Chapter 195

Chapter 195
Madilyn’s POV

Please… just come home.

That was the only thought circling in my mind like a storm refusing to pass.

I sat in the living room, knees pulled tight to my chest, eyes locked on the clock. Each tick echoed like thunder in my ears. It was well past midnight, and Mason still hadn’t come back.

I hadn’t slept. I couldn’t.

The worst part wasn’t even the waiting. It was the bond—our mate bond—it was quiet. Completely silent. As if he’d blocked me out. As if he didn’t want me to feel what he was feeling. That silence screamed louder than anything else.

Ariana was fast asleep in her room. Harrison, our assigned bodyguard, sat in a chair near the front door. His massive frame looked almost too big for the furniture. His sharp eyes kept scanning the room, alert to any danger.

Our apartment was far from the palace, tucked away in a quiet Bloodmoon neighborhood. Mason had chosen this place for us because he couldn’t bear being near the castle—especially after Alaska took his mother’s place. It was supposed to be our safe haven.

Now? It felt like a cage.

Just a few guards were positioned nearby. Enough to keep us safe without drawing attention. But none of that mattered now. My heart was somewhere on the battlefield—with Mason.

I tapped my nails against the armrest. Over and over again. My chest was tight. I couldn’t breathe right. I just wanted to hear his voice. Feel the warmth of his arms. Know that he was okay.

"You know," Harrison said gently, breaking the silence, "you could try sleeping. Time won’t pass any faster like this."

I looked up at him. His kind eyes met mine.

“I’m awake. And I’ll tell you the second Prince Mason is home.”

I offered him a weak smile. He had grown on me quickly. That day, he had kept Ariana laughing with shoulder rides and silly jokes. He even managed to pull a few smiles from me—no small feat, considering the weight crushing my chest.

“I can’t sleep,” I whispered. “Not while he’s out there.”

He nodded like he understood. Then, after a moment, he stood up and began walking around the apartment. He studied the photos and little trinkets I brought back from Riverdale. He pointed at a few of them, asking about each with genuine interest.

I knew what he was doing—trying to distract me.

And it worked.

He stopped at a bold painting of a warrior woman, a gift from Antonia, and smiled. “This one reminds me of my wife, Kara. She’s a force of nature.”

My heart warmed. “Tell me about her.”

His face lit up. “She’s got a laugh that could lift mountains. But since she got pregnant, she’s become so fierce it’s terrifying. Total mama bear mode. One night, she made me search three towns for pickles and ice cream. At midnight.”

I laughed, really laughed, for the first time that night.

“You’re a good husband,” I said.

He shrugged. “She’s everything to me. After this war, I want her to meet Ariana. I think they’d get along.”

He moved to another painting—a white wolf standing under a full moon. He stopped. Eyes wide.

“My wife would go crazy for this,” he said. “She loves white wolf legends. She says they’re chosen by the Moon Goddess herself.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve heard that too.”

He grinned. “She swears there’s more. That when a white wolf dies for their pack, they don’t really die. They fall into a deep sleep. And if their mate is willing to give their own life… the white wolf wakes up.”

I blinked, surprised. “That part’s new to me.”

He laughed. “Probably just her reading too many fantasy books.”

Still, something about that stuck with me. Something deep. Unshakable.

His voice calmed me. The jokes, the warmth, the steady presence—it all worked better than sleep medicine. Before I knew it, my eyelids dropped, heavy with exhaustion.

And just like that… I fell asleep.

\---

Later That Night

Screams shattered the stillness.

I jolted upright.

Harrison was already on his feet, his eyes filled with dread. My pulse roared in my ears as I raced to the window and yanked back the curtain.

My breath caught.

Bodies.

Our guards—dead.

Slaughtered.

They lay twisted on the pavement, limbs bent at unnatural angles, blood pooling beneath them.

“No,” I gasped.

The apartment had been far from the palace. We were hidden. How had they found us?

Then I heard it.

A voice, cold and playful.

“Come out, come out, little Madilyn. Come out wherever you are.”

I looked down—and my heart stopped.

Jared.

He stood in the street like a nightmare given form. His smile was wide. Wild. And beside him stood Jayden, arms draped around a young woman barely out of her teens.

She was pregnant.

More Warpaw soldiers dragged terrified civilians from their homes. An older woman was thrown to the ground, trembling.

Jared’s voice rose again.

“Your husband ruined my army. But he forgot something—you. His weakness.”

He looked directly at our apartment window.

“Jayden knew where to find you. So now, I’m going to kill everyone out here. One by one. Until you and your daughter come out.”

“No—please—” I whispered.

Jared grabbed the old woman—and tore her throat open.

A scream echoed through the room.

For a moment, I thought it was me.

But when I turned, I saw Harrison frozen, pressed against the glass, pale as death.

His eyes weren’t on Jared.

They were on the young girl standing beside Jayden.

She looked up at the window, tears falling down her face.

“I… I know her,” I breathed.

Harrison’s voice came out broken.

“Kara,” he whispered.

And just like that, my heart broke.

She was his wife.

His pregnant wife.

She saw him. And she sobbed, body shaking violently, as if the sound itself was killing her.

He didn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

I stepped beside him, hand resting gently on his arm.

His whole body trembled.

Down in the street, Kara was crying—pleading—looking up at us like we were her last hope.

Jayden tightened his grip on her arm, and her knees buckled.

I knew what was coming.

I knew Jared’s next move.

If I didn’t act—Kara would die.

And so would the others.

I couldn’t let that happen.

Not to her. Not to anyone.

My mind was made up.

I would not let them suffer—not because of me.