Chapter 79
Damon
We made it through the gates just before dawn.
My mate was cradled in my arms, limp and far too still, her blood already dried in jagged trails across my chest. The palace guards opened the gates in silence, eyes wide, faces pale. They’d never seen me like this.
They’d never seen what I looked like when I didn’t bother hiding the Alpha Wolf underneath.
The royal infirmary doors slammed open ahead of us. Healers rushed forward, gasping when they saw her state–split lip, bruised ribs, the puncture wound on her thigh already tinged with infection. I didn’t hand her off at first. My arms refused to let go.
Only when one of them whispered please, voice trembling, did I finally place her on the waiting cot.
She didn’t stir.
“Fix her,” I said, voice low. Feral. My blood was no longer burning. It had gone cold.
Then I turned and walked out before the first stitch was set and strode directly to the Council Chambers.
It was quiet when I entered, but only for a moment.
My footsteps echoed off the marble like the beat of a war drum. Every advisor turned to look–at the torn clothing, the dried blood, the claws still half- formed at my fingertips. No one spoke.
I stayed standing, towering above them all.
“Who signed the complaint against Lady Ashford?”
Silence. Then Chancellor Myric cleared his throat. “The complaint was brought forth by Lady Marienne Tristane. She claimed misconduct. Alleged tampering with ”
“Bring her to me.”
“She is still in her quarters, Your Majesty. Shall 1-”
“I said bring her.”
A messenger ran.
I stepped up to the central dais, placing my hands on the carved wood, leaning forward just slightly.
“While she is on her way, would anyone here like to explain how a candidate was reassigned to a Rogue border with no guard, no escort, and forged documentation with my name on it?”
Several councilors flinched. No one answered.
“I see.”
The doors opened behind me. I turned as Lady Marienne was escorted inside.
She was young–maybe twenty. All silk and arrogance, blonde hair braided with blue stones to match her Pack’s crest. She curtsied deeply, trying to
mask the tremor in her limbs.
“Your Majesty,” she said sweetly. “I wasn’t expecting-”
1/2
90%
Chapter 79
“Explain the complaint against Lady Ashford,” I interrupted.
She blinked. “I only wished to protect the integrity of the trial. Lady Ashford… she was gaining favor too quickly. Unnaturally. I had reason to believe-”
“You had no reason.”
“My witnesses-”
“Were lies,” I said. “Manufactured. Coached. I’ve already seen the original vote record. You altered it.”
Her throat bobbed. “It was for the good of the selection-”
“It was a personal vendetta. Pretending to be protocol.” I stepped forward. She shrank back.
“Lady Ashford,” I said coldly, “nearly died because of your ambition. You sought to eliminate her from this trial by sending her into exile with no support.
You failed.”
Her eyes darted toward the door. “You can’t-”
“I already have.”
Gasps rippled through the room.
“You are dismissed from the selection, your title revoked, and your family removed from the advisory rotation for the next ten years.”
“You can’t do that,” she whispered. “My Pack will—”
“Protest?” I said, baring my teeth. “Let them. Let them come. But understand this-” I stepped close enough that she froze completely. “If you, or your Pack, ever move against her again… you’ll pray for the mercy I showed today.”
I turned without waiting for an answer. I had more important things waiting.
The infirmary was a flurry of activity; healers murmured beyond the partition, and the hearth crackled low–but beneath the chaos of uncertainty lay the kind of quiet that sank beneath your skin. Like grief waiting to be named.
My mate lay beneath thick wool blankets on the only cot in the room, the corner chamber of the infirmary cleared just for her. The fire cast warm light across her pale skin, but it did nothing to chase the chill from her limbs.
She had been cleaned, her hair had been brushed, tucked neatly behind one ear, and her wounds were dressed in layers of white bandage, some still tinged pink.
She hadn’t stirred once.
I sat in the chair by her bedside, elbows on my knees, hands clasped like I was praying. I simply watched her breathe. Slow. Shallow. Steady. And every breath was a fucking miracle.
The bond between us had given her enough strength to begin to heal on her own and keep her alive. It quieted into something steady–like a river beneath ice. I could feel her, still tethered. Still there. But distant, faint. Like she was walking through fog and hadn’t found her wa
I hadn’t left the room in hours.
kyet.
When the healers came in to check her dressings, I moved to the far wall but wouldn’t leave. When they asked gently if I’d like to rest, I didn’t answer. Eventually, they stopped asking.
I didn’t bring reports. I didn’t allow anyone in. No advisors. No Pack alphas. Not even Ronan. This space–this moment–was only for her.
The fire shifted. A log cracked, sending a burst of sparks toward the grate. I wanted to touch her. But I didn’t. Not yet. She needed rest, not pressure.
But gods, I wanted to.
Chapter 79
213
I leaned back, running a hand down my face. My claws had retracted. My heartbeat had slowed. But I wasn’t calm. I was just still—the eye in the center of something that hadn’t stopped spinning yet.
What if I hadn’t gotten there in time? What if she’d bled out beneath those trees? What if the last time she said my name had been the last time she ever
would?
My hand clenched around the armrest.
I stood and walked to the edge of the bed, careful not to cast a shadow over her face. I reached out slowly, fingers brushing her hair back from her
forehead. Her skin was warm now but the fever had broken.
That small touch nearly unraveled me.
“I should’ve known,” I whispered, voice barely audible. “I should’ve protected you better.”
Her lashes fluttered, just for a second, but she didn’t wake.
I sat down again and stared into the fire. The flicker of orange reflected in her bandages. In the bruise under her jaw. In the mark I’d left at the curve of her
neck.
She bore it now. Mine. But she always had been. I wouldn’t speak of it when she woke. Not yet. Not until she asked.
But I would stay. As long as it took. And when she opened her eyes again, I’d be here when she was ready.
Because I was never leaving her behind again.
