and closes his eyes. I assumed he was trying to get a clearer idea of Maya’s condition but after a few minutes he shakes his head and lets out a sigh of defeat.

“I can’t break through. It’s almost like she's blocking me, but she has never been able to do it before.” He says letting his hand slide from her head to her cheek. “I can tell that she is fighting something though.”

“Could that be why she is in a coma? To fight whatever is taking over her?” I ask.

“It’s possible. Many creatures go into stasis to undergo a large transformation. That could be what’s happening.” Thomas offers, his brow furrowed in consideration.

“If she is like this to transform, what is she turning into?” Tommy asks.

We both look to Thomas but he only shakes his head again. “I don’t know. She is a powerful being of both Fae and Wolf descent. The Fae part of her has been magnified and overpowers her wolf side. It’s possible that when she used her wolf it unlocked a stronger connection to that side and now she has to find balance.”

Tommy nodded along. “She only ever shifted when her life was in danger and her wolf and disconnected from her conscious mind.”

“This could be her trying to link her mind to her wolf and acclimate it to her Fae powers so that they become symbiotic.” Thomas goes on.

“That makes sense. She is Alpha of this pack and she realized a blood bond may be needed. That could have triggered her wolf and then using her Alpha voice on Tommy only pulled that side out more.” I add.

“She also has been infused with raw magic from the Fae world. Something that would kill anyone else. That magic is a living thing inside her, but the two sides are imbalanced and separated. If we are headed into a war she will need to find that balance her body is missing.” Thomas further explains and Tommy and I add words of agreement.

When the time comes she will emerge and be a creature like our world has never seen. My only wish is that the Maya we know will still be there. Who knows what a transformation like that could do to someone.