Chapter 155: Chapter 155; Lucian is awake
Ragnar’s POV
"You are back," Boca said, the sheer panic in his voice vibrating through the tense air of the compound.
"I am sorry, but we still can’t find Alina," I said, my voice dropping into a low, heavy tone.
"Fuck!" Boca barked, running a frustrated hand through his hair, gripping the strands tightly. "I have searched fucking everywhere. Why the hell is she so stubborn? Why the fuck did she leave?"
"What about Lucian?" I asked, my tone shaking slightly as I glanced toward the bedroom door. "Did Davon find a way to get an antidote for him?"
"No, he didn’t. This is all so fucked up," Boca said, his eyes wild with exhaustion and rage. "What the hell do we do now? On one hand, my sister is fucking missing, and on the other hand, Lucian is lying there fighting for his life."
"She’s back!" Daniel suddenly yelled, bursting through the front entrance and drawing all of our attention instantly.
My eyes widened in absolute horror as I looked past him. Alina was standing in the doorway, but she was in a terrible, heartbreaking state—covered in dirt, bloodied, and barely able to keep herself upright.
"Alina!" Boca breathed, rushing forward to support her weight before her knees could buckle completely. "What the hell? Are you okay? Where on earth did you go?" Relief and furious frustration warred in his tone.
"Forget about me," Alina gasped, her breathing shallow and ragged as she barely held herself up against him. She weakly raised her arm, clutching a small, dark glass bottle. "Here... this is it. Please, feed Lucian this. He should be better."
Boca didn’t question it. He grabbed the vial immediately. "Ragnar, come hold her," he ordered, transferring her deadweight into my arms. "And call the pack doctor right now! I will go give this to Lucian."
With that, Boca sprinted down the hall. I carefully lifted Alina, carrying her into the adjacent guest room and laying her down on the bed. My heart was hammering as I pulled out my phone, dialed the doctor’s number, and urgently explained that he needed to get here immediately.
Once I hung up, I turned to Daniel, who was leaning against the doorframe, pale and shaking.
"Daniel, where exactly did you find Alina?" I asked, my curiosity flaring.
"I honestly can’t even explain what I saw," Daniel whispered, terror laced deep in his tone as he stared blankly at the floor. "No one would ever believe me."
"Tell me," I demanded, stepping closer, completely eager to know. "What the hell did you see out there?"
"Alina was fucking fighting Aiden’s men," he said.
My left eyebrow raised in sheer disbelief. "What do you mean, fighting? She’s an Omega, Daniel."
"You see, it’s hard to explain, I—"
Before he could finish, the front door banged open again, and Michael rushed into the room accompanied by the pack doctor.
The doctor took one look at Alina’s bruised, bleeding form and immediately unpacked his medical kit. "I will examine her now. You all should leave the room immediately," he said authoritatively.
I gave a tight nod. We all filed out into the hallway, but Daniel’s words refused to leave my mind. Fighting Aiden’s men? It made no sense. I turned back around, about to press Daniel for more details, when heavy footsteps echoed from the master suite.
Boca emerged, a massive, disbelieving breath escaping his lips. "Lucian is awake."
My eyes widened in pure happiness, the heavy weight on my chest lifting instantly. "He is?"
I didn’t wait for an answer. I followed Boca right back into Lucian’s bedroom. The moment I stepped over the threshold and my gaze met his—seeing Lucian sitting up, weak but alive—hot tears immediately welled in my eyes.
"My fucking God, Lucian, you scared the hell out of me," I choked out, rushing forward to throw my arms around him.
"Hey—get off me," he grunted, his voice rough as he pushed me away. Typical Lucian. Even after staring death in the face, he couldn’t stand being coddled. His dark eyes instantly scanned the room, narrowing with sharp urgency. "Where is Alina?" he demanded, raw desperation laced in his tone. Of course, she was the very first person he thought about.
"You don’t need to worry. She is fine," I said quickly, trying to soothe him. "She’s right here in the compound, she just needs rest."
The moment the words left my mouth, Lucian gripped the edge of the mattress and swung his legs over the side, trying to force himself up.
"Hey, don’t get up!" Boca barked, stepping in and firmly clapping his hands onto Lucian’s shoulders to pin him back. "You’ve been completely unconscious for days. You literally just opened your eyes, so you need to take it easy."
"No. I want to see Alina," Lucian growled. He aggressively pushed Boca’s hands off his shoulders and forced himself to stand. His knees buckled slightly, a visible tremor of weakness shaking his legs, but that didn’t stop him for a single second. He pushed right through the exhaustion, marching out of the room with an iron stubbornness.
Boca and I exchanged a helpless look before following close behind him down the hallway.
Michael was standing guard right outside Alina’s door. Just as we approached, the pack doctor stepped out into the hall, pulling his stethoscope from his neck. He looked up, startled to see Lucian standing there, but quickly composed himself.
"She will be fine," the doctor announced, directing his words to Lucian. "Her injuries are minor, but her body has been pushed to its absolute limit. She just needs a lot of rest."
A heavy wave of relief washed over me. Lucian didn’t say a single word. He simply pushed past the doctor, opened the door, and walked inside.
We quietly stepped in after him, remaining near the threshold as Lucian crossed the room. He sank heavily into the chair beside Alina’s bed, his fierce expression softening completely as he reached out to gently brush his hand over her brow.
At his touch, Alina’s eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes slowly blinked open.
"Lucian..." she whispered, her voice incredibly weak. "You’re awake."
"Yes. I am fine, and that is entirely because of you," he said softly, his fingers lingering against her cheek. "Boca told me everything. He told me you went out there alone to get the antidote for me. I don’t ever want you risking your life for me like that, Alina. Please... promise me you won’t ever do something like this again."
Alina offered him a fragile, sleepy smile, shaking her head slightly on the pillow. "I can’t promise you that. I will always do whatever it takes to make sure you are safe. We are bonded forever, remember?"
Hearing her words, I couldn’t stop the fresh tears from welling in my eyes. The sheer, fierce devotion between them was beautiful. Looking at them, a painful ache bloomed in my chest—I wanted a love just like theirs. I wanted to be someone’s absolute priority.
Subtly, my gaze drifted away from the bed to lock onto Boca, who was watching his sister with a quiet, fierce protectiveness. My heart did a familiar, nervous flip. If only he knew how much I wanted to express my true feelings to him. Maybe... just maybe, one day, I would finally find the courage to tell him.
We left the room to give the lovebirds some privacy, quietly closing the door behind us.
"Ragnar, come with me," Boca said suddenly. Before I could even answer, he grabbed my wrist and started leading me down the hall. I didn’t protest; I just followed him like a lost puppy, my heart doing double time at the sudden contact. He led me through the corridors until we descended into the quiet, dimly lit basement.
"Why did you bring me down here?" I asked, looking around with genuine confusion.
"I think we need to do something," he said, turning to face me. His expression was heavy, weighed down by everything that had happened over the last few days.
"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head.
"I want my sister to have a happy life, completely free from all this stress and danger," Boca said, his voice dropping into a deadly serious tone. "I think Lucian, my sister, and baby Leo should leave the country entirely. That is the only way they will ever truly be free from Adrien and Emily’s constant threats."
"What you’re saying makes a lot of sense," I replied softly, though I was fighting a losing battle trying to concentrate. My eyes kept betraying me, drifting down to look at his lips before I forced my gaze back up. "But Adrien is still Leo’s biological father. I don’t think he’s just going to sit back and let Alina take his son out of the country just like that."
"I thought about that, and that’s exactly why we—"
Before Boca could finish his sentence, the basement plunged into pitch-black darkness. The power had cut out completely.
"What the hell is wrong with the electricity?" he muttered into the dark.
Driven by a sudden surge of adrenaline and a bravery I didn’t know I possessed, I stepped forward in the blackness, closing the distance between us. The backup generators kicked in a second later, hummed to life, and the lights flickered back on.
When the illumination flooded the room, I was standing mere inches away from him. Boca blinked, his gaze instantly meeting mine, his dark eyes widening with a flash of confusion as he realized how close I had gotten.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Before I could overthink it, before fear could pull me back into the shadows, I leaned in and pressed my lips firmly against his.
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