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.

stayed. I knew it.

soil as he tried to crawl back

her behind again!" he snarled. "If she dies thinking we gave up—if she thinks I gave

I hadn’t heard Lucian sound like that since we were pups, since the

delirious. "You can’t stop

I breathed,

he growled, dragging himself up on one shaking arm. "Don’t you

grabbed his jaw, and locked my

He stilled.

heaved, blood bubbling at the edge of his lips, but in his eyes... I saw

of losing her, and realizing just how

we couldn’t all go. That someone had to survive to keep hope alive

brother," I said

"No—wait—don’t—"

I knocked him out

hand shook where it hovered above

him," I

Cyrus was already there.

Just nodded, stooped down, and hoisted Lucian’s body

Cyrus’s back. My stomach

stop for anyone. I don’t care if the

Cyrus said. Then hesitated.

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 our

imagine the uproar it had caused in

we’d tried building. Spit in the face of every

All for her. Selene.

is more important than her. Let the world burn. Let those fucking Alphas rot where they are.

worth it," I whispered, more

Still, Cyrus heard me.

firm, and

were gone. My brothers were gone. My Beta was