Oscar:


    My voice shook as I spoke, and I hated it. Yet, it was impossible to hold myself together any more than I already was.


    Together, we started with her sweater, keeping our movements slow and deliberate.


    We eased it off her arms, careful not to brush against her wounds. But even then, she flinched slightly in her unconscious state and a faint sound escaped her lips.


    Kieran froze. And I felt my heart dropping in rm.


    "She''s okay," I murmured, though I wasn''t sure if I was trying to reassure him or myself.


    After a moment of absolute silence passed, we finally continued. But instead of pulling the clothes off her and risking hurting her again, we just decided to cut open her clothes.


    I clenched my jaw as more bruises and smaller cuts became visible as moreyers got removed.


    We worked around it, removing what remained as gently as we could.


    River returned from the bathroom then, carrying a bowl of warm water and clean cotton towels. His eyes softened slightly when theynded on her again, but the tension never left his body.


    "Here," he said quietly.


    I took one of the cloths, my hands trembling as I dipped it into the water. And then, I began to clean her. I carefully worked on wiping away the dirt, the blood, and... the traces of what she had endured.


    Each stroke felt like a betrayal. Like I was seeing too much. Like I should have protected her from this.


    She looked so pale and weak. Her lips had lost their color, her hair no longer felt like silk to touch.


    And since she didn''t have a wolf and there''s still residue of some sort of strong drug in her body, her wounds weren''t healing quickly.


    Even Elder Ren and Healer Cao couldn''t fully heal her because of the drug. So they had her wounds wrapped with herbal pastes to aid her healing.


    Bandages wrapped around her arms, her wrists, her ankle.


    My throat tightened painfully, but I forced myself to finish wiping her as gently as possible. And once we were done, we checked her carefully for more injuries.


    And fortunately, there were none.


    A small relief washed over all three of us. River grabbed a simple and loose summer dress from her walk-in-closet and I helped Kieran in getting her dressed.


    Once done, we stepped back and River called Elder Ren back inside.


    The Elder worked quietly, his hands glowing faintly as he treated the bruises again to ease the swelling and dull the worst of the pain.


    When he was done, he straightened and looked at us. For a long moment, he said nothing. But then...


    "You three need rest," he said gently.


    None of us responded.


    His gaze softened slightly as he added, "She will wake up. But when she does… she will see you like this."


    I frowned slightly.


    "What do you mean?"


    He stepped closer, cing a firm hand on my shoulder. "You are barely holding yourselves together," he said. "And she will me herself for that."


    The words hit harder than I expected. Because he was right.


    "She needs you strong," he continued. "Not broken."


    I looked at Eva, at her fragile, unmoving form. And then at my brothers. Elder Ren was right, we were a mess. None of us had showered or slept inst 48 hours. We looked nothing like our usual versions.


    I knew Eva would hate seeing us like this. We all knew. But leaving her side... even for a second... felt like the most impossible thing to do right now.


    Elder Ren gave my shoulder a small squeeze. "Take care of her," he said softly and then he left.


    And once again, it was just us and her.


    I moved closer to the bed, sitting down slowly, my hand reaching for hers. I was careful, gentle... like she might break.


    "I''m here," I whispered, my voice barely audible. I brushed my thumb lightly over her bandaged wrist, and my chest tightened again.


    River''s voice broke through the heavy silence. "We need to get our act together before she wakes up."


    I didn''t look away from Eva as he spoke, my fingers still wrapped carefully around hers. Her skin felt too cold… too fragile beneath my touch.


    "I''m not leaving," Kieran said immediately, his tone sharp, almost defensive.


    River sighed softly. "I didn''t say we all leave."


    That made me nce up.


    He was watching us both, his expression tired… but steady. More in control than either of us.


    "At least a shower," he continued. "One at a time. The other two stay with her."


    I frowned slightly.


    It felt… wrong. Leaving her even for a few minutes felt wrong. But then his next words hit harder.


    "She''s going to wake up soon," he said quietly. "And when she does… she''s going to see us like this. Elder Ren is right... she will me herself."


    That made me go still. I didn''t want her to feel guilty. She had done nothing wrong. If anything, the three of us needed to beg for her forgiveness as we failed to keep her safe as her mates.


    River ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. "Food, sleep - we''ll deal with thatter. But at least clean up. She doesn''t need to wake up and see how bad this is."


    Kieran looked away, but I caught his jaw clenching. I knew he hated it. I did too. And I knew River didn''t feel any better either.


    But… he wasn''t wrong.


    "…Fine," I muttered even though the word tasted bitter.


    Kieran nodded once. "I''ll go first."


    He stood, but before moving away, his hand lingered briefly on Eva''s head, brushing her hair back gently... like he needed that contact just as much as we did.


    Then he forced himself to step away and disappear into the bathroom.


    The sound of the door closing felt too loud.


    River and I sat there on the bed next to her. Neither of us spoke. We just stayed there - watching her, waiting, counting every breath she took.


    Making sure she was still here.


    Still ours.


    And silently, I prayed to the Moon Goddess she would open her eyes soon.