KAREN’S POV
The world tilted. One moment, we were still gasping from the fire’s aftermath, the air thick with smoke and the bitter taste of betrayal. The next—we heard a sound. Someone groaned in pain, and the next thing we knew, Alpha Xavier’s knees buckled.
His hand clawed at his chest, fingers twisting into his shirt as if he could tear the pain straight from his ribs. A choked gasp escaped him—raw, wet, wrong—before his body hit the floor.
My heart stopped.
"Dad?!" Jackson’s voice shattered the silence, sharp with disbelief.
Luna Hannah’s scream tore through the room. "Xavier!" She lunged forward, her knees skidding against the hardwood as she crashed down beside him. Her hands fluttered over his face, his neck, trembling like leaves in a storm.
Liam and Laila were already there, their voices overlapping in panic.
"His pulse—someone check his pulse!"
"Dad, wake up—please—"
I moved before my mind caught up, my body operating on pure instinct. The scent of burnt herbs and charred wo
