Chapter 30

ALPHA RUNE 

I could not believe the words I was hearing, but more importantly, I could not allow my soul to accept that the charred, skeletal carcass I had seen in the wreckage of that burnt vehicle was actually Sara. It felt like a waking nightmare, a fever dream from which I desperately wanted to emerge. My mind screamed for a different reality, one where she was still breathing, still looking at the world with those wide, inquisitive eyes.

I am Alpha Rune, the Conqueror. Throughout my life, I have been defined by my ruthlessness and my fearlessness. I lived under the ironclad belief that no one born of a woman could ever truly reach me—could never find the soft, vulnerable center of my heart and use it against me. But then Sara entered my life. After Little Miss Blue Eyes gave me the loyalty of her wolf, I finally understood the terrifying depth of true love. I had made a silent, internal decision that if I ever lost her, I would never love again. I simply did not believe that anyone else on this earth was capable of loving with the raw, untainted purity that Sara possessed.

She was... she was utterly selfless. It was strange, almost alien, to find a love like hers in our brutal world. It was a love without conditions, without hidden strings or political agendas. She had found me worthy of her affection even before I had found a reason to love myself. She saw the man beneath the Conqueror, and now, that man was drowning.

If the atmosphere in my SUV had been tense during the drive to Highway 25 to inspect the scene of the accident, the return trip to the Crescent Moon fortress was catastrophic. Everyone kept to themselves, buried in their own thoughts, but the air inside the cabin was thick with a palpable, vibrating rage.

"This better not be true. For the sake of the Moon Goddess, this had better be a lie," I whispered, the sound more of a hiss than a sentence. When the vehicle finally skidded to a halt at the main entrance, I alighted from the car before the engine had even fully cut out.

As I stormed into the house, I was in such a mindless, agonizing haste that I nearly collided with Ms. Mari, the healer. She steadied herself against the stone wall, looking up at me with eyes full of pity—a look I usually despised.

"Alpha Rune... I couldn't help but overhear the conversation earlier about Sara," she said softly. "I cannot tell you how deeply sorry I am. It is not often that a man as powerful and guarded as yourself falls in love so completely. Perhaps the Moon Goddess knows best, even when it feels like cruelty."

I stared at her blankly. The silence between us stretched out, becoming heavy and awkward. I wanted to scream at her, to yell that she was wrong for speaking of Sara in the past tense, as if she were already a ghost. However, a small, rational part of my brain realized she was only trying to be a compassionate soul. I needed to change the subject before I lost control and destroyed the room.

"You are almost always here in the Crescent Moon territory lately, Mari," I said, my voice sounding hollow and forced. "Have you considered moving your clinic to this location permanently?"

I was not ready to speak of Sara as a memory. I would not entertain that finality from anyone.

"That could actually work in theory, Alpha," Mari replied, sensing my desperate need to pivot. "But if I moved here, we would lose our status as a neutral entity. Aligning ourselves with your pack means we would have taken a side in the coming conflicts, and that would endanger both our staff and our clients from other territories. Our neutral status in a neutral territory puts us in the best possible position to serve everyone—friend or foe alike. I mean no offense to your hospitality."

As she spoke, a dark, tactical idea began to form in the periphery of my grief. "Since you preach the sermon of neutrality so fervently, what is your protocol if you are attacked? What happens if someone violates your sanctity?"

"I see where you are going with this, Rune, but I truly don't know," she admitted, her brow furrowing. "Perhaps I could get back to you on this after I’ve consulted with the other Head Healers in the neutral territories?"

"Yes, please do that," I told her, not waiting for another word. I strode off toward my private wing, desperate for the sanctuary of silence. It was all becoming too much for my mind to process.

Just as I was about to reach my doors, I heard Carmen calling my name from the end of the hall. "Carmen, I’ll see you later. I don't want to talk to anyone. Not a single person," I told her. I didn't care if I sounded cold or if my dismissiveness shocked her. I needed to be alone.

I lost track of how much time passed once I locked myself away. In my chambers, it was difficult to distinguish between night and day because of the harsh, bright magical lights I kept burning. I gave a strict order to my domestic staff that I was not to be disturbed for any reason—not even for food or urgent pack business. That was the last time I spoke to a living soul for hours.

The walls of my chambers, which had always served as a fortress of my absolute power, had suddenly become a tomb. I eventually collapsed, curling onto the cold floor at the foot of my bed. My shoulders heaved with jagged, silent sobs that felt like they were physically tearing my lungs apart. I had conquered entire kingdoms; I had faced down massive armies without so much as a blink of hesitation; but the image of that charred, twisted wreckage on Highway 25 had done what no enemy blade ever could.

It had broken me. It had shattered me in ways I never thought possible.