My tortured Luna

Chapter 15

"You don't get to touch me anymore." Her voice was frighteningly calm. He groaned as he tried to crawl backwards, but Sage followed him without hesitation. She kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him rolling over before grabbing him by his shirt and forcing him back onto his knees.

"You remember every time you laughed?" She hit him again.

"Every time you stood there and watched?" Another punch.

"You weren't the one who locked me in that room." Blood ran from his mouth as he looked up at her.

"But you walked through that door every single day." Her voice trembled now.

"You knew what Jack was doing to me. You knew what everyone was doing." He swallowed hard but still managed to smile.

"I enjoyed every second." Something snapped inside Sage. She wrapped both hands around his throat and squeezed with all the strength she possessed. His eyes widened immediately, his hands clawing desperately at hers, but she didn't loosen her grip.

"I should kill you."

"You should," he rasped, struggling for air.

"Because Jack still won." The words landed.

I saw them.

Sage froze.

Only for a heartbeat.

Then she hit him harder than before.

The Mage suddenly stepped backwards.

His eyes widened.

“No…”

He raised both hands.

The barrier flickered.

He disappeared.

Just…

Gone.

The barrier shattered.

I didn’t wait for the last pieces of magic to disappear.

Cain had already taken over.

I barely remembered crossing the clearing.

I only remembered her.

She kept squeezing him, sitting on top of him. Her eyes staring into his.

Her eyes…

One black.

One white.

Neither of them looked human anymore.

I reached them just as his heartbeat began slowing.

"Sage." My voice barely sounded like my own. Nothing. She didn’t even blink. She just kept squeezing.

Jayden slowly stepped closer beside me.

“Sage.” Still nothing.

She kept her pressure, staring at Jason as though she couldn’t even see him anymore.

Deletio swallowed hard before taking a careful step forward.

“Please…” She didn’t react. My heart broke a little more with every second. Valeria slowly pulled herself to her feet. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

“Sage.” Her words was calm. She simply looked at Sage.

Sage looked at her. Her eyes searching for something familiar. Something she knew and trusted. She knew Valeria. She trusted her.

"You don't owe him this." Valeria said to her. She walked closer to her. Sage looked back at the guard.

"He deserves to die." She whispered.

"I know." Valeria agreed.

"He deserves to suffer." Her voice even smaller know. Like she was trying to convince herself.

"I know." Valeria

She looked back at Jason, who was barely conscious now.

"You can let go now, Sage. Come back to us." Valeria said.

Everything stopped.

The black slowly disappeared.

Then the white.

Silver.

Both eyes slowly returned to the colour I’d dreamed about every night since finding her.

She blinked once.

Then looked down.

Blood.

It covered her hands.

Her clothes.

The grass beneath her feet.

She looked at Jason.

Then the bodies surrounding her.

Confusion spread across her face.

Finally…

She looked at me.

Really looked at me.

Not through Jack.

Not through fear.

Just.. me.

For the first time…

She didn't flinch.

There was no fear.

Only exhaustion.

She swayed.

Every instinct screamed at me to catch her.

I didn’t move.

Not yet.

What if she still wasn’t back?

What if touching her—

She took one small step.

Then another.

Straight towards me.

Her knees gave out.

I moved before I even realised it.

She fell directly into my arms.

The moment my hands touched her…

Everything exploded.

Warmth.

Relief.

Hope.

The bond crashed through every wall between us with enough force to steal the air from my lungs.

Cain howled.

Not in rage.

In relief.

I buried my face against her hair as I held her tighter, terrified that if I loosened my grip, she’d disappear again.

She didn’t pull away.

She didn’t flinch.

She simply…

Collapsed against me.

Tears blurred my vision.

I couldn’t stop them.

I didn’t want to.

For the first time since I’d found her…

She was finally in my arms.

Safe.

Mine to protect.

Then…

A whisper drifted through the bond.

So quiet I almost thought I’d imagined it.

”…Mate.”

Sia.

Not Sage.

Sia.

Another silence followed.

Then one final thought brushed gently against my mind.

Soft.

Peaceful.

Full of a trust she had never given me before.

”…I told you he’d come.”

Something inside me finally broke.

I held her impossibly closer as the first sob escaped my chest.

I was too late to save her from her past.

But I wasn’t too late…

To bring her home

————————

The room was silent.

Too silent.

No one spoke.

No one moved.

Every pair of eyes rested on the small figure lying in the enormous bed.

Waiting.

Just one blink.

One breath.

One sign that she was still with us.

Amelia slowly lowered the chart in her hands.

“I’ve weighed her again.”

Nobody looked away from Sage.

“She’s forty-five kilograms now.” Her voice grew quieter. “Ninety-nine pounds.”

Ninety-nine pounds.

The number echoed inside my head.

A child.

She weighed no more than a child.

My eyes travelled over her properly for the first time.

Not just because she was my mate.

Because I finally allowed myself to see her.

Her cheekbones were too sharp.

The dark circles beneath her eyes looked almost bruised.

Her lips were dry and cracked.

Even her hair…

The beautiful silver strands had lost their shine.

My gaze drifted lower.

Her collarbones pushed sharply against her skin.

Every rib was visible beneath the thin hospital gown.

Goddess…

How had I not seen it?

I reached for her hand.

This time…

She didn’t pull away.

The familiar sparks raced across my skin, but they brought me no comfort.

I gently turned her arm over.

My entire body locked.

Bite marks.

Old.

New.

Some barely healed.

Others nothing more than pale scars.

There were so many.

A low growl escaped my chest before I could stop it.

Cain answered immediately.

Not with words.

With grief.

My thumb brushed carefully across one of the scars.

Someone had bitten her hard enough to leave permanent marks.

Again.

And again.

My breathing became uneven.

Then…

I heard it.

Her heartbeat.

I froze.

It was weaker.

Much weaker.

Barely there.

My head snapped towards Amelia.

“Call the Mage.”

The words came out sharper than I intended.

Amelia didn’t hesitate.

She hurried from the room without asking a single question.

No one questioned me.

Not Jayden.

Not Valeria.

Not even Deletio.

Maybe they should have.

Maybe…

I’d been wrong this entire time.

The minutes passed too slowly.

Every heartbeat sounded weaker than the last.

Every second felt stolen.

A knock finally sounded.

The door opened.

An elderly woman stepped inside.

Silver hair framed a weathered face filled with quiet wisdom. There was strength in her. Ancient strength. It wasn’t loud or intimidating.

It simply…

Was.

Her eyes found Sage immediately.

“Move.”

The word was calm.

Directed at me.

I blinked once.

She didn’t look at me.

“Move.”

There was no anger.

No impatience.

Only certainty.

Without thinking, I stood.

I stepped away from the bed, giving Jayden a brief glance as I moved towards the corner of the room.

The Mage approached Sage in silence.

She never touched her.

Her hand hovered a few inches above Sage’s forehead before slowly drifting lower.

Her throat.

Her chest.

Her stomach.

Her legs.

Her eyes closed briefly.

She wasn’t looking.

She was feeling.

Listening.

When she finally opened her eyes again…

She looked directly at me.

“Why haven’t you marked her?”

The question wasn’t accusing.

It was simple.

A fact she expected answered.

I looked back at Sage.

“I wanted her to feel safe before I…”

She lifted one hand.

My words stopped.

“You denied her the bond.”

Silence swallowed the room.

“You kept your distance when she needed it the most.”

I blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The words didn’t make sense.

“But I…”

Again she interrupted me.

Not rudely.

Only because the truth couldn’t wait.

“Every time she saw you, her soul felt the pull.”

She looked towards Sage.

“The need to find its other half.”

My chest tightened.

“But every time you turned around…”

She met my eyes again.

“…and stayed away…”

A long pause settled between us.

“…her soul lost another piece of itself.”

No one breathed.

Not even me.

So…

All this time…

I thought I was protecting her.

Giving her space.

Giving her peace.

I was breaking her.

The Mage’s voice softened.

“You were never giving her peace.”

She looked at Sage with unmistakable sadness.

“You were giving her loneliness.”

Something cracked inside my chest.

I couldn’t stop staring at Sage.

“So every time…” My voice failed me. “…she thought…”

The Mage nodded gently.

“She believed you were rejecting her.”

A sob escaped somewhere behind me.

Valeria.

I couldn’t turn around.

I couldn’t move.

“Not only hurting her, my King.”

My eyes slowly lifted to hers.

“You were preparing her to die.”

My entire world stopped.

“What?”

The word barely left my lips.

Cain whimpered inside my mind.

No.

He didn’t need to say anything else.

I understood.

I…

The one person destined to protect her…

The one person meant to be her safe place…

I had become another reason she stopped fighting.

“I think her wolf knew her time was coming to an end.”

The Mage’s gaze never left Sage.

“I think that’s why she walked into the woods yesterday.”

My vision blurred.

“Not because she wanted to be caught.”

She slowly looked at me.

“But because she had stopped believing anyone would come.”

The room disappeared.

I couldn’t breathe.

“I think…”

She rested one gentle hand above Sage’s heart.

“…she was looking for the peace she could no longer find in life.”

A tear rolled silently down my cheek.

Then another.

I didn’t wipe them away.

“I thought…” My voice broke completely. “I thought I was helping her.”

“I know.”

The Mage’s answer came without hesitation.

“You loved her the only way you believed would protect her.”

She paused.

“You were wrong.”

There was no cruelty in her voice.

Only truth.

“You can’t hurt her anymore, my King.”

She stepped aside, making room beside the bed.

“But…”

Her eyes found mine one final time.

“…you can still heal her.”

I crossed the room before I even realised I’d started moving.

This time…

I didn’t hesitate.

I took Sage’s hand in mine.

The sparks exploded beneath my skin, stronger than I’d ever felt it before.

I closed my eyes, bringing her hand carefully against my forehead.

“I will never let you chase me again.”

My thumb brushed softly across her knuckles.

“I promise, Sage.”

And for the first time…

I prayed she would wake up to hear it.