Rafe’s POV
Like Roman, I was furious at that bitch. If not for the need to protect my brothers, I would have gone to her and snapped her head from her shoulders without a second thought. Lucian was down, and Roman was already shaken with the fear of losing him. At least one of us had to keep our head—because if we all lost control, we’d all end up dead.
I wished it had been me instead of Lucian. I could die for my brothers without hesitation—but not before making sure they were safe first.
I caught sight of Roman shoving that bitch away from Lucian. Damn whore, daring to go near him after being the reason for his blood spilling onto this ground. If Lucian died... I would drain every drop of her filthy blood myself.
I might have liked her once, long ago. But my brothers were everything. They came before any woman—before anyone. I would sacrifice hundreds like her without blinking if it meant saving them.
Enemy movement caught my eye. More were coming. I moved quickly, tossing two heavy protective barriers in front of Roman and Lucian, shielding them from the direct line of gunfire.
I advanced toward them, firing as I went, using the barriers as cover until I reached their position. Ducking behind one, I looked at Roman.
"We need to wipe them out now and get Lucian to the hospital—or call Liam here," I said sharply.
Roman gave a short nod, picking up a torn piece of Lucian’s shirt from the ground. He pressed it hard against the wound before moving beside me. Together, we fired into the fray, taking down every bastard in our sights.
"How is he?" I asked, my voice low but my heart clenched like a fist.
"Barely breathing," Roman growled and gritted his teeth, "I’m going to kill that bitch."
"I’m with you," I said, channeling my rage into every bullet I sent into our enemies.
Then a faint sound broke through the chaos.
"...Alice... don’t leave me..."
I turned sharply.
That bitch was back at Lucian’s side, her trembling hands cupping his face.
"...Open your eyes... look at me..." she whispered.
But Lucian’s eyelids didn’t so much as flicker. His breathing was shallow, his face pale.
And for the first time in years, I felt the cold bite of fear sink into my bones.
"I wish I could kick her away from him," Roman muttered, hatefully. We both knew we couldn’t move from our positions now to do it.
"...You’re not breathing..." she murmured, and my heart skipped a beat.
Have we lost him?
Roman must have been thinking the same thing. Our gazes flicked toward her even as our guns continued firing into the chaos.
"Don’t die..." She moved her trembling hands to Lucian’s chest, pressing them over the cloth that covered his wound. "...Stop bleeding... don’t die..."
At least, for once, she was doing something that needed to be done—crying, begging, willing him to live.
"I can’t feel your heart beating... Alice..." her voice broke into sobs. "...You can’t leave me... I won’t let you..."
Half my focus stayed on the advancing enemies, half on her desperate blabbering. Then something made me turn fully toward her.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, her body shaking. Both hands pressed hard against Lucian’s chest as if she could force life back into him, her sobs tearing from her throat.
But then... something happened that made my breath catch.
"Roman!" I called.
He followed my gaze—and for the first time in that fight, both of us stopped shooting.
A faint glow was spreading from her hands where they pressed to Lucian’s chest. Soft at first... almost unreal.
"What the hell is she doing?" Roman exclaimed, his voice edged with disbelief.
The glow brightened, swelling until it was blinding. And then her scream tore through the battlefield—raw, ear-splitting, and unending. The light flared one last time before vanishing completely.
Her body went limp. That bitch collapsed beside him, unconscious.
And then another kind of chaos ripped through the field.
Two massive wolves stormed into the fray, cutting down enemies as though they were nothing more than brittle, dead leaves. Kael and Jason had returned.
The pitch-black beast—Kael—unleashed his Alpha aura, and the werewolves among the enemy ranks crumpled under its crushing weight. The humans, immune to Alpha dominance, tried to fight back with their advanced weapons. It was useless. Kael was more than just a top-tier Alpha, and their weapons failed in front of him.
Beside him, Jason tore through the battlefield in a blur of lethal precision, his wolf form a storm of claws and fangs.
The tide turned swiftly. Blood soaked the earth, enemy bodies littered the ground, and their screams faded into silence.
The victory was ours.
Roman and I rushed to Lucian’s side. I dropped to my knees, my hands moving over his blood-soaked chest—and froze.
The wound... the gaping hole that had been tearing him apart moments ago... was gone. Completely healed. Only the blood remained, stark against his skin, proof of what had happened.
Roman’s expression mirrored my shock. We locked eyes, speechless.
"He’s breathing—normally," Roman said at last, snapping out of his daze.
I nodded, leaning closer to Lucian. "Luke, can you hear me? Open your eyes."
Nothing. He lay there, unmoving, as if locked in a deep, unreachable sleep. He’d better be alright.
Kael and Jason appeared, leaving the battlefield in the hands of the surviving commandos. The moment they saw Lucian’s blood-covered body lying unconscious, they rushed over, their gazes inevitably falling on Eira’s limp form nearby.
"He seems alright," I told them quickly, before their panic could take over.
Jason’s jaw tightened. "How the hell did this happen?" His tone was sharp—because we all knew one truth: Lucian wasn’t someone enemies could take down easily.
"To protect that bitch," I said flatly.
Jason’s eyes went cold. He moved as if to strangle her right there, but I stopped him.
"But she saved him."
He froze, glaring at me. "Are you blind? She’s done nothing but make sure we all end up dead. That’s her only fucking talent."
"Something happened," I replied firmly. "And we need to talk about it. Ask Roman."
They turned to him. Roman gave a short nod. "We need to look into it."
"First, we need to take them inside and call Liam," I said. "Luke’s breathing, but we have to make sure he stays safe."
They didn’t argue. Kael and I lifted Lucian between us, while Roman took Eira. Jason broke away to handle what was left of security in Lucian’s absence.
The side house was a wreck, so we headed for the main home.
We needed answers—but for now, keeping Lucian alive was all that mattered.