Chapter 254
AARON
Leah is pale and shaky standing in front of the stage. I can tell everything is taking its toll on her.
There’s been so many shocks in such a short amount of time.
Finding out Ethan was alive, but then having him kidnapped by Adam.
Tobin luring her to that factory where he tried to kill me.
Leah unwittingly becoming the Havelock Alpha.
And now this.
Leah is strong, but a person can only take so much.
When Samsen announces the mating bond will be broken,
Leah crumples, collapsing to the floor and my heart slams into
my ribcage.
“Leah!” I shout desperately.
I claw my way through the silver frame, shredding it like it’s
paper. A couple of Enforcers start toward me, but I fling them out of the way as I rush across the space to where Leah is lying on the floor.
Once there, I go down to my knees and gather her into my
arms.
Absolute chaos has broken out in the hall.
Apparently people are actually scared of me, because the
second I broke free from that silver booth, both the audience
and many of the Councilmembers immediately fled, as if I’m
some rogue wolf who was going to indiscriminately slaughter my way through them all.
I don’t care about anything except my wife.
“Leah,” I murmur gently, brushing her hair back from her pale
face.
Luckily, she’s already coming around.
I glance up at the stage, where only Karolina and a handful of other Councilmembers I consider friends and allies have
remained. Samsen and Petyr are long gone, I note bitterly.
“Someone get a doctor!” I shout at them.
Karolina motions to one of the Enforcers, who rushes off to do
her bidding.
“Bring your mate through this way,” Councilwoman Eleanor
Ainsley says to me.
She’s one of the oldest Councilmembers, and once she was friends with my own mother.
I nod and then stand with Leah in my arms. I take the steps up to the stage and Eleanor leads me back through the curtains to a private room.
“Thank you, Councilwoman,” I tell her gratefully as I gently lay
Leah down on the couch.
“I’m sorry this has happened to you, Aaron,” Eleanor tells me sadly. “I don’t believe this case they’ve brought against you, but I don’t have anywhere near the power that people like
Samsen and Petyr have to be able to change things. Your
mother would be horrified if she saw what has become of us
all.”
“I appreciate that,” I tell her in return. “But can I ask you a
favor?”
Eleanor nods.
“If–when Leah survives breaking the mating bond, and goes
home to our son, will you check in on her every now and then?
Neither of us have our own parents left any longer.”
Not that Roberts was much of a father to begin with.
Eleanor looks sad. “These wars have taken so much from so
many packs. I never thought I would outlive all of my children,
let alone lose them to such violence. And I fear the wars are about to ignite all over again.”
I should probably have an opinion about that, but apparently,
I won’t be around to see it.
“Aaron?” Leah says, finally coming around properly. “What happened?”
“I think you fainted,” I reply, sending her a reassuring smile. “A doctor will be here soon to check you out.”
Leah rises up from the couch and locks her arms around my
neck.
“Aaron, this can’t be happening!”
I hug her back, wishing we could stay here forever and never
let each other go.
But fate has other plans for us.
“I’m sorry, Leah,” I whisper to her.
The doctor arrives then, and I move out of the way so she can
examine Leah.
After taking Leah’s vitals and asking a few questions, the doctor says Leah is probably just dehydrated and it turns out she hasn’t been eating enough the past few days since the
Council brought us here.
Someone fetches an orange juice for my mate as the doctor
leaves again.
“I feel too sick to eat or drink anything,” Leah tells me as I open
the orange juice for her.
“Just a few sips. Remember, you need to get home to Ethan.”
Tears form in her eyes, and she nods, then carefully sips the
orange juice.
We sit there holding hands, silent while Leah slowly drinks the
juice.
I think there must be so many things I need to say to her, but right now I can’t think of a single one.
Just when Leah is finally getting some color back into her features, there’s a commotion outside, and Samsen enters with a bunch of Enforcers, like he’s too afraid to face me
without an army at his back.
Probably smart of him, all things considered.
“Now that Luna Leah is sufficiently recovered, it is time to proceed with the bond breaking ceremony,” Samsen says.
I curse as Leah becomes pale all over again.
However, I hold out my hand for her to take.
She sets the orange juice aside and bravely puts her hand in
mine.
“They can break our mating bond, but it will never change
how I love you, Leah, with all that I am,” I tell her as I pull her to
her feet.
“I love you too, Aaron,” she replies, tears beginning to fall
down her cheeks again.
“I’ll be there for you,” I vow. “To the very end.”
