Chapter 148: Chapter 148; Let him go!
Alina’s POV
My eyelids felt heavy as I blinked against the morning light. Automatically, my hand swept across the mattress, searching for the familiar warmth of Lucian’s body.
Nothing. Only cold, empty sheets.
A sudden knot formed in my stomach, pulling me out of bed. "Lucian?" I called out, my voice sounding thin in the quiet room. I waited, straining my ears for the sound of running water or a drawer opening in the bathroom. Silence.
Padding over to the bathroom door, I pushed it open. Empty. A cold prickle of unease crawled up my spine. I threw on my robe, tying the sash with trembling fingers, and hurried down the hallway toward the nursery. I cracked the door open; seeing Leo sound asleep brought a brief, fleeting smile to my face, but the dread in my chest wouldn’t shift.
"Where would he have gone?" I whispered .
Next, I checked Sammy’s room. The bed was made, the room completely deserted. It wasn’t just that they were missing—the entire house felt hollow. Eerily quiet. No footsteps, no distant chatter, no hum of life.
"Alina."
I flinched, spinning around to find Michael standing behind me. His brows were knitted, his eyes tracking my frantic movements. "Why are you awake at this hour?"
"I... where is Lucian?" I demanded, my chest heaving.
Michael’s gaze instantly dropped, shifting away from my face. My heart hammered against my ribs. Trouble.He was hiding something.
"Why is the whole house so quiet?" I pressed, stepping closer to him.
"It’s nothing, Alina," Michael said, though his voice lacked conviction. "They just went out for a hunt."
"A hunt? For what?" Confusion tangled with my panic.
"It’s just something we always do," he replied smoothly. Too smoothly.
"Then why are you not with them?"
Michael forced a smile—one that crinkled his cheeks but left his eyes completely dead and distant. "Lucian told me to stay back. To watch over you and baby Leo."
Every instinct I had screamed that he was lying. The air felt thick, charged with a warning I couldn’t ignore, but I knew I wouldn’t get answers by pushing him.
"Okay then," I said, forcing a tight nod and stepping backward. "I will go back inside."
"Alright then," he murmured.
The moment the bedroom door clicked shut behind me, the air left my lungs. Something is wrong. Lucian isn’t safe, my wolf clawed at my mind, her thoughts spiraling into a panic that mirrored my own.
"I feel it too," I whispered back, pacing the floor, my hands tearing through my hair. "I need to find him. But how? I don’t even know where he went!"
He is our mate. We are bonded to him—we can find him, she urged, her mental voice sharp.
Suddenly, a violent rush of sound flooded my senses. The distant snap of branches, heavy panting, the echo of violence. It crashed into my mind so loudly I had to press my hands against my ears.
"Can you hear that?" I gasped out loud.
Yes. Our mate needs us. We should go help him, she demanded, her anxiety bleeding into my veins, making my blood run hot.
I ran to the door, then froze. Michael was out there. "How do I get out of here without Michael finding out?" I muttered.
My eyes darted across the room and locked onto the window. I rushed over, throwing it open and leaning over the sill. The ground swallowed the space below; it was a dizzying drop. My breath hitched in my throat. Could I even survive a jump like this?
Alina, you can’t be scared right now. Just jump, I ordered myself.
I climbed onto the ledge, the cold wind whipping my robe around my legs. I closed my eyes, took one last deep, centering breath, and pushed off into the empty air.
The wind roared in my ears for a terrifying second before the ground rushed up to meet me.
Miraculously, I absorbed the shock in my knees and landed squarely on my feet. A breathless, triumphant smirk broke across my face as I stood up straight. I looked down, realizing only now that I was completely barefoot. The cold dirt and sharp twigs dug into my soles, but the pain didn’t matter.
Lucian was out there.
I broke into a fast, predator-like stride, letting my bond guide me into the dark.
Run! my wolf ordered, the command slamming into my consciousness.
I didn’t hesitate. I pushed off the ground, and a breathless, exhilarated smile broke across my face as the wind whipped violently against my skin. I was fast—faster than I had ever realized. The landscape blurred around me as I tore into the thick of the woods.
But the euphoria vanished the moment the tree line swallowed me. Jagged branches whipped across my face, scratching my cheeks and tearing at my robe, blinding me in the tangled shadows.
Then, a sound cut through the rustling leaves. A agonizing, chest-deep wolf howl ripped through the air, vibrating with pure torment.
I skidded to a halt, my eyes widening in sheer terror.
"What the fuck is happening?" I whispered, my voice trembling.
Adrenaline surged, hot and frantic. I pushed through a dense thicket of briars, forcing the branches out of my face. That’s when the wind shifted, and a familiar scent hit the back of my throat, piercing through the smell of damp earth and pine.
Lucian.
"Lucian!" The name tore from my throat, a fragile mix of fear and desperation. "Lucian!"
I broke through the final layer of brush into a small clearing, and the breath was completely knocked from my lungs. My chest locked. There he was, on his knees, growling through gritted teeth as agony contorted his handsome features. Crimson blood was everywhere—smeared across his chest, dripping into the dirt, soaking his clothes.
"Lucian!" A raw, guttural growl ripped from my chest.
At the sound of my voice, his head snapped up. His eyes widened, completely shattering with panic the moment they locked onto me.
"Alina, no!" I lunged forward, but his voice stopped me, laced with a terrifying blend of worry and panic. "You can’t be here! What are you doing here?!"
"I—"
Before the words could leave my mouth, a heavy, iron-like grip clamped onto my shoulder. The sheer force of the grip hoisted me up and hurl me backward. I flew through the air, my back and head slamming violently into a massive oak tree.
A sickening crack echoed, and a blinding white pain exploded behind my eyes.
"Alina!" Lucian’s scream was deafening, a desperate, broken sound. "How dare you touch her!"
Gasping for air, I forced my weak limbs to move, pushing myself up against the rough bark. The pain in my skull was blinding, but then, a strange numbness washed over me. The agonizing throbbing suddenly stopped, replaced by a cold, simmering heat.
"What is this, Lucian? You brought a girl to die on your behalf?"
A man stepped into my blurred vision, looking down at me with a sick, amused sneer. I clenched my fists into the dirt, ignoring the warm, sticky trail of blood that was now dripping down my forehead and pooling at my jaw.
"But this is good," the man mused, his eyes gleaming with malice. "I’ll kill you, and then I’ll do to her the exact same thing you did to my woman, how you raped and killed her so this would be my payback."
"If you lay a single hand on her," Lucian choked out, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, lethal rage, "even from my grave, I will drag you to hell with me."
"Let. Him. Go," I ground out, my voice dropping to a low, lethal vibration. I swallowed down the sob rising in my throat, refusing to let this monster see me cry while my mate bled out on the ground.
A jagged, mocking laugh broke from the man’s lips. "I should let him go?" He smirked, enjoying every second of our torment. "No. You are going to sit right there and watch as I break this man."
The man grabbed a fistful of Lucian’s hair, wrenching his head back brutally.
"Alina, I love you," Lucian choked out, his eyes locked onto mine, filled with a heartbreaking, final terror. He thought he was going to die.
Seeing him like that—broken, bleeding, and saying goodbye—something inside me snapped. The fear vanished, entirely consumed by a blinding, ancient rage.
"I said, LET HIM GO!"
A growl so loud it shook the very earth erupted from the depths of my soul. A massive, visible wave of raw, kinetic energy exploded outward from my body. The force of it really shattered the ground beneath my feet, tearing up grass and dirt, and hit the man square in the chest.
The smirk was wiped from his face as the shockwave lifted him off his feet, sending him flying backward through the air until he crashed violently through the trees.
"Lucian!"
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