Chapter 124: Soul and Heart

Chapter 124: Soul and Heart
Xavier’s POV

In the next hospital room, the first thing Beta Xavier Caldwell felt was weight. Not the kind that pressed against his chest from wounds or broken bones, but the heavy feeling of his own body refusing to rise.

His limbs were stiff, his breath shallow, his throat dry as sand.

For a moment, he thought he was still on the battlefield. After all, he couldn’t remember whether they had defeated Alpha Ludwig of Abyssal Pack.

He could almost hear the clash of claws, the tearing roars, the cries of werewolves falling all around him. But then the sounds shifted.

Now, all he could hear was a steady beeping, the hiss of a machine, and the faint murmur of voices outside.

It was too still here. Too far from war.

His eyelids twitched, heavy as stone, before he managed to pry them open. Bright light immediately stabbed his eyes.

“Damn it!” he groaned roughly as he tried to move. Even his wolf seemed to stir beneath his skin and threatened to overtake him.

“Xavier?” The voice was softly familiar.

He turned his head slowly, his breath catching when he saw his parents. They were both sitting in stiff chairs near his bed, as though they had been waiting for hours without moving.

His mother, Catarina Caldwell, was the first to rise. Her eyes glistened with tears she had tried to hide. She pressed a hand to her lips, a choked sound escaping as she hurried to his side.

“Oh, thank the Moon Goddess,” she said. “You’re awake...”

His father, Nicholas Caldwell, followed more slowly. Strong shoulders, a lined face—the mark of a man who had seen too many battles and carried them in silence.

He didn’t rush to him like Catarina did. He simply stood at the foot of the bed. But his gaze was steady on Xavier, as if searching for something.

“My boy,” he said gruffly.

Xavier swallowed hard, the sudden ache in his throat. He wanted to smile, to joke, to ease the weight they were all carrying.

But the memories suddenly hit him like a blade to the chest.

Meredith’s lovely face. Her soft voice. The bond that had once burned hot and ate him alive. Now it was faint, so distant, almost gone.

Tears blurred his eyes before he could stop them. “Meredith…” he whispered, the words breaking apart as they left him. “My gorgeous mate has rejected us, hasn’t she?” He paused. “Why?”

Catarina gasped softly, her hands clutching his arm. “No, no, don’t say that—”

But Xavier shook his head, the grief spilling out. “I can feel it, Mom. You don’t have to lie. The mate bond’s fading now. She’s not here anymore, is she? She’s gone…”

His wolf howled inside him. He wanted to tear free of the bed, to run until he found her. But at his current state, he would probably die before he ever found her.

But he would gladly do it anyway, over and over, just to see Meredith once more.

Nicholas’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t move closer, but his words carried weight.

“You’re the Beta, Xavier. You don’t break. Not here, not now. The Alpha will need you when he rises. I’m sorry, but that’s the burden of your oath...”

Xavier’s chest heaved, his emotions fighting the command. He wanted to argue, to scream that he wasn’t just Beta. He was a man as well, someone who had just lost the woman who carried his heart.

What was he now when Meredith was gone? He wished he had just died, than to feel this wound that he knew would never heal.

But his father’s gaze held him firmly. Catarina leaned closer, brushing Xavier’s hair back from his damp forehead. “Your father is right. But you don’t have to harden your heart completely, my boy. We’re here. You know, you don’t carry this alone.”

Xavier closed his eyes, letting her words sink in, though the ache in his chest refused to ease.

‘Meredith, my gorgeous mate,’ he whispered to himself. ‘Where are you?’

When he opened them again, his voice was softer. “I’ll find her. I swear it. Even if it kills me, I’ll bring her back here.”

And for the first time since he had opened his eyes, Nicholas gave a single, quiet nod.

Catarina’s hand was still on his arm when she suddenly looked at Nicholas. It was just a quick glance, but Xavier knew them too well.

Xavier’s eyes narrowed. He had seen that look many times before. The one they shared when there was something they didn’t want to say. Or wanted to lie about.

A knot twisted in his chest. “What is it?” he asked, his voice low. “Please, tell me about it now…”

Catarina’s lips trembled. For a long moment, she said nothing. Then, after a soft cry, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around him.

Her embrace was tight, as if she feared letting go.

“Oh, my boy…” she whispered against his ear. “We tried. We really tried everything to make her stay. I begged her, Xavier. I begged Meredith not to go. But she wouldn’t listen. She said she couldn’t. She said she had to leave. I’m sorry…”

Her body shook as she held him, and Xavier’s heart sank deeper.

“She rejected you, yes,” Catarina continued through her sobs. “Rejected all three of you. And I blame myself. I should have told her more, should have told her what it really felt like. To be human once, thrown into this world.”

She paused for a moment to breathe. “Maybe she would have understood. Maybe she would have stayed. Now, it’s too late.”

Her tears wet Xavier’s hospital gown. His lovely mother was now breaking in his arms. And he could barely bear it.

Xavier’s throat burned. He wanted to deny it, wanted to shout that it wasn’t true. But how could he say so when the hollow in his chest already told him Meredith was gone?

Still, he couldn’t let his mother drown in guilt. No way.

“It’s not your fault,” he whispered. “It’s okay, Mom…”

Nicholas Caldwell stood stiff nearby. But his hands were clenched at his sides, his eyes glistening.

“I’m sorry, son…” His father’s voice cracked in a way Xavier had never heard. “I wasn’t really a great father. I didn’t give you everything you needed. I should have taught you more, prepared you more… maybe then you could have kept her. Maybe then you wouldn’t be here like this.”

The sound of regret in his father’s voice nearly broke Xavier. He shook his head hard, forcing his tears back.

“No.” His voice grew stronger. “Don’t you dare say that. Neither of you.” He reached out, grabbing his mother’s trembling hand and his father’s calloused one.

He added, “Unfortunately, Meredith didn’t succeed in rejecting us all. I’m not sure if you can feel it, but the mate bond is still there. Faint, yes. Farther, yes. But it’s not really gone. Well, not yet.”

He swallowed hard, blinking fast as the truth burned through him.

“Don’t worry, she is still our mate,” he said, his voice low. “She always will be. No matter where she runs, no matter what she says. We belong to her and her only. The Moon Goddess made it so. Nothing can ever break that.”

Catarina’s sobs quieted against his shoulder, and Nicholas’s gaze softened. Though the guilt didn’t leave his eyes.

Xavier tightened his grip on their hands, a spark of hope kindling inside him. Even as he bled, unsure of where or how, he believed it.

Every part of his soul and heart, he would find Meredith no matter what.