<b>ALPHA Elias </b><b>POV </b>


    Those words became my lifeline. Luke’s belief steadied me. She had endured fifteen brutal years; she could survive this. For a moment, hope pierced the fear.


    Leave it to Luke to know precisely what to say at the right time. He had always been the one person in the world who truly understood me. Of course he’d know how <i>to </i>pull me back from


    the edge.


    We grew up in the same pack, walking the same paths and enduring the same pain. From childhood, we found sce in each other. Best friends, bonded by trauma. Our fathers, also


    close, shared tempers and whiskey.


    They were both violent drunks who treated fatherhood like a curse. The bruises they left were more frequent than words, and after one brutal night, Luke and I decided we’d had enough. We ran away together, two broken boys trying to outrun a past that still clung to us. If anyone truly knows me–how to reach me in moments like this–it’s Luke, the friend who’s been by my


    side since I was five.


    I was still trying to keep my spiraling thoughts in check when Dr. Eris finally stepped into the waiting room. It felt like hours had passed, and I all but leapt to my feet the second I saw her appear. My heart was pounding with dread and hope all at once.


    “How is she?” I asked immediately, my voice catching slightly in my throat.


    “She’s incredibly lucky<i>,</i><i>” </i>Dr. Eris told me, offering a small, tight smile. “There was some


    internal damage–two organs sustained minor trauma–but nothing we couldn’t repair. We


    were able to stitch them up. They’ll heal quickly, especially now that the toxins are finally


    being flushed from her system.”


    “Can I see her?” I asked, barely waiting for her to finish.


    “She’s being transferred to a recovery room as we speak. She’s still unconscious, though. And


    I can’t tell you when she’ll wake up. It could be tomorrow. It could be a week. Her body has been through a lot.”


    Her unconscious state didn’t matter. Whether she woke in a week or a month, I just needed to be near her. Pressing past the fear, I focused on letting her sense my presence, anchoring myself to that need.


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    Dr. Eris led me to her room, and the sight took my breath away. Lyra looked impossibly small, childlike beneath the wires and machinery–more fragile even than after the attack. I hadn’t


    thought that was possible.


    I sat slowly in the chair beside her bed and reached for her hand. It felt cold, but I held it tightly, hoping my warmth could reach her. I prayed she could sense me there, that somewhere in her unconscious mind, she knew she wasn’t alone. I watched her face, desperate for any flicker of movement–a twitch of her eyelid or fingers. But she waspletely still, as unmoving as marble.


    Time blurred. I didn’t know how long I sat before a nurse quietly checked the machines. She


    didn’t speak, which I preferred–I couldn’t pretend things were fine.


    “Alpha,” Luke’s voice broke through the mind link suddenly.


    “What?” I snapped, my nerves raw.


    “We have her,” Luke responded. His voice was calm but firm.


    “Where is she?” I growled, already preparing to move.


    “Alpha ric has offered us his dungeon beneath his packhouse. We’re taking her there now.”


    “I’m on my way,” I said curtly, severing the link with a sharp pulse of thought.


    I looked down at Lyra onest time–my beautiful, brave little mate who had survived more


    than anyone should. I brought her hand to my lips, pressed a soft kiss to it, then gentlyid it


    back down and tucked the nket around her fingers.


    My jaw clenched, and rage zed, igniting all restraint. By the time I reached the door, fury


    propelled me forward–I mmed it open without meaning to, shattering the ss panel,


    shards scattering across the hall.


    But I didn’t stop.


    I had a destination, a traitor in chains, and nothing left to lose–or give.


    The moment I arrived at the packhouse, I found Alpha ric already waiting in the living. room<b>, </b>apanied by a few of his warriors, with Luke standing alongside them.


    “She’s downstairs in the dungeon,” Luke informed me, nodding toward an open doorway.


    I didn’t respond. Without a word to anyone, I made my way straight to the door and descended the staircase. The air grew damp and stale the further I went–musty and


    < CHAPTER 16


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    decaying, a stench that clung to the stone walls. To me, it was the perfect atmosphere for someone like Lenore.


    The floor was rough concrete, and the walls were made of aged, chipped brick. As I passed each cell, I noticed dried blood streaked across the walls and sttered on the ground. There wasn’t even a half–hearted attempt to clean up after whatever had taken ce down here. That didn’t bother me one bit. In fact, I appreciated it.


    The bloodstains served as a visual warning–a reminder of what awaited those who crossed a line. It made the space more effective as a ce of fear and punishment. I admired theyout. Compared to this, my own dungeon was just a barren cave with chains on the walls,


    requiring round–the–clock guards to keep anyone from escaping.


    Faint sounds echoed from thest cell at the end of the corridor. A guard was stationed outside, confirming that it was the one. I walked to it and stopped directly in front of the bars.


    “Elias. You’re finally here,” Lenore said, smiling as if nothing had happened. But the icy re I


    shot her wiped that smirk right off her face.


    “Did you actually believe I’d let someone else deliver your punishment for what you did?” I


    asked coldly.


    “Punishment? You mean… kill me?” she stammered, eyes wide. She looked genuinely shocked, like the thought hadn’t urred to her. She really believed I would spare her, even after what she’d done to Lyra. But under werewolfw, the rules were crystal clear–this was a pack matter. She had attempted to murder the Luna. That alone was enough for me to carry out a death sentence, and no council would challenge it.


    “You’re something else, Lenore. You went after my mate. You stabbed her five damn times, and you knew exactly how weak she was–you knew she wouldn’t be able to heal from wounds like that,” I said, my voice low with rage.


    “I wasn’t thinking straight–I was consumed with jealousy. I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry I killed her,” she said, her voice cracking as she tried to justify herself. I tilted my head and gave her a


    twisted smile, watching confusion wash over her face.


    “She’s not dead, Lenore,” I told her, and the words hit her like a punch to the gut. “We found her in time. She’s alive, <b>in </b>the hospital, fighting.”


    Her expression fell apartpletely. Disappointment etched itself deep into her features when she realized she had failed. That my mate was still breathing. I couldn’t wrap my head


    < CHAPTER 16


    around how utterly foolish and deluded she was.


    “Open the cell,” I ordered the guard tly. He hesitated, uncertain.


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    Then Alpha ric stepped forward, his presencemanding.


    “Do as he says,” ric instructed.


    With that, the guard unlocked the door, and I stepped inside.


    “Elias… I was supposed to be the first Luna of the Vanguards Pack,” Lenore said, desperation


    creeping into her tone.


    “I never promised you that,” I replied sharply. “What made you ever think I would?”


    There was no way I would’ve ever allowed someone like her to rule beside me. She wasn’t


    Luna material–not even close. She may havee from our same background, but she was


    petty, selfish, envious, and unstable. None of those qualities belonged anywhere near a <fn9ad4> Latest content published on find?novel</fn9ad4>


    Luna’s title.


    “Because what we had was real… it was special,” she said softly, trying to reach out and


    touch my face with trembling fingers. But I pped her hand away without hesitation, and


    she recoiled, hissing from the sting. I must have hit her harder than I meant to, but I didn’t


    care.


    Tears began to spill down Lenore’s cheeks as she stared up at me, her expression twisted in


    what looked like genuine heartbreak. But I felt nothing for her. Not pity. Not regret. Not even a


    flicker of the friendship we once had. To me now, she was just a monster–a woman who’d


    let envy consume her to the point she tried to kill out of jealousy. That kind of act couldn’t be


    excused. It couldn’t be forgiven.


    And worse still, the one she tried to kill wasn’t just any woman–it was her Luna. In our world,


    attacking a Luna is more than a crime–it’s an ultimate betrayal. Alphas and Lunas are revered in the werewolfmunity. I’ve worked hard to earn my people’s respect, and Lyra, though new to them, had done nothing to deserve this. She had no chance to build bonds yet,


    but that wasn’t her fault.


    2


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