The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: I Waited Till The Sun Rose Again

Aeron’s POV~

I watched them disappear into the mouth of the cliffside like two men stepping willingly into the belly of the death.

Fifteen elite warriors followed close behind, every one of them handpicked, every one of them willing to bleed for their Alphas. For us.

And yet... it wasn’t enough.

Because as the last one vanished into the abyss, a weight settled in my chest like a stone. A dread I couldn’t name. Couldn’t reason with. It gnawed at my ribs, curling low and poisonous beneath my heart, whispering all the things I refused to let myself believe.

That we were too late.

That she was gone.

No. No.

I wouldn’t believe it. Couldn’t.

So I stayed.

I stayed right at the cliff’s edge, my boots sunk into the torn earth, where the wind still smelled of her and the blood she spilled. I told myself I would wait here until they brought her back. I would be the first thing she saw. The first thing she touched when they carried her back into the light.

She wouldn’t wake up to a stranger’s face. She’d wake up to mine.

Lucian groaned beside me. His body had gone slack with blood loss, but his wolf was still clawing inside his chest, howling like mine.

He wanted to stay too. He said it through blood-choked coughs. Clutched the dirt like it was the only thing anchoring him to this world.

"I’m not leaving," Lucian rasped, voice raw. "Don’t you f**king dare make me—she needs me. I feel her. Aeron, I feel her fear!"

But his wounds weren’t healing.

His wolf...our wolves were in agony. Selene’s absence tore through us like a blade dipped in silver, making it impossible to focus, impossible to shift or heal.

him if he stayed. I knew it. He

he fought. His hands dragged through the soil as he tried to crawl back to

snarled. "If she dies thinking we

since the day our father died

suddenly, delirious. "You can’t stop

I breathed,

touch me," he growled,

down, grabbed his jaw, and locked my eyes to

He stilled.

chest heaved, blood bubbling at the edge of his lips, but

just how

someone had to survive to keep hope alive

sorry, brother,"

"No—wait—don’t—"

then I knocked

For a second, I couldn’t move. My hand shook where it hovered above his chest, the guilt

I said

Cyrus was already there.

didn’t question me. Just nodded, stooped down, and hoisted Lucian’s

trailing down Cyrus’s back. My

"And don’t stop for anyone. I don’t care if

said.

I muttered, eyes

The dozens of alphas from neighboring packs who had come for our coronation. The lunatics back there are screaming for answers. Because we had fucking left the coronation hall in the middle, leaving

the uproar it had caused

to every alliance we’d tried building. Spit

All for her. Selene.

a f*ck. Nothing is more important than her. Let the world burn. Let those fucking

whispered, more to myself than

Still, Cyrus heard me.

just nodded once, firm, and disappeared into the trees with Lucian’s unconscious

stayed behind alone. The warriors were gone. My brothers were gone. My Beta was gone. Only I