hapter <b>99</b>: “<b>Beep-</b><b>” </b>The Heart Stops


    (Theodore’s POV)


    My sudden intrusion into the sacred grove caused chaos. Guests screamed and scattered as my pack enforcers


    surrounded the altar.


    “What are you doing?” The groom threw a punch toward my face.


    My enforcer captain caught his fist mid–swing. The bride struggled violently in my arms, her hand connecting with my cheek in a sharp p.


    “What kind of bastard are you, daring to cause trouble at my mating ceremony!” she cursed.


    The unfamiliar female voice made my heart contract sharply. I turned to look at the bride properly for the first time.


    This wasn’t Olivia. The realization hit me like a physical blow.


    The stranger’s face was nothing like my mate’s. Her eyes were brown, not the deep grey I knew so well. Her hair was


    blonde, not the raven ck that haunted my dreams.


    I looked like a vampire in that moment. The bride shrank back into the groom’s arms, terror written across her features.


    “Who are you?” they stammered together. “I don’t know you at all. Why are you ruining our mating ceremony?”


    My grip loosened, and she stumbled away from me. The reality crashed down like a avnche.


    “Where is my mate?” I demanded, my voice cold as winter ice.


    I grabbed the groom by the neck, lifting him slightly off the ground. “Her name is on the list for this mating ceremony.


    Where is she?”


    My menacing grip and the pack enforcers surrounding us terrified the guests. Several people backed toward the exits.


    The enforcer captain quickly disyed Olivia’s photo on a tablet. “Anyone who provides information about this woman


    will receive a substantial reward.”


    A guest suddenly cried out in recognition. “I know her! That woman was here today.”


    My head snapped toward the voice. An elderly man stepped forward nervously.


    “She had two pups with her, and a man,” he continued. “I heard the pups call them ‘Dad‘ and ‘Mom‘. They must be a family


    of four!”


    A family of four. The words struck me like a physical blow.


    My already weak body staggered back into my pack enforcers‘ arms. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.


    “Where did they go?” I asked, my lips trembling uncontrobly.


    The guest replied quickly, “The Memorial Cemetery. It was built tomemorate the victims of the earthquake.”


    He added that the sacred grove itself had been built on the former epicenter. The name Killian Vance shed through my mind along with a faded old photograph.


    As I rushed toward the exit, I heard the bride and groom exchanging their vows. “I ept this bond,” they said in unison.


    The sound painfully reminded me of my own mating ceremony to Olivia. The happiness I had since destroyed with my


    own hands.


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    <b>(</b><b>Olivia’s </b><b>POV</b><b>) </b>


    <b>At the </b><b>memorial </b>cemetery<b>, </b><b>I </b><b>knelt </b><b>before </b><b>two </b>connected tombstones. <b>The </b>moonflowers in my hands were fresh <b>and </b><b>white</b>.


    Killian <b>stood </b>behind me, holding our baby daughter Aurora. ra leaned against my side, her small <b>face </b><b>sad</b>.


    “Don’t worry,” I whispered to the gravestones. “I will love ra as if she were my own pup.”


    The tombstones belonged to Killian’s parents. They had died in the earthquake that destroyed this region years ago.


    Suddenly, we heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Familiar voices carried on the wind.


    Not wanting any trouble, I took Aurora from Killian’s arms. With a shared nce, we moved quickly toward <b>a </b>nearby


    thicket of bushes.


    The dense foliage provided perfect cover. Aurora remained silent in my arms, as if sensing the need for quiet.


    From our hiding spot, I watched Theodore arrive with his pack enforcers. He looked terrible – pale and weak, barely able to


    stand.


    “Search everywhere!” he ordered frantically. “Check all the surveince cameras!”


    I remained calm, knowing my presence would never be captured on any camera. My old training had taught me how to


    avoid detection.


    Theodore’s eyes suddenly fixated on something in the distance. The ssh of white moonflowers I had just ced caught his attention.


    He stumbled toward the tombstones, touching the still–moist petals with shaking fingers. His face contorted with


    desperate hope.


    “My mate was just here!” he roared, grabbing his pack enforcer captain’s cor. “Find her now!”


    (Theodore’s POV)


    Suddenly, a pup’s cry pierced the air. My head snapped up, searching desperately for the source.


    I didn’t see Olivia. Instead, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a white figure getting into a ck car at the back gate.


    My legs gave out as I stumbled toward the gate. The car disappeared at a crossroads before I could reach it.


    The pain of being so close yet losing her tore through my chest. I fell to one knee, my voice breaking.


    “My mate, don’t go…” I whispered. “Give me one more chance…”


    Half an hourter, my pack enforcers returned empty–handed. They had lost the car in the city traffic.


    The final thread of hope snapped inside me. My legs buckledpletely, and I copsed onto the cemetery ground.


    As my enforcers carried me toward the medical vehicle, I overheard their hushed discussion. Their words cut deeper than


    <b>any </b>de.


    <b>“</b>Did you see the surveince footage from the chapel?” one whispered.


    “There was a ring on Luna Olivia’s finger,” another replied. “And that man with her…”


    “The baby looked about a year old. She’s already been marked by another Alpha.”


    “She’s started a new family. She has no intention of ever returning.”


    Hearing their words, my hand slid from my chest. A single tear traced a path down my face.


    I was finally tasting the same bitter fruit of despair I had forced upon her. The irony wasn’t lost <b>on </b>me.


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    The heart monitor attached to my chest <b>let </b>out a long, piercing “Beep-<b>” </b>The sound of a heart stopping.


    <b>733 </b>dayster.


    (Leo’s POV)


    Grandma Eleonora found me in the yard at Lyra’s Hope Sanctuary. Her face looked older and sadder than before.


    “Your father is in the ICU now,” she told me gently. “He can’t look after you anymore.”


    My small face crumpled. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I violently pushed Rosalie to the ground.


    “Don’t call me brother!” I screamed at her. “You made my mommy leave me, my daddy leave me, and <i>now </i>my daddy is


    dying!”


    I turned my tear–streaked face to Grandma, my voice choked with usation. “Grandma, Rosalie said it’s all your fault<b>!</b><b>” </b>


    “You disliked Mommy because her health was bad and she couldn’t give me a sister,” I continued. “<i>So </i>you let Rosalie’s


    mommy have a baby!”


    I grabbed her sleeve, my small body shaking with sobs. “Grandma, I don’t want a sister anymore! Give me my mommy


    back!”


    “I don’t want to be a boy without a mom. Everyone bullies me andughs at me…” My voice brokepletely.


    “I miss Mommy so much, it hurts right here.” I clutched my chest where the pain lived.


    Grandma’s face turned pale. She tried to pull me into her embrace, but I pulled away.


    “No,” I said, my voice small but firm. “Dad said if I stay here, Mommy wille back one day.”


    “It’s been 733 days…” I counted carefully. “She’lle for me soon, right, Grandma? When it’s my birthday, Mommy will definitelye back.”


    I told her how I had tried to be good. How I didn’t fight back when other pups hit me anymore.


    “I’m not a troublesome pup anymore,” I whispered. “Mommy, pleasee back soon.”


    My strength gave out, and I copsed weakly into Grandma’s arms. Just then, I heard a familiar call.


    “Leo.”