Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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31
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I dropped to my knees beside Damien the second he collapsed. My hands were shaking so bad I could barely touch him. His body felt too heavy on the floor, too still, and my brain blanked. I grabbed his shoulder, then his face, my fingers slipping against his skin.
“Damien? Damien, wake up!”
His eyes were closed, face pale. I pressed my hand to his side and felt the blood soaking through his shirt. When I pulled my hand back, my fingers were covered in it. My stomach flipped so hard I almost gagged.
“Linda!” I screamed down the hallway. “Get the healer! Now!”
Linda ran off without asking questions. I stayed on the floor with Damien, holding his head in my lap, brushing his hair back with my fingers. His hair was damp at the roots, and his breathing kept catching like each breath hurt him. “Come on, don’t do this. Please don’t do this.”
The healer came running in a minute later, bag in hand. She dropped down beside us and cut his shirt open with small silver scissors. Her fingers pressed around the wound, then moved to his throat, checking his pulse. She leaned closer, and her face changed fast.
“Hold him still,” she said, pulling small bottles from her bag.
I nodded quickly and placed both hands on Damien’s chest. “Is he going to be okay?”
The healer didn’t answer me right away. She cleaned the blood with a cloth, then pressed two fingers beside the black veins spreading over his skin. Damien’s body jerked. I flinched and bent over him, one hand sliding to his jaw.
“Damien, baby, stay with me,” I whispered, my voice breaking.
The healer opened one of the bottles and dropped something dark on the wound. It hissed against his skin. Damien groaned, and I almost lost it.
“What the hell is wrong with him?” I snapped, tears already spilling down my face. “Tell me something!”
The healer’s mouth tightened. She looked from the wound to me, then back at Damien. “Cursed silver,” she said quietly. “From the last attack. The poison is spreading faster because his bond with you is unstable. The pack is rejecting you, and it’s weakening him.”
I stared at her, my heart dropping. “What?”
She looked me straight in the eye. “If the pack keeps rejecting their Luna, Damien’s Alpha strength may weaken. They are not just rejecting you. They are killing him.”
I felt like someone punched me in the chest. My hands started shaking worse. “This is my fault. All of it. They hate me and now he’s dying because of me.”
The healer didn’t argue. She just started working on the wound while I sat there frozen. She mixed something with shaking hands, then pressed a soaked cloth over the black veins. Damien’s fingers twitched beside my knee, and I grabbed them fast, holding on like he could feel me through the pain.
11:46 Thu, May 21
Chapter 85
Damien’s eyes finally opened a few minutes later. I let out a loud sob of relief.
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“Oh my god, you’re awake!” I shouted, throwing my arms around him. I started crying into his chest, big messy tears. “I thought you were gone. I thought I lost you.”
He wrapped one arm around me weakly, his voice rough. “I’m here. I’m okay.”
I pulled back just enough to look at him, still crying. His lashes were low, his lips pale, but he was looking at me like I was the only thing he could focus on. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. They’re only doing this because of me.”
He reached up and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. His hand was warm but weak. “Don’t carry guilt that belongs to cowards. This isn’t on you.”
I nodded but the tears kept coming. He tried to sit up and winced hard, pressing a hand to his side. I saw the black veins spreading from the wound, dark and angry, and my chest tightened again.
“Stay still,” I said, grabbing the healer’s supplies. “Let me clean it.”
The healer shifted back to give me space. “Slowly. Use the clean cloth first. Do not press too hard.”
I nodded fast and helped him lie back. I started carefully cleaning the wound, my hands moving slow and gentle. Every time he hissed in pain I stopped and rubbed his chest softly, waiting until his breathing settled before I touched him again.
“You don’t have to do this,” he muttered, trying to hide how much it hurt.
“I want to,” I whispered. “Let me take care of you for once.”
He watched me the whole time, eyes soft even though his jaw stayed tight. I leaned down and kissed the skin right above the wound, then kept cleaning. His fingers found the edge of my shirt and curled there, like he needed something to hold. The room felt quiet except for our breathing and the soft clink of the healer’s bottles. I could feel him relaxing under my hands even though he was still in pain.
When I finished I stood up to grab more bandages from the table. His hand shot out and caught my wrist.
“Stay,” he said.
I turned back. His eyes were half closed, but the way he looked at me made my knees feel weak. His thumb dragged slowly over my wrist, rough and warm, and his voice dropped into that husky, tired tone that made my chest hurt.
“Come here,” he murmured. “Lie next to me. I need you close.”
My throat tightened. I climbed into bed carefully, trying not to touch his side. He still pulled me in like I was the only thing keeping him alive. His chest pressed to my back, one arm tight around my waist. He buried his face in my neck and let out a slow breath.
I stayed still, listening to his heartbeat against my back. It was uneven at first, then slower. Safer. Warm. His fingers spread over my stomach, protective even while he was barely holding himself together. For a while, I forgot the pack outside. I forgot the elders. I only felt him breathing against me.
11:46 Thu, May 21
Chapter 85
We stayed like that until I finally drifted off.
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I woke up later to voices outside the window. I slipped out of bed quietly so I wouldn’t wake him and stood by the curtain, listening.
“Damien would be stronger if she were dead.”
My blood ran cold.
I stepped back from the window, heart pounding. I turned to go back to bed when something slid under the door. A folded piece of paper.
I picked it up with shaking hands and opened it.
“Leave before we make you.”
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11:46 Thu, May 21
