Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother - Chapter 271

Chapter 271: Chapter 271
Seraphina’s POV

My hands trembled as I reached for his face.

Cold. His skin was so cold.

Like ice. Like death. Like everything warm and alive had been sucked out of him.

“No.” The word barely made it past my lips. “No, no, no.”

I pressed my fingers to his neck. Searching. Desperate. Needing to feel something. Anything.

Nothing.

No pulse. No heartbeat. No sign of life.

“Damien.” My voice cracked. Broke completely. “Damien, please.”

His face was gray. Pale. The silver-blue eyes I loved so much were closed. Would never open again.

Gone.

He was really gone.

The realization hit like a physical blow. Like someone had reached into my chest and ripped out my heart.

A sound tore from my throat. Not human. Not words. Just raw agony given voice.

My new wolf—that white warrior who’d just emerged—she felt it too. Felt the mate bond severing. Felt our Alpha dying.

She howled. Inside my head. Inside my soul. A sound of pure devastation.

Not Ayla’s gentle cry. This was different. Bigger. More primal. The sound of an Alpha losing her mate.

The sound shattered something in me.

I collapsed onto his chest. My body covering his. Like I could somehow keep him warm. Keep him here. Keep him from slipping away completely.

“You can’t leave me.” The words came out broken. Sobbing. “You can’t. We just—I just found out the truth. I just realized—”

I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t speak through the tears. Through the absolute destruction happening inside me.

My wolf howled again. Louder. The sound vibrating through my entire body. Through the ground. Through everything.

An Alpha’s grief. Raw. Unfiltered. The kind of pain that made the world stop.

I felt her rage. Her sorrow. Her refusal to accept this.

Our mate. Our Alpha. The father of our children.

Dead.

“No!” I screamed it. “No, you promised! You promised you’d come home!”

I grabbed his shoulders. Shook him. Like I could wake him up. Like this was just sleep. Just a nightmare I could end.

But his head just lolled. Lifeless. Empty.

The tears came harder. Faster. Pouring down my face. Falling onto his.

“I love you.” The confession tore out. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. I was just—I was scared and stupid and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

His lips were blue. Tinged with that horrible color of death.

I pressed my forehead to his. My tears mixing with the blood on his face. On his chest. Everywhere.

“The kids need you.” My voice broke again. “Adrian and Lily need their father. I can’t—I can’t tell them you’re not coming back. I can’t—”

A sob cut me off. Then another. My whole body shaking with them.

Inside my head, my wolf was still howling. Still crying. Still refusing to accept that our mate was gone.

The bond between us—that golden thread that had pulled me to him—it was fraying. Dissolving. Dying along with him.

I felt it slipping away. Felt that connection severing. Felt the emptiness spreading.

“Please.” I clutched at his shirt. At his cold skin. “Please don’t go. I need you. We need you.”

Footsteps. Running. Multiple people crashing through the forest.

I didn’t look up. Didn’t care. Nothing mattered anymore.

“Oh God.” Lucas’s voice. Shocked. Horrified. “Damien. No. No, please no.”

More footsteps. Warriors arriving. Their voices rising. Confused. Panicked.

“What happened?”

“Is he—”

“The Luna—look at her—”

“That’s Valerie. She’s dead.”

I heard it all. Distantly. Like it was happening to someone else. In another world.

My world had shrunk to just this. Just Damien’s body. Just this unbearable pain.

Someone touched my shoulder. Gentle. Careful.

“Sera.” Lucas’s voice again. Thick. Like he was crying too. “Sera, I’m so sorry. I’m so—”

“He’s not breathing.” The words came out flat. Dead. “I tried. I did CPR. I tried everything but he’s not—”

My voice broke again. The sobs taking over.

Lucas knelt beside me. His hand on my back. Steady. Grounding.

Around us, I heard warriors crying. Low sounds of grief. Of shock. Their Alpha was dead. Their leader. The strongest among them.

Gone.

My wolf howled again. The sound ripping through the clearing. Every wolf within range would hear it. Would feel it.

An Alpha calling for her mate. Calling for someone who would never answer.

“Luna.” One of the warriors approached. Young. His face wet with tears. “We should—we need to move him. Get him back to camp. To—”

“No.” The word came out fierce. “Don’t touch him.”

“But Luna—”

“I said don’t touch him!” My voice rose. Sharp. Commanding. “Nobody touches him. Nobody moves him. He stays with me.”

Lucas’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Sera. We need to—”

“I know!” The words exploded out. “I know we need to move him eventually. I know there are protocols. I know—”

I couldn’t finish. Just collapsed onto Damien’s chest again. Crying harder.

“Just—just give me a minute. Please. Just let me—”

Let me what? Say goodbye? Pretend for one more moment that he might wake up? That this might not be real?

My tears fell on his face. On his neck. On the horrible wounds covering his chest.

So much blood. So much damage. How had he even survived this long?

“I’m sorry.” I whispered it against his cold skin. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you needed me.”

My hand found his. Laced our fingers together. His hand was limp. Cold. But I held it anyway.

“I watched the videos.” The confession poured out. “I saw Gabriel. Emma. Everything they confessed. I know you didn’t betray me. I know you were drugged. I know—”

My wolf whimpered. A sound of pure heartbreak.

She’d just found him again. Just emerged after three years of silence. And now—now she was losing him before they’d even had a chance.

“The kids.” I forced the words out. “Adrian asked about you every day. Lily made you drawings. They miss you so much.”

Tears dripped onto his shirt. Onto the wound on his chest. The one right over his heart.

“You promised them you’d come home.” My voice broke. “You promised me. You said—you said you were coming back.”

But he wasn’t coming back. Would never come back.

This was it. The end. Everything we’d fought for. Everything we’d survived.

Gone.

My wolf howled again. Louder. The sound tearing through the forest. Through the dawn. Through everything.

Other wolves joined her. The warriors around us. All of them crying out. Mourning their Alpha.

The sound was terrible. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.

A pack grieving.

I pressed my face against Damien’s chest. Right over his heart. Where it should be beating. Where it would never beat again.

“I love you.” The words came out broken. Barely audible. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I didn’t say it enough. I’m sorry I—”

Another sob. Then another. My whole body shaking.

The tears wouldn’t stop. Kept falling. Hot against his cold skin. Soaking into his shirt. Into his wounds.

Especially that one over his heart. Where the poison had done its worst work. Where death had claimed him.

My tears pooled there. Glistening in the dawn light.

Then—

Something strange happened.

The tears started to glow. Faint at first. Like catching sunlight. But growing brighter.

Gold. Pure gold. Spreading from where my tears touched his skin.

I lifted my head slightly. Stared at the impossible sight.

The golden light was spreading. Following the path of my tears. Seeping into the wound. Into his skin.

“What—” I couldn’t finish. Couldn’t look away.

The glow intensified. Brighter. Warmer. Pulsing like a heartbeat.