Chapter 149 He's my mate

Chapter 149 He's my mate
~ Kael's POV ~

Lyra's eyes remained open for only a few brief seconds before they slowly drifted shut again. My heart nearly stopped at the sight, and panic almost rose inside me , but the steady rhythm of her heartbeat reached my ears, immediately easing the fear threatening to overwhelm me.

Relief spread through me as I realized she had not taken a turn for the worse. She had simply slipped back into unconsciousness after everything her body had endured.

"Welcome back, Alpha."

The familiar voices of the cabinet members gathered around me pulled my attention away from Lyra's peaceful face. I slowly lifted my head to look at them, seeing exhaustion, injuries, and relief written across each of their faces.

"Thank you. You all did a good job defending our home and our people. Iron Fang will forever be grateful," I said sincerely, allowing my gaze to move from one face to another.

Every one of them had risked their lives without knowing whether they would survive to see another sunrise. They had stood their ground when surrender would have been easier, and without their courage, determination, and refusal to bow before Dagan's tyranny, I knew the outcome of everything that had happened could have been very different.

"Will she be alright?" Elder Rowan asked as he slowly lowered himself onto one knee beside Lyra. His eyes carefully searched her face, studying every little detail with obvious concern. The worry etched across his features mirrored exactly what I was feeling inside.

I released a long, weary sigh before answering him.

"I hope so. I truly hope so."

Those words were the only honest answer I could give. I had done everything within my power to keep her alive, but the rest was no longer in my hands. All I could do now was hope her body found the strength to recover from everything it had been forced to endure.

Just then, Brenda's father hurried over to where we were. He was one of the Alphas who had answered my call for help, standing beside us with the warriors and resources he had brought from Moon Crest Pack.

The moment I looked at him, I immediately recognized the distress carved across his face.

"I have searched everywhere, Alpha Kael, but I still can't find my daughter anywhere," he said, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

"We were arrested together and remained together inside the dungeon for days until today, when Dagan's men separated her from us," Elder Rowan explained calmly before the man could allow his fears to consume him completely. "She should still be somewhere inside the house unless they took her away before everything happened."

The explanation did little to ease the Alpha's concern. I could see it plainly on his face. Still, he gave a slow nod, choosing to hold on to the little hope those words offered.

"I'll search inside," he said with renewed determination.

He had barely begun turning away when a loud cry suddenly pierced the air.

Every head turned instantly toward the direction from which the cry had come, and all of our attention was drawn there at once.

"No. No. No. No. No." River's heartbreaking cries echoed across the courtyard as she came running with frantic speed toward Taren.

She dropped into a sitting position beside him so abruptly that she barely seemed to notice the impact against the rain soaked ground.

Her trembling hands immediately reached for the front of his shirt, gripping the fabric tightly before she shook him over and over again with desperate strength.

"Wake up. Wake up. You can't die now. You can't leave me now."

Her voice cracked with every word as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. She continued shaking him, refusing to accept the sight before her.

Alpha Vale and River's mother hurried over almost immediately, both wearing expressions of complete confusion. Their eyes moved from their sobbing daughter to Taren, neither of them understanding what could have reduced her to such heartbreaking despair.

"Riri, what is wrong?" her mother asked as she knelt beside her. "Why are you crying over a stranger?"

River immediately shook her head, her tears refusing to stop.

"He is not a stranger, Mom." Her voice trembled so badly she almost struggled to finish the sentence. "He is my mate."

The declaration stunned everyone standing nearby.

"Your mate?" Alpha Vale repeated, unable to hide the complete shock spreading across his face. "You didn't tell us you had already met your mate."

River let out another broken sob before lowering her head onto Taren's chest.

"I'm just meeting him for the first time, and he's dead." Her shoulders shook violently as fresh tears poured down her face. "No. This can't be happening. I didn't even get to talk to him."

"Stop crying, River. He's not dead yet, but he is dying." Alpha Vale's calm voice immediately drew everyone's attention. "A werewolf whose soul has been taken can still remain alive for up to thirty minutes before the body completely gives up."

River instantly raised her head, hope and disbelief battling across her tear stained face as she looked directly at her father.

"He's not dead?" she asked, clinging desperately to those words. "But he's not breathing."

"His heart is still beating," Alpha Vale replied after checking him carefully. "It is faint, but it is still there."

"That means we can still help him," Mrs. Vale added gently as she rested a comforting hand upon her daughter's shoulder. Her own face remained filled with concern, but there was now a small spark of hope where only despair had existed moments earlier.

"You can?" I asked, unable to keep the hope out of my own voice.

Carefully lifting Lyra into my arms in a princess carry, I walked toward them, refusing to leave her lying on the cold ground any longer while listening closely to every word that followed.

"Yes, Alpha Kael," Mrs. Vale answered, turning her full attention toward me. "But he will have to do most of the fighting himself if he wants to return to us. Now that the Void Wolf has been destroyed, every soul it consumed has been released. Those souls are roaming freely at this very moment. We can create a path for his soul to find its way back into his body, but whether he returns or not will depend on whether he can follow that path and reclaim his life."

Her explanation immediately gave rise to another question in my mind.

"Just him, or everyone whose soul was taken?" I asked, wanting to understand the full extent of what was now possible.

"Anyone whose soul was taken can still be saved, provided their body has not completely died yet," she explained patiently. "Once the body dies completely, there is nothing anyone can do. At that point, they are gone forever."

I slowly nodded, silently absorbing everything she had just told me.

"Please do everything you can," I said sincerely. "We cannot afford to lose Taren. Not after everything he has done for all of us."

Mrs. Vale returned my nod with quiet understanding while Alpha Vale released a long, weary sigh before finally speaking.

"You should take her inside," he said, his eyes briefly resting on the unconscious Lyra in my arms. "We will take care of everything here."

I gave him one final nod, trusting him with the lives that still hung in the balance before turning my attention completely back to Lyra.