Get Her Out of There

VIKTOR

“Please!”

I screamed, my knees slamming into the stone as the blade hovered above the baby’s neck. The cold metal shook, trembling with the weight of death. The baby’s shrill cry tore through the air, slicing me open from the inside. My heir. My blood.

“Stop,” I choked, my voice breaking. “Please.”

But my pleas were denied. The sword came down with a sickening thump against her tiny neck. Blood sprayed warm across my hands. The taste of iron filled my mouth as I screamed again. And again. And again.

“Viktor!” she cried. My mate. My life. Her bright blue eyes locked with mine. “Please.” Her voice cracked with despair, begging for mercy I could not give.

The blade struck her next. I watched her body collapse, the light in her eyes fading as the bond between us ripped apart. Pain surged through my chest, searing my veins, tearing through bone and flesh until it felt like I was being split in half.

I woke with a scream lodged in my throat, tears stinging my eyes, and I wiped it off aggressively.

My chest heaved like I’d been running. The room was quiet except for my ragged breath and the echo of that child’s cry.

"Calm down" I told myself. It’s only a memory, only a nightmare. But the blue eyes refused to fade. Each time they reappeared, the old bond—nearly healed, stubbornly closing—split open like a fresh wound.

A soft knock came at the door. I didn’t need to ask who it was. Darius, my beta, never failed to show up at dawn. “Come in.”

He entered, bowing swiftly before straightening, his expression tight with worry. “Morning, Alpha.”

I nodded once, voice rough. “Speak.”

“The prophecy…” he began.

He didn’t have to finish. The word itself was enough to curdle my blood. A warning. Another reminder that the clock was ticking. I raised my hand sharply, cutting him off before he could go on.

“I know,” I said, my tone clipped. “No need to remind me. Not today.”

Darius hesitated, then cleared his throat softly. “The seer’s meeting—he’ll be visiting later today.”

I turned away, eyes on the fog-coated window. “Fine. You can leave.”

He bowed again and quietly exited. The soft slam of the door echoed through the chamber, followed by a silence that pressed heavy against my chest. I exhaled slowly, gripping the edge of the table until my knuckles whitened.

Fear wasn’t something I was used to. Not as a king. Not as an alpha. But lately, it clung to me like a curse I couldn’t shake.

They said she would be the last—the one meant to save me. Yet she hadn’t come. And every day she didn’t, the emptiness inside me gnawed deeper, colder.

I needed my bond back. I needed my mate.

I forced myself to move, to breathe. The kingdom wouldn’t rule itself. I’d survived wars, famine, and traitors. I wouldn’t fall to ghosts of my past—or to my brother’s ambition. Axel had taken enough from me already.

“Lyxen,” I murmured, calling to my wolf, hoping for even the faintest stir in the hollow space where our connection used to burn. Nothing. The silence stretched until it was unbearable. No growl. No whisper. Just the echo of what once was.

The ache was suffocating.

I left my chambers, heading toward the forest. The morning air was damp and smelled faintly of ash and wet moss.

Every shadow in the place felt alive, whispering the same thing.

Time is running out.

Shifting should’ve come easily, like a breath, but pain sparked under my skin before it even began. The change burned through muscle and bone until I was on four legs, panting.

The forest greeted me in silence. Every sound—rustling leaves, snapping twigs, the distant howl of another pack—felt sharper.

But instead of freedom, all I felt was the weight of chains I couldn’t see.

I ran until the pain dulled, until the cold wind slapped the nightmare from my lungs. But even then, her eyes haunted me. Blue. Vivid. Unforgiving.

Halfway through my second run, Darius’s voice cracked through my mind link, breathless and urgent.

‘Seer’s here.’

‘I’ll be there in five,’ I replied, already shifting back to human form, skin slick with sweat.

When I reached the courtyard, the seer was waiting, tall and gaunt, his long cloak fluttering in the morning wind. His milky eyes gleamed like pale moons as he bowed. “Greetings, Alpha Viktor the Ruthless.”

The title rolled off his tongue like mockery. I clenched my jaw, grabbing a towel from a nearby table to wipe my neck. “Are you here to remind me again?” My tone dripped with exhaustion.

The seer’s lips curved faintly, his gaze unreadable. “No,” he said. “I am here because she has arrived.”

I froze.

“She?” My voice came out low, almost a growl.

“The last one,” he said, his tone almost reverent. “The savior. The one the prophecy spoke of.”

Heat surged through my chest, colliding with disbelief. My heart thundered. “Where is she?”

“In the dungeons,” he said softly. “About to be executed.”

The world seemed to tilt. For a second, all I could hear was the roaring in my head. The maiden. The girl from earlier. The one with those same haunting blue eyes.

My mind snapped back to her.

Her beauty was unintentional and raw—the kind that disarmed and angered me all at once.

And I had ordered her slaughtered.

“Damn it,” I hissed, slamming my palm against the table. The sound cracked through the room like thunder. “Get her out of there. Now.”

The seer didn’t flinch. “You’ll need to be fast, Alpha.”

I didn’t wait for another word. My boots hit the floor hard, my cloak trailing behind as I moved through the palace halls at full speed. My mind link flared. No connection. My heart pounded harder.

“Damn it!”

The execution grounds were alive with the scent of blood and rain. The stone circle—our killing field—was packed with guards and witnesses. The air buzzed with anticipation.

I pushed through them, fury burning through my veins.

“Stop!” My voice exploded across the clearing, dark and commanding.

Every head turned. The guard holding the blade froze mid-motion, his knuckles white around the hilt. The sword hovered inches above the kneeling woman’s throat.

I crossed the space in seconds, my hand snapping forward to grip the guard’s wrist before the blade could fall. The impact jolted through both of us. I tore the weapon from his grasp and tossed it aside, the metal clanging against the stone.

The world narrowed to her.

The maiden lay still, breath trembling, her blue eyes wide and shining under the grey sky. Fear flickered there, but also something else. Recognition.

And for the first time in years, the emptiness inside me stirred.