ALPHA PARTHE.
I stood over her, afraid to breathe. Afraid to even move.
Luxuria lay motionless on the bed, her body so still that for a terrifying moment, I thought I had already lost her. The weak rise and fall of her chest was the only thing tethering her to this world.
It felt as though the air had been sucked from the room. As if the gods themselves were holding their breath, waiting for me to break.
It seemed like the life she was holding onto would slip away if I even as much as shifted.
Gods. How did I ever let myself be this blinded by the ones around me?
The people I had called my confidants-the ones I had believed would never betray me-had been the very ones who tormented her. And I had let them.
I had believed their lies over the truth that was in front of me.
I had doubted her every single time.
And now, she was caught in some silent battle between life and death while I could do nothing but watch.
I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palm.
Fuck.
I didn’t deserve Luxuria.
I didn’t even deserve to stand in the same space as her.
It was all my fault she was in this mess.
The curse, the pain… Everything.
How would I cure her of the curse? What do I have to do?
I couldn’t let her die with me. Never.
My heart constricted with so much guilt that could last for a lifetime as I wondered if she’d ever forgive me for all I had done to her.
The healers told me she’d be awake yesterday. But she wasn’t. We’ve been waiting impatiently but still have no luck.
I’d done all the necessary rituals I could, but she was still in this state. I’d tried reaching out to her consciousness, but all to no avail.
My pups…
A tear slid down my cheek.
My boys…
They had protected her against the imminent death that was meant to befall her two nights ago during the war. They had saved their mother when I could not.
But…
“Alpha?” Someone called from the door, and I lifted my head to see Nevada.
Another wave of guilt hit me.
I had killed her daughter.
Even though I did it because she had tried to kill Luxuria, learning now that Zendaya was Luxuria’s half-sister pricked a part of my soul I almost didn’t know still existed.
“Shhh…” I hushed her as she padded into the chamber.
She bowed when she approached me. “How is she doing?” Nevada asked, and I heaved a sigh.
I exhaled, forcing air into my lungs that felt too tight. “She’s still somewhere in there,” I murmured, glancing back at Luxuria’s still form. “I hope.”
Nevada nodded, swallowing hard. “She will be fine, Alpha. She is strong.”
A small, shaky laugh left her lips, though there was no humor in it.
“She survived worse at Rorden’s pack,” she added, and I swear my blood turned to ice hearing that.
A rage unlike anything I had ever known stirred deep in my chest, dark and violent, the kind that threatened to consume everything in its wake.
I didn’t want to begin to imagine the kind of torment and torture she must have gone through at his hands. But I’d like to hear all about it from her when she wakes up.
Because that would be my punishment. I wanted it to be my punishment for neglecting and passing such cruel judgment on her.
To sit and listen.
To feel every agonizing second of the pain I had failed to protect her from.
To know that I had made her end up there.
And to live with the torment of it for the rest of my fucking life.
I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand down my face before shifting the conversation.
“How is Sibile?”
There was a brief silence before she spoke, “She is barely holding up. The poison from Rorden’s sword seems to be overpowering for her. She’s not getting any better.”
I shook my head, a muscle ticking in my jaw.
Even if Sibile seemed to be the only way out of my curse, I still felt bad she had to go through all this. However, I was still conflicted about using her for the ritual. She didn’t deserve to die that way.
Not after learning she had been trying to help Luxuria find a cure for her curse. She and her grandmother, Amelia.
She had been working toward the same salvation I so desperately sought.
And now, she was dying.
A bitter taste settled at the back of my throat.
I should have felt nothing. Should have only seen her as a means to an end. But the idea of taking her life-of using her as a sacrifice-unsettled something deep in me. Because I knew what it meant to be a pawn in someone else’s fate, and I wasn’t sure I could do that to her. Even if it meant breaking the shackles of my own torment.
Also, the thought of how Rorden helped Luxuria with potions to curb her curse all the while they stayed right under my nostrils made my blood seethe. He had been there for her more than I was ever there for her, and it made me hurt.
Nevada didn’t withhold any of this information from me. Luxuria had confided in her during the time she was held prisoner by Rorden.
It made my heart warm toward Luxuria even more.
“It’s still a mess out there,” Nevada broke the awkward silence between us. “But the warriors are doing everything possible to clear it.”
Of course, they were.
“We’ve secured victory on all fronts,” she added.
Yes. We had.
But not me.
Not until Luxuria woke up, I couldn’t celebrate any victories. Not even the one against the Valor Sheild pack.
Another silence followed.
Nevada shifted, her hands twisting in front of her before she finally spoke. “What will you do about him?”
I didn’t have to ask who she meant.
Tervan.
The traitor who had spent years speaking poison into my ears. Who had led me astray, playing on the darkness in me, stoking the fire of my curse rather than helping me fight it. The man I had once trusted above all others, second only to my father, now rotting in the dungeons, shackled like the filth he had proven himself to be.
I exhaled slowly, my fingers curling at my sides.
“The gods will decide his fate tomorrow,” I said calmly, with an underlying fire burning in my words.
She nodded, pressing her lips together. If she had hoped for another answer, she didn’t let it show.
A moment passed before I sighed and turned toward her fully.
“Stay with her,” I said, glancing at Luxuria’s still form. “I need to see what’s happening outside.”
Nevada hesitated, then nodded. “Of course, Alpha.”
I took one last look at Luxuria, my jaw tightening before I turned toward the door. But I had barely taken a step when a soft, fragile sound froze me in place.
A whimper.
So faint, I thought I had imagined it.
I turned so fast that my vision blurred.
My heart lurched into my throat.
Nevada was already by the bed before I could move. Her hands hovered over Luxuria’s arm, her body half-blocking my view.
I strode forward, reaching the bed in a heartbeat.
“Move.” My voice was hoarse. “Go and call the healers.”
Nevada stepped outside immediately without hesitation, and I lowered myself onto the bed, my fingers trembling as I reached for Luxuria’s hand, taking it into mine.
She was still lying still.
But then-
Her fingers twitched in my grasp.
A sharp breath punched from my lungs.
Her lashes fluttered.
Slowly. Painfully slow.
And then, finally… Her eyes opened.
A shudder wracked through my body as I leaned in, gripping her hand tighter.
Her lips parted, and a breathy whisper escaped them-weak, barely there, but enough to bring me to my knees.
“…Parthe?”
My chest caved in, and the world stopped.