He hit the cobblestones hard.
Chapter 20 - Layla
The sound of him hitting the ground didn’t seem real.
One moment, Dominic was standing, his eyes burning with fury, and the next, his knees buckled, his body folding in on itself like something had been cut loose inside him. The noise that escaped him wasn’t a groan or a growl but acrack,sharp and wrong, as if the air itself had split.
“Dominic!”
Layla was already moving before she realized it, crossing the courtyard and dropping to her knees beside him. The frost bit through her skirts, but she barely felt it. She caught his shoulders, shaking him, searching for the steady weight of his breathing. His eyes were half-lidded, unfocused, the faintest tremor running through him.
“Dominic, please—”
His name felt strange on her tongue. Too soft, too desperate.
She pressed her ear to his chest. There was a heartbeat, faint and irregular, and the sound of it sent a jolt of hope through her, but it wasn’t right. The rhythm stuttered, hesitated. His skin was cold. Too cold.
Behind her, someone swore under their breath.
Layla turned. Theodore stood a few paces away, his face drained of color. The fury that had twisted him moments ago was gone, replaced by something far worse, blank horror. His mouth worked soundlessly before any words came out.
Julian was at her side, hands moving over Dominic’s form, clinical and practiced. She sat back on her heels, handspressed into her face, tears falling freely. She needed to do something. To help.Anything.
Theodore was moving now, pacing, his boots crunching against the frost. His hands raked through his hair, his breath coming too fast. “No. No, this isn’t-—he’s fine. He was fine.”
Layla swallowed hard, her voice barely steady. “Theodore, we have to get help—”
“No,” Julian’s voice cracked like a whip, “we need to get him upstairs. Theo?”
Layla turned to her brother, silently begging him to do something, to help them. Her brother stared at Dominic’s body, his eyes half-wild.
“I…” he said, finally looking up and meeting Layla’s gaze. There was something broken in his face, something small and hopeless, “I can’t…I’m sorry.”
He turned and ran.
Layla reached out after him, a noise breaking free from her chest.
Julian hissed a curse before getting onto one knee and hauling Dominic’s body up over his shoulder, rising to his feet with a grunt.
“Come on,” he said to Layla, “quickly, now.”
She hurried after Julian as he somehow managed to silently slip past the open door to the bar, the noise of the pack members within loud and pounding in her head. Julian took the stairs two at a time, managing Dominic’s leaden form as if he were light as a pillow.
Layla wasn’t shocked. Julian didn’t have Dominic’s pure muscle, but he was taller, and he was an alpha.
Julian soundlessly kicked open the door to the small bedroom next to Dominic’s office and settled him on the bed, the same one Dominic had tucked her into after their mating.
She swallowed the memory. Now wasn’t the time.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Julian said, his eyes like chipped obsidian. “I have a few ideas, but…”
“But what?” Layla asked, her voice frantic as she darted past him, fretting over Dominic’s listless body.
Julian ran a hand through his hair. “Shifters shouldn’t collapse like that. Something’s happened. Something’s…”
He blinked, then focused his gaze on her, jaw working. “Stay here. I need to go consult with the priest.”
“The priest?” Layla repeated, mouth falling open.
