Chapter 188: See Him
Aurora’s POV
Sir Callum’s cold gray eyes locked onto me like I was nothing more than dirt beneath his boots. The anger coming from him was so strong that the whole room seemed to get smaller under the heavy weight of it.
"I knew it," he said in a deadly quiet voice that scared me far more than shouting ever could. "I warned Oliver to stay away from you. I told him from the very start that you would destroy him." His jaw bunched tightly as he stepped closer to my bed. "But my son refused to listen. He defended you. He chose you over his own family blood. And now look where it got him."
His words cut straight through my chest.
Tears burst from my eyes again as I shook my head wildly. "No... no, Sir Callum, please..." My voice broke painfully. "It’s not what you think. I swear to you, I would never have shot Oliver if I had known it was him. I didn’t know Raymond was Oliver. I didn’t know!" I shivered right down to my bones. "If I had known... God, if I had known, I would have died before hurting him."
Sir Callum looked at me with total disgust.
"Enough." His voice boomed through the room. "Do you think your tears mean anything to me after what you’ve done to my son?"
"Sir," Oscar spoke up quickly, stepping between us before Sir Callum could move any closer to my bed. "It was a mistake. Aurora truly believed Raymond killed her parents. She didn’t know Oliver and Alex shared the same family mark."
"Fuck you both!" Sir Callum roared.
The pure force of his alpha power exploded through the room so violently that the healer stumbled backward with a gasp. My whole body shook under the crushing pressure.
"A mistake?" he snarled at Oscar. "Your brother is lying asleep with poison in his blood because of a mistake? He may never wake up again!"
Oscar lowered his head slightly, pain crossing his face, but he didn’t back down.
"Sir—"
"If anything happens to Oliver," Sir Callum growled, pointing a shaking finger directly at me, "I will kill you myself."
A sharp breath caught in my throat.
And strangely... I didn’t even fear the threat.
Because if Oliver died, then I truly deserved to die too.
Oscar suddenly stepped forward again. "You can’t kill her."
Sir Callum’s angry eyes snapped toward him.
Oscar swallowed hard before saying the next words carefully.
"Not when she’s carrying your grandchild."
Silence.
Total silence filled the room.
Sir Callum froze.
I saw it happen right away—that tiny change in his face. The killing rage in his eyes turned into a sudden shock. His look slowly dropped down to my stomach.
For the first time since he walked into the room, the heavy, crushing pressure in the air got a little lighter.
His grandson.
His family line.
His blood.
I pressed my shaking hand over my stomach to protect the baby as his eyes stayed locked right there.
Something mixed crossed his face. Conflict. Anger. Relief.
Then, without another word, Sir Callum turned quickly and walked out of the room.
The heavy door slammed behind him so hard the walls shook.
The moment he was gone, my strength left me and I slid down toward the floor. Oscar caught my arm before I could fall.
"Easy," he muttered tiredly, helping me sit back on the mattress.
I gripped his sleeve hard, tears still pouring down my cheeks. "Please... please let me see him." My voice broke into pieces. "Oscar, I need to see Oliver. I need to tell him I’m sorry. Please..."
Oscar closed his eyes tightly, like the sound of my crying physically hurt him.
When he opened them again, the anger from before was completely gone. He just looked totally drained.
"You should be patient, Aurora," Oscar said softly, his voice calm now. "The healers are with him right now. My mother is there too. They are doing everything they can to clear the poison out of his body. If you go in there now, you will only get in the way."
"But what if he dies?" I cried, holding the sheets tight. "What if he dies thinking I hated him? I need to tell him the truth. I need to tell him that I love him."
"He knows," Oscar said, walking over to the side of my bed. He placed a heavy, warm hand on my shoulder. "Right now, you need to rest for the baby. If you lose that pup, Oliver will never forgive himself, and he will never forgive you either. Stay here. Let the healers do their work."
Oscar looked away before speaking in a rough voice. "If he wakes up... then you can see him."
If.
That single word broke what little hope I had left.
I slowly leaned back against the pillows, wrapping my arms tightly around my stomach as pure terror took over my whole mind.
Please wake up, Oliver.
Please don’t leave me alone with this guilt for the rest of my life.
I did not know how I slept, but my mind finally shut down from the heavy weight of the pain and the crying. My dreams were full of dark smoke, the sound of loud gunshots, and the cold look in Oliver’s sea-blue eyes just before he fell. Every time I tried to reach for him in the dark, he would slide further away into a deep, black pool of blood. I kept screaming his name, but no sound came out of my mouth.
When I finally woke up, the room was very dark. The bright afternoon sun was gone, replaced by the deep, quiet shadows of the night. My face felt stiff and dry from the old tears, and my head was pounding with a sharp, heavy ache.
I moved slightly on the mattress, and a soft rustle of clothes came from the side of my bed.
My heart jumped into my throat. I turned my head quickly on the pillow, expecting to see Sir Callum standing there with his cold, angry eyes, ready to snap my neck. Or maybe a line of heavy guards waiting to throw me into the packhouse prison.
Instead, a woman was sitting quietly in the wooden chair next to my bed.
The soft light from a small lamp on the table hit her face. She was beautiful, with long, thick hair and kind eyes that carried the exact same deep blue color as Oliver’s. She wore a simple, dark dress, and her face looked pale and deeply tired. There were heavy gray shadows under her eyes, showing she had spent hours crying and worrying.
It was Lady Hailee. Oscar and Oliver’s mother.
I froze, my whole body locking up in fear. I pulled my hands up to my chest, my fingers shaking against the blanket. I had just shot her son. I had put the alpha king, the boy she raised, into a deadly coma with gray wolfsbane poison. I braced myself for the anger. I braced myself for the deep, hateful words that I knew I truly deserved.
But Lady Hailee did not move. She did not yell. She just sat there, looking down at me with a quiet, sad look in her eyes.
"You are awake," she said softly. Her voice was not loud or mean. It was smooth, calm, and carried a deep, heavy sadness that made my heart ache even more.
"Lady... Lady Hailee," I whispered. My throat felt like sand, and my voice cracked instantly. I tried to pull myself up against the pillows, but my arms felt like lead. "I am... I am so sorry. I didn’t know. I swear to you—"
"Shh," she said gently, raising one elegant hand to stop my words. She leaned forward in her chair, placing her hand softly over mine on the bedsheets. Her skin was warm, and she didn’t squeeze hard, but her touch made a fresh wave of hot tears burst from my eyes. "Do not push yourself, Aurora. Oscar told me everything. He told me about the mistake with the family mark, and about your parents."
She paused, her blue eyes looking down at my stomach, where my other hand was still resting protectively. A very small, soft look crossed her face for just a second.
"Are you okay?" she asked me calmly. "How does your body feel? How is the baby?"
I choked on a sob, totally shocked by her kindness. "I... I think the baby is okay. My stomach hurts a little, but the little one is still here. But I don’t care about myself, Lady Hailee. Please..." I gripped her warm hand tightly, my tears dripping onto her skin. "How is Oliver? Is he... is he still breathing? Please tell me the truth."
Lady Hailee let out a long, slow sigh. She looked toward the heavy wooden door of the room, as if she could see right through the walls to where her son was lying.
"My son is strong, Aurora," she said quietly, turning back to me. "He is a true alpha king. He is fighting with everything his wolf has left. He does not want to give up on this life. The healers and the doctors told me that normally, from the amount of Northern Wolfsbane in his blood, he should be dead already. No normal wolf could survive those three silver bullets. But Oliver is alive by a total miracle."
A tiny spark of hope flared in my chest, but it was quickly crushed when I saw the heavy look return to her face.
"But he is very weak," she continued, her voice dropping into a low whisper. "The poison is trying to stop his heart every single hour. His wolf is trapped deep inside his own mind, fighting the dark gray veins of the wolfsbane. He is in a deep coma, and his spirit is getting tired of the battle."
"Can I see him?" I begged, trying to swing my legs over the edge of the bed. I didn’t care if my body was weak. I didn’t care about the pain in my head. "Please, Lady Hailee. Oscar said I couldn’t, but I have to see him. I need to hold his hand. If he can hear me, maybe he will know I’m sorry."
Lady Hailee squeezed my hand tightly, stopping me from getting out of the bed. "Yes, you can see him. I will take you to his room myself so the guards and Callum will not stop you. But... there is something else, Aurora. Something only you can do."
I froze, looking into her deep blue eyes. "What do you mean? Anything. I will do anything to save him."
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