After My Alpha Betrayed Me, I Found the Lycan King

The dish slipped from my hands and shattered against the stone floor.

Pain—sharp and sudden—lanced through my chest like a knife between my ribs. Not my pain. His pain. Even with my wolf silent and broken, the bond between father and daughter ran deeper than rank or magic. It pulsed through me now, frantic and fading.

Papa.

"Evelynn!" The Beta's voice cracked like a whip behind me. "You don't leave your station without—"

I was already running.

My bare feet slapped against the wet grass as I tore through the back gardens. Rain had started to fall, cold and stinging against my scarred skin. My lungs burned. My ribs screamed. I didn't care. That thread of connection in my chest was unraveling fast, and if I didn't reach him—

No. I couldn't think about that.

The forest path to Papa's cabin blurred past me. Branches whipped at my face and arms, drawing blood I couldn't afford to lose. My weak, human body was already failing, my legs shaking with exhaustion after only half a mile. But I pushed harder, driven by the static-filled whisper that kept echoing in my mind.

Help. Please. Evie—

I burst into the clearing and my heart stopped.

The cabin door hung off its hinges, splintered wood scattered across the porch like broken bones. The smell hit me next—copper and fear and something wild and rotten. Rogue scent. My stomach heaved, but I forced myself forward, my hands trembling as I gripped the doorframe.

"Papa?"

Silence. Then, faint and terrible, a wet, rattling breath from somewhere beyond the cabin.

I found him at the forest edge.

The rain was washing the blood away almost as fast as it poured from the gashes across his chest and throat. Deep, vicious wounds that no human—no wolf without their healing—could survive. His eyes were half-closed, his skin gray beneath the mud and gore.

"No, no, no." I dropped to my knees beside him, my hands hovering uselessly over the wounds. There was so much blood. Too much. "Papa, stay with me. Please stay with me."

His eyes flickered open. Recognition sparked there, followed immediately by grief so profound it made my chest ache.

"Evie," he rasped. "Run."

"I'm not leaving you." I slid my arms beneath his shoulders, trying to lift him. He was so heavy. When had he gotten so heavy? "The packhouse isn't far. The healer can—"

"No healer." His hand caught mine, his grip weak but desperate. "Alpha... ordered..."

The words died in a cough that brought up blood.

I understood anyway. Luca had ordered the healer not to treat him. Just like he'd ordered the healer not to treat me. We were both expendable now. Both traitors in his eyes.

Fine. Then I'd save him myself.

I hauled Papa onto my back with strength I didn't know I possessed. Adrenaline, maybe. Or desperation. His weight nearly crushed me, driving my knees into the mud, but I locked my legs and stood. One step. Then another. The rain came harder now, turning the forest path into a river of mud that sucked at my feet with every step.

"Put me down," Papa whispered against my shoulder. "Too heavy. You can't—"

"Shut up." Tears mixed with rain on my face. "You don't get to die. You hear me? You don't get to leave me alone with them."

His blood soaked through my thin dress, warm against my back even as the rain chilled everything else. I could feel his heartbeat—irregular, weakening. The bond between us flickered like a candle in the wind.

I walked faster.

My burns screamed in protest. My ribs felt like they were grinding against each other with every breath. My legs shook so badly I nearly fell twice, catching myself on trees at the last second. But I didn't stop. Couldn't stop.

The packhouse lights appeared through the trees like distant stars.

Almost there. Just a little further.

"Evie." Papa's voice was barely a whisper now. "Proud of you. Always... proud..."

"Don't." I choked on the word. "Don't you dare say goodbye."

But his weight was growing heavier. His breathing more shallow. And the bond—that precious thread connecting us—was fraying strand by strand.

I stumbled into the packhouse clearing just as my legs finally gave out. We collapsed together in the mud, the rain pounding down on us like judgment from the Moon Goddess herself.

"Help!" I screamed toward the lit windows. "Someone help us!"

The packhouse door opened. Light spilled out across the wet grass.

And Luca stepped into the rain, his face cold as stone.