CHAPTER 28

LILLIAN POV

The scent of healing herbs and worry filled the air heavily in my mother’s room. When we entered, her seer’s eyes…those all knowing oracles that had seen both my joy and sorrow locked into our held hands. Drake tightened his grip instinctively, as if he could could cover me from whatever truth or destiny that’s waiting for us.

“Andre’s bond,” Mother said without waisting any time, her voice raspy but clear. “You activated it today.”

I rushed to her bedside with my heart pounding violently. “It saved his life, Mother.”

“And it may have doomed yours.” She said stiffly as her gaze shifted to Drake, not with accusation, but with profound sorrow that made my blood run cold. “The connection between you to it and Andre….it is not just a mating bond. It is a living channel.”

Drake stepped closer, his Alpha power filling the room. “What are you saying?”

“I am saying that the Moon Goddess did not just give Lillian a mate.” She said slowly as her fingers plucked at the blanket nervously. “She gave her a counterpart. Andre’s bond provides the stability required to channel the cure’s power without been consumed by it.”

My hand flew to my tattoo, the complicated design suddenly feeling heavier than ever. “So without the bond…”

“The energy would have nowhere to go,” Mother finished gently. “It would have burned through both of you.”

The room seemed to somersault. I watched Drake’s face as the truth settled over him—the sharp intake of breath, the way his eyes darkened with understanding. All this time, he had seen Andre as an obstacle. A rival. But now…

“Her anchor,” he whispered, the words sharp like blade.

“Exactly.” Mother nodded as her eye’s glowed with that uncanny seer’s light that both fascinated and terrified me. “The Eastern Pack wants to sever their connection not just to destroy the cure, but to harness that raw, unbalanced power for themselves.”

I sank onto the edge of the bed as the weight of the revelation crushed me. “So if Drake and I…”

“Your love could heal the world,” Mother said gently. “But your bond with Andre is what makes it possible. Break that, and you break the balance.”

I looked at Drake—at the man who held my heart, my soul, my every waking thought…and saw the devastating understanding in his storm gray eyes. The cruel joke the Moon Goddess had played on us finally laid bare for all to see.

He could love me. He could cherish me. He could spend every day of his life proving himself worthy of me.

But he could never be what I needed.

Andre could.

The realization of it all should have shattered him. Instead, I watched something remarkable happen…his expression shifted from pain to determination, from loss to purpose.

He moved suddenly, dropped to one knee before me and took my hand in his. His touch was firm, sure, but I could feel the slight trembling he tried to hide.

“Then we find another way,” he said, his voice steady despite the emotional storm raging behind his eyes. “ We always find another way, Lily.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Drake…you heard her. Without the bond—”

“I heard.” His thumbs stroked my knuckles, each movement a silent promise. “But I also know that the Moon Goddess does not make mistakes. If she gave you to Andre as your anchor…” he took a shaky breath that betrayed his calm exterior. “Then she gave you to me as my heart. And I am not letting either of you go.”

The raw vulnerability in his voice destroyed me. This was not the Alpha making a declaration…this was the boy I have loved since childhood, refusing to accept that we couldn’t have our happy ending.

“But how?” I whispered, my voice breaking. “How can we possibly….”

His gaze never shook with doubt, those stormy eyes holding mine with an intensity that stole my breath. “We protect the bond. We protect each other. All three of us.”

The simplicity of it and the fact that it looked impossible and unnatural, made a sob catch in my throat. “Andre would never….”

“Andre loves you,” Drake said firmly. “And he is my brother. If there is a way to make this work, we will find it together.”

He rose to his feet and pulled me up with him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me like I was something precious, something worth fighting for against impossible odds. I could feel the rapid beat of his heart against my cheek, the slight trembling of his muscles as he held me tightly.

I have spent ten years living without you,” he murmured against my hair, his voice thick with emotion. “I am not doing it again. However this ends, we face it together.”

I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his scent…winter frost mixed with determination and home. The solid strength of him, the unwavering certainty in his touch, made me want to believe in impossible things.

When I finally looked up, my mother was watching us with an expression I couldn’t place…not approval, not disapproval, but something like resigned acceptance.

“Love has always been our greatest strength,” she said quietly. “And our greatest weakness. Choose carefully, my daughter.”

As Drake led me from the room, his hand firm and steady in mine, I made my my choice.

I would fight for them both. For the bond that kept me alive, and for the love that made my living worth it.

As we stepped out into the hallway, Drake pressed me against the wall, his forehead resting against mine. His eyes were closed, and for the first time, I saw the full weight of what this cost him.

“I meant what I said in there,” he whispered. “I will protect your bond with Andre. I will stand by while another man claims what should be mine, because your safety means more to me than my pride.”

Tears ran down my face uncontrollably. “It is not fair to you.”

His eyes opened, and the love I saw there took my breath away. “Love isn’t about fair, Lily. It is about what you are willing to fight for. And I am willing to fight for you….all of you, even the parts that belongs to someone else.”

Then he kissed me, not with passion but with promise. A sealing of vows made in the face of impossible choices.

When we broke apart, both breathing roughly, he smiled, with his lips trembling slightly. “We will make this work. I don’t know how yet, but we will.”

I believed him. Because if anyone could defy fate itself, it was the man standing before me…the

Alpha who would rather rewrite the rules than loose it all.

As we walked hand in hand down the corridor, I sent a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess….

Let us find a way. Let our love be strong enough to bend destiny itself.

Because some loves were worth breaking the rules for.

And ours was one of them.