Chapter 81

Chapter 81
Noland POV

I woke up coughing.

Dust filled my mouth, my nose, my lungs. I turned my head and spat, gagging as I sucked in air that burned all the way down. Something heavy pressed against my legs, pinning them, and when I tried to move, pain shot through my side.

“Shit,” I muttered.

My ears rang, but I could hear voices. Groans. Someone swearing nearby.

The first thing I did without even thinking about it — was reach for the bond.

Nothing.

My heart slammed hard enough to hurt.

“No,” I whispered. “No, no, no…”

I pushed again, panic rising fast and ugly. The bond wasn’t gone. It was just… quiet. Too quiet. Like someone holding their breath.

Lucien.

I sucked in another breath and shoved at the rubble on my legs. Stone shifted. Wood cracked. My knee screamed when I dragged it free, but I didn’t stop.

“Lucien!” I shouted this time.

My voice came out rough, but it was loud enough.

Something answered — not his voice, but the bond flickering weakly, like a pulse under my skin.

Relief hit so hard I had to sit there for a second, shaking.

“Okay,” I muttered. “Okay. You’re alive. Stay alive.”

I pulled myself upright and looked around.

Hollow Creek barely looked like Hollow Creek.

Parts of the clearing were gone — just gone. Trees snapped or half-buried. Stone everywhere. Wolves crawling out from wherever they’d landed, helping each other up, calling names.

Then I saw her.

“Tiara.”

She was lying a short distance away, on her side, dust in her hair, one arm tucked under her like she’d fallen asleep.

I didn’t think. I ran.

I dropped to my knees beside her and touched her cheek. Warm. Too warm for comfort, but alive. Her chest moved, shallow and steady.

“Hey,” I whispered, brushing her curls back. “Snowflake. You with me?”

Nothing.

My chest tightened. I shook her gently. “Tiara. Come on. Daddy’s here.”

She didn’t wake, but she breathed.

I pulled her into my arms and held her there, rocking slightly without realizing I was doing it.

“You scared me,” I murmured into her hair. “You don’t ever do that again. You hear me?”

A voice behind me snorted weakly.

“Well,” Mara said, limping closer. “At least someone gets a nap.”

I looked up. She was bleeding from her temple, one arm wrapped tight against her ribs.

“You alive?” I asked.

“Unfortunately,” she replied. “Everything hurts.”

“Good.”

She glanced at Tiara. “She okay?”

“Out cold,” I said. “Breathing.”

Mara nodded. “Good. Because if she wasn’t, I’d be burning the world down.”

Eli stumbled into view behind her, face streaked with dirt and tears. He took one look at me holding Tiara and just stopped.

“Oh gods,” he said, voice breaking. “I thought— I thought she—”

“She’s alive,” I said quickly.

Eli dropped to his knees anyway and pressed his hands into the ground, shoulders shaking. Mara moved without comment and wrapped her arm around him.

“Breathe,” she told him. “Just breathe.”

Someone shouted from the far side of the clearing. “Roland’s here! He’s hurt but awake!”

I turned just as two wolves dragged Roland into view. He was pale, blood soaking through his shirt, but his eyes were open.

He spotted me and lifted his head slightly. “You look terrible,” he said.

I let out a shaky laugh. “You should see yourself.”

“Working on it,” he muttered, then winced. “Did we stop them?”

“For now,” I said.

That seemed to satisfy him. He closed his eyes again.

Then the bond surged.

Not gentle. Not quiet.

Lucien.

I turned fast, scanning the debris near the treeline.

“Over here!” Luke shouted. “We’ve got him!”

I was on my feet in seconds, Tiara still clutched tight in one arm. Lucien was being pulled out from under a collapsed section of stone, blood streaking his face, one arm hanging stiff at his side.

But his eyes were open.

And when he saw me—

“Noland,” he breathed.

That was it. I handed Tiara carefully to Mara and crossed the space between us.

Luke let go as soon as I reached him. Lucien swayed, then leaned into me heavily, forehead dropping against my shoulder.

I grabbed him and held on.

“You’re alive,” I said, voice low and unsteady. “You’re really alive.”

“So are you,” he murmured back. “I felt you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I thought I lost you.”

“You didn’t,” he said quietly. “I’m still here.”

We stayed like that longer than we should have.

Someone cleared their throat nearby. “Uh… Alpha?”

Lucien straightened with a hiss, pain finally catching up to him. He took a breath, squared his shoulders.

“Count everyone,” he said. “Now. I want names.”

Wolves moved immediately.

I went back to Tiara, taking her from Mara again. She shifted in my arms but didn’t wake.

Names were called. Answers came back.

When Maya’s name was spoken—

Silence.

I felt Lucien tense before anyone said anything.

“She was shielding the child,” Mara said softly. “If the blast threw her…”

Lucien nodded once. “We’ll find her.”

Rhett appeared beside us, leaning heavily on his staff. He looked exhausted, older somehow.

“The child closed something,” he said quietly. “Something dangerous.”

Lucien didn’t respond. He was watching Tiara like nothing else existed.

As if she sensed it, she stirred.

Her eyes fluttered open.

“Daddy?” she whispered.

“I’m here,” I said instantly. “I’ve got you.”

She blinked slowly, then looked around. “Did… did we win?”

Lucien knelt beside us despite the pain written all over him.

“We’re still here,” he said gently. “That means something.”

Tiara nodded, satisfied, and closed her eyes again.

I held her close.

Around us, wolves moved. Talked. Laughed weakly. Cried openly.

Hollow Creek was broken.

But it was still standing.

And for the first time in a long while, that was enough.