Chapter 4

Vaeric Voss’s POV

I sat beside her, watching her sleep peacefully. I couldn’t explain the mix of emotions swirling inside me. I felt both incredibly happy and deeply pissed at the same time. My chest ached like my heart might burst at any moment.

We had finally found our mate—the one we had been told we weren’t destined to have. I should be overjoyed, and part of me was, but that joy couldn’t touch the burning fury in my heart.

How could any sane man do this to his own mate? How could he beat her, treat her like a dog, and leave her broken like this?

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill him,” she whimpered in her sleep, restless and clearly in pain.

I reached out to touch her, wanting to comfort her.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Kaedrin muttered, stepping into the room.

I pulled my hand back and frowned.

“We both know that touching her while she’s sleeping these past few days hasn’t ended well for either of us. You’ll only make her more hysterical.”

I gritted my teeth in anger, my face darkening as I watched her struggle in her sleep, helpless to do anything.

I wanted to pull her into my arms, hold her close, and tell her everything would be okay.

But I couldn’t—not after what her bastard ex-mate had done to her.

“I hate what this is doing to her,” I said. “I hate seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything to ease it. What kind of mates are we if we can’t even help her?”

“I hate it as much as you do, Vaeric,” Kaedrin growled. “It’s taking every ounce of strength I have not to storm into that pack and rip the heads off everyone who made our mate and her pups suffer. They deserve to burn in the deepest pits of hell for putting her through this.”

His eyes burned red with fury.

I knew without a doubt that Kaedrin meant every word. He wouldn’t hesitate to burn their entire pack to the ground. The only thing holding us back was her—our mate.

She wanted to handle things her own way.

“Kaedrin,” I called calmly, turning to face him.

He simply watched me, waiting.

“Why do you think we were both mated to the same woman?” I asked, voicing the question that had been haunting me for days.

Kaedrin’s face creased into a frown.

He walked over to the bed and sat beside her, his gaze softening as it rested on her.

“I don’t know much about mates, Vaeric. I’m the wrong person to ask. The priestess would have a better explanation. But one thing I know for sure is that the goddess decided to bless us with a rare gem. I don’t know what she’s playing at by making both of us her mates, but I do know our mate needs us.”

“But she hates us,” I sighed sadly.

“Ever since she woke up, she’s been nothing but cold toward us. Our touch repulses her, and the sight of us disgusts her. She hates us, Kaedrin. How are we supposed to help our mate when she hates us this much? It’s been two days, and she still refuses to tell us her name or say a single word to us.”

“Vaeric,” Kaedrin looked up, meeting my eyes with an unreadable expression. “Do you want to let her go?”

The question caught me off guard.

I felt my wolf stir inside me, offended.

Why would he even ask that?

Why would I ever want to let her go when she was the miracle I had always dreamed of—a mate to call my own?

“Never!”

My wolf growled, flooding my eyes with fury.

“I can never let her go! She is mine!” I said firmly, regaining control from my wolf. I couldn’t lose control here while our mate was still sleeping.

“I thought as much,” he replied with a nod, leaving me slightly confused.

“You’re right. She hates us. The sight of us disgusts her, our touch repulses her, and she refuses to acknowledge us. But that doesn’t change the fact that she is ours, and I’m never letting go of her!”

He growled, his possessive side rising to the surface.

“I don’t know how long it will take for her to finally acknowledge me—acknowledge us—but I’m going to wait. I’ll stay by her side until she sees me as her mate. I have all eternity, and if it means waiting until the day after eternity, I’ll wait. So think it through, Vaeric. Are you going to let her go, or will you wait until she finally acknowledges us?”

I turned to look at her, watching her peaceful face.

The Moon Goddess had finally given me a mate.

I’d be a fool to let her go.

Kaedrin was right—we had all eternity.

I was willing to wait, no matter how long it took.

“I’m never letting her go, Kaedrin. She is the Moon Goddess’s blessing to me. I’d be crazy to let go of the one good thing the goddess has done for us,” I affirmed.

Kaedrin nodded.

“It will take time, but we’ll be here every step of the way.”

Our mate stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes.

“Vaelor,” she whispered, staring at me.

I frowned.

Is that the name of the asshole who did this to our mate?

I glanced at Kaedrin, communicating silently with him.

“Vaelor, is that you?”

She sat up and touched my cheek.

I sighed in relief—her touch alone calmed my nerves.

But then her expression suddenly changed.

“Betrayer! You hurt my kids! I’ll kill you!”

She glared and tried to lunge at me, but Kaedrin was fast enough to hold her down, stopping her from attacking.

“Pull yourself together. That’s Vaeric, not Vaelor!” Kaedrin yelled, shaking her out of her illusion.

“Kaedrin,” she whispered, recognition flashing in her eyes as she turned to me and studied my face.

“Vaeric.”

“We’re here for you, Nysera,” I smiled, even though my heart ached seeing her in so much pain.

“Nysera? Who is Nysera?”

She frowned, looking confused.

“It’s the name we came up with since you wouldn’t tell us your real name,” Kaedrin replied, letting go of her now that she seemed calm.

“My name is Nyseraphine Asteris. You can just call me Nysera,” she said, still frowning.

A nurse cleared her throat behind us, interrupting the moment.

We both turned and glared at her.

Nysera was finally talking to us, and the last thing we needed was an interruption.

“I apologize for the interruption, Alphas,” she said, trembling with fear.

“The boys—”

“My boys, what happened to my babies? Are they alright?” Nysera panicked, her voice filled with fear.

Kaedrin and I both took her hands, trying to calm her.

“The boys are both out of danger for the moment, but the doctor still has them under supervision to be sure they’re truly stable,” the nurse replied with a small smile.

I watched Nysera breathe out in relief.

“What about my baby girl?”

The nurse’s face changed instantly, and Nysera noticed.

“I’m sorry..”