#Chapter 22 The Alpha is Dead

Selene’s POV

“Selene, are you ready?” Odette is knocking on the dressing room door, her kind voice unusually somber.

“Yes.” I call, smoothing my skirts. “You can come in.”

The door pushes open, and my mother-in-law’s lovely face peeks inside. She sidles through the narrow opening, approaching me with a wistful expression. “Oh my darling.” Odette murmurs bleakly, her eyes shining as she studies my reflection. “I really thought you two would make it.”

“I thought we might too” I admit, keeping my gaze high to ward off tears. “For a while.”

Her hand closes around mine, squeezing gently. “What happened, Selene?” She asks gently.

All at once it hits me that I’m not merely losing my husband, but the only parental figures I’ve known since my mother died. I swipe at an escaped tear, “It’s what Bastien wants.”

Odette frowns, the edges of her warm brown eyes crinkling beneath the weight of her drawn brows. She opens her mouth to speak but before any words can escape, all the blood drains from her face in a frenzied rush, leaving her white as a sheet. Her eyes go wide and her body crumples, bowing and bending against her will. Her mouth gapes open in a breathless gasp, emitting a strangled cry.

“Odette!” | exclaim, catching her by the arms so she does not fall. “What’s wrong?

Her mouth is opening and closing soundlessly, her body trembling beneath my hands. “It’s Gabriel.”

Before I can stop her, Odette rips herself from my hold, flying out of the room and down the hall. I race after her, blood rushing in my ears. I’ve never seen someone look so anguished, so afraid.

moment they see the look on Odette’s face. She bursts

limbs. I do not need to hear the screams that follow, or the weeping. I do not need to

body thrown atop his, wracked with violent, heaving sobs. The Alpha stares sightlessly up at the ceiling,

apart, not when others are hurting so badly. Odette needs

of irrational panic I try to come up with any possible plan to stop them. He shouldn’t have to see this, he shouldn’t have to lose his father so young. I wrap myself around Odette, holding her while she cries and praying that it’s all

bodies. The stench of death is thick in the air, and I can almost imagine I

my prayers have not

on Bastien’s face alone. He looks so lost, a child adrift in a sea of uncertainty. I can see the little boy he

his knees by my side, Bastien roars with fury and despair. I

twice, but he’s never wept as he does now. The sight of my indomitable husband broken and helpless tips me over the edge.

waist and he hauls me into his lap, squeezing me like a security blanket while he pulls his mother into

in a blur. Aiden is there, grasping Bastien’s shoulder and gently telling him we need to move so

Odette, trying to pull her from Garbiel’s body as tenderly as possible. She won’t budge. She bares her fangs

seen Bastien assert his dominance over countless pack members over the years in precisely this way – I’ve experienced it myself on a handful

Aiden asks Dr. Kane to administer a sedative. While

pulling his attention to my face. “I’m going to get her cleaned up and into bed.” I explain softly, “Will

I might bruise. His head shakes slightly from right to left, and I think he’s going to refuse. Instead he pulls me into the circle of his arms, “Take care of

my lips to his cheek. “I

return to the Alpha’s office. Gabriel’s body has been removed

remains, crumpled at his father’s desk, his head cradled in his hands. The man I knew a few hours ago is gone, replaced by a leader with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He looks up when I enter, a questioning expression

I confirm

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