Chapter 128

Dominic’s POV

Heard the crash before I even saw him. It sounded like the end of the world for a second. Wood exploding, that feral growl ripping right through the walls. Like, who else could it be? Only one wolf in this sorry pack throws a tantrum that loud.

I walk in and there’s Dante, smack in the middle of the wreckage, blood all over his fists, knuckles split open and raw. The cabinet? Totally obliterated, wood splinters everywhere. He was breathing like he’d just run a marathon, eyes burning that wild gold.

He doesn’t even look at me. Just slams his fist into the wall again. Boom... like the stone’s gonna shatter.

“Enough,” I said, trying to sound calm even though my heart was racing.

It doesn’t matter. He just keeps going, pounding the wall until I grab his arm mid-swing. He’s all muscle and fury, fighting my grip, but I hold on.

“Dante.”

His eyes snap up, feral, wild, wet with something more than just anger. “Don’t,” he spits out, jerking away. “Don’t you dare talk to me right now.”

I stand my ground. Don’t say a word. I know that pain, it eats you alive from the inside out, leaves you hollowed out and shaking. The pain you can’t stab or punch or outrun. The kind that comes with a name.

“Elora?” I ask, soft enough that it almost disappears.

That’s it. He just breaks.

He whirls on me, voice broken. “The mark didn’t work.” His breath’s coming in sharp. “The healer said it’s because her heart...” He cuts off, jaw clenched.

Didn’t need him to finish. I got it.

I’d seen the way Elora looked at me sometimes, like she knew the things I had in my heart.

Dante’s voice slices through my head again, low and mean. “It’s because of you.”

I meet his glare. “What?”

He steps in, close. “You. You’re the reason she’s dying.” Every word’s got venom. “She can’t heal because she can’t stop loving you.”

The space in the room felt too small for us, as the truth comes out.

I don’t try to deny it. Why bother? We both know.

He stares at me, trembling. “Say something,” he snaps. “Tell me you didn’t want this. Tell me you didn’t want her.”

I shake my head, voice low. “I didn’t plan any of this. Didn’t ask for her heart. But you know how it goes, heart never asks for permission.”

His face twists up, all that hurt and rage boiling over. “You had your chance, Dominic. You let her go. Choose Mira, remember? You broke Elora once. You don’t get to do it again.”

That lands harder than a punch. Because it’s true.

“I know what I did,” I said. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to fix it.”

He laughs, but there’s nothing funny in it. “Fix it? She’s dying, Dominic. She’s burning up and you’re talking about making things right?”

“She’s not gone yet,” I say.

He actually pauses, like that surprised him.

“I’ll find a way,” I tell him, and this time I mean it.

“If it takes everything I’ve got. My strength, my wolf, my soul... whatever. Even if she never looks at me the way she does you.” I continued.

Dante’s jaw clenched, and suddenly he turned to face me. “You’d give her everything,” he says, voice shaking. “But would you let her go?”

I look him dead in the eye. “If it meant she’d live, yeah. I would.”

He just stands there, staring, breathing heavily. Gold flickers in his eyes, then fades to gray. Finally, he steps back.

“You always did know how to sound like some tragic hero,” he grumbled, wiping blood off his knuckles with the back of his hand. “But she doesn’t want your damn martyr act, Dominic. She needs her mate.”

He started for the door. I caught him by the sleeve. “Then be her mate,” I said, not even sure he’d listen. “But do it right this time, Dante. Don’t drown her in your guilt. Don’t love her because you’re scared to lose her. Love her because she’s worth every bit of pain.”

He just… stopped.

“I know my role in all this,” I kept going. “I’m the guy she can’t quite hate, and you... You’re the one she can’t live without. But if you think I’m done fighting to keep her alive, you really don’t know me.”

He turned around, slow, face locked down tight. For a few seconds, we just stood there in the ruins of everything we’d built, broken pieces everywhere, and that one woman neither of us could let go of.

The silence between us? Yeah, it stretched forever.

Finally, Dante’s voice broke through. “She’s all I’ve got left.”

“And she’s all I ever wanted to be good enough for,” I said back.

We just stood there. Emotions are running through us heavily. We didn't hate each other. We just grieved together.

Grief for the woman hanging by a thread.

Grief for the mess we’d made of her life.

Grief for a love that might save her or destroy us.

Dante walked out, and I found myself staring at the window, where the tiniest dawn was fighting through the dusk. I balled my fists, her heartbeat echoing and beating fast that I could feel it in my bones.

“If you’re out there, Elora,” I breathed, “don’t let go. I swear I’ll drag you back if I have to burn myself for it.”

And for the first time in ages, my wolf woke up. Not angry, not wild. Just… ready. Like a promise in my chest.