Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

- - -

"Ah!", I exclaimed while clutching my chest.

A searing sensation came out of nowhere and left me breathless.

"Are you OK, Miss?", Mitch asked while peering into the rearview mirror.

We were one block away from Duke's apartment building and suddenly an ominous feeling descended on me.

"Hurry up, Mitch.", I urged him.

The door of the underground garage opened and a person wearing a hoodie ran out, nearly slamming into my car. A strand of long blonde hair told me it's a female. What's her problem?

"Miss!", Mitch shouted, and I realized that something is wrong. Really wrong.

I bolted out of the car and my heart stopped beating when I saw Duke on the ground, with the pool of blood under him expanding.

No. This is not happening.

In an instant, I was on my knees, by his side. I ripped his bloody shirt and saw that there is a wound on his chest, slightly on the left. The scent of gunpowder mixed with blood. Was he shot? It looks like it. And this was either in the heart or damn close to it.

I applied pressure on the wound. "Call father, Mitch…", I said in a shaky voice.

"I'm on it, Miss.", he assured me.

Why didn't he wait for me in the apartment? We set up protective arrays on the fifth floor, but not in the garage.

"Duke! Duke!", I called, even though I knew that he won't respond. I could feel his heartbeat slowing down.

I'm losing him.

I promised father and Duke that I will not do this, but I couldn't allow him to die. Not like this. If he dies, what's the point of me being alive?

I removed the barriers and allowed my vitality to seep into Duke. Please, make it be enough.

"You promised me forever, Mateo…", I spoke through my tears. "You promised me to travel the world. What about our wedding and moving in together? You can't leave me now."

There were so many things I wanted to tell him. There were so many things we were supposed to do together. He promised to stick close to me and protect me.

"How can you protect me if you leave like this? Don't leave..."

I had no idea how long it lasted. It could be a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity passed in a moment.

The pool of blood was increasing no matter how much of my vitality seeped into Duke. Shouldn't his wound heal because of what I'm doing? Why are his eyes still closed?

Wake up. Wake up! Wake up, damnit!

I was desperate.

The man who always smiled at me and had solutions to all the problems in the world, was unmoving, on the ground, lying in his own blood… I didn't care what happened or who did it. I wanted him back. I wanted my Duke back!

Life without him was impossible.

Who will make me smile, and tease me into blushing? Who will embrace me and accept me unconditionally? Only with Duke, I could experience a sense of belonging, and only with him, I felt at home.

Didn't we plan for our home? A big mansion, surrounded by acres of woods. There is even a little town where werewolves used to live. I thought that if Duke accepts to be the Supreme Alpha, that town might come alive again. But now all that was fading because without him nothing mattered.

Is this what I get after eleven years of waiting? A few months of absolute bliss and that's it?

No, I wanted more. This is not fair. I refuse to accept this!

Wake up, Duke. Open your eyes! Those endless blue eyes, full of love and lust and everything good that exists in this world. Open them, now!

You can't leave me. You said forever, and how is this forever?

My vision blurred and I lost sensation in my limbs. I forgot where I was and what I was doing, but I knew that it was important and that I must continue, or I will lose something very precious… unless I lost it already.

There was a hole in my chest that was shrinking into an excruciating dot of pure anguish.

Pain.

It reminded me of the paralyzing pain I experienced on the day when I woke up in Aldus's lab, and just like then, I wanted to scream, but I didn't have control of my body.

The dot of agony in my chest exploded, and it felt as if I fell apart and all my pieces were detached, yet somehow connected just enough for me to experience torment.

Is this hell? It must be because only Devil would come up with the torture of giving me everything I wanted, only to take it away.

I think I heard Marius and Mitch talking, and Aldus's voice mixed in as well.

My father sounded angry.

I'm sorry, father, I promised not to use this ability but… I hope you will understand.

Did it work? Will Duke be OK?

As long as Duke was fine, I didn't care what price I needed to pay.

I would give anything.

Please, someone, make him be OK.

No one answered my questions. No one responded to my pleas.

The silent darkness took over, and even with all of my senses shutting down, the feeling of loss was overwhelming.

- - -

Author's note: this is from Aldus's point of view

- - -

I had a bad feeling about Serina leaving this morning for London, so I told Marius not to leave her out of his sight.

Who would have known that Mitch will call and say that they found Mateo in the garage, bleeding?

Luckily, I set up a portal that leads directly to the fifth floor of Mateo's apartment building. I did this secretly, and even Serina doesn't know about it. It's for emergencies, like now.

I was furious when I saw Serina passed out on top of Mateo.

"What happened?", I hissed while checking Serina. I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt a faint pulse, but the refreshing feeling told me that she was losing her vitality.

"We found him like this, Master.", Mitch said right away, and I saw Marius walking in as Mitch explained. "Miss approached him and applied pressure on his wound and by the time I ended informing you that we have a situation here, she was like this."

"This is fresh.", I said. "Did you see who did it?"

"I will check the surveillance cameras.", Marius said right away.

I lifted Serina. She was ice cold.

"Mitch, take him and follow me upstairs." I glanced at Marius. "Clean this up and find out what happened."

I needed both Serina and Mateo in the lab to figure out how to fix this mess, and I hoped that I'm not too late.

I knew that this boy is trouble and that he will make her act recklessly.

Yes, the boy was hurt, but did Serina think he will be grateful if she saves him by harming herself? And by the amount of blood everywhere, I can assume that whatever she did, didn't help much.

Mateo's healing was better compared to most werewolves, which means that this probably hit either a major artery or it went for the heart.

Damn it!

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l . c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.