Chapter 0170

Athena

“Where did he take her?” I demand, stepping out into the pitch-black night.

Adrenaline surged through me, sharp and urgent.

I had no idea what time it was.

Several guards moved closer, their attention fixed on the surrounding shadows.

“I don’t know,” Alexander muttered, grabbing my wrist to stop me. “Just let him be. There’s nothing you can do.”

“Maybe I can save her.”

“Athena, she isn't dying. She isn't hanging on by a thread. She’s dead. Gabriel tore her heart out.”

My stomach dropped.

A part of me had hoped he was wrong. That Julian had taken Sophia to find a way to help her.

“He took… He took her heart?”

“Among slicing her up pretty badly.”

I felt Nyx’s sorrow merge with my own.

Sophia was just a kid.

She was family.

She was like me.

She had helped me understand what I could do.

“Why?” A single tear rolled down my cheek.

I didn’t try to stop the flood that followed.

I was so angry.

“Why would he do that to her?”

“I don’t know. I thought his end game was to get at Zachary, but he has nothing to do with Sophia.”

“You said she let him out.”

“According to Ethan.”

‘We can speak to him!’ Nyx murmured. ‘We need to know why Sophia was down there!’

I nodded in agreement and repeated the words to Alexander.

“No. I need you to stay in the house.” He tried to tug me back inside.

I slapped his hand away.

“Athena, we don’t know where he is. We don't know if his plan is to come after you next, or Zachary, even Isabella.”

“Or Brianna,” I muttered, watching her stumble toward us.

Her arms clung tightly against her stomach.

Blood spilled profusely over her hands.

She couldn’t walk straight, almost like she was drunk.

“Shit. Don’t move.” He charged over to her and lifted her from the ground.

‘It’s Gabriel,’ I heard her mutter.

As Alexander brought her closer, I saw her dirty blonde hair was stained with blood.

Parts of her intestines hung loosely from her body.

My stomach flipped.

I fought the urge to gag.

Apparently, I could handle holding a heart, but intestines were just too much.

Alexander brought her inside.

His eyes glazed over as he dropped her onto the table.

I just stood there, watching.

She was probably on the verge of death.

Not a single part of me cared.

She should have died instead of Sophia.

“Let me see,” I heard Alexander tell her.

She removed her arms.

If she were upright, all the organs of her abdomen would have fallen out.

Zachary was right behind her.

He grabbed Brianna’s hand, holding it against his own chest.

“Hold on. Just hold on.” His dark eyes flickered to me. “Don’t let her die. She doesn’t deserve this.”

It took me far too long to realize Isabella was waiting for me to say something.

To give her the go-ahead to save another Lycan.

Because technically, Alexander wasn’t their leader.

I was.

But was I cruel enough to say no after what she did to me?

Was I cruel enough to let her suffer a long and painful death?

Nyx was oddly quiet, too.

“Save her,” Alexander muttered before I could make my decision. “Athena is my mate. We both lead this pack, and she is my guest. Save her, Isabella.”

“I need supplies from the hospital,” Isabella murmured as she inspected Brianna’s open wound.