285 Survivors, Scars, and Vows

    Lucian

    “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay at home, Lucian. I’m so sorry,” Mara whispered, her voice shaking, her hands clinging to me like she never wanted to let go.

    But she had nothing to apologize for.

    I cupped her face gently, my vision blurred with tears. “No. I’m d you disobeyed me,” I said, voice cracking. “You… and Martha. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

    I choked on the lump in my throat.

    “I thought that was it for me. I thought today would be thest time I saw the sun. And then-then you came.”

    I pulled her closer again, feeling her breath on my skin. “My darling Mara. My wife. You saved me.”

    Then I kissed her-hard. Like I needed her soul to know how much she meant to me. My lips crashed into hers, desperate and grateful and aching. If it were possible to merge our bodies into one in that moment, I would have done it. I wanted her to feel the beating of my heart and know it only survived because of her.

    Across the field, I saw Martha helping my father stand. Both of them were naked, bruised, and covered in blood-but alive. Standing. That was enough.

    Mara and I moved toward the man who had punched ric earlier. He stood tall, unbothered by the destruction around him, his presencemanding.

    “Alpha Nighthorn,” he greeted, extending a hand.

    “I’m Alpha Sam Lawless,” he said. “The true Alpha of Mistwood. You may not have heard of me-I keep another Alpha in front as a decoy. Keeps things… quiet.”

    I took his hand and shook it, firm and cautious. I wasn’t sure what to make of him yet.

    “Thank you for letting me be part of this,” he added.

    I raised an eyebrow. “Why now?”

    He nodded toward Mara with a half-smile. “Your Luna called me. Told me the truth. Made her case. She

    convinced me to pick a side.”

    Then he looked down at ric, still chained and barely conscious, his face a broken mess.

    “That weasel,” Sam muttered.

    Without warning, he stepped forward and punched ric again-hard, square in the jaw. The chain rattled as ric slumped, groaning.

    “I’ve wanted to do that ever since I learned the truth,” Sam said with a grin.

     285 Survivors, Scars, and Vows

    I didn’t me him.

    $15 Posts

    “This weasel,” Alpha Sam said, ring down at the bloodied, chained ric, “attacked one of my vessels and stole a shipment of ammunition after I refused to sell to him. Said it was urgent. Confidential. He lied -again and again.”

    His voice was steady, but the rage beneath it simmered hot.

    “He told me he was a Nighthorn. Said he was the rightful heir to Mooncrest. imed Alpha Vander was his evil stepbrother. That he needed my help to bring him down so we could form an alliance-split the ind between us.”

    Sam spat in the dirt.

    “He even staged attacks on Mistwood to sway me. Told me Alpha Vander hadunched them to take over the ind. And like a fool-I believed him. I let that lie fester. He nned to use me to get Mooncrest…

    thene after me next.”

    He turned toward Mara, his tone darkening.

    “But your Luna… she called me. She sent me evidence. She didn’t beg-she showed me. And I dug deeper.”

    He stepped toward ric again, disgust written across his face.

    “I found out he’s not a Nighthorn. He’s not even a noble. He’s a damn pimp from a rat-hole town called Emberridge, tucked in the gutters of Goldenpeak. One of his goons spilled everything under torture. Everyt hing. Including the fact that ric staged the attack that left my wife blind in her left eye.”

    His voice dropped low, ice in every syble.

    “I promised her I’d take my pound of flesh.”

    Then, without warning, he reached down and plucked out ric’s left eye.

    ric’s scream ripped through the air.

    Mara stumbled back and vomited.

    Alpha Sam stood tall, his breathing heavy.

    “My wife is blind in the left eye… and now so are you. I told her I’d bring your eye back as a souvenir, you

    sick fuck,”

    He punched ric again-hard-his knuckles cracking against bone.

    The fury in the man’s eyes was primal. And I couldn’t me him. Not one bit.

    Then Sam looked around, scanning the remains of the battlefield.

    “Where’s the treacherous Alpha of this ce?” he asked, snarling.

    I raised a hand, calming him.

    285 Survivors, Scars, and Vows

    +15 Poets

    “He’s dead,” I said. “My brother’s group got him. The bastard betrayed his own father so he could double-cross us too.”

    As if on cue, Alpha Smirnov arrived, still shaken, led by two of our soldiers. He looked disheveled and raw,

    but alive.

    The moment he saw my father and me, he rushed forward and grabbed our hands.

    “Thank you,” he gasped. “Thank you so much. That bastard was going to kill me. I swear-I had no idea what he was nning. I swear it.

    His voice trembled with fear.

    ”

    My father took him aside, grounding him with a firm hand on the shoulder, speaking low and calm.

    For now, the war was over.

    But the reckoning had only just begun.

    Shorts were brought out for us, and oversized T-shirts were handed to the women. Given the battlefield had been filled with fierce, naked, bloodied warriors, I imagined it had been absolute torture for the soldiers to keep their eyes forward. But the women carried themselves with pride and power, and ‘I was relieved-grateful-to hear that not a single one of them had died.

    I turned to them, raising my voice just enough to cut through the noise.

    “Any woman willing to join the army should sign up. We’re looking for warriors like you in our ranks.”

    The cheers that followed were raw and proud. They owned what they had done. And they should.

    The battle was over.

    It was time to take ric back to Mooncrest.

    I didn’t know what exactly my father and Martha had nned for him-but whatever it was, death

    would’ve been a mercy.

    We decided to spend the night in Neev. Everyone needed rest, and no one wanted to risk moving the prisoner in the dark. The day had been long, bloody, and unforgettable.

    But I was alive.

    And I was holding my wife.

    Mara and I didn’t go back to the suite. Neither did my father. We took separate rooms-private rooms- with our wives. Still, I didn’t let my guard down. Not fully. Not until we were back in Mooncrest, ric chained and buried beneath walls no one could breach.

    He was a man of too many tricks. And I wasn’t risking Mara’s life again-not for a moment.

    When her fever hit, I held her in the cold shower until the heat started to break. I stayed with her, rubbing her skin down, whispering to her, calming her heartbeat.

    +15 Points

    But when she looked at me-eyes heavy, lips parted-I lost my resolve.

    I gave in.

    In that shower, under the cold water, I took her. Slowly. Desperately. Gratefully.

    She clung to me like I was home. And I was. Right there-in her arms, inside her-I was home.

    We didn’t speak much after. I dried her off, carried her to the bed, and pulled the sheets up. She was out the moment her head hit the pillow.

    I stayed awake beside her, watching her sleep, guarding her. The fever returnedter, making her mumble incoherent, adorable nonsense in her sleep.

    I smiled to myself.

    I’d tease her about it in the morning.

    But for now, she needed rest. And I’d make sure she got it-safely.

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