Chapter 25
The smell of burned flesh clings to the inside of my throat, sour and metallic, it’s as though I swallowed smoke and blood at the same time. My boots drag against the ash as I take slow steps toward the body lying on the scorched dirt.
Her body.
I can’t tell if it’s her. I can’t fucking tell if it’s Sorin. The face is gone, blackened beyond recognition, hair nothing but melted clumps sticking to what’s left of a skull. But my chest still cracks open. My ribs feel like they’re splintering, stabbing straight into my lungs.
Ariel presses herself into my side, all soft curves and perfumed skin that doesn’t belong here. Her arm hooks around mine, nails scraping as she rubs her hand up and down my arm in a soothing gesture.
“Wade,” she whispers, voice trembling like she’s the grieving one “I’m so sorry. I know how much this hurts you p>
Her hand won’t stop moving. I want to shake her off, but I don’t. can’t even lift my arm. My eyes are stuck on that burned corpse like maybe—just maybe—it’ll twitch. Sit up. Cough out smoke and prove me wrong.
Instead, I hear a low growl behind me. Not human.
The ground shifts under my boots and then–fuck–my body whips into the air so fast my stomach nearly lodges in my throat. My feet kick uselessly as a steel–hard hand clamps around my neck. My vision blurs, the world flipping before me, until it steadies on him.
The Lycan King.
Alaric Hayes.
His golden eyes glow like molten metal, flickering in and out with red as if his wolf is clawing right through his skin. His grip tightens, crushing my windpipe, and his voice–Christ, it doesn’t sound human.
“She wouldn’t have been in there,” he snarls, spit flecking against my cheek, “if you didn’t fucking accuse her of something she never did p>
Shit
My legs kick, scraping air. My nails dig into his wrist, desperate, But it’s like trying to claw through stone.
Ariel screams behind us, scrambling up from the dirt. The warriors freeze mid–step, then fall to their knees, crawling forward, foreheads pressed to the blackened ground. Begging. Pleading. Not for me–fuck no. For him. For the King not to lose it.
My throat squeezes tighter, vision edging black. I choke out, voice fractured, “H–how… can you be so sure… she didn’t p>
Alaric bares his teeth, his wolf bleeding through. “Because I fucking know.” His voice rumbles, dangerous, vibrating straight into my bones. “Every time I’ve gotten close to her, every wordt of her pretty little mouth was your name. Wade, Wade, Wade p>
The name whips at me like a belt.
“You spent more time with her than anyone,” Alaric growls, gold eyes searing mine. “You should’ve known better. She fucking loved you. Loved you so much it ate her alive. And you think that same woman tried to kill you p>
My chest heaves, no air getting in, but his words drill right through the haze. Images hit me–fast, sharp, relentless.
Sorin waiting outside the training grounds, a towel in her hand.niling like I was the only person worth waiting for. “You really shouldn’t spend too much time fighting. You’re always hu
Sorin bandaging my arm after a fight, her fingers soft even when her words were sharp. “Next time you do this, I’ll wrap your entire body so you can’t fight again p>
Sorin in our bed, her head on my chest, whispering she believed in me when no one else fucking did. “I’ll always be here for you no matter what, you idiot p>
Sorin walking into the war council, spine straight, chin high, defending me even when the elders mocked her for it. “It was not his fucking fault your stupidity has led the pack into war p>
That was before I left for that dumb war with Ariel.
My chest caves. My throat burns, and not just from Alaric’s hand
His growl deepens, vibrating against my skin as his claws scrape at my neck. “If you really think she wanted you dead, then maybe I should give her what she wanted.” His hand squeezes harder, my eyes bulging. “Maybe I should fucking kill you myself p>
My legs thrash. Spots explode in my vision. I can’t breathe. My heart pounds so hard it feels like it’ll burst through my ribs.
Alaric’s wolf is right there, bleeding out of him, shifting his voice into something monstrous. “I will find her,” he vows, words slamming into me like a hammer. “Even if I have to tear through hell and back, I will fucking find her. And when I do, you will never lay eyes on her again p>
He stares straight into my eyes. “She will be mine p>
The last word echoes, deep and final, rattling through the air like a death sentence.
And then–he drops me.
I hit the ground hard, gravel and ash scraping into my palms as cough and choke, sucking in burned air that feels like fire in my lungs.
Ariel crawls toward me, throwing herself onto my body, arms wrapping tight around my shoulders. Her voice is high, desperate. “Wade! Oh my god–are you okay p>
I can barely hear her over the ringing in my ears. My vision clears enough to see Alaric standing over the corpse. His massive frame casts a shadow across the charred ground.
“Bury them,” he orders, his voice cold, stripped of any humanity “Put out what’s left of the fire p>
The warriors scatter, rushing to obey. Buckets slam against dirt, oices bark commands, but all I see is him.
He doesn’t look at me, not even once. Just stares at the blackened body before turning his head, his voice carrying like thunder. “There’s nothing left for me here. The only light in this cursed place is gone p>
He walks away, shoulders broad, back straight, the flames themselves bow down to him.
I lie there, Ariel clinging to me, but my eyes stay locked on him. On the man who just ripped me apart with nothing but words and a hand to my throat.
What the fuck has Sorin done to him? What has she done to me
If that body isn’t hers… then whose is it?
Hours later, I’m slumped in the bathtub. The water’s lukewarm ow, smelling faintly of the cheap soap Ariel insists is imported from France. It stings my cuts, and I don’t even bother to move. My body feels heavy, my head heavier,
Ariel perches on a stool beside me, wringing out a cloth and wiping at my shoulders as if I’m some fucking child who can’t clean himself. Her voice is a constant drone in the background, words spilling like water over stone.
“… the flowers in the courtyard look dull… lilies are wilting..ll have them replaced soon… something brighter, roses maybe p>
I catch fragments, not the whole. My brain refuses to latch ontoer complaints. It drifts–again–to Sorin.
I can still hear her voice, sharp as broken glass, the last time I tried to question her about Alaric.
“Why do you even care who I’m sending letters to? Last I checke, we were done. Over. You made sure of it when you tossed me into a cell like garbage p>
Her words have been clawing at me since. She was right. I did that. I put her there. I chose to believe a temple–bred over her. Fucking stupid. My chest tightens and the water ripples when my fist clenches under the surface.
“… maybe she poisoned you,” Ariel says suddenly, her voice slicing through my haze. “In the temple where I’m from, the priests punish those in the wrong. Maybe Sorin got what was coming for her p>
The words are so casual, tossed into the air like scraps, they hit me like a blade.
I snap. My hand shoots up, ripping her grip off my arm. The sound of water slapping the sides of the tub fills the silence.
She freezes, blinking at me though she can’t believe I dared do that to her. Then her lips part, trembling, and she groans softly, one hand going to her swollen belly. “Wade p>
Fuck. The guilt slams into me instantly. I’m not a monster. Not to women. Not to the unborn. I drag in a breath and force my hand to unclench.
“Sorry.” The apology tastes bitter, wrong, but I still lean in, pressing my mouth to hers in a kiss that feels more like an obligation than anything else. She clings, milking it, whimpering into my lips.
Knock. Knock.
The sharp rap on the door cuts the moment in half. Ariel pulls back, glaring at the interruption.
“What?” I snap, water dripping down my jaw.
“Alpha,” a guard’s muffled voice calls. “The… the King has left the borders. He’s gone with the knights he brought p>
I narrow my eyes. That’s not all. The guard’s tone says it. “And p>
Silence.
“And what, damn it?” I shove out of the tub, water spilling everywhere as I grab the robe hanging from the rack. My body is still wet, but I don’t care. I tie it around my waist, stride to the door, and slap my hand on the knob.
“Spit it out,” I growl.
The guard stutters, his voice breaking. “H–he left a message. For you p>
My teeth grind together. “What message p>
The silence drags until I snarl, “Fucking say it p>
Finally, the words tumble out, shaking, as if the guard himself is afraid of repeating them.
“His Majesty said… ‘When I fucking find her, I will fuck her souch she’s gonna forget about you p>
The air leaves my lungs in one sharp exhale. My hand drops from the knob though it weighs a ton. Heat flushes my skin, but not from the bath. My jaw clenches so hard it hurts.
Alaric. The bastard. He knows. He fucking knows.
Behind me, Ariel is silent now, watching with wide eyes. But all see is Sorin. Her face. Her defiance. Her pain. And now Alaric’s voice claiming what I threw away.
My teeth bare, and I don’t even realize I’ve shredded the inside
my cheek until blood floods my mouth.
Later
The meeting drains me, leaves me hollow. The elders‘ voices are blur in my head, buzzing, irrelevant. I only wanted to breathe, to walk into the gardens and ground myself again.
The garden–my mother’s hands once tilled the soil here. Sorin laughter had filled it when we planted lilies and petunias together. White, soft, fragile things. Symbols of what I’d promised her.
Maybe if she–d see it again, she’s-
My stomach drops the moment I step into it.
The air reeks of freshly turned earth and fertilizer. Omegas bustle everywhere, carrying pots, baskets, tools. Petals scatter on the ground, pale and broken. The beds of lilies and petunias are tripped bare, ripped out at the roots.
In their place: roses. Red, bold, choking out the memory of what came before.
The sight makes bile rise in my
throat.
I walk forward slowly, every step a dragging chain brushing the dirt. My voice is low, dangerous. “Whose order was this p>
An omega girl looks up, her hands dirty, a pot of roses clutched to her chest. She smiles at me, timid but obedient though she’s excited of what they’re doing.
“It’s Luna Ariel’s, Alpha p>
Her words hang heavy in the air.
And just like that—
-everything inside me fractures.
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