Chapter 138 Not Today pt 1
Seren
Time didn't just slow down. It shattered. Lucian's body jerked as the silver blade drove through him, and then he was falling like a tree cut at the base. The thud of him hitting the ground seemed to echo forever.
"Lucian!" The scream tore out of me, raw and jagged, shredding my throat on the way up.
Alexis, that strong, sassy warrior who hadn't broken even after weeks of torture in the cells, made a sound I'd never heard before. It wasn't a warrior's cry. It was devastation. Large, gut-wrenching sobs that stabbed straight to the heart.
I didn't think. I moved. Enemies still circled him, weapons and claws raised and ready. Someone lunged, aiming for one final blow.
Power exploded around me, in me, through me. A violent shockwave burst from my center, tearing through air and earth alike. The ground trembled beneath my feet. The air rippled visibly, bending like heat over asphalt. Bodies flew. Two dozen warriors were ripped backward as if struck by an invisible wall, slammed into dirt and stone, their weapons scattering like discarded toys. Silence followed.
All I could feel was the frantic weakening pulse of the bond with Lucian. I collapsed beside him, sliding in his blood. It soaked into my palms, hot and metallic. The scent of silver and iron choked the air.
“Hold on,” I breathed, though my hands were already pressing against the wound. Blood pumped between my fingers in terrifying bursts. “Lucian, you have to hold on.” His life was slipping through my hands, seeping red through my fingers.
"You can't leave us, Lucian! I forbid it! You just found your mate!" I pressed harder.
Kara wrapped her warmth around me. The explosion of power had also broken through whatever barrier had remained between us. 'It's going to be okay, sweet girl.'
'No, it's not! He's dying!'
'Trust me.'
Heat gathered low in my stomach, dense and electric. It spread outward, racing through my veins like lightning chasing storm clouds. My arms trembled as it poured down them. My hands began to glow.
'What's happening?' I asked her.
'Your final power.'
The warmth intensified where my palms covered his wound. The blood stopped, just… stopped. Instead of red, shimmering droplets of silver seeped out—luminous, molten, unnatural. The torn flesh twitched beneath my hands. Then it began to knit. It was slow at first, the edges drawing together, muscle reconnecting, skin sealing with quiet determination. I felt every thread reform. Every fiber realign. It wasn’t just flesh I was touching. It was life itself.
Energy poured out of me and into him in steady, relentless waves. My vision blurred at the edges. My heartbeat slowed. The glow spread across his entire body, wrapping him in pale light. His chest rose weakly once…twice…then the light faded. My hands fell away.
He gasped, a deep, ragged inhale that sounded like resurrection, and snapped open his eyes.
"What the fuck just happened?"
The sound that left me was half laugh, half sob. Hysterical relief bubbled up so fast it made me dizzy. This is the first time I've ever heard him curse. He looked at me, his eyes full of questions.
Alexis collapsed against him, hands running over his chest, his shoulders, his face, as if she expected him to dissolve. “You’re okay,” she breathed, voice shaking. “You’re actually okay.”
“I’m okay, love.” He pulled her in, still dazed. “I don’t know how, but I’m okay.”
She smiled through her tears. "Because our princess is a bad-ass, that's how!"
I laughed again. I'm not sure if it was amusement or hysteria, but now that Lucian was alive and talking, it seemed I couldn't really stop.
"What do you mean?" he asked her.
I held out my arm, showing him the new mark. I hadn't even felt it manifest, I was so focused on saving him. The rough-hewn staff filled the empty space, a single snake circling it from bottom to top, rays that looked like sunshine connecting it to the rest of the markings on my arm. A clear indication to anyone who looks that I'm a…healer.
I can heal. That's my final power. Unlocked when I needed it most, to save one of the people bonded to me. The realization finally struck me now that the immediate emergency was handled, and I fell back onto my ass, shock replacing the joy.
Sebastian, Jason, and Paul moved around us, keeping an eye on the bodies on the ground and the rest of the pack. Sebastian held out a hand to me, helping me up. "We need to keep moving, Luna. I know it's a lot. Are you able to run?"
I nodded, looking over at Lucian. Paul was helping him up, Alexis at his side. He was moving well, no sign that he'd just taken a silver blade through the ribs and courted death. "I'll manage."
"We need to go now. There are pack members who saw what just happened and more on the way," Paul said, pointing to a group coming around the corner of the pack house in the distance and some stragglers wandering around.
I shifted, and the others, barring Amelia, did the same. She glanced up at me, then cast her eyes back down immediately. "I can't shift. My wolf…she's gone quiet."
'We'll carry her,' Kara said. She walked over to Amelia and lowered her shoulder to make it easier for her to climb up on her back. Amelia looked confused, her brows furrowing. Kara swung her head around and tossed it towards her back, clearly telling her to get on. Her hands trembling, she finally tossed a leg up and climbed. Once she was seated, I took off.
Iason, Lucian's wolf, ran up beside us. Alexis was directly behind him, and the others fell in around us as we headed north. We left Silver Rain behind us, the patrols having been knocked out by my power blast. I didn't know where Alpha Brian was at this point, but that was a problem for a different day.
Exhaustion was setting in. Amelia's weight, though it wasn't much, was enough to drain me when added to the energy that I spent from healing Lucian and everything else I'd been through today, and Kara's steps started to slow. We finally stumbled to a stop after about an hour of nothing but running, and as soon as Amelia slid off, I shifted back. Lucian was kneeling in front of me before I could blink.
"Luna? You okay?"
"I need a minute. I'm sorry. I'm just…completely worn out…" My vision was going fuzzy. Maybe I had pushed myself too hard after that massive power surge.
"It's okay. We can rest here for a bit." He looked up at the warriors. "Check the area, set up a guard. It's as good a spot as any to wait for Gideon. We should be crossing paths with him soon."
Gideon. That's right, he said my brother was coming. He'll help. Our bond should help. I clung to that thought as the world tilted.