Chapter 194: Back Home
Aurora’s POV
For a long, heavy moment, neither of us moved. The elite warriors and Knox stood around the black SUVs, totally silent. They looked between Oliver and me, sensing the thick, heavy emotion locking us together. Knox wiped a layer of dirt and sweat from his forehead, looking at me with a mixture of pity and relief, but he didn’t say a word. He knew better than to step into the space between an Alpha and his woman.
"Aurora..." Oliver muttered. His voice was a low, rough scrape in the quiet yard.
The sound of my name on his lips broke the spell holding my feet to the ground. I didn’t walk; I ran. I covered the distance between us in seconds, my bare feet hitting the hard, sharp gravel of the driveway. I didn’t care about the pain. I didn’t care about the warriors watching us. I didn’t care about anything else in the world.
Oliver tried to brace himself, opening his arms slightly to catch me, but his knees shook under his weight. When I slammed into his body, throwing my arms tightly around his neck, he let out a sharp, muffled groan of pain. But even through his pain, his large arms wrapped around me instantly. He pulled me against him with a frantic, desperate force, locking me to his side as if he were afraid I would vanish if he let go.
"You idiot," I sobbed into his neck, my face buried in the crook of his shoulder. The smell of blood, dirt, and smoke covered him, but beneath it all was still his comforting scent of forest and rain. "You absolute idiot. How could you leave? How could you do this to me?"
"I had to," he whispered roughly against my hair. His hand pressed flat against my back, holding me so close there was no space left between us. His body was burning hot, running on the last drop of his Alpha adrenaline. "I had to finish it, Aurora. I couldn’t let him breathe the same air while you were still looking over your shoulder."
"I was pulling your soul back from death!" I cried, my voice breaking completely as fresh tears soaked into his collar. "We almost lost you, Oliver! Lady Hailee gave up so much of her power, and I sat on that floor begging the Moon Goddess to keep you alive. And the moment you open your eyes, you run straight back into a fight? Do you care about us at all?"
Oliver flinched at my words. The guilt in his sea-blue eyes flared up, bright and painful. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he slowly guided his other hand down to my stomach, his large palm spreading flat across my belly, exactly the way he had done before. He squeezed me gently, his frame shaking as he held onto his family.
"I do," he murmured, his voice thick with a raw emotion that made my heart ache. "I care so much it drives me crazy. That’s why I went, Aurora. He hurt you. He tried to take my family away. A true Alpha doesn’t rest while a threat to his woman and child is still running free."
Before I could argue, Oliver’s legs gave out completely.
He didn’t just stumble this time; his knees collapsed under him. I shrieked, trying to hold his massive weight, but Knox was already there. Knox caught Oliver’s shoulder from the side, while two other elite warriors jumped forward to help support him. Together, they kept the large Alpha from hitting the gravel.
"Get him inside!" Lady Hailee’s voice boomed from the top of the palace stairs. She hurried down the stone steps, her face tight with maternal panic. "He’s completely drained his wolf’s healing reserves. Move him to the medical wing now!"
Sir Callum appeared right behind her, his face dark and unreadable. He didn’t offer to carry his son, but his gray eyes scanned Oliver’s bleeding chest with deep, silent anger. "Foolish boy," Callum muttered under his breath, though his hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides. "Risking everything for a rat like Alex."
Knox and the warriors carefully lifted Oliver, carrying him up the stairs and back into the grand palace hallways. I stayed right by his side, my hand wrapped tightly around his large, dirty fingers. Oliver’s grip on my hand was weak, his eyelids drooping heavily as the last of his strength finally ran out. He was completely spent.
We brought him back into the same medical room we had left just a few hours ago. The silver tray with the cold meat broth was still sitting on the corner table. The old healer rushed back into the room, shouting orders at the maids to bring clean bandages, warm water, and fresh herbs.
"Lay him down gently!" the healer yelled, his hands shaking as he cut away Oliver’s torn shirt.
The sight underneath made my stomach turn. The three bullet wounds had reopened, blood oozing slowly from the torn flesh. The skin around the injuries was a deep, angry purple. Oliver winced, his jaw clenching so hard the muscles jumped, but he didn’t make a sound as the healer began to clean the wounds.
"The internal bleeding has started again," the healer reported, his voice full of stress. "Alpha Oliver, you have pushed your body past its breaking point. If you don’t stay still now, your wolf will go into hibernation to save itself, and you won’t wake up for weeks."
Oliver didn’t look at the healer. His blue eyes stayed locked on me as I stood beside the bed, my face pale and covered in dried tears. He squeezed my hand weakly. "Aurora... sit."
I didn’t want to argue with him while he was bleeding, so I dragged a wooden stool over and sat right next to the mattress, keeping our fingers locked together.
Lady Hailee walked over to the other side of the bed, her face soft but reprimanding. "The healer is right, Oliver. You were incredibly reckless. If Oscar and Knox hadn’t been there to shield your blind spots, you might not have made it back."
At the mention of Oscar’s name, Sir Callum stepped forward from the doorway, the air in the room instantly growing heavy and cold with bitter tension. "Do not bring that bastard’s name into my palace, Hailee," Callum hissed, his voice full of deep, ancient hatred. "My son doesn’t need protection from the bloodline of a thief."
Lady Hailee snapped her head up, her eyes flashing with a dangerous light. "Oscar is his brother, Callum! He stood by Oliver’s side on that border while you sat here in your castle doing nothing! Don’t you dare speak of him that way."
"Stop it!" Oliver’s rough voice cut through the argument like a blade.
The room went instantly silent. Even in his weakened, bleeding state, Oliver’s Alpha command was strong enough to make the older wolves freeze. He glared at his father, his chest heaving with painful breaths.
"Father, be quiet," Oliver commanded weakly, his voice dripping with authority. "Oscar saved my life out there tonight. When Alex tried to detonate a silver explosive to kill us all, Oscar threw up a shield and took the blast. He is injured because of me. You will respect him, or you can leave my sight."
Sir Callum stared at his son, his face turning pale with a mix of shock and rage. He looked like he wanted to roar, to assert his dominance as his father, but seeing his son covered in blood and standing his ground made him stop. With a bitter growl, Callum turned on his heel and stormed out of the medical room, slamming the heavy double doors behind him.
Lady Hailee let out a shaky breath, looking at Oliver with soft, tearful eyes. "Thank you, son."
Oliver gave her a tiny, tired nod. "Go check on Oscar, Mother. Make sure the pack doctors are treating him well. I will be fine here with Aurora."
Lady Hailee smiled through her tears, clearly touched by him calling her ’Mother’ again. She reached out, gently patting his leg, before turning and walking out of the room to find her other son, leaving us in relative peace.
The healer finished applying the green herbal paste to Oliver’s chest and wrapped fresh white linens tightly around his torso. "No moving, Alpha. I mean it," the old man warned one last time before gathering his bloody towels and exiting the room, followed quietly by the maids.
Finally, we were alone.
The quietness of the room returned, illuminated only by the soft, yellow glow of the corner lamp. I looked down at our joined hands, feeling the steady, warm pulse of his heartbeat through his skin. The heavy knot of panic in my chest was finally beginning to loosen, replaced by a deep, hollow exhaustion.
"Are you still mad at me?" Oliver whispered softly, his fingers rubbing gentle circles over the back of my hand.
I looked up, meeting his beautiful sea-blue eyes. The coldness and fury he had taken to the border were completely gone, leaving only the soft, possessive warmth he always reserved for me.
"I am furious with you," I said honestly, a fresh tear slipping down my cheek. "You terrified me, Oliver. I just got you back. If you died out there, I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t raise this baby alone. I don’t want to live in a world where you aren’t breathing."
Oliver’s expression softened into something incredibly tender. He used his free hand to gently reach up, his thumb brushing the tear away from my cheek.
"Come here," he murmured, sliding over slightly on the wide mattress to make space for me.
I didn’t hesitate. I carefully climbed onto the side of the bed, lying down next to his large frame. I was mindful of his bandages, leaning my head gently against his uninjured shoulder while his large, heavy arm wrapped securely around my waist. He pulled me close, tucking me into his side until there was no distance left between us.
His other hand went straight back to my stomach, his warm palm pressing flat against my belly, holding onto his child. His scent of rain and forest washed over me, completely clearing away the smell of smoke and blood.
"I’m sorry for making you cry," he murmured roughly against my hair, his chest rumbling slightly against my side. "
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