Chapter 73: Jab...

**~ Caspian’s POV ~**

What in the name of the Crescent is happening...?

I stood in the aftermath, heart pounding, eyes stuck on Hazel’s collapsed body like it had personally betrayed me. Lilith lay nearby unmoving. Not a sound. Not a single breath from her chest. I didn’t even know if she was dead or just passed out, but something inside me twisted at the thought that maybe she was gone.

But that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Hazel...,My mate. My everything. Cold. Unfeeling. Gone.

She wasn’t Hazel anymore. She was something else.

I turned toward Aurora, who was still steadying herself after stopping Hazel’s attack. She nodded. We didn’t need to speak. We knew what we had to do.

Cayden moved first, dropping to his knees beside Hazel, pressing his fingers to her neck. "Still breathing," he muttered. "She’s alive."

Alive—but barely holding on.

I reached down and scooped her up in my arms, her body limp like she’d been drained of everything. Her head lolled against my shoulder. For a moment, just one damn second, I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in her closed eyes...but no. Just more emptiness.

"She’s not gone," Cayden said.

"I know," I replied, tightening my grip. "Lily almost brought her back. That’s the only reason Hazel would’ve fought her. She was close. Too close. That means we’re getting somewhere."

Cayden didn’t argue. He just nodded, letting the idea become his own. I didn’t blame him. We didn’t have time for pride. We didn’t have time for anything but survival.

Aurora helped me steady Hazel as we moved fast, slipping through the High House halls, avoiding anyone who might question us. I chose our Her chamber Because if anything was going to wake her up, it was this room. The place where she spent most of her days in here in the high house.

She lived in this room. She loved in this room.

Maybe... maybe it could remind her of who she was.

We laid her down gently on the bed. I brushed a strand of hair from her face, just like I used to when she fell asleep in my arms. The softness was still there. Somewhere.

I just had to find it again.

"I brought some things," I said.

Cayden and Aurora turned to me. I pulled a small bag from the corner of the room and opened it carefully.

Inside—Ariel’s favorite toy.

doll with crooked button eyes and tangled red yarn hair. This is

been found

it for a second too long,

Gilberts are holding funerals today," I said quietly. "Both Marcus and Ariel have

looked down,

hard clenching his

continued. "So have the rest of them. They’re all

into the bag again, this time pulling out one of Hazel’s old sweaters. Worn, faded, still smelling faintly like cinnamon and vanilla. She wore it back when she lived in her father’s house

these pieces of her life would break through the

on," I whispered. "Come

closer, folding his arms across his chest. "We’ve

My jaw clenched.

I said. "I

outburst, dozens of wolves had fallen. Dahlia’s

Moon was this vulnerable? That we didn’t have enough warriors left

We’d be challenged.

it softly. "Other packs will come. They’ll think we’re weak. They’ll challenge

stood, turning toward

When they found out our mate was human or so we thought. They teamed up with witches. Came to the High

still

happened?" I asked. "We burned them. Tore them

try again,"

said. "But if they do, they’ll regret

looked at

So still. So quiet.

reached down and took her hand, curling it

eyes, slap me across the face, and call me a dramatic bastard. I’m

room, like he knew. Like he knew this

chance to pull her

her with slow steps, lifting two gowns in my hands—one soft and small, the other worn and old. Ariel’s.

unreadable. She pinched the bridge of her

with

to the smaller

she said

wearing it when

cold, but I saw something twitch in her face—something that looked like a crack. A shadow of pain. But

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