the sound
someone breathing
Not the usual shallow kind that came from machines or nurses passing through. No, this one was closer Softer. Almost trembling
My body ached, every inch of it raw and heavy, but I forced my eyes open through the haze. The infirmary light was dim, casting long, eene shadows across the walls. The faint scent of antiseptic lingered in the air, but underneath it was Lavender Fant Familiar
Eva
She sat beside my bed, hunched forward with her elbows on her knees, her eyes fixed on the tiled floor as if it held the answers to a question she didn’t want to ask. Her usually perfect hair was in a messy braid, her black hoodie wrinkled and staned like she hadn’t changed in a while. She looked tired. Not just physically–but tired in the way people looked when they were holding the world on their shoulders and had nowhere to set it down.
Thed, and failed
My body protested with a sharp wave of nausea and weakness, and I let out a faint groan instead.
Eva’s head snapped up immediately, and the moment her eyes met mine, everything shifted.
She stood so quickly the chair scraped back with a screech “Viselle” she breathed, voice breaking apart like glass under pressure “You’re awake.”
I managed a nod though my throat was too dry to speak. She rushed forward, grabbing the glass of water on the bedside table, her hands trembling so badly the water nearly spilled over. I tried to take it myself, but she held it to my lips carefully. and I crank with slow greedy sips.
When I was done, she set the glass down and stared at me for a second too long.
“You’ve been in and out for almost a day she whispered. The fever won’t break. You’ve been delirious Hallucinating Hyperventilating in your sleep. You scared the hell out of everyone.”
I swallowed hard, the ache in my chest too big to name. Tm sorry.”
“Don’t” She stepped back and ran a hand over her face. “You have nothing to be sorry for”
I didn’t reply
Because I did have something to be sorry for For a lot of things. For loving the wrong person. For kissing the right one too late. For hiding too many truths. For surviving when a part of me already felt dead.
Eva sat down slowly, and for a long time, she said nothing.
Nether of us did
We just sat there the thick, heavy silence of it al
Until she whispered. They’re going to kid him.”
My heart stopped
The machines didn’t beep, but I could’ve swom something inside me stuttered “What?”
“Max” She looked at her lap, shoulders shaking slightly. “He’s going to be executed. For what he did to you.”
My mouth parted, but I had no words. None that could even begin to reach the horror blooming in my chest.
“It’s law” she said flatly “Forceful marks are punishable by death. You know that. Everyone does. But I never thought- Her voice cracked She bit her lip hard, then looked up at me “I never thought he would actually do something like that.”
I turned away, unable to hold her gaze
“You don’t have to say anything” she said quickly “But they need a statement. A formal charge Without it, the process slows down But if you if you say you want justice, they’ll execute him immediately No trial. No delay”
Tears welled in my eyes.
I hated
Successfully unlocked!
I hated that I still loved him
“Eva” My voice shook
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Chapter 53
“I’m horrible for doing this and I know. But I’m begging you not to do it.” She swallowed thickly. “I know it’s selfish. I know how awful it is to ask you But he’s my brother, Jiselle. He raised me when no one else would Protected me when the world and my other brothers didn’t care. He’s done horrible things–but he was always good to me. He’s the only one in my family
that I have.”
Her voice dropped into something ragged, torn. “I’m not asking you to forgive him. Hell, I don’t even know if I do. But I can’t lose him. I can’t. Not like this. Please… if there’s any part of you that remembers how much you used to love him, if there’s any part of you that believes he didn’t do it out of malice… please don’t press charges.”
Tears slipped silently down my cheeks.
I remembered what she’d said to me months ago. That losing Max would destroy her
I hated that she was in this position now. When she told me she never wanted to have to choose between us
This was what she meant
And here she was–sitting beside the girl her brother nearly killed—begging.
I didn’t know what to do.
I was too tired to rage. Too sick to cry properly.
Too broken to feel anything except hollow.
“Everyone wants me to hate him,” I whispered. “They’re angry. Furious. Nate.. he almost killed him. Ethan won’t even look at me. My wolf is. I choked. “She’s dying.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you ask me this?”
She didn’t flinch. “Because I know you, Jiselle. I know your heart. You don’t want blood. Not really. Even now… want this. You want peace. You want healing. And if letting him live gives you even a chance at that… please.” The door creaked slightly and a nurse poked her head in. Her eyes swept over me–red, sick, shaking–and then to “She shouldn’t be agitated,” the nurse said softly. “She needs rest.”
you don’t
o Eva.
“I’m fine,” I rasped. “I just need… a minute.”
The nurse lingered, clearly unsure, then nodded and closed the door again.
Eva stood, her eyes glossy. “I’ll go. I’ve said what I needed to
I caught her wrist before she could move.
She turned back slowly, confusion flickering in her gaze.
I stared at her, my vision swimming.
Then, very softly, I said, “I don’t want him to die. With both of you here, I am formally saying I don’t want the death penalty for Maximus Laker. I pardon his crime towards me and my wolf.”
Her shoulders crumpled
to mine like she had the night of the dorm fire,
Tears streamed down her face as she leaned forward, pressing her forehead to
when we thought we’d never make it out alive.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you”
I didn’t answer
Because it didn’t feel like something to be thanked for.
Not when I still felt like I was dying. Not when my body was rejecting everything, including my own emotions. Not when every breath felt borrowed
She kissed my forehead, then pulled away.
Her hand lingered on mine for a moment longer.
And then she left.
I stared at the ceiling in the quiet aftermath, the beeping machines the only sound filling the room.
The nurse came closer, adjusted something on my IV, wiped my forehead with a cold cloth, then left without a word. I knew they wouldn’t believe Eva’s word only, so at least the nurse was here
So I just lay there–breathing, but not alive
I had just saved the man who marked me against my will. The man who may have killed me if not for the strength of my wolf, for the intervention of those who cared
I should have been furious
Chapter 53
I should have pressed charges:
I should have demanded justice.
But I couldn’t
Because I loved him once.
Because he had loved me, in his own twisted, broken way.
Because I wasn’t ready to be the reason Eva lost her family.
And maybe, just maybe….because some part of me still wanted to believe he wasn’t a horrible person.
But as I stared at the ceiling, feeling the fever lick at my bones again, one thought whispered through the chaos in my mind: If I save him… what does that make me?
ET
