Levi''s POV


    I stood my ground even as Olivia''s re burned holes through me.


    The witch shifted uneasily beside her, the bowl trembling in her hands.


    "I said no," I repeated, my voice like stone. "You''re done with this, Olivia."


    She clenched her jaw. "You don''t get to decide that for me."


    "I do when your life is on the line!" I shot back. "When our child''s life is on the line!"


    Her lips trembled. "You think I don''t know that? You think I don''t feel it?" Her hand went to her stomach. "But if I stop now, he''ll die, Levi. He''ll die, and I''ll never forgive myself."


    My patience cracked. "And if you keep going, you''ll die!"


    The words came out louder than I meant. Everyone froze.


    Even Lennox''s shallow breathing seemed to pause.


    Olivia''s frown deepened, but she refused to look away. "Then let me die with purpose."


    Something inside me snapped.


    "Purpose?" I barked, taking a step closer. "You call throwing your life away for him purpose? You call risking our child love?" My voice broke at the end, anger blurring into pain. "You''re killing yourself for a ghost, Olivia! He''s not here anymore. I am! We are!"


    The silence that followed was deafening.


    Her lips parted, but no sound came out. My father looked away, and my mother pressed her hand to her mouth. The witch''s eyes darted between us, unsure if she should stay or flee.


    Finally, Olivia whispered, "You don''t understand."


    Iughed bitterly. "No, you''re right. I don''t. I don''t understand how you can look at me, at Louis, at your own unborn child, and still choose him over all of us."


    Tears spilled down her cheeks. "It''s not about choosing!" she cried. "It''s about saving someone I love!"


    "Someone?" I muttered, my chest tightening. "Or the only one?"


    Her breath caught. For a moment, we just stared at each other, two storms colliding in silence.


    Then I turned sharply and stormed toward the door. I couldn''t breathe anymore. The walls were closing in, my father''s disappointed sigh echoing behind me like thunder.


    As I reached the hall, I heard the witch''s trembling voice. "So… are we doing the ritual or not?"


    I didn''t look back. "No," I said, my voice hollow. "It''s over."


    But Olivia''s voice cut through the air, fierce and defiant. "Yes."


    I froze in the doorway.


    For a heartbeat, no one moved. I wanted to go over there and pull her away, but I held  myself back.


    Without another word, I walked out. The walls seemed to shake with every step I took, fury and helplessness burning through me.


    I didn''t realize my hands were trembling until I reached the courtyard.


    She wasn''t listening. She never did.


    And as much as it broke me to admit it, I knew exactly what she was going to do.


    She''d disobey me. She''d go through with the ritual.


    Even if it killed her.


    I should have forced her to listen. But I didn''t. I let her go.


    I felt like the viin in this story.


    Everyone thinks I want Lennox dead; even my father thinks so.


    "You have to stop her," my wolf urged, a raw, instinctive pull that made my blood hot and my teeth ache. I wanted to obey that voice. I wanted to turn back, force her hands from the bowl, and lock her away until she learned reason. But the part of me that loved her, that had kissed her, argued with her, watched herugh when the world was kinder, froze under the weight of every possible wrong choice. I was paralyzed by the fear that any move I made could be the final one.


    The courtyard air was thin. I was still trying to convince myself I''d done the right thing, that I''d stepped away because I needed a n, because I coulde up with something better, when a shout split the night.


    "Levi! Levi, she''s down!"


    I ran.


    The hall blurred. Other footsteps joined mine. My chest pounded so hard I thought it would burst. I didn''t think about the door. I mmed through it. The room smelled like iron and herbs and something colder, the static smell that always happens right before someone falls away from life.


    Olivia was on the floor.


    She was as pale as old paper, hair fanned around her head like a dark halo. The night robe was gaped open at the throat where the witch had cut, dried blood ringing a tiny crater on her palm. Her breaths were shallow. Her hand clutched at her belly as if holding the small life there close would keep it from rolling away.


    I scooped her up before anyone could move, instinct first, logicter. Olivia was lighter than I expected, as if the ritual had hollowed her out from the inside. Her fingers scraped my neck when I gathered her against my chest; for a second, I panicked, thinking she''d slip away like smoke.


    "Hold her," I barked at Louis. He was already there, steady hands under her knees, eyes wide and hollow. The witch and the sorcerer were murmuring frantic chants, but I shoved them gently aside.


    The moment we reached my room, I set her down on my bed with too much force, and for a second the mattress dipped, and the breath left my chest with her.


    Healers swarmed, efficient and sharp. Hands on her forehead, a palm to her chest, herbs crushed beneath quick fingers. Louis hovered like a guard dog, voice tight and sharp with instructions I didn''t need to hear but wanted to. I stood back, hands clenched, while they worked, watching, measuring the rise and fall of her ribcage as if it were a countdown.


    Minutes dragged and blurred into a long, terrible ache. The sorcerer and the witch were in a tight huddle, averted faces, fingers knitting together spells I couldn''t name. My wolf snarled in the back of my mind, a low, hungry sound that wanted retribution. I wanted to tear the world open and drag whatever part of fate was responsible into the light and make it answer.


    When she finally stirred, it felt like the sun worrying its way through storm clouds.


    Hershes fluttered. Her eyes opened, unfocused, then sharpened as she blinked and recognized the ceiling, and everyone in the room.


    "I''m fine," she murmured, her voice small and brittle. "Really. Don''t, don''t make a fuss."


    The healer''s hand smoothed across her brow. "Rest," she said gently. "You pushed too far. Sleep now."


    But something in me snapped like a twig under too much weight.