Kaden’s POV

​It was already nine o’clock in the morning, and the healers had been working on Rebecca for hours without a single break.

​The head healer finally stepped back, her face pale and lined with deep fatigue. "Alpha King," she whispered, her voice completely drained. "We have tried our absolute best. We cannot force her out of this deep sleep."

​I looked at the group of them, seeing the sweat on their foreheads and the slight shaking in their hands. I knew they had tried. They had poured everything they had into keeping her body alive.

​"So when will she wake up?" I demanded, my voice rough and tight.

​The healer swallowed hard, looking down at the floor. "We have no idea, Alpha. With her spirit fighting to stay away, it could take days. It could take weeks, months, or even years."

​A cold weight settled deep in my stomach. Years. She would rather sleep for years than look at my face again. I let out a long, heavy breath and waved my hand tightly. "You all can go rest. Leave us."

​They bowed quickly and filed out of the room like ghosts. As the doors clicked shut, Logan stepped up to my side. He looked at the blood on my bedsheets, then at Rebecca’s still form.

​"Alpha," Logan said softly, keeping his voice calm. "Let the guards take her back to her room now. The healers are done."

​The word NO almost ripped out of my throat. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to keep her right here, right under my eyes where I could watch. My wolf snarled at the thought of moving her. But I forced myself to hold back. I couldn’t let my Beta see just how unhinged I was becoming over a slave. I gave a stiff, tight nod.

​Down on the floor by the side of the bed, Stephanie was kneeling, her shoulders shaking violently as she sobbed. She had rushed into the room the moment I brought us back, and she hadn’t stopped crying since.

​Looking at her, a sudden, dark rage flared up in my chest.

​I took two steps forward, reached down, and grabbed Stephanie roughly by the front of her uniform, pulling her up. My grip tight around her neck, I forced her to look at me, my eyes flashing with fury.

​"Did you know?" I growled. "Did she tell you she was going to kill herself?!"

​Stephanie shook her head in pure terror, her small hands gripping my wrists as she gasped for air. Tears streamed down her face. "N-no!" she choked out, her voice cracking. "No, Alpha! I swear, she didn’t say anything!"

​"Then why did she decide to take her life?!" I roared, my grip tightening slightly before the frustration made me throw her away from me. "Why now?! Things were supposed to be better! I gave her what she wanted!"

​Stephanie collapsed to the floor, coughing and crying as she held her throat.

​I turned my back on her and stepped closer to the bed, staring down at Rebecca’s pale, peaceful face. She looked so peaceful. So completely out of my reach.

​A dark, angry scoff left my lips. I leaned down over her, my shadow completely covering her small body.

​"You think you can escape me this easily, Rebecca?" I whispered, my voice thick with fierce determination. "You are not leaving me. I don’t care how hard you want to die. I will go straight into hell and drag your soul back out myself."

​Stepping away from the mattress, I forced my expression into a cold, unreadable mask. I turned to my Beta, who was watching the scene with heavy eyes.

​"Logan," I commanded, my voice flat but leaving no room for argument. "Tell the guards to take her to her room. And make sure a healer is kept by her side at all times. They are not to leave her alone for a single second."

​"Right away, Alpha King," Logan nodded. He stepped toward the doorway and gestured to two towering palace guards waiting in the hall.

​The two guards marched into the room with synchronized, heavy steps. They moved carefully, lifting Rebecca’s fragile, linen-wrapped body off my ruined bedsheets.

​The moment they lifted her, Stephanie gasped. Her protective instincts briefly overriding her fear of me, she scrambled up from the floor, desperate to follow them out the door.

​"Wait," I growled, my voice stopping her dead in her tracks.

​Stephanie froze, trembling violently as she turned her tear-streaked face back to me.

​Logan gave me a final, understanding nod and exited the room, following closely behind the guards as they carried Rebecca down the long, stone corridor. The heavy bedroom doors clicked shut, leaving only me and the terrified maid.

​I looked at Stephanie, a strange, bitter taste in my mouth. I could hardly believe the words that were about to come out of my throat.

​"Stephanie," I said, my voice low and serious. "You are the only person in this mansion I know for a fact won’t harm Rebecca."

​She swallowed hard, her wide eyes locked onto mine.

​"I want you to stay with her," I ordered, stepping closer to underscore the weight of my command. "Guard her. Watch over her until she wakes up. Do you hear me?"

​Stephanie nodded rapidly, her face still pale with terror but a fierce spark of loyalty shining through her tears. "I-I hear you, Alpha. I will," she whispered.

​"Go," I muttered, waving my hand tightly toward the door.

​She didn’t need to be told twice. She turned and practically rushed out of the room, eager to get back to her friend’s side.

​The doors slammed shut behind her, and the sudden silence in the vast room became suffocating. The thick, awful smell of iron and blood still hung heavily in the air.

I looked over at my bed, staring at the dark, dried blood stains covering the center of the mattress where her chest had leaked into the fabric.

​A wave of exhaustion crashed over me, pulling the remaining strength right out of my bones. My knees felt weak.

​Without a glance at the mess, I turned around and slumped heavily into the large leather armchair by the fireplace, burying my face in my blood-stained hands as the quiet house seemed to swallow me.

​Her words rang in my head, looping over and over like a cruel curse.

​A life for a life.

​I scoffed in pure anger, my hands tightening into fists against my face. "A life for a life, yes," I growled out loud to the empty, silent room. "But I decide that, Rebecca. Not you."

​Who gave her the right to make that choice? Who gave her the right to decide when her time was up? She was mine. Her life belonged to me, and yet she had snatched it away from me.

​And then, those final words. Kaden... I forgive you.

​She forgave me? A harsh, dry laugh ripped from my throat, sounding twisted and crazy in the quiet room. She forgave me?! What the hell was she forgiving me for? She was the one who hurt me... who snatched my family from me... I’m the one who was supposed to be giving the forgiveness.

​She was supposed to hate me. She was supposed to curse my name until her very last breath. Receiving her forgiveness felt like a heavy slap to my pride, burning through my veins like hot acid.

​The anger boiled over, turning into a desperate, wild need to control the situation. I couldn’t just sit here in this chair and let her spirit win.

​I snapped my head up, my eyes flashing gold, and forced open a mind-link to Logan.

​"Logan!" I roared through the link, not caring that he had just left the room. "Contact every single pack in the world. I don’t care how far they are or how much it costs. Tell them to send their best healers to our palace right now. I want all of them here!" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

​"Alpha King, wait—" Logan tried to speak, his voice filled with shock and worry through the link.

​But I didn’t want to hear his advice. I didn’t want him to tell me to calm down or accept reality. Before my Beta could finish his sentence, I snapped the mind-link shut, cutting him off completely.

​Slowly, I stood up from the armchair. My heavy boots dragged across the floor as I walked back toward the huge bed. I stopped at the edge, my golden eyes locking onto the dark, ruined sheets. The dried blood sat right in the center, a brutal reminder of how close I had come to losing her.

​I reached out, my fingers gripping the stained sheets tightly.

​"You want to forgive me?" I whispered into the dark, empty space of my room. "Well, your forgiveness is not accepted, Rebecca. You are coming back to me."