BEYOND REDEMPTION

I was in the middle of addressing the pack members, discussing urgent matters about border patrols, when a familiar figure caught my eye.

Kora.

She was wandering the mansion's halls with that quiet, thoughtful look on her face. She didn't notice me, and I didn't call out to her. Instead, I forced myself to turn away, to focus on my duty. But my gaze lingered a heartbeat longer than it should have something about the way she moved always pulled me in.

Then I heard it.

A scream, sharp, terrified, echoed through the mansion, piercing straight into my chest. My heart stopped.

Kora.

I spun around just in time to see her small frame tumbling down the grand staircase, her body hitting step after step in a blur of chaos. My blood ran cold, my eyes widened, and instinct ripped through me.

"KORA!" I roared, sprinting toward her.

But no matter how fast I moved, I wasn't fast enough. By the time I reached her, she was sprawled at the bottom, motionless.

"No..." I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands trembling as they hovered over her battered body. Her arm was wrapped tightly around her stomach-protecting the child. My heir. Our child. Blood was seeping between her fingers, staining her gown, and a fresh wound on her forehead glistened red.

"Get the doctor!" I thundered at the guards, my voice raw with fear. "Now!"

I didn't wait for them to move, I scooped her up into my arms, her head falling limply against my chest. She felt so fragile, so breakable, and the thought of losing her of losing them both, gnawed at me like fire.

I carried her swiftly to our chamber, laying her gently on the bed. My breathing was ragged, my hands refusing to leave her as if letting go would mean losing her forever.

"Stay with me, Kora," I whispered, brushing the blood from her face with shaking fingers. "Please... don't leave me. Not you. Not now."

I had faced countless battles. I had walked through blood and fire without fear. But nothing, nothing, had ever terrified me like seeing her slip away before my eyes.

Her breaths were shallow, uneven. Every rise and fall of her chest felt like a war she was fighting on her own. I pressed my palm against her cold hand, terrified by how weak she felt beneath my touch.

"Don't do this to me, Kora... don't you dare leave me," I murmured, my voice breaking, something I never allowed anyone to hear.

I paced the room for a moment, then rushed back to her side, unable to sit still. My wolf clawed at me from within, restless, frantic, urging me to mark her, to do anything to tether her to me. But I was powerless. All I could do was watch her bleed, watch her slip further away, and pray the Goddess wasn't cruel enough to take her from me.

The guards outside moved with urgency, but every second felt like an eternity. My chest tightened as her fingers twitched weakly against her stomach, still protecting our child even in her pain. My throat closed.

"Why are they taking so long?" I snarled toward the door, my voice sharp enough to make the guards flinch. I wanted to tear the walls apart, to run through the entire pack lands until I dragged the doctor here myself, but I couldn't leave her side. Not when she needed me.

I leaned closer, my forehead resting lightly against hers, breathing her in as though memorizing her scent would keep her tethered to this world.

"You can hate me if you want... but just stay alive, Kora. For me. For our child," I whispered desperately.

At that moment, the door slammed open. The doctor hurried in with his bag, his expression grim the second he saw her condition.

I rose to my feet instantly, my heart hammering in my chest.

"Save her," I ordered, my voice breaking with a rare plea. "Do whatever it takes, just save her."

I will try my best, Alpha Edward," the doctor said firmly, already pulling out his tools. "But I'll need you to step outside. I can't concentrate with you hovering."

"Do everything in front of me now," I growled, my voice low and dangerous. "I don't want to leave her for a single moment."

The doctor hesitated, his eyes flicking between me and Kora's pale body. "If you want her to live, Alpha, you must let me work without your shadow pressing over me."

Every muscle in me resisted. The thought of leaving her side twisted my insides into knots. But one glance at her weak breathing, her trembling hand still clutched protectively over her stomach, broke me. I forced myself to step back.

After much persuasion, I finally walked out, though each step away from her felt like tearing my own flesh. "Don't leave her alone for a second," I ordered the maids, my tone sharp enough to cut steel. "If anyone even breathes wrong near her, they'll answer to me."

The maids bowed quickly, trembling under my glare.

My fists clenched at my sides as I stormed down the corridor, rage boiling in my veins. I needed an outlet-I needed someone to blame. But halfway down the stairs, something caught my eye.

A glisten.

I froze. My gaze sharpened on the steps, and there it was-oil smeared across the polished wood. Not a spill. Not an accident.

My breath hissed between my teeth, fury surging through me like wildfire. Someone dared-someone in my own house-had tried to kill her.

"They will pay," I snarled under my breath, my wolf howling within me, ready to rip flesh from bone. "Whoever did this will beg for death before I'm through."

I let my hand graze the railing where she had fallen, the image of her tumbling replaying in my mind like a curse. My jaw tightened, and a cruel, humorless smile ghosted my lips.

They thought they were clever. They thought they could touch what was mine.

It's a lie.