Chapter 61 Chapter 0061
•DANTE•
For a long moment after Arsela finished speaking, she turned to the door and left. Cassandra and I didn't say anything until the door closed behind Arsela.
If Mason didn’t come to see her within two days, she would die.
I looked at Cassandra because I knew that those words had struck her far harder than they struck me.
Her hands trembled while she stared at Alena on the hospital bed, which made my chest tighten with a painful mixture of helplessness and anger.
“No,” she whispered. “No… I can’t do that. Mason can't know about Alena. He will ruin everything I have built here with you, Dante. Silvercrest will take everything away from me again, and I won't be able to handle that.”
I stepped closer to her.
“Cass—”
“I can’t let Mason be in her life,” she answered, her voice cracking as she turned toward me with tears gathering in her eyes. “Do you understand that?”
I did understand. More than she probably realized. I had been there with her from the very first day she found out she was pregnant with Alena.
The history between Cassandra and the Silvercrest pack wasn't something that could be ignored or forgotten.
The wounds left behind by their accusations and their banishment were still painfully fresh even after all these years.
“They threw me out like I was a traitor,” she continued bitterly, her voice shaking. “They accused me of treason, Dante. They took everything from me and forced me to run while I was pregnant.”
Her gaze shifted back to Alena.
“I built this life for her,” she whispered. “A safe life where no one could hurt us again.”
I reached out and gently placed my hand on her shoulder. “Cass—”
“And now the Moon Goddess expects me to bring Mason back into her life?” she continued, her voice rising as the frustration poured out of her. “After everything he allowed his pack to do to me?”
Her shoulders began to shake as she tried to hold back her tears.
“This feels like a punishment,” she whispered hoarsely. “Like the Moon Goddess is punishing me for trying to protect my child.”
The pain in her voice was enough to make my chest ache.
I pulled her gently into my arms and held her close while she cried against my chest, her fingers gripping the front of my shirt.
“This isn’t a punishment,” I muttered. "We must do what we must to bring Alena back to us."
“It feels like a punishment,” she replied. "I would rather die than take my daughter back to the same place that treated me like dirt while I was carrying her in my womb. They all chanted that I should be kicked out and banished while Alena was growing inside me!"
I looked over her shoulder at Alena lying silently on the hospital bed, surrounded by machines that beeped steadily in the dim light of the ICU.
My jaw tightened.
“I’m going to talk to Arsela,” I answered. "I will find a way around all this."
Cassandra pulled back slightly and looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“I want to know if there’s another way,” I replied. “If there’s anything else we can do to wake her up without bringing Mason here.”
For a moment, hope flickered faintly in her eyes. “You think there might be another way?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I won’t stop looking for one.”
She nodded. “Please try,” she whispered.
I squeezed her hand once before turning toward the door and stepping out into the hallway.
Arsela stood near the window, her arms crossed, as she stared thoughtfully into the darkness outside the hospital.
She looked up when she heard my footsteps.
“You want to ask if there is another solution,” she scoffed. "Is that right, Dante?"
I stopped in front of her. “You already know what I’m going to ask.”
She gave a faint, knowing smile. “Yes, and I would say it's very brave of you. You love them.”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to keep the frustration out of my voice. “Then tell me,” I said. “Is there any other way to wake Alena without bringing Mason here?”
Arsela studied me carefully for a few seconds before she shook her head.
“No.”
“There must be something,” I insisted. “There must be a spell or a ritual you can do to bring her back to us.”
“If there was another way,” she replied. “I would have told you.”
I clenched my jaw.
“She has two days,” Arsela continued. “After that, her soul will drift too far into the limbo she is trapped in, and not even her father will be able to bring her back.”
I leaned back against the wall and exhaled. “Cassandra will never forgive me if I call him,” I muttered.
Arsela tilted her head slightly. “And how will she feel if her daughter dies?”
I closed my eyes and breathed.
“Call him,” Arsela added. “Whatever history exists between them doesn't matter right now. The child’s life comes first.”
I knew she was right, but it didn’t make the decision any easier. Even though Cassandra would have Alena back, she would never forgive me for telling Mason about her and Alena.
After a moment of silence, Arsela stepped closer to me. “There is something else you should know,” she added.
I frowned. “What?”
Her gaze drifted down toward my hand. More specifically, toward the silver ring resting on my finger.
My heartbeat slowed.
“What about it?” I asked.
Her eyes darkened with something that looked almost like concern. “The full moon is coming,” she answered.
“So?”
She looked back up at me. "That ring you are wearing, the one that hides what you truly are—" Arsela’s voice lowered. “It will not protect you much longer.”
My chest tightened and I didn't answer.
I didn't want that part of me to ruin everything I had built. This ring had been the only thing that guarded me and kept me from turning feral.
"You can't run away from it forever, Dante," she added. "At least now you won't."