Chapter 44: Chapter Forty-four

Chapter 44

Lia's POV

The walls of the healer's chamber were painted in shadows, flickering softly under the candlelight. I hadn’t moved in hours. My fingers clutched Edgar’s hand, our palms slightly damp from the humidity, but I wouldn’t let go. Couldn’t. His hand was warm, yet still. Too still.

Every few moments, I searched his face. Waiting. Hoping. Praying.

It had been three days since I returned to Duskwood. Three days since Elena's trembling voice had pulled me from my exile and led me back to the only place that had ever truly felt like home. Even if it was a home built on betrayal and broken promises.

The healer had said he might not wake for weeks. Maybe months. The blood curse had done more than just silence his wolf, it had unraveled the very threads of his life, poisoning his spirit and strength.

But I saw him now, lying there, and I didn’t see weakness.

I saw a man who fought through fire for me.

I saw the Alpha who had risked it all to protect me, even after everything fell apart between us.

"He hears you, Lia," Elena said softly from across the room. She hadn’t left either. "Even if he can’t answer, he knows you’re here. Keep speaking. Keep reaching."

My throat ached with all the things I hadn’t said.

“I hated you,” I whispered, brushing back a lock of hair from Edgar’s forehead. “When I left Duskwood, I told myself I’d never forgive you. That you’d chosen her over me. That I meant nothing to you.”

My voice cracked.

“I lied.”

I paused, letting the silence stretch.

“When Elena told me what happened, how you collapsed after making that deal with her, It broke something inside me. Because it meant you were still trying to protect me even after I walked away.”

I pressed his hand to my lips.

“I wish I had known sooner. Maybe I wouldn’t have left. Maybe we could’ve”

A soft knock interrupted my words.

Elena crossed the room and opened the door. A familiar scent drifted in, herbs, ash, and something ancient.

The Soothsayer.

She entered slowly, robes whispering across the wooden floor, her eyes unreadable beneath her dark veil. The healer followed behind her, quiet and respectful.

"The Moon Goddess has not turned her face away from him," the Soothsayer said, her voice like wind through old trees. "But the price of surviving a curse carved in blood is not cheap. He walks the threshold. Neither here, nor beyond."

My pulse quickened. "Then how do we bring him back?"

The Soothsayer tilted her head, almost curious.

"You bring him back by anchoring him to what he cannot live without. Love. Loyalty. Legacy."

I swallowed. “He has all that here.”

The Soothsayer’s eyes shifted to me, sharp and steady.

"Not if the one he loves most still doubts him."

Her words landed like a blow. I looked down at Edgar, heart thudding. I’d returned. I was here. But did he know that I truly forgave him? That I still loved him, even now?

"There is a ritual," she continued. "One rooted in the old ways. You must cross into his mind, into the realm of his dreams, where he is trapped. If you can reach him there, call his wolf back, he may return."

My breath caught. "And if I can’t?"

"Then he drifts, until his soul forgets its way home."

Elena stepped forward. "What do you need from her?"

The Soothsayer turned to the healer. "Prepare the dreaming basin. Mix blood from both their veins, lavender root, silverdust, and moonwater."

The healer nodded and hurried off.

I looked back at Edgar. His chest rose and fell in slow, shallow breaths. This was the only chance.

I touched the mark on my shoulder, the crescent scar he left when he marked me. It tingled.

Maybe it was already calling me in.

Later that night, the room was silent but for the rustle of fabric and the faint drip of water into the stone basin. I stood barefoot before it, the air charged with something sacred.

The Soothsayer handed me a small blade.

“Slice your palm. Let your blood drip into the basin. Then do the same for him.”

I obeyed, wincing only slightly as my blood fell into the glowing water. The scent of moonflowers filled the air. Elena helped guide Edgar’s hand and pricked his palm, letting a few drops of his blood follow mine.

The water hissed.

Silver light bloomed from the basin, swirling like fog.

“Now,” the Soothsayer said. “Look into the water. Don’t blink. Don’t turn away.”

I stared.

The world fell away.

I was somewhere else.

Fog surrounded me. Trees with no roots. Sky with no stars. The world was gray, blurred, like a forgotten memory.

“Edgar?” I called out, my voice echoing into the void.

No answer.

I walked forward, barefoot on a cold stone. My mark throbbed.

Then I saw him.

He stood near a cliff’s edge, shirtless, hair tousled by phantom wind. But he looked lost. Broken. He didn’t even flinch as I approached.

I reached for him.

“Edgar.”

He turned slowly. His eyes were hollow. Lifeless.

“Lia?” he whispered.

My heart caught.

“You came,” he said. “Even here.”

“I never should have left.”

His brow furrowed. “You had every reason to. I failed you.”

“You saved me,” I said, stepping closer. “You made a deal with a devil to keep me safe.”

“And you paid for it,” he said, his voice thick. “You lost your peace. Your wolf. And I” he looked down at his hands “I can’t even feel mine anymore. She took everything.”

“She didn’t take me.”

I touched his chest. His heart beat beneath my fingers.

“We still have each other. And if you come back, we still have a future. Our child deserves that.”

His eyes widened. “Child?”

I nodded, tears slipping down my cheeks. “I’m pregnant. You’re going to be a father, Edgar.”

His hands trembled.

“I don’t deserve this,” he murmured.

“No,” I said firmly. “You don’t deserve to suffer like this. None of us do. But we do deserve to fight for each other. To protect what’s left. Come back to me. Come back to us.”

He looked at me then, really looked. His eyes shifted, those golden flecks returning, burning bright.

“I’m tired, Lia.”

“I know,” I said. “But you’re not done. You’re the Alpha. You’re my mate. You’re our child’s father. And we need you.”

He fell into my arms, burying his face in my neck. “Don’t leave again.”

“I won’t.”

The ground trembled beneath us.

Light pierced the gray sky.

And the fog began to break.

I woke up gasping, falling forward against the floor.

The Soothsayer caught me. “Did you find him?”

I looked to the bed.

Edgar’s fingers twitched.

Then his eyes fluttered open.

Elena gasped, rushing to his side.

He blinked slowly, gaze unfocused at first, then landed on me.

His lips moved. A whisper.

“Lia.”

I climbed onto the bed and wrapped my arms around him.

“I’m here,” I said through tears. “I’m not leaving again.”