Chapter 87: SPARKS IN THE ASHES

AVRIELLE’S POV

Everywhere I looked, the sacred clearing—a place that was supposed to have hosted our sacred bond ceremony—had been turned into a graveyard.

Pack warriors and logistics teams were already flooding the clearing in organized waves. Dead bodies were being carefully lifted onto stretchers and moved to the edge of the woods, where family members and pack mates gathered in anxious, weeping crowds to identify their lost loved ones. The air was filled with low, heartbroken wails.

Doctor Aris, along with a small army of his assistants and field nurses, roamed back and forth across the bloodied grass.

They were moving rapidly from one fallen guard to another, tying tourniquets, applying silver-burn salves, and stabilizing the heavily wounded before carrying them off toward the estate’s medical wing.

I sat on the lower stone step of the altar, my elbows resting on my knees, my hands stained with dried blood and gunpowder.

Beside me, Xavier sat completely motionless, his head hung low, staring blankly at the dark stain on the gravel where Malphas’s body had lain before the enforcers carried it away. His shoulders were tense, his chest rising and falling in shallow, heavy breaths.

Doctor Aris finished tightly wrapping a thick linen bandage around Beta Kaiden’s bleeding thigh. Kaiden gritted his teeth, letting out a sharp grunt of pain as the doctor secured the knot, before pushing himself up against a stone pillar with a grim nod of gratitude.

Doctor Aris wiped his blood-stained hands on a small towel, picked up his leather medical bag, and walked slowly over to where Xavier and I were sitting.

He bowed his head respectfully, his tired eyes scanning the severe cuts, dark purple bruises, and silver burns marking the Alpha’s frame before looking at the deep bruises darkening my neck.

“Can I treat your wounds now, Alpha?” Doctor Aris asked softly, his voice full of solemn exhaustion.

Xavier didn’t even look up. His voice came out cold, flat, and uncompromising, carrying that rigid, selfless weight he always wore like armor. “Go attend to the pack members,” Xavier ordered sternly, his eyes fixed on the dirt. “There are warriors over by the western arch who need immediate care. I am fine.”

I let out a low, irritated scoff, turning my head to glare at him sideways. “Treat his wounds,” I commanded Doctor Aris, my tone leaving zero room for debate.

Xavier’s head snapped toward me, his brows pulling together in a frown of protest. “Avrielle, I...”

“If you don’t treat yours, I won’t treat mine,” I interrupted flatly, crossing my arms over my chest and staring him dead in the eye. “And mine will get infected. Is that what you want, Alpha?”

Xavier stared at me, his mouth opening slightly as if to argue, but the fierce, unyielding glare in my eyes cut him off before he could utter a single word.

The faint trace of a defeated, exhausted sigh escaped his lips. He looked back up at Doctor Aris and nodded resignedly, “Treat them. And treat hers too.”

“Understood Alpha, My Lady,” Doctor Aris replied, a subtle flick of relief passing through his eyes.

The doctor knelt in the gravel between us. He moved quickly and efficiently, opening his medical kit and pulling out silver-neutralizing salves, disinfectant alcohol, and clean linen wraps.

He cleaned the deep gash along Xavier’s shoulder, applying a cooling green paste that immediately subdued the pain.

Then he turned to me, gently applying a soothing, cool gel to the purple handprints choking my throat and wrapping a lightweight guard around my bruised ribs.

The medicine stung like ice, but I didn’t flinch. I just stared straight ahead, watching the pack members clear the field.

Doctor Aris finished securing the final bandage around my wrist and stood up, bowing respectfully.

“That will hold for now. You both need rest and proper stitches once the perimeter is fully secured.”

Xavier pushed himself up from the stone step, his frame towering once more, though his posture remained weighted down by grief.

He looked toward Kaiden and Ryan, who were standing nearby surrounded by squad leaders.

“Take all the deceased to the sacred burial grounds,” Xavier ordered, his voice echoing across the quieted clearing with solemn authority. “Every single one of them. They will all be buried with proper pack rites… as they died as heroes defending our home.”

Kaiden and Ryan nodded solemnly.

“Understood, Alpha,” Kaiden said, his voice grave. “We will personally oversee the honors.”

“I’ll have the vanguard organize the escort lines right away,” Ryan added, turning on his heel to begin barking orders to the logistics guards.

As the enforcers began carefully lifting the fallen warriors, I stood up from the stone step. My body ached in every joint, but a heavy, unbearable stone was resting right in the center of my chest.

I turned to Doctor Aris, who was packing away his leftover bandages. “Can you check on one last person for me?” I asked quietly, my voice barely above a whisper.

Doctor Aris paused, looking at me with gentle, respectful eyes. “What would you like me to do, My Lady?” he murmured softly.

“This way, please,” I said.

I turned and walked slowly up the stone steps of the altar, heading straight toward the archway of shattered frost-vines.

Doctor Aris followed right behind my heels.

I stopped in front of Elena’s body.

She lay under the shade of the stone arch, looking so small and still but her pale face was exposed to the light.

The blood on her chest had dried into a deep, dark crimson patch, and her eyes remained closed, framed by her long, dark lashes.

My knees gave out, and I sank down beside her onto the freezing floor.

My trembling hand reached out, my fingers caressing her cold cheek, smoothing a soft lock of brown hair away from her forehead.

The memory of her last smile—the way she had called me her sister right before her hand went limp—tore through my heart like a physical blade.

I looked up at Doctor Aris, tears welling in the corners of my eyes. “Can you please help check if there’s anything I can do to wake her up?” I asked, my voice cracking with a desperate, pathetic hope.

Doctor Aris looked at me weirdly, his brows furrowing in a mix of confusion and deep sympathy.

He knew as well as everyone else on the field that the bullet had punched straight through her chest hours ago. Who could wake the deceased?

To any trained eye, she was gone.

“My Lady…” he started gently, his tone cautious.

“Can you at least check her heart rate and see if she’s still alive?!” I begged, my hand tightening slightly against Elena’s cold shoulder.

“Please, doctor Aris! I do not want to believe she’s dead… just check her! Please!”

Doctor Aris let out a small, compassionate sigh. He didn’t want to cruel her hope, but he respected my command.

He knelt down beside me on the hard stone, setting his leather kit aside. He reached out two fingers, placing them gently against the side of Elena’s pale neck, right over her carotid artery.

He stayed still for several long, excruciating seconds.

The clearing around us seemed to hold its breath.

Doctor Aris slowly shook his head, looking up at me with profound sorrow in his eyes. He gave a small nod of condolence.

“I’m sorry… but there is no pulse. Her body has gone cold.”

My shoulders sagged.

The tiny spark of hope inside my chest flickered and died. Tears spilled over my eyelashes, burning my cheeks as I looked back down at Elena’s face.

“I see…” I whispered, my voice choking. “Thank you for...”

Twitch.

My words cut off instantly.

Right beneath the edge of the blue silk dress, Elena’s left hand—her tiny, blood-stained fingers—flinched.

It wasn’t a trick of the light.

Her index finger curled inward, twitching once, twice, against the floor.

My eyes widened in pure, unadulterated shock. My heart slammed into my ribs like a battering ram.

“You saw that, right?!” I gasped, grabbing Doctor Aris’s arm with a desperate, terrifying grip, pointing frantically at her hand. “You saw that! Tell me you saw that!”

Doctor Aris blinked, his eyes glued to her hand in utter bewilderment. His jaw dropped slightly.

“Yes… yes, I saw it!”

He lunged forward instantly, tearing the leather kit open, pulling out a small wooden stethoscope and pressing it hard against the center of her bloodied chest, right beside the bullet wound.

He leaned in, his face tense, listening with absolute concentration.

After five terrifying seconds, Doctor Aris’s eyes snapped wide open.

“It’s muscle memory… but no, wait!” Aris stammered, his professional composure completely shattering as his fingers frantically searched her throat again.

“There’s a faint, microscopic thread of electrical activity! Her wolf’s latent blood-dormancy is trying to kick in! It’s muscle memory and faint nerve retention, but if she still has that… if her core hasn’t completely severed… then there’s a chance she can be saved!”

A wave of pure, overwhelming joy crashed over me so hard I nearly collapsed back onto the stone.

A wet, breathless laugh burst from my throat, tears of pure relief spilling down my face.

I threw my head back toward the clearing sky, clutching my hands tightly over my heart.

“Thank you, Moon Goddess!” I chanted, my voice trembling with hysterical gratitude. “Thank you! Thank you!”

I turned back to Doctor Aris, grabbing his shoulders, my dark eyes blazing with an absolute, fierce demand.

“Inform your team to move her immediately for immediate treatment!” I ordered, my voice ringing with absolute Luna authority.

“Get the trauma stretchers! Put her on full life-support magic and wolf-blood transfusions right now!”

“Right away!” Doctor Aris yelled, turning around to shout at his medical assistants across the field.

“Trauma team! On the altar! Now! Bring the stasis kit!”

Before Aris could step away, a young pack messenger came running across the damaged clearing at top speed.

His breath was ragged, his face pale with shear panic as he waved his arms frantically in the air.

“ALPHA! ALPHA!” the messenger screamed, his voice carrying over the noise of the stretchers and cleanup crews.

Xavier, who was standing near the base of the altar supervising the removal of the Ironclaw bodies, turned his head instantly.

He stepped toward the messenger, his brows pulling together into a sharp frown as he stood up from beside where Malphas had fallen.

“What is it?” Xavier asked sternly, his shoulders squaring.

The messenger slid to a halt in front of Xavier, panting hard, clutching his knees as he fought for air.

“It’s… it’s Miss Ivana!” the messenger gasped out, terror laced in every word.

“Miss Ivana, the Minister of Labor’s mate… she just went into labor! And it’s critical! The contractions hit all at once, and her waters broke! But the heavy attack destroyed the western medical annex… there are no doctors around her estate to help her with the labor! She’s all alone!”

Xavier’s golden eyes narrowed. A sudden spike of urgency filled the air.

I'd forgotten about Ivana.

She lost her mate already... If she lost her child now, the tragedy would consume her completely.

Xavier turned his head, his sharp golden eyes locking onto me where I stood on the altar steps.

I didn’t hesitate for a single fraction of a second.

The grief, the trauma, the blood on my hands—all of it was pushed aside into a cold, focused corner of my mind.

Life was fighting to begin in the middle of all this death, and I wasn’t going to let it fail.

I stood up straight, smoothing down my dark jeans, my voice firm and clear.

“Okay,” I said, stepping down the stone stairs toward Xavier. “We’ll head there now.”

I turned my head back toward Doctor Aris, who was currently guiding two paramedics as they carefully lifted Elena onto a magic-reinforced stasis stretcher.

I caught Aris’s eyes, locking them with a serious, deeply emotional look.

“I’ll entrust Elena to you,” I said softly, every word carrying the weight of my soul. “Please… do everything in your power to save her. This is the first favor I will ever ask from you as your Luna. Thank you.”

Doctor Aris stopped, placing his hand over his heart, bowing his head deeply.

“I give you my life on it, Luna. She will receive every drop of care we have.”

I gave him a quick, grateful nod, then turned back to Xavier.

Xavier turned his head toward the large group of field nurses and trauma assistants standing by the medical supply tents.

His voice boomed across the clearing like thunder.

“Who specializes in childbirth here?!” Xavier demanded.

Out of the crowd of nearly twenty medical personnel, five nurses immediately raised their hands, stepping forward with anxious, ready expressions.

Xavier pointed his finger at three of them—a senior beta woman with calm eyes and two younger trauma nurses holding mid-wife kits.

“You three,” Xavier barked. “Come with us. Right now!”

“Yes, Alpha!” the three nurses chorused, snatching up their medical satchels and running straight toward the perimeter.

Xavier turned on his heel, taking wide, rapid strides toward the black armored SUV parked near the edge of the sacred clearing.

I followed closely behind his heels, the three nurses running right beside me.

We reached the vehicle.

Xavier pulled the rear door open, allowing the three nurses to scramble into the back seat with their satchels.

He held the front passenger door open for me, his hand resting gently against my waist as he guided me into the leather seat.

His golden eyes searched my face for a split second, checking if I was okay, before he slammed the door shut.

He rounded the front of the SUV, threw himself into the driver’s seat, and slammed his foot flat onto the accelerator.

The engine roared to life with a violent rumble.

The SUV tore out of the clearing, its heavy tires spitting gravel and dry dirt as Xavier drove off at full speed, weaving the massive vehicle through the dense forest tracks toward the residential quarter of the pack territory.

The three nurses in the back were frantically preparing sterile cloths, silver shears, and healing herbs from their kits, whispering quiet instructions to one another.

Xavier kept both hands locked around the steering wheel at ten and two, his knuckles turning white as he pushed the armored car far past its speed limits.

Within less than ten minutes, the dense forest cleared, opening into the grand, quiet residential estate district.

The SUV swerved hard around a stone fountain, coming to a violent, screeching halt right in front of a grand, familiar two-story stone house— a house I now referred to in my mind simply as Ivana’s home.

The moment the tires stopped moving, the three nurses threw the rear doors open and leaped out, snatching their heavy bags.

Xavier threw his door open, rounded the hood in a flash, and opened my door, extending a hand to help me step down onto the stone driveway.

We didn’t say a word.

We moved together in one swift, urgent wave, charging up the wide marble steps toward the front entrance.

The front door was unlocked, pushed half an inch open.

Xavier shoved the door open, and we stepped into the grand foyer.

My breath caught in my throat. My eyes widened in pure, heartbreaking shock.

Lying on the polished hardwood floor of the hallway was Ivana.

She was dressed in a soft, light-blue silk maternity gown, now soaked through with fluid and faint traces of blood around her hem.

Her face was pale as death, slick with sweat, her dark hair matted against her forehead.

She was gasping for air, her fingernails digging violently into the wooden floor as she dragged her heavily pregnant body inch by inch toward the front door, panting hard as she tried desperately to bottle up the agonizing screams tearing through her throat.

“Ivana!” I gasped, rushing forward.

Before I could even reach her, Xavier reacted. He stepped past me in a single, massive stride, dropping to one knee beside her.

With gentle, unbelievable care that contrasted sharply with the deadly monster he had been moments ago on the battlefield, Xavier slid his broad arms beneath her back and knees, lifting her heavy frame off the hard floor and pulling her securely against his broad chest.

Ivana let out a sharp, choked gasp of pain, clutching frantically at Xavier’s torn shirt.

“th… the pain… it’s… it’s coming too fast…”

“Hold on, Ivana,” Xavier said, his voice deep, steady, and strangely soothing as he carried her effortlessly up the grand staircase. “We have nurses here. You’re going to be fine.”

I ran up the stairs right beside him, guiding the three nurses as they followed close behind our heels with their heavy medical bags.

Xavier reached the top of the stairs, turned down the wide corridor, and kicked open the door to the master bedchamber.

He walked straight over to the massive, soft king-sized bed, gently laying Ivana down onto the crisp white sheets.

The second her back hit the mattress, another violent contraction hit her.

Ivana threw her head back, letting out a sharp, agonizing shriek as her hands gripped the bedsheets, her entire body arching in raw pain.

The three nurses didn’t waste a single second.

They moved like a well-oiled machine.

The senior Beta nurse stepped up to the edge of the bed, spreading clean white towels beneath Ivana’s hips, while the other two nurses pulled out sterile silver instruments, boiling water charms, and warm cloths.

The senior nurse checked Ivana’s dilation, her face growing instantly serious.

She looked up at us standing by the foot of the bed.

“She’s fully dilated! The baby is coming right now!” the senior nurse called out urgently.

She turned her head, looking straight at Xavier.

“Alpha, can you wait outside? We need space to work!”

Xavier paused, his golden eyes darting from Ivana’s writhing form to the nurses. He turned his head toward me, looking into my eyes with a quiet, questioning look.

“What about you?” Xavier asked softly, his voice low.

I smoothed my hair back, taking a step closer to the side of the bed, grabbing Ivana’s cold, trembling hand as another contraction shook her frame.

I looked back at Xavier with absolute certainty.

“I’m staying,” I said firmly.

Xavier looked at me for a beat, his face softening. He gave me a single, firm nod.

“Understood,” he murmured.

He turned on his heel, walked toward the bedchamber entrance, and stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind him.