Page 183 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

"Viper. Viper, stay with me."

His face is gray under the blood and dust. His teeth are bared in a snarl of pain. He tries to move, and a strangled sound tears out of him.

My stomach heaves and saliva fills my dry mouth.

My big, soft Alpha.

He took the blast for me.

His blood surges hot between my fingers and I can't get my thoughts to line up. What do I do? What am I supposed to do?

Training, pressure, airway, wound packing is in my head somewhere. Viper himself taught me basic battlefield triage, but it's not coming back to me because this isn't some stranger. It's Viper, my mate, who is burned open because he took the full force of an explosion for me.

"Hey, big guy." My voice comes out ragged, and I realize that I'm sobbing. "Please stay with me."

His back bows and he screams.

Why him? Why am I always close to losing him? First Blood Lust, and now this.

I press harder. He flinches violently, and I know I am hurting him, but if I let up, he is going to bleed out right here in the dirt. The battle hasn't stopped, and distantly I can hear gunfire still cracking overhead, and men nearby are screaming. None of it matters as much as Viper's lifeblood pouring through my hands.

"I’ve got you," I tell him, even though I don't know if that's true. "Omega is here. I’ve got you."

His lips are turning white and his trembling body convulses.

Terror rips straight through me.

I can't hold him together.

I'm going to lose him just like I lost Blaze.

"No. No, no, no," I chant to myself through gasping sobs.

Another sound catches in my chest on my next exhale.

It's a low, rough rumble that ramps up quickly.

My purr.

It rolls through me without permission, vibrating against my ribs, pouring into the hands I have pressed over Viper’s ruined side.

It's my Omega. She's guiding me just like that day so long ago in the hospital when I was faced with Viper in Blood Lust. She knew a purr would save him then, and I can't do anything but choose to trust her now.

I press harder, purring louder.

At first nothing changes. I can barely see through the tears spilling from my stinging eyes, but after a moment, the torn flesh on the outskirts of his wounds starts to drag inward.

Then the bleeding slows to a seep. His burned skin is still angry and raw, but it is closing, healing under my hands.

This is the power of our love at work.

Viper sucks in a ragged breath as if he is being dragged back from somewhere awful, his whole body shaking with pain, but his eyes clear of their hazy sheen.

Relief floods through me, and I sob harder.

"There you go," I gasp, tears streaming as I wipe soot and blood off his face. "There you go. Stay with me."

His eyes focus on my face, the green glow flickering back to life. He looks wrecked, disoriented, but he's alive.