My biggest fear, stripped bare and shoved down my throat until I choked on it.
By the time I got her through the front door, I was half delirious, covered in mud, and she was limp in my arms. Serenfound us like that—me standing in the entryway looking like I’d been dragged through the pits of hell and Noa pale as death.She didn’t say a word at first, just took one look at Noa and jumped in.Seren tried to get me to leave once I carried Noa to her bedroom, insisted that she had it handled, but she quickly learned that wasn’t a fight she was going to fucking win. I wasn’t leaving my omega’s side.
Between us, we cleaned the grime from Noa, changed her into fresh clothes, and finally eased her into bed. Seren then ordered me to grab one of my worn sweatshirts, one where my scent clung deeply to the fabric. Her tone left no room for argument but I didn’t have it in me to fight her.
I then warmed a washcloth and wiped the rest of the blood from Noa’s skin.
When it’d first started to drip from her nose by the creek, the sight had nearly stopped my heart. It wasn’t a normal nosebleed. It poured from her, dark red and too fast, running down her mouth and throat until it’d soaked into her collar. She’d been so pale I thought she might fade out completely before my eyes.
Even when we got home, the smell of it clung to her skin, metallic andwrong. My wolf growled low and constant while I cleaned her face, his anger vibrating beneath my ribs. He hated the scent of it. So had I. It turned my stomach, that sick reminder of how she’s slipping from my fingers every day.
Now she looks…better. Not quite healthy or strong, but better. There’s a flush in her cheeks again. Her heart rate is steady. Her mocha-colored hair fans out in wild, long strands on her white pillow.
Not able to rest the innate need to touch her, I reach out and run my thumb along her jaw, tracing the fine line of her bone structure. She stirs faintly, turning her face toward my hand like she’s chasing the touch even in her sleep. The sound that slips out of me isn’t quite a sigh. It’s something quieter. harsher.
“Everything is going to be okay, sweet one,” I whisper. “I’m making sure of it.”
The words sound useless in the quiet, but I need to say them anyway. Maybe they’re for me more than her. Because I know now more than ever that I’m not willing orcapableof existing in a world where her heart isn’t beating in it. Where she’s not safely in my arms.
Outside, the sky is shifting again from blues to golds now as the sun starts to crest higher above the horizon. I’m running out of time. Cathal and his pack council will be here soon, along with the rest of their entourage—and his demon spawn. Talis. I still have to meet with Canaan at the lodge where this farce of a party is happening and make sure every damn detail of today is locked down before they arrive.
I know I should’ve told Noa everything before now.
Before it came tothis.
When Rhosyn called to warn me Noa had found out about the betrothal party, I hadn’t thought, I just ran to her. My plan had been to explain, to tell her what was really happening and why I was going through with it. And I did just that. I told her everything I had planned, I made more promises and declarations. But she wasn’t hearing me. That power of hers had already taken over. I could see it in her eyes. Something bigger than her and more dangerous had been pulling her under, like a current too strong to swim against.
And then she had turned it on me.
My free hand clenches in my lap. Even now, the phantom of that power whirrs under my skin, the echo of her magic and the fear it left behind. I still don’t fully understand what she’d done or even how. She told me she was an oracle, but this…this is something else entirely. Something she’s kept from me. Out of distrust or something else, I don’t know.
I think about the witch from that day in the woods, the one I found cowering in the dirt. Her odd behavior had caught my attention, but after I’d torn out her throat and gone in search of Noa and Ivey, I hadn’t thought of it again. But now I know better. That was Noa’s doing. She reached inside that witch’s mind and torn her apart.
I look at Noa now, sleeping peacefully beneath the blankets I’d tucked around her, and I don’t know if I should be troubled by what she’s capable of or in awe of it. Probably both. My mate is powerful. Was always destined to be. Her heart, her will, her courage. It makes sense her magic would be just as otherworldly.
The light beyond the window taunts me harder and I trail my thumb across her jaw once more, savoring the way she settles into my touch again.
Noa had been my only focus and priority when I brought her back yesterday. I’m still filthy, covered in long-dried mud and her blood that had transferred to me as I carried her. I need to shower before I take on everything else that’s waiting for me. I’ll check on her when I’m done, see if she’s finally awake then. But the idea of leaving her side, even for a handful of minutes, makes my stomach turn.
I push to my feet, my body protesting the movement, and the chair groans in relief. I stretch the stiffness out of my spine before leaning back down. Unable to stop myself, my lips brush against hers. Just once. Nothing more than a breath of a kiss, just enough to remind myself she’s still here with me. Then, because I’m a greedy bastard, I drag my jaw along her temple, scent marking her. It’s selfish, but I need it.
The soft sigh that leaves her, the way she melts deeper into the poor excuse of a nest I built around her, tells me she needed it too. My scent now clings to her skin, grounding her the same way her breathing steadies me.
When I stand, something within my chest pulls tight at the sight of her peaceful face. That fragile bond between us—the single thread that’s somehow survived everything—feels faint but alive. I’ve felt it growing stronger since I brought her back to my territory. The morning I woke up in her bed, it had been humming through me, steady and warm, like it had finally drawn enough life to breathe on its own again. But after yesterday, after I saw the hurt carved into her eyes, I felt the strain in it return. Like one more wrong move could fray it entirely.
I’ll prove myself today, make her see I did this all for a reason,I vow to myself before forcing my feet to turn me away from her bedside.
The door creaks open before I’m halfway across the room.
Seren steps inside, her shorter pale hair half up, a wild knot on top of her head and her eyes cutting as she pins me in place. “Where the hell do you think you’re going, Fallamhain?”
Her tone could make stone flinch.
I glance back at Noa, then to her best friend again. “To clean up. And then deal with the shit show that’s about to roll up to my front gates.”
Seren doesn’t move; she uses her small frame to barricade the doorway instead. “Try it.” Her stare’s as cold as the dawn air outside. “But know, if you leave her side, I will drag you back in here by your fucking tail.”
For what feels like the hundredth time since meeting Seren Pryce, I find myself quietly impressed. There’s more bite in her than most would ever expect from an omega. She meets me without hesitation, cuts straight through the bullshit, and refuses to yield. I’m grateful she’s chosen to guard Noa with that fire.
