Chapter 67 THE BETA'S FALL

Chapter 67 THE BETA'S FALL
ALICIA'S POV

The mate bond with Monty snaps like a severed rope.

One second it is there connecting us through love and need and shared purpose. The next it is gone. Just empty space where warmth used to be. The absence is so sudden and complete that I scream without meaning to.

"Monty!" His name tears from my throat raw and desperate.

Morrison lowers his hand. The casual gesture that broke my mate's neck. Killed him like it meant nothing. Like Monty's life was just a demonstration of power instead of everything to me.

"You see?" Morrison's voice is calm and reasonable. "I can end any of them whenever I choose. Each one dies the moment you defy me again."

But I can't process words when the bond is screaming silence in my head. When Monty's presence has vanished from my soul like he never existed.

Morrison's magic releases. The freeze holding everyone in place breaks all at once. Warriors collapse gasping. Ray shifts to human form stumbling. Kai catches himself against the wall. Logan drops to his knees coughing.

I don't care about any of them. Just run. Sprint toward where Monty fell outside the medical wing. My bare feet slip on blood but I don't slow down. Can't slow down.

The corridor stretches forever. Each step takes too long. Each second without Monty's presence in the bond carves me hollow.

Then I see him.

Monty lies crumpled against the far wall. His head tilts at an angle that is completely wrong. His eyes stare at nothing. Blood trickles from his nose and mouth. His chest doesn't move.

"No." I fall beside him. My hands hover over his body not knowing where to touch. "No no no please no."

Luna is still strapped to my chest. She starts crying. The sound should matter but it doesn't, except Monty not breathing.

"Wake up." I touch his face. His skin is still warm. Still feels alive even though the bond says he is gone. "Please wake up. Please don't leave me."

Ray appears beside me. His hand checks for a pulse that isn't there. "Alicia. He is gone. Monty is gone."

"No." I shake my head. "The bond could be wrong. It happens sometimes. Wolves survive worse injuries. We can fix this."

"His neck is broken." Kai kneels on Monty's other side. "Spinal cord severed. Brain death was instant."

"Then I heal him!" I place my free hand on Monty's chest. "I healed you when you were dying. I can heal him too."

Silver power floods into Monty's body. I push it hard, demanding his cells regenerate. His heart restart. 

Nothing happens. The power finds only empty meat, no life force to anchor to. 

"Stop." Logan pulls my hand away gently. "Alicia you are hurting yourself. The power cannot reverse death."

"I have to try!" I wrench free and try again. Pour everything I have into Monty's corpse. "He sang to Luna. He held her. He was supposed to be here!"

"How?" I look up at Kai with tears streaming down my face. "How did you survive losing everyone?"

"I didn't." Kai meets my eyes. "Part of me died with them. What remained was just survival and rage." He pauses. "But you have Luna. You have Ray and Logan. You have pack. You are not drowning alone."

"It feels alone." The grief is crushing. "It feels like dying."

Kai touches Monty's shoulder. "That is what mate bonds mean. Two souls becoming one. When one dies the other tears in half." His eyes hold terrible understanding. "But half a soul still breathes. You keep going because Luna needs you. Because Monty would be furious if you gave up after he died protecting you."

The truth of it hits hard. Monty died because Morrison used him as an example. 

"He was brave." The words hurt to say. "Until the very end."

"He was your mate." Ray's voice is thick with his own grief. "And he deserves better than bleeding out in a destroyed corridor."

Logan stands and gives quiet orders. Warriors appear with a stretcher. They lift Monty's body with reverence. Someone closes his staring eyes. Someone else folds his hands across his chest.

I watch them carry him away and the finality crashes over me. Monty is really gone. No power or pleading will bring him back.

Luna's crying intensifies. She feels my breakdown through our connection. I should comfort her but I don't know how when I am shattered myself.

"I am sorry baby." I rock her automatically. "Mama is so sorry."

"You need medical attention." Logan's voice is gentle but firm. "The silver wound Morrison gave you has reopened."

I look down and see blood soaking my shirt. The stab wound. In all the chaos I forgot about it.

"Nothing matters." My voice sounds distant. 

"Luna matters." Ray grips my shoulders. "Alicia look at me. Luna matters. Your remaining mates matter. The pack matters. Monty's death cannot be for nothing."

I hate that he is right, but Luna needs me strong enough to protect her from Morrison and Jake and whoever comes next.

"Okay." I force the word out. “Treat the wound, but I will stay with Luna."

They guide me back to the medical wing. Sarah clears a private room. Logan cuts away my ruined shirt and starts cleaning the injury.

"No surgery." I hold Luna closer. "Just bandage it. I will heal eventually."

"Eventually might not be soon enough." Logan's frustration shows. "Alicia you cannot keep pushing yourself like this."

"I can until this is over." I meet his eyes. "Until Morrison is really dead, then I will rest."

Logan wants to argue. I see it in his face. But he just nods and starts stitching without anesthesia. 

Logan finishes stitching and starts bandaging. "There. That should hold, but Alicia you need real rest."

"After we bury Monty." I cannot rest until I say goodbye properly. "I owe him that."

They don't argue.

The sun sets while we prepare the funeral pyre. Traditional pack farewell for a fallen warrior. Monty's body lies on top wrapped in ceremonial cloth. His face is peaceful now. Almost like he is sleeping.

The entire pack gathers. 

Ray speaks first as Alpha. "Today we lost a Beta, a warrior, and a mate. Monty gave his life protecting his Luna and daughter. There is no greater honor."

More speeches follow. Stories of Monty's loyalty and courage and quiet strength. I hear them distantly.

Then it is my turn. I step forward with Luna in my arms and look at Monty's wrapped body.

"Monty loved me before I knew he existed." My voice is steady somehow.” I pause and touched Luna's soft hair. "He held you. Sang to you. Called you perfect. And he died protecting you. That is who your Papa Monty was. Brave and selfless and full of love."

The pack howls. One voice joining another until hundreds cry their grief to the heavens. I try to join but my voice cannot release the sound that would make this final.

So I just stand holding Luna

"We should go inside." Logan's voice is soft. "You need rest."

"Not yet." I cannot look away from the body that was about to be buried. "Just a few more minutes."