Chapter 399 399
Chapter 399 399
Maurice POV
There was no fucking way I was going to let his lips be the last thing her wolf ever felt.
I shove myself harder into the forcefield, the searing heat biting into my skin, tearing at me like living fire. Pain screams through my body, vibrating down to my bones, but I grit my teeth and keep pushing anyway.
I refuse to stop.
The force snaps back, hurling me through the air as if I weigh nothing whether it’s the glow itself or Gilles doing it, I don’t know. I crash to the ground in a useless heap, breath knocked from my lungs.
But I’m on my feet again in seconds.
I will not stop trying.
I will never stop trying to reach her.
Then something changes.
The forcefield shudders. Weakens. Its grip loosens, the pressure finally beginning to fade. Gilles steps back from Bee, still holding her, but his lips part from hers and remain frozen in a hollowed suction.
And then I see it.
The black shadow drains from Bee’s eyes… and pours straight into Gilles’ mouth.
What the hell
He’s taking it from her.
The forcefield begins to quake violently, fractures spiderwebbing through its surface, and I don’t hesitate. I surge forward, bursting through just as it collapses completely.
I catch Bee as her body goes limp, dropping to the ground. She folds into my arms, unconscious, her weight settling heavily in my lap.
“Bee…” I whisper, panic clawing up my throat as I shake her gently, my fingers scrambling for her pulse.
There.
At her neck.
Steady.
Alive.
Relief crashes over me so hard my knees nearly buckle. “Thank the Goddess,” I breathe.
“No…” Gilles chuckles behind us.
He turns toward the black hole and exhales, expelling the dark shadow from his lungs like it’s nothing more than stale air. As the red glow peels away from us and sinks into the pit, the black shadow follows, swallowed whole.
“Thank me.”
I tighten my hold on Bee, cradling her against my chest, silently swearing I will never let her go again. Damien steps up beside me, his hand settling heavily on my shoulder as we both watch Gilles seal the gaping hole in the ground.
My thoughts are still spiraling, struggling to process what he’d said that the hole was a portal to the underworld.
“We need to move. Now,” Gilles snaps, turning to us. His eyes glow a deep, dangerous crimson.
“Why?” I demand.
“This cave will implode when the portal fully closes. Who else is in here?”
“My beta Maxime.”
“Dominique? Delphine?” Damien asks urgently, his eyes wide with fear.
“Didier got them out. They’re with him,” I assure him, knowing they are his entire world.
The cave begins to collapse around us. Stones rain down from above as we sprint through the tunnels, racing against time. I pause only long enough to adjust Bee in my arms, pulling her closer, securing my grip as we come upon Maxime lying unconscious on the ground.
Damien lifts him effortlessly, slinging him over his shoulder just as a thunderous crack echoes behind us.
“We must hurry!” Gilles roars, shoving Damien and me ahead of him.
I take the lead, retracing our path through the cave. Damien remembers nothing of how we got in here, and with both Bee and Maxime unconscious, it’s on me to get us out alive.
Sunlight spills ahead, blinding and glorious, as adrenaline floods my system. We didn’t survive all of this just to die buried under stone.
I don’t even know if Bee still has her wolf but she’s alive. And even as a human… she’s still my mate.
Still my Luna.
Fresh air fills my lungs as we burst from the cave, relief so sharp it almost hurts. We turn just in time to watch the mountain collapse in on itself, sealing the cave completely.
As if it had never existed at all.