Kael’s POV
We could only watch her being hurt. We had no way to help her anymore, and it was infuriating.
Isla arrived there as well and witnessed everything with us.
"He can take care of her," Isla said. "Let’s discuss what we planned before."
Leaving Eira to Roman, I turned to walk back with Isla and Liam while the other three stayed there, unwilling to leave her side. I didn’t wish to either—all I wanted was to hold her, to comfort her—but she wouldn’t want me near. Discussing the matter with her doctor to heal her was my priority. The other four could look after her well.
"You saw how furious she became when I spoke of her suffering," Isla said gravely. "It is normal, given her condition. But dangerous all the same."
I could understand that as well.
"Her psyche is highly volatile," Isla continued, "and frighteningly unpredictable in what she may do next. She is fiercely protective when it comes to her pets, deeply emotional when it concerns her son, seething with rage when it comes to you five Alphas—or any man at all. And when it touches on the past six years, she retreats entirely.
"Her mind has been trained to lock that part of her life away, isolating her from it completely. It is a subconscious defense, something she must have cultivated over time. But it is not good. Her suicidal thoughts stem from that very fracture. We must unlock it. We must make her confront it, speak of it, release all that poison she has buried. That is the only way forward, as I told you before."
"Her emotions are either burning at extremes or extinguished altogether," Liam added solemnly. "We need to stabilize her. And Kael, you cannot delay. Her first shift, her first heat—she cannot face them in this state. The longer you hesitate, the longer her torment stretches, and the deeper the harm will root itself."
"I will make preparations today," I promised them, my voice steady though my heart trembled. "You will both be there."
"Liam and I both," Isla assured me with quiet resolve. Liam met my gaze, offering a nod of faith that told me to trust the doctor, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Gods, this was going to be unbearably difficult.
They left, waiting for my message to summon them for the next step.
Later, Roman returned with Eira. He had carried her back to the main house and laid her in his room. She did not resist, nor react. She simply lay there upon the bed, as lifeless as a corpse, staring at nothing.
Once she was settled, I gathered the others and told them of the plan.
Lucian’s face hardened. "You cannot be serious," he snapped. "You saw how she reacted the moment it was mentioned."
"I know," I admitted, "but we have no choice. We must be strong enough to bear it. Better for her to suffer once and be freed, than to suffer endlessly, every single day of her life."
"What if it makes things worse instead of better?" Roman’s voice carried the weight of fear. "You did not see her as closely as I did, when she sat there in the stable. She was not herself at all until I called her. For a moment, I truly thought she was possessed by something."
I hummed and wondered—if we had never found her again, what would have become of her? Or if we had never seen her at all in this life? The thought of it almost scared me.
I looked at each one of them and asked, "Do you have any other solution to heal her?"
None. No one truly knew.
"We have to trust Isla," I assured them. "She is an expert, and Eira is not the first such patient she has dealt with."
As they finally agreed, I told Lucian and Jason, "Make preparations. We will leave in the evening."
Though heavy-hearted, both of them agreed.
-----
In the evening, all of us left for the place we had planned to go.
Eira was obedient the entire time—more like she was just following everything blindly. Even when she sat in the car, she stared outside blankly and didn’t question where we were taking her. She looked as if every moment she lived was a great ordeal she was somehow making it through, bit by bit.
After more than half an hour, we reached the place. Our cars entered the massive gate of the structure and stopped in the center of the empty ground, surrounded by the square-shaped building. There was no sign of anyone’s presence other than the six of us, Liam, and Isla.
Lucian opened the door for Eira, and Roman helped her step out. The moment her feet touched the ground and she looked around, she froze. Traces of fear and anxiousness appeared on her face.
Thud!
The light sound of a car door closing almost startled her, and she snapped back to her senses.
"Let’s go," Roman told her as he held her hand, while we were ready to lead the way inside.
She looked at Roman, her gaze filled with fear. "Why... are we here..."
Finally, a reaction. She recognized this place.
"Just some random work," Roman told her.
She pulled her hand from his hold, her hesitation clear in her actions. "I will wait here... you can go..."
"I can’t leave you here alone," Roman assured her. "Don’t worry. Come with me."
"I won’t go anywhere... I promise..." she said, her gaze pleading with him.
I looked at Isla to ask what to do, whether we should cancel the plan. But she shook her head.
"Let’s head inside. We are getting late," I announced, my voice louder and colder. "We don’t have all the time in the world." Then I walked ahead.
I saw her flinch at my words before I turned away. She understood that everyone had to follow my orders.
"Let’s go," Roman said to her in a coaxing voice as he held her hand again, and followed behind me.
Usually stubborn and defiant, she was now like a scared cat. She didn’t even have the will to resist us or make a strong protest. This place was surely a hell for her—one that had broken her entirely, leaving the fear still instilled deep in her soul.