Chapter 212: Chapter 212
Kyra’s POV
Pain didn’t strike as I expected.
I sucked in my breath as I started panting. I sniffed and swallowed hard, realizing nothing had pierced through my skin. I wasn’t shot. Who was shot?
Heart pounding, tears already streaming down my face, I slowly turned around.
I prayed Nathan was safe, still unconscious and away from harm’s path.
I caught the scent of cedar and musk mixed with the metallic smell of fresh blood. The familiar scent hit me like a punch to the gut.
My lips parted as I cupped my mouth when I saw what happened behind me.
Connor was lifeless while lying on the ground. He had a gunshot wound between his eyes and Kieran was standing in front of me. I was facing his back and he was slowly falling to his knees.
"Kieran!" I screamed, lunging forward to catch him.
His weight was too much. We collapsed together onto the rain-soaked earth.
When he looked up at me and coughed, crimson blood spilling from his lips, I felt my world crumbling.
The heavy rain seemed to weep with me, masking my tears as they fell onto his face.
"K-Kieran..." My voice broke.
My heart felt like it was being suffocated while looking at him.
He’d killed Connor, but taken a bullet in the process. The crimson stain spreading across his lower left chest told me everything I needed to know.
I shook my head frantically, refusing to believe what was happening before my eyes.
Kieran rested his forehead against my shoulder, his arm shakily reaching to touch my waist.
"I-I came on time," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the rainfall.
"Kieran, hold on. We’ll get help—"
"Shh." He silenced me, too weak to support himself, his body slumping against mine. "Emily... is in the hospital."
With trembling fingers, I gently cradled the back of his head. "I’ll take you there too."
"It’s t-time..." he groaned, coughing more blood that mixed with the rain. "...for me to... g-go."
"No!" I shouted, anger and denial surging through me. "No, Kieran! You can’t die like this! You need to pay for what you’ve done. In prison, Kieran! In prison!"
His lips curved into a weak smile. "I-I’m sorry... I d-don’t wanna be in p-prison."
"Kieran..."
"This is what I b-bargained for, K-Kyra. My life for y-yours..." Another cough wracked his body, each one driving a knife deeper into my heart.
"Don’t say that," I sobbed, holding him tighter as if I could keep his life from slipping away.
"I love you... from then... until now," he whispered, tears mixing with blood on his face. "I love only you... and I-I didn’t regret anything other than hurting you..."
Sylvia whined in my mind, her grief mingling with mine. "His wolf is fading, Kyra. He’s not going to make it."
"H-How can you make up for your sins if you leave?" I pleaded, desperation clawing at me.
He lifted his face with tremendous effort, his eyes finding mine. My heart shattered when he smiled - that same smile always made me feel safe when we were younger. The smile that promised he would shield me from any harm.
"Kyra, don’t ... cry. I’m not worth ... your tears."
"Please don’t go," I begged, my voice breaking. "I haven’t forgiven you yet. You can’t die, Kieran."
He managed to lift his bloodied fingers to my cheek. "Then my little princess... is quite the... liar," he whispered, his voice growing fainter. "You said...you’d forgive me if I died, didn’t... you?"
"You can’t die," I rushed to say, gripping his hand against my face.
I didn’t get a response.
His smile faded, eyes closing as his hand fell limply into my lap.
"Kieran! Kieran! Wake up!" I desperately held him close, trying to bring him back.
He didn’t move. Didn’t open his eyes.
His full weight pressed against me, and the terrible truth crashed over me—he was gone.
My childhood protector, my tormentor, my dearest person—gone.
Love and hate came from the same source. When you loved someone too deeply, the hatred could reach the same depths. So what was this pain now?
The pain that ripped me apart from the inside, as if my soul was being shredded into a thousand pieces while my heart was being crushed under an unbearable weight.
Kieran was dead. Someone I never thought would leave was gone.
I don’t know what to do. I couldn’t calm down. I didn’t want to see dead bodies. I felt like I was dying whenever I saw the dead bodies of people I once treasured.
"K-Kyra..."
I lifted my face and looked at Nathan when he sat beside me. He looked at Kieran in my arms before he squeezed his eyes closed and pulled me closer to him. He buried my head on his chest and hugged me, comforting me. I found myself crying so hard in his arms while I was hugging Kieran’s lifeless and bloody body.
"H-He sacrificed his life for me, Nathan..." I cried. "He should be p-paying for his sins. Not like this! He can’t die like this!"
Nathan didn’t say anything. He was just hugging me so tight and I could only cry my heart out in so much pain, anger, and disappointment.
I don’t know what happened after that. I just know that I started to tremble in the cold.
It seemed like I had cried out all the tears of my lifetime, while the heavy rain kept falling as if it would never stop.
The overwhelming grief was too much for my body to handle. My body felt so tired and I only wanted to close my eyes and rest.
