CHAPTER 26

~~~ AIDEN ~~~

I was shocked to find out that Isabelle was my mate.

Not that having two mates was uncommon. There were two great-grandads on my mother's side of the family, but still, I was shocked and... terrified.

The first time I saw her and held her in my arms, she was almost lifeless. I thought she was dead, and that had pushed me towards insanity. I hadn't slept or had a moment of peace since the explosion.

Isabelle was almost dead, and my brother had a severe wound that refused to heal-those three days had been the most testing days of my life. I didn't have Damian, and I thought my mate was dead.

After my revelation, Damian stared at me for a long minute, searching my face. Usually, Alphas were said to be very possessive over their mates, but oddly, the idea of sharing Isabelle with my brother didn't make me feel jealous.

Instead, it thrilled me in an unexplainable way. I couldn't have ever imagined this in my wildest dreams.

"Are you sure?" He asked. I didn't see any hint of jealousy in him either. He wasn't reacting the way he had responded to finding out that Jules was dating Isabelle.

"Yes," I answered, and he nodded in understanding but didn't say anything.

"I need to see her," He demanded, getting up from the bed. I could see it pained him to do so, but the determination in his eyes was fierce. He wasn't going to listen to me until he'd seen her.

"She's unconscious," I told him, supporting him to stand up. He winced in pain but didn't complain, his will unfaltering.

"I need to see her, Aiden," He growled, "I want to know what happened. I want to know why my wolf is quiet and why I cannot feel any part of the mate bond," He demanded. I had the answers to his questions, but my heart was too heavy to tell him.

“I know you know what's going on.”

"She got hurt pretty bad in the explosion," I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep it from him for long. He would find out either way, and I could understand his urge to learn more about our mate.

But I didn't want him to hurt the way I did when I saw her broken, burnt body. I had almost lost my mind and my wolf at that moment.

The image of her almost dead face was permanently etched in my brain, and I was never going to forget it.

"How bad?" Damian grilled, slightly pushing off my support and walking by himself despite being weak and recovering. "Answer me," He growled when I remained quiet.

"She had a major crack in the cranium, and a part of her brain is swollen and..." I trailed off, unable to continue. Every time I saw her broken body, it pained my soul.

"And?" Damian demanded.

"She suffered from severe burns on her left side, especially her left hand. The doctor says it could be permanently damaged and might need amputation.

She inhaled a lot of smoke, too," I finally let it out.

My words made Damian walk faster towards the intensive care unit. It was where I had spent the last couple of days. I had been going back and forth between him and Isabelle. It was torture for me, especially the thought of losing them together.

Even in his weak state, Damian practically peeled the door off the intensive care unit before storming inside, not listening to the nurse. He stopped only when he was beside Isabelle.

I didn't miss how his face blanched when he looked at her broken body. I tried not to look at her again, but my eyes betrayed me. Every time I looked at her, I felt a stabbing pain in my chest.

Maybe we could've saved her if we had arrived early at the location. This was making me regret not getting there earlier. I could've stopped this from happening, and she'd have been healthy and happy with us. I could've prevented a lot of things, but I was late. This was one of the things that had been eating me away since that day. But at the same time, I wondered who did it.

After the fire had died, I had sent my men to look at the ruins and try to find any hints, especially why the place had blown up and why there was so much black smoke. I learnt there was a second explosion soon after I fled the place with them.

The only thing my men found was ash and melted metal. The second explosion was more destructive and destroyed whatever was left after the first explosion. One thing was confirmed from all this— the explosions weren't an accident. They were coordinated, and somehow, Isabelle got caught in it. I was sure Alex did it, which made me want to hunt her down even more.

She hurt my mate. She almost took my mate away from me. She was the reason Isabelle was in such a broken condition. I didn't want to stare at her damaged hand, but I couldn't. It was severely bandaged, but the doctor had said she might not be able to use her left hand. It made me see red. I was now more determined to hunt Alex down and do all the damage she caused to my mate.

But for now, I wanted Isabelle to wake up. I wanted her to look at me and recognise me as her mate. I wanted her to hear her seductive and mischievous voice. My whole body had been yearning for her voice. It pained me physically not to have any of those things.

I clenched my jaw painfully, swallowing away the wave of emotions while I watched Damian gently touch Isabelle’s face. There were some minor burns on her cheek, but one side of her face and head was swollen, and that seemed to get worse every day.

"Isabelle,” Damian whispered, holding her good hand and kissing it. I stood by his side, watching our mate. "Please... wake up," Damian’s voice broke, and a tear ran down my cheek. I was too focused on Damian and our mate to notice when the doctor entered the room.

"Alpha Damian. Alpha Aiden," The doctor greeted the two of us.

"When will she wake up?" Damian demanded, sounding out of control. This worsened the storm of emotions inside me. It had been a wonder how I had been holding myself for the past couple of days.

"I cannot answer that yet, Alpha Damian," The doctor responded hesitantly, "But I'm afraid we might have to proceed with the amputation. The damaged hand is making it worse for her.”

With that, my heart shattered.

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