Chapter 20 A TRUE QUEEN DOESN'T BREAK DOWN
Chapter 20:
Sera's POV
I shook my head. Tiers streaming down my eyes.
"I can't do this. Deep down, it's making me go crazy."
Lyssa moved around the table, pulled me into a hug I didn't know I needed. I broke completely, sobbing into her shoulder like a child.
"My baby boy is in trouble and it's all my fault. Am such a horrible mother. I don't know how to do this," I gasped between sobs. "How to be strong when everything's falling apart. How to lead when I can barely function. How to-"
"You do it one moment at a time. You are a queen. Regardless of what happens, you aren't meant to break down. Just consider it all as a test phrase." Lyssa held me tighter. "One decision. One breath. One step forward. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to keep going."
"I'm so tired."
"I know."
"I miss my son."
"I know."
"I need Dante to wake up."
"I know."
We stood there in the dark war room, and I let myself be weak. Let myself feel everything I'd been suppressing. The grief, the fear, the overwhelming exhaustion.
For five minutes, I wasn't the Twilight Sovereign. I was just Sera....broken, terrified, and barely holding on.
Then I pulled myself together. Wiped my face. Straightened my spine.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"Anytime." Lyssa squeezed my hand. "Now, you're going to sleep for at least four hours. That's an order from your Commander."
"Commanders don't order Queens."
"This one does when her Queen is about to collapse." She steered me toward the door. "Sleep. I'll wake you if anything changes."
I was too tired to argue.
But sleep, when it came, brought only nightmares. Asher calling for me from darkness. Dante's hand slipping from mine. The mate bond snapping like a broken string.
I woke screaming his name.
\---
Day fourteen. Two weeks since Dante fell. Two weeks since the curse. One week since Asher disappeared.
The mate bond was thread-thin now. Barely there. I could feel Dante hovering on the edge of death, held back only by his Alpha constitution and sheer stubbornness.
He was losing. We all were.
I sat in the healing ward, watching sunrise through the window, and admitted the truth I'd been avoiding.
I was going to lose them both. And there was nothing....nothing....jI could do about it.
The door opened. Marcus entered, looking older than ancient.
"I'm sorry," he said. Just that. Nothing more.
"You tried everything."
"It wasn't enough."
"It never is." I looked at Dante's face, memorizing it. "How long does he have?"
"Hours. Maybe a day. The curse has spread too far. His body is shutting down."
"And Asher?"
Marcus shook his head. "We've exhausted every avenue. Whoever took him covered their tracks perfectly. Without a starting point-"
"We'll never find him." I finished the sentence he couldn't. "I know."
We sat in silence, watching Dante die by inches.
Then, so faint I almost missed it, the bond pulsed. Different than before. Not weaker.
Stronger.
I grabbed his hand. "Dante? Can you hear me?"
Nothing. But the bond pulsed again. Stronger still.
"Marcus-"
"I feel it. Something's changed." He moved closer, magic glowing around his hands as he examined Dante. "The curse, it's still there, but it's not spreading anymore. Something's holding it back."
"What?"
"I don't-" He stopped. Stared at me. "Sera. When's the last time you properly connected with the mate bond? I mean really connected, let it flow between you?"
"I don't know. Days. Why?"
"Try now. Pour your energy through the bond. Let him feel you."
I didn't understand, but I tried. Closed my eyes. Found that thin thread connecting us. And pushed everything through it. my fear, my love, my desperate need for him to survive.
The bond flared. Not dying. Growing stronger.
"He's responding," Marcus said excitedly. "The bond is fighting the curse. Your Lunar Lycan magic mixing with his Alpha strength through the mate connection...it's counteracting the dark magic!"
"Is it working?"
"It's slowing the curse at least. Maybe reversing it. Keep going!"
I poured more into the bond. Every scrap of power I had. Days of exhaustion and grief channeled into saving him.
The bond blazed now. Hot and bright and alive.
Dante's eyes flickered open.
"Sera?" His voice was barely a whisper. Confused. Lost.
"I'm here." Tears streamed down my face. "I'm right here."
"Asher?" His first thought, even barely conscious, was our son.
My heart shattered all over again. "Gone. Someone took him. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry-"
"Find him." His hand gripped mine with surprising strength. "Promise... find him."
"I will. We will. Together."
"Together," he echoed.
Then his eyes closed again. But his breathing was stronger. The curse still there, but no longer advancing.
Not cured. But alive. Fighting.
It was more hope than we'd had in two weeks.
"He'll sleep now," Marcus said. "But he's stable. The bond connection is keeping the curse at bay. As long as you maintain it-"
"I will." I wouldn't let go. Couldn't. "Whatever it takes."
"Sera...this means staying close to him. Constantly. You can't lead two territories from a sickroom."
"Then I'll lead from here." I settled into the chair, hand still gripping Dante's. "Until he's strong enough to wake up. Until we find Asher. I'm not moving."
Marcus opened his mouth to argue, then saw my expression and thought better of it.
"I'll bring you reports," he said instead. "And Sera? We will find Asher. I don't know how yet. But we will."
I wanted to believe him. Needed to believe him.
But in my heart, I wondered if the witch who'd taken everything else would let us keep even that small hope.
Somewhere out there, my son was alone. Scared. Possibly hurt.
And I couldn't reach him.
All I could do was hold onto the mate who'd come back from the edge of death and pray it was enough.
Pray that somehow, somewhere, Asher was fighting too.
Stay strong, baby, I thought desperately. Mama's coming. I don't know how or when, but I'm coming for you.
Just hold on.
Please hold on.