Chapter 208 208
Aurélie’s POV
I brace myself for death expecting it to be instant.
It isn’t.
Nor is it as agonizing as I imagined.
But it is pain.
Sharp. Blinding. Wrong.
My leg.
Why is the pain in my leg?
Compared to the throbbing ache in my head, it barely registers until it does. Until something else creeps in. A heat. A spreading burn that coils around the wound and seeps deeper.
Wolfsbane.
The bitch switched the bullets.
Dominique goddess bless my clever, brave boy he knew my Alpha healing would seal a leg wound quickly. He planned for that.
What he didn’t know… was the poison.
I feel it racing through my veins now, fast and merciless, surging toward my heart.
“Nice try, pup,” Geneviève growls as she rips the gun from Dominique’s rigid grip.
“I shot her,” he replies calmly, confidence ringing in his voice. “Just like you said. You didn’t tell me where.”
An aura flickers around him faint, but undeniable.
Even she sees it.
“When I’m done killing all of you,” Geneviève snarls, “I’m going to hunt down the little girl. Gaston thinks he can betray me?”
Her gaze snaps to me as I struggle to keep the wildfire spreading through my blood under control.
“I won’t let you,” I moan, the burning pain beginning to eclipse even the wound in my head.
“No offence, Aurélie,” she scoffs, “but you’ll be dead so I’m not sure what you think you’ll be doing.
Maybe I’ll go get her now.”
She turns her back on me.
My wolf surges forward, forcibly drawing on what little energy I have left. My breathing turns slow, ragged each inhale scraping my lungs raw. I give her control of my skin side, and she wastes no time.
Fueled by rage and Alpha strength, she slams against the chains with such force that I bite down hard on my tongue to silence the scream clawing its way out.
The chains snap apart.
I’m still bound but I can move.
My wolf hurls my body at Geneviève, tackling her to the ground. The surge of power fades almost instantly she feels the poison too. We are bound, she and I.
As control slips back to me, I wrestle Geneviève across the floor, flinging her gun out of reach and raking my claws across her face.
I stagger to my feet, desperate—desperate to get to Dominique.
The gunshot comes before I can take a second step.
It slams into my chest.
A brutal force tears through my skin, punching the air from my lungs as if my body simply forgets how to breathe.
The rogue.
He had another gun.
Geneviève smirks as she rises. She knows.
She knows I can’t survive this.
“Delphine!”
A voice roars from outside.
Damien.
“Daddy!”
My baby girl screams.
My legs give out beneath me.
Geneviève’s eyes widen at the sound, snapping toward the entrance of the container.
Good.
I didn’t imagine it.
He’s here.
She heard him too.
I hope he tears her apart.
I don’t feel my body hit the ground only the sickening jolt when my head strikes the metal floor.
Thank you, Moon Goddess.
He found us.
He can save Dominique now.
Damien’s POV
I scoop Delphine into my arms and rush her back toward Theo and Roland.
She’s shaking violently against my chest. Theo doesn’t hesitate his hands already working to break the cuffs restraining her tiny wrists.
“Delphine, darling…” I say softly, though dread coils tight in my throat. “Who’s been shot?”
Her sobs come in broken gasps, lungs dragging in air she can’t seem to release.
“Mummy…”
The word barely escapes her but it crashes into me like a blow.
“Mummy?” I repeat, my throat burning as the truth sinks its claws into me.
She nods.
My wolf surges forward, but he doesn’t need to take control.
I’m furious enough for both of us.
Fire erupts in my chest rage born of everything my family has endured.
I need to get to her.
“Roland,” I say sharply. “Listen to me. Take her. Take her back to Maurice and Simon. You run. Even if her legs hurt you don’t stop. Do you understand?”
Half a mile.
If they’re fast, she’ll be safe.
Roland looks at me, his face drained of color.
“I’m trusting you with my daughter,” I say, locking eyes with him. “Do you understand what it means to keep her alive?”
“Yes, Alpha,” he answers immediately.
He gathers Delphine into his arms, pressing her bunny into her hands. She clings to it like it’s the only thing anchoring her to this world.
“Go,” I command.
He doesn’t hesitate.
My heart twists painfully as she’s carried away but she’ll be safe.
That’s what matters.
That’s what I have to remember.