LEAHDarkness envelopes me, stretching in every direction, thick and endless. My eyes are open, but there’s nothing to see, no walls, no sky, and no ground. Just an empty void swallowing me whole. My breath catches in my throat as the weight of it all presses against my chest.“Where… where am I?” My voice cracks, thin in the silence.A ripple moves across the nothingness, like water disturbed by a stone. The air shudders, and suddenly, I feel that I'm not alone.A blinding and burning silver glow appears first from somewhere ahead. Out of it, a massive figure takes form, and my heart stutters. It’s Ralia, my wolf.Seeing her now makes me understand what the fuss is really all about. She's not just any wolf, she's the silver wolf, the creature that has haunted me since the night I first shifted. She’s enormous, larger than even Lucian's Lycan. Her fur is shining like molten metal under a light that doesn’t exist here. Her eyes are the same as mine, but sharper, more feral, and glowing
LUCIAN It’s been three days, three endless days since Leah collapsed in my arms, her body shaking before it went frighteningly still. Three days of me watching her chest rise and fall, counting every breath as if it could vanish if I blinked too long.And she still hasn’t woken up.I sit by her bed in Queen Reyna’s chambers, my fingers tangled with hers. Her skin is warm but clammy, her silver hair spilling across the pillow like a halo. I’ve whispered every word I can think of, cursed every god I don’t believe in, and prayed to the bond between us until my throat is raw. Still, nothing.“You’re torturing yourself.”Fenrir’s voice rumbles inside my head, restless. He paces like a caged beast, his claws scraping at the walls of my mind. He's in pain too.“What else am I supposed to do?” I snap back. “She’s lying here, and I can’t do a damn thing.”Fenrir snarls. “You should’ve never brought her here. This is all because you wanted to get back to the council. You knew it was a battlefi
LEAHThe first thing I feel when I wake up is warmth, cozy and homely. Lucian’s heavy arm is still around me, his steady heartbeat thudding underneath my cheek. For a blissful moment, I don’t move. I let myself exist in the quiet home of his arm, his beautiful scent, and the soft rise and fall of his chest. As my eyes struggle to stay open, still lazy from sleep, I can't help but feel the safety of being here, with him.But then reality seeps in. There’s the case of the battle that almost killed Lucian at the council, the portal, and Emily-Donna's words still echoing like poison in my mind. What an irony. A moment of peace in the midst of boiling chaos.I lift my head slightly. Lucian stirs, his eyes half-lidded but alert the second my weight shifts.“Good morning,” I whisper. His grey eyes soften, and his lips twitch into the faintest smile. “You didn’t run away in the night. That’s a good sign.”I roll my eyes, though my throat tightens with relief just hearing him tease me. “As if
LEAHI wake with a jolt. My breath tears out of me in a ragged gasp, my hands clutching at the sheets as I look around.“Where the heck is Lucian.”My chest burns like a hot flame from absence I feel in chest. The bond, our bond, feels hollow, and very faint, almost like an echo fading in an empty cave.“Lucian?” His name breaks on my lips, half a sob, half a plea. I reach inside myself, clawing at the thread that has always tied me to him, the mate bond. I can still feel him breathing through it, but it's very thin, and distant, like a wall is pressing between us.Panic claws up my throat, as I try to make sense of everything that happened. Emily's revelation, the council going crazy, and Emily sending an evil magic force my way, and Lucian shielding me with himself. “No… no, no, no…” My hands press against my chest as if I can physically pull the bond closer. I can’t breathe. It’s like I’ve woken without my heart.The room around me comes into focus slowly. Pale walls. A soft rug.
LEAHBlood is all I smell, and I see as I hold Lucian in my arms. His blood, hot and slick, soaks through my hands, staining me. It spreads across the floor in a matter of seconds, and no matter how hard I press down, I just can’t stop it. His chest heaves shallowly, each rise and fall getting weaker by the second. His eyes are already dimming, like the sun setting for the last time.“No, no, no,” I whisper, my voice shaking so violently I barely recognize it. “Stay with me, please stay.”I cradle his face in one hand, the other still pressing against his wound. My heart rips into pieces just watching him struggle to breathe. His skin is cold with sweat, and the bond between us screams in agony. I can feel life slipping from him, his heartbeat faltering like a thread fraying strand by strand. “Don’t leave me,” I beg, lowering my head to his. “Please Lucian, don't leave me.” My tears fall into the blood on his chest, my hair mixing with it. “Don’t you dare leave me. You promised… you
LEAHTension is so heavy in the air, it's like the room stopped breathing. The walls suddenly begin to close in on me, making it difficult for me to breathe. My chest rises and lows at the same time. “Not pureblood.” The phrase echoes in my chest, sharp and heavy, making me choke from the inside. I can’t move, or breathe. My body locks in place, my eyes stuck on Emily-Donna's face as if she’s waiting for me to break.Lucian snarls, stepping forward, his hands trembling with his claws half-formed. Rage pours from him in waves, his eyes burning bright gold. “Take your words back now!”Lucian's warnings do not seem to faze Emily as she lifts her voice over his growl, cutting clean through the chamber. “sTake a good look at her, she's a hybrid.” She says, pointing to me, her words dripping with disgust. “Her kind is forbidden. She's an insult to the laws that bind this council together. How long have you all been blind? How long has she sat among us, her blood tainting this very hall?”