Chapter 12 THE REALIZATION
Ray’s POV
Alicia's eyes are wide with shock and agony. Between us, the corrupted bond has flared to life, and I can see it now, black veins spreading across her neck, crawling up toward her jaw like dark lightning.
"Ray…" Her voice is strangled.
I look down at my own chest. The same black veins are spreading across my skin, visible through my shirt. The corrupted bond is reacting to our kiss, to the intensity of our connection, and it's tearing us both apart from the inside.
"No, no, no…" I try to hold her up as her knees buckle.
But my own legs give out. We collapse together, hitting the floor hard. The pain is unlike anything I've ever felt. It’s like being burned alive from the inside, like every nerve ending is screaming, like dying slowly while fully conscious.
Alicia screams. The sound cuts through me worse than the pain.
"I've got you," I gasp, trying to pull her closer even though touching makes it worse. "I've got…"
Another wave of agony hits. The black veins spread further, creeping up my neck, down my arms. I can feel them inside me too, wrapping around my heart, squeezing.
The door slams open. Footsteps rush in. Voices shouting, but I can't make out words over the roaring in my ears.
Hands grab me, trying to pull me away from Alicia. I snarl, fighting them even though I can barely move.
"Let go!" I heard Monty shout. "Ray, you're making it worse…"
"Get off me." I try to push him off, but I'm too weak. The corrupted bond is draining my strength, feeding on our connection.
More hands. Kai's voice, cold and commanding. "Separate them. Now."
They drag me across the floor, away from Alicia. Every inch of distance feels like losing a limb. My wolf howls in protest, trying to reach her, to protect her, to fix this somehow.
But I can't fix this. I'm the cause of this.
Through blurring vision, I see Elder Pascal kneel beside Alicia. See him press his hands to her chest, chanting something in the old language. I See the black veins slowly, agonizingly, start to reduce.
Someone pins me down, Kai, I think, his weight solid and uncompromising. Monty's face appears above me, and I want to hit him so badly my hands shake.
"Breathe," Monty orders. "The bond is feeding off your emotions. Calm down or you'll kill her."
"I'm not…" I couldn’t finish my words as another wave of pain cuts through me.
"Yes, you are." Logan's voice now, from somewhere to my left. "Every time you touch her with that much intensity, the corrupted bond reacts. You're poisoning each other."
The truth of it hits harder than the pain. Every kiss, every touch, every moment of desperate possession, it's all making the corruption worse. Loving her is literally killing us both.
"Twenty-eight days," Elder Pascal says, standing over Alicia's now-still form. The black veins have retreated but left dark marks on her skin. "That's all the time you have before the corruption spreads past the point of saving." His eyes find mine, cold and unsympathetic. "And if you keep claiming her like she's yours alone, you won't make it twenty-eight hours."
The words sink in slowly. I have to let them touch her. I have to let them claim her. I fucking have to share or watch her die.
My wolf rages against ribs.
Kai releases me, stepping back. Monty hovers nearby, concern and guilt warring on his face. Logan crouches by Alicia, checking her pulse.
I drag myself to sitting, every muscle protesting. "Is she okay?"
"Unconscious," Pascal says. "The bond nearly killed her just now. Your possessiveness, Alpha, is the real poison here." The full weight of his judgment lands on my shoulders. I am the danger. I am the disease. He points at the marks on her neck. "Every time you act like she's yours alone, the corruption spreads. You're running out of time to accept reality."
I look at Alicia's unconscious form. At the bruise forming on her cheek from where we fell. At the black marks my kiss left behind.
I did that. My love, my jealousy, my inability to share, it's all hurting her.
"What do I do?" The question comes out broken.
Pascal's expression softens slightly. "You let her go. Or you lose her forever."
Monty steps forward. "Ray…."
"Don't." I hold up a hand, not looking at him. Can't look at him. "Just... don't."
Silence fills the room except for Alicia's shallow breathing.
Elder Pascal heads for the door, pausing at the threshold. "The first claiming happens tonight. Alicia chooses who goes first." He looks back at me. "And Alpha? It might not be you."
The door closes behind him.
Leaving me on the floor, bleeding from split knuckles, black veins still visible on my skin, staring at the woman I love and realizing that holding on too tight is the thing that will destroy us both.
Monty kneels beside me. "Ray…"
"If you say you're sorry," I interrupt, voice deep, "I will break your jaw."
"I wasn't going to apologize." He's quiet for a moment. "I was going to say that my desire is still a problem, but it will be a contained one. I'll help you through this. However I can."
"By wanting my mate?"
"By making sure she survives." He meets my eyes. "Even if that means you hate me forever."
I should hit him. Should banish him. Should do a hundred things that a betrayed Alpha would do.
Instead, I just nod.
Because he's right. Her survival matters more than my pride.
Even if it kills me to admit it.
Kai appears with blankets, covering Alicia's unconscious form. Logan checks her vitals again, murmuring something about stable for now.
And I sit on the floor of her room, my room, surrounded by three males who all want what used to be mine alone.
Twenty-eight days until the Claiming Ceremony.
I'm not sure I'll last twenty-eight hours.