"Alpha—"

The guard stopped at the doorway.

"The Luna is alive."

The smile drained from Dominic’s face immediately, his eyes going wide. Charlotte looked like she’d seen a ghost. She got to her feet slowly, one hand pressed flat to the table.

"It’s not possible," she said.

Rodrigo’s eyes opened.

"What did you just say?" he asked, but before the guard could answer the uproar reached him from the living quarters and he was up and out of the hall before he could think.

She was alive.

He hadn’t let himself think about her death. Hadn’t let himself feel it. Ever since his father died he had turned that part of himself off and kept it off. Until her.

He’d been consumed with thoughts of her.

Nothing in his entire 15 years after his father’s death had bothered him like this.

And he hated it.

So he waited for her death.

Everything would be back to normal once she died, just like the others.

But she was alive. He dragged a breath, his hands clenched by his sides.

A crowd had gathered by her door, and his feet came to a slow pause. His eyes searched their faces, his heart thudding in his chest.

When they saw him, they bowed.

"Alpha, the Luna is alive!"

"She’s alive!"

Rodrigo’s heart stopped for a second before it resumed.

His jaw clenched tight as he walked slowly towards the doors, the crowd giving way, then he stopped.

She was on the ground. Her white dress was stained black, her hair plastered across her face.

Her shoulders rose and fell in rhythm as she lifted her head slowly, and her blue eyes met his.

Rodrigo’s hands trembled at his sides, as everything else disappeared and all he could see was her.

He was already moving before he could think about it. The moment he reached her she went limp against him, her eyes closing. He pushed her to the side, staring at her face as a tear dropped from her eyes.

Rodrigo lifted her off the ground, his eyes moving across the dead men around her and the black matter splattered on the ground.

How was she alive?

The thought hit him as he stared at her, his fingers tightening.

He stood for a moment and turned to the guards at the door.

"Take care of this." He walked out of the room, the crowd giving way as they let him pass.

The Matriarch was at the end of the hallway, both hands clenched around her staff to stop them from trembling. When she saw Rodrigo coming with the girl in his arms her lips moved, but nothing came out — as though saying the words out loud might make everything disappear.

He stopped in front of her.

Her eyes lifted to his face.

"She’s — she’s alive?" she asked.

Rodrigo’s grey eyes softened. He nodded once. "Yes." He walked past her.

The Matriarch exhaled as she stumbled backward, and Lady Gina caught her before she fell.

"Oh goodness," she cried. "She’s alive."

The crowd continued to scream in jubilation.

Rodrigo didn’t look at the woman in his arms until he was in his room. He laid her gently on the bed, her hair draping across his pillow.

His eyes stayed on her face for a few seconds, before he turned to the guards by the doors.

"Bring the healers. Now." They rushed off immediately.

Rodrigo’s eyes drifted back to her face. Her eyes were closed, her face pale, the dress she was wearing completely soiled with black dirt.

Rodrigo frowned.

He wanted to know how she survived, but his jaw loosened at the sight of her chest rising and falling, and he let that sit for now.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he raised his hand and pushed the strands of hair away from her face, his fingers careful. He let his eyes close for a moment, his shoulders dropping.

He looked at her again, like he still couldn’t quite believe it.

He took her hand and held her wrist between his fingers.

She was warm. It was real.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Rodrigo let go of her hand and placed it back on the bed.

"Come in." The doors opened and two healers came in quickly, heads bowed.

"Alpha."

Rodrigo’s eyes stayed on Nina for a moment longer before he stepped to the side. "She is unconscious."

The healer sat down and took her hand, checking her pulse. A few seconds passed and he looked up. "She’s okay, Alpha. She must have fainted from shock."

Rodrigo’s jaw clenched as the image of the dead guards flashed in front of him. Not one injury on her body, and the guards were like that.

His eyes dropped to her dress.

"What is that black matter on her clothes?" he asked.

The healer looked down at it, pressed his fingers to the fabric, and shook his head slowly. "I do not know, Alpha. It seems like burnt wood."

Rodrigo nodded.

"Prepare medicine for when she wakes."

The man nodded and got to work.

Rodrigo stood with his hands behind him, his finger rolling over his thumb.

A knock came at the door and the Matriarch stepped in. The healer set the bowl on the side table and bowed to her.

"This would help her fever," he said, and walked out.

There was a moment of quiet as Eloise stood still, staring at the girl on the bed. Then she walked to the foot of the bed and sat, a bright smile on her lips. "I knew this one was different."

Rodrigo’s eyes hadn’t left Nina for a second.

"The only one you paid any attention to and she’s the one who was saved." Eloise’s voice carried a note of satisfaction she wasn’t bothering to hide. "Who knows — if you had listened to me from the beginning, none of them would have died."

Rodrigo’s eyes drifted to his grandmother, his jaw ticked. "The guards are all dead."

His voice carried through the room and Eloise stilled for a second, then she turned to him.

"I saw."

Rodrigo stared at her.

"Something must have killed them," he said. "Why was she spared?"

The Matriarch looked at him for a moment. Then she got up and walked to him, her staff quiet on the floor, and stopped in front of him.

"How she survived does not matter right now." Her voice was firm, her eyes steady on his. "What matters is you have a Luna who is not dead. And you get to keep your seat as Alpha." She held his gaze. "Whatever it is can be figured out later. The curse is over, Rio. You are free."

Rodrigo released a breath, his eyes going back to the woman on the bed.

A small chuckle escaped Eloise. "The nerve Charlotte had to plan all of this."

Eloise cleared her throat, her hands tightening around her stick.

"About what happened at the meeting," she started.

Rodrigo’s eyes drifted from the bed to her.

Eloise avoided his gaze. "I did not mean to—"

"I know," he said.

She turned to look at him, surprise in her eyes. "So you would have handed it over to Dominic. If she had died."

Rodrigo tilted his head, something close to amusement crossing his face.

"That was never an option," he said. "I would have just killed them all."