Chapter 139 Not Today pt 2
Seren
Lucian caught me before I could fall sideways. “Easy,” he murmured, helping me sit against a tree. The ground was cold beneath my bare skin, damp leaves sticking to my legs, but I barely felt it. Everything inside me felt hollowed out, like I’d poured every last drop of myself into Lucian and left nothing behind.
Kara curled close in my mind, no longer blazing and fierce, exhausted but protective. ‘You didn’t overdo it,’ she said softly. ‘You did exactly what was needed.’
“Feels like I’m dying,” I muttered.
Lucian’s hands framed my face. His eyes—steady, warm, alive—searched mine. “You’re not dying. You’re exhausted. There’s a difference.”
A weak huff of laughter escaped me. “You would know.”
His lips twitched. “Apparently.”
A familiar, powerful presence sliced through the forest ahead of us. Footsteps approached, then stopped short. “Holy hell,” a familiar voice breathed.
I turned to look just as Gideon stepped around the wide trunk of a hickory tree. He crossed the distance in three strides and dropped to his knees beside me. “You’re alive.”
“It appears so,” I whispered. For a second, neither of us moved. Then he pulled me into his chest, arms locking around me so tight it hurt, but I didn’t care. The bond between us flared to life, bright and solid. Warm. Steady. Whole. Relief slammed into me so hard that I started crying.
“I thought…” His voice broke. He cleared it roughly. “I thought we’d lost you again.”
His gaze roamed over me and took in the exhaustion dragging me down. I could feel him reaching out through the twin bond, checking, assessing me. Then his eyes dropped to Lucian’s side. “You’re bleeding.”
“I was bleeding. Not anymore,” Lucian corrected.
Gideon’s head snapped toward him. There was a beat of silence broken only by pounding paws and crashing underbrush, the rest of Gideon's group joining us.
Lucian met his stare evenly. “Silver blade. Through the ribs.”
Gideon’s eyes widened. “How are you standing?”
Lucian’s gaze shifted to me.
“I healed him,” I said quietly.
“What?” He turned to face me, eyes wide. My arm lifted automatically, showing the new mark. Even in the moonlight, the staff and serpent gleamed faintly, etched permanently into my skin. Realization dawned across his face as he took in the new symbol. “You unlocked it.”
I nodded once. “He was dying,” I added. “His bond was fading. My power just…exploded. I took out the warriors, then just…fixed him.”
He pressed his palm to my forehead, then to my chest. The bond between us surged—cool and steady, like moonlight sliding over water. Strength flowed into me, not overwhelming, but enough to fill the empty spaces. My limbs no longer felt like boulders, and the dizziness eased. I gasped softly. “You’re feeding me power.”
“Balancing you,” he corrected. “You performed a full regenerative healing. You drained yourself dry.”
“Can you keep doing that?” Lucian asked.
“For a while,” Gideon said. “But we shouldn’t linger.”
Jason stepped forward from somewhere in the trees. “There has been no sign of pursuit yet, but that won’t last.”
Gideon nodded once. “Then we move. Crescent Moon is still two hours away at a steady pace.”
Paul frowned. “She can’t run for two hours.”
“I can,” I said automatically.
Five pairs of eyes glared at me.
I sighed. “Look, I’m already feeling better. Gideon helped. I may not be able to carry Amelia, though.”
Lucian stood and offered his hand. “Fine. We can rotate carrying her.”
Gideon smirked at me. “Still stubborn.”
“Still annoying.” For a fleeting second, it felt like we were just back on the training field after a hard day of practice. Then the humor dropped from his face. “Duncan’s still in a coma. We need to get you back to the safety of your pack, and you need to be with him.”
One by one, we shifted. Kara rose within me, strong despite the lingering fatigue. Gideon’s power still flowed along the thread of our bond, steadying me. Not carrying me, just reinforcing and making sure that I didn’t falter. The forest blurred around us as we ran, our formation tight, Curran flanking one side and Iason the other. The moon climbed higher overhead, silver light filtering through the branches.
Lucian reached out, asking the question I’d already been asking myself. ‘Do you think you can help him?’
Duncan. The faint thread of our bond made my chest tighten. It wasn't fading like Lucian's had, but it wasn't strong either.
Lucian's question hung there between us. Kara’s paws pounded the earth as she ran towards home, towards her mate. Towards the uncertainty that awaited there. I’d stitched flesh. Closed mortal wounds. Pulled someone back from the edge of death. But a coma wasn’t the same as bleeding out.
‘I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘But I have to try.’
Lucian’s voice softened just slightly. ‘You don’t push yourself past collapse. We’ll need your leadership if we can’t get him to wake up.’
‘If I can bring you back from a silver blade,’ I shot back, ‘I should be able to handle a sleeping Alpha.’ I had to believe that I could. Losing Duncan was not an option I was willing to consider.
We ran harder. The forest began to thin, familiar territory emerging around us. The scent of Crescent Moon drifted through the air—pine, earth, pack. Home.
Ahead, faint lights flickered through the trees, welcoming us. We were only a few minutes out now. I focused on the bond threads stretching from me, pulling them close like some kind of security blanket. I didn't want to lose any of them. Lucian's was steady and warm, with no sign of it fading. Gideon's was strong and anchoring. My bond with Duncan terrified me. It was faint. Strained. Almost fractured.
“We’re almost there,” I whispered.
Kara’s voice hummed inside me. ‘You saved one life tonight.’
I looked toward the pack house rising in the distance.
‘Now let’s save another.’