Snow shook Vor by the shoulders before laying his head on his mate’s chest. He heard no heart pumping away inside. Lifting, he plunged his fist down, determined to restart the damned thing if he had to. Over and over, he punched Vor’s chest, trying to make his alpha’s heart beat again.
He’d give his own heart if he could. Otherwise, it would only shatter into a million pieces without his mate.
“Snow,”Shen said behind him, trying to pull him off Vor.
“No!” Snow screamed, tears streaming down his face.“Nooooooooo!”
“He’s gone,” Shen said, his voice catching midway.
“He can’t leave me,” Snow shouted. “I won’t let him!” Tears blurred his vision. The roar in his voice was lost as a sob rose up his throat. He whispered the same statement again, but it sounded so sad and small the second time. “Iwon’tlet him.”
He had no idea how long he attempted to revive Vor. The sun fell lower and lower in the sky by the time he finally collapsed against his mate and sobbed. The sound of horses nickering behind him and the clomping of hooves barely drew Snow’s attention.
Snow’s father appeared in the meadow, surrounded by his King's Guard.
His father leapt from his horse and raced across the meadow, lifting Snow into his arms. “You’re alive, my son.”
Snow didn’t feel alive in that moment. His heart had stopped beating when Vor’s had.
“Your Majesty,” one of the King’s Guardsmen said nearby. “The Prince Consort is dead.”
“I know,” Snow’s father said. He stepped back from Snow and looked down. “I felt it the minute he died. The spell he had over us all is gone.” Tears shone in his eyes. “I can see clearly now.”
Snow stared up at his father. He’d have given anything to have the father he remembered back, but nothing mattered anymore without Vor.
“Snow? What’s wrong, my son? The spell is broken. We’re free.”
“I’ve lost my mate,” Snow said, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears.
The king looked down at Vor lying on the ground beside Snow. “A brute? You’re a prince, Snow.”
“Mybrute,” Snow said, tears falling again. “The gentlest,sweetestbrute… who loved me as much as I loved him.”
“Snow…”
“My heart is gone, Daddy,” Snow whispered, tears streaming. “He took it with him.”
Shen knelt behind Snow and wrapped both arms around him. He could barely feel the touch as numb as he was.
“You will recover,” his father said before clearing his throat. “We should head home before the sun falls. This wood is full of all kinds of strange creatures.”
Snow wanted to refuse. The castle no longer felt like home, but that was because Vor was his home. With Vor gone, what did he do?
“Snow?” his father asked. “We need to go, my son.”
“We take him,” Snow said. “My mate… and we bury him beside Papa. Otherwise, you can go without me.”
His father gave him a stern look, appearing like he wouldn’t agree. After a few long seconds, he sighed and nodded. “So be it.” He turned to his Guard. “Put him on a horse. We’ll give my son’s mate the funeral he deserves.”
Snow turned to Shen. “I don’t want to be alone.”
“And you shan’t be,” Shen said.
“You’ll come with me?” Snow asked.
Shen offered a soft smile. “There’s nowhere else I need to be more than at your side right now.” He rose and offered his hand to help Snow up.
Snow rose but wobbled on his feet. Shen scooped him up with ease and carried him closer to Snow’s father.
