Chapter 0324

Lucas stays silent.

I already know he’s holding back laughter without even turning around.

I hear him lift the body onto his shoulder.

His footsteps fade as he trudges away.

I walk back through the crowd of Lycans toward Alexander.

None of them move.

Maybe it’s fear.

Maybe shame for bringing someone like that here.

I don’t really care.

Alexander slips his hand into mine.

His voice echoes in my mind through our link. How did it feel?

It was necessary.

That’s not what I asked.

I meet his crimson gaze.

“It felt… right,” I say softly.

My eyes drift toward where Brianna had fallen.

Her blood still stains the ground.

“I need to check on her.”

Alexander gestures toward the Lycans still kneeling. “What do you want to do with them?”

I shrug.

I hadn’t planned that far ahead.

“Let me handle it,” he says. “Just release your command.”

He presses a kiss to my cheek.

“You’re sure?”

“Of course. I have more experience with this.”

I release my hold on them.

Everyone rises slowly.

I hurry toward the infirmary.

I expect to see Isabella inside.

But it’s Theodore barking orders instead.

Zachary sits on a chair outside the room.

His hands are clasped tightly between his knees.

“Are you praying?” I ask.

His dark eyes lift to mine. “Someone has to listen.”

“The baby?” I whisper.

He shakes his head.

He doesn’t meet my eyes.

“Theodore is fighting for her life,” he murmurs.

“Where’s Isabella?”

“She refused to help.” Anger flashes in his gaze.

“What? Why?”

“Theodore is in there with a few others Isabella trained. We can only wait.”

That doesn’t answer my question.

“Why did Lucas do this, Athena?” Zachary’s voice is strained. “Brianna told me he knew.”

If it had been anyone else, Zachary would already have torn out the Hunter’s throat.

“It wasn’t him.”

“Of course it was. He’s been waiting for this.”

“It wasn’t him,” I repeat firmly. “One of the Lycans took the gun from him—or tried to. I’m not sure. Lucas was trying to disarm him when it went off. That bullet wasn’t meant for Brianna. The Lycan was aiming at me.”

“You don’t have to defend him,” he growls.

“I’m not. Ask Alexander. He saw it happen.”

Zachary’s jaw tightens. “Where is the guy now?”

“Dead.”

“Lucas killed him?”

“No. I did.”

His eyes drop to my bloodstained hand.

Then they return to my face.

“Thank you,” he says quietly.

I nod.

Theodore’s sharp commands continue from inside.

It sounds bad.

If she could heal naturally, she would have by now.

“Where’s Sebastian?” I ask softly.

Zachary points toward the nurse’s station.

A hand is visible from behind the counter.

Sebastian sits on the floor, back against the cabinets.

He is completely still.

No sound.

No tears.

Just the steady beat of his heart.

If he loses Brianna, I know he’ll spiral back into drinking.

His knees are pulled to his chest.

His shirt is soaked in Brianna’s blood.

His eyes lift to meet mine.

They’re hollow.

Empty.

As if he’s already given up.

“Theodore will find a way,” I whisper.

I sit on the floor facing him.

“She was pregnant,” he says hoarsely.

“I know. I’m so sorry.”

He lets out a bitter laugh. “She hadn’t even told me.”

“How did you find out?”

“The fire. I swept her home after we put it out. There was an untouched test on her table. Several others, too. But they were unreadable.”

“Is that why you didn’t question her about the pack run?”

He gives me a sad smile. “I thought tonight would be the night she told me. But now… if she survives this… I’ll have to be the one to tell her there’s no baby. That there might never be one.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The bullet tore through her stomach. Like Isabella’s leg—it can’t heal what isn’t there.”

His shoulders slump even further.

“You can feel her,” I say, fighting back tears.

I always got the sense Brianna wanted a family.

She wanted to raise her children differently than her father had.

Her biggest worry was whether Sebastian was ready.

“Listen to her body. You know her better than anyone because you can feel her.”

He shakes his head. “She’s barely holding on. I don’t need to be in that room to know Theodore has already restarted her heart twice.”