Chapter 4: The Alpha’s Despair
1371 Words
Caspian (The Eldest Triplet) pov:
"ARIA!"
The scream ripped from my throat, a raw, guttural sound that didn't feel human. It felt like my soul was being torn in half as I watched the white halo of her hair vanish beneath the black, glass-like surface of the Frost Lake
MATE. DYING. SAVE HER.
My wolf, Koda, roared in my mind, a sound so loud it drowned out the wind and the terrified shouts of my brothers. I launched myself off the embankment, my boots crushing the gravel, and dove headfirst into the icy abyss.
The water was colder than anything I had ever felt, a freezing shock that instantly seized my muscles and stole the breath from my lungs.
Frost Lake was legendary for a reason; elders said the water was fed by underground glaciers, cold enough to stop a human heart in minutes.
And Aria... Aria was in her human form. She was fragile.
I commanded my limbs to move, fighting against the crushing weight of the water.
Darkness enveloped me. The moonlight that had been so bright on the surface couldn't penetrate the murky depths of the lake. I opened my eyes, the stinging water blurring my vision, searching frantically for a flash of white.
Where is she?
To my left and right, I felt the turbulence of Killian and Lucian diving in after me. We were a unit, three parts of a whole, and right now, we shared a singular, terrifying panic. Our bond, usually a steady hum of connection, was now a chaotic storm of fear.
There.
Deeply below I saw a pale shape drifting toward the bottom.
It looked like a ghost. her long hair floated in a suspended halo. She was just... sinking.
I kicked harder. grabbed her arm.
Her skin was ice.
I yanked her toward me, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her flush against my chest. I waited for the spark. I waited for the electric jolt that every wolf describes when they touch their mate for the first time—the fireworks, the heat, the overwhelming sense of completeness.
But there was only a faint, dying flicker. A weak pulse of energy that felt like a candle flame struggling in a hurricane.
No. No, no. Don't you dare fade out.
I kicked the surface, dragging her dead weight with me. If she died, my wolf would go mad.
My head broke the surface with a gasp, water streaming from my face.
"I’ve got her!" I roared, the sound echoing off the trees. "I have her!"
Killian and Lucian surfaced seconds later, their heads whipping toward my voice.
"Get her to the bank!" Killian screamed, swimming toward me with frantic strokes.
We dragged her through the shallows. I laid her down gently, my hands trembling so hard I could barely control them.
"She’s not breathing," Lucian whispered.
"Caspian..." Lucian’s voice cracked. "Her pulse. It’s... I can barely find it. It's skipping."
"Move!" Killian shouted, shoving Lucian aside and dropped to his knees on the other side of her, grabbing her limp hand and rubbing it frantically between his own, trying to generate heat. "Aria! Wake up! Damn it."
I placed my hand on the center of her chest, interlocked my fingers, and pushed.
"Come on, Aria," I growled. "Breathe. You don't get to leave. We just found you. You don't get to run away now!"
Push. Push. Push.
I could feel her ribs shifting under my hands. She was so small. I was terrified I would break her bones with my strength, but I had to keep the blood flowing. I had to be her heart because hers was failing.
"Breathe, damn it!" Killian yelled, tears streaming down his face, mixing with the lake water. He pressed his forehead against her cold hand. "Please, Moon Goddess, don't take her. Take me instead. Just don't take her."
I pinched her nose and sealed my mouth over hers. Her lips were freezing. I blew air into her lungs, watching her chest rise, then fall lifelessly.
I pulled back and resumed compressions.
"It’s not working," Lucian choked out. "Caspian, I can feel the bond fading."
"Shut up!" I snapped, pumping harder. "She is not dying today! I forbid it!"
My heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every second of silence from her was a dagger in my soul. I looked at her face—peaceful, pale, wet lashes fanned against her cheeks. She looked like a sleeping angel, too good for the hell we had put her through.
Suddenly, her body was convulsed.
Water spilled from her lips as she gagged. A ragged, wet cough tore from her throat.
"Turn her!" I shouted.
Killian and I instantly rolled her onto her side. She vomited up lake water, her small body shaking violently with the effort. She gasped.
"She's breathing," Killian sobbed, collapsing back onto his heels, burying his face in his hands. "Oh God, she's breathing."
But she didn't wake up.
Her eyes remained closed. Her body went limp again in the grass, shivering uncontrollably.
"Aria?" I touched her cheek. It was still freezing. "Baby, open your eyes. Look at me."
Nothing. She was unconscious, lost in a place we couldn't reach.
"We need to get her to the hospital," Lucian barked, finally snapping back into focus.
"I’m calling Dr. Vance."
I moved to scoop her up into my arms, but as the moonlight hit her fully for the first time, I froze.
Now that she was out of the water, the mud washed away... I could see it.
I could see everything.
My breath hitched in my throat.
"What is that?" Killian whispered.
Her white dress was torn at the shoulder and the waist. Beneath the wet fabric, her skin was a canvas of violence.
There was a dark purple bruise on her side—the shape of a boot print. Her arms were covered in scratches and finger-shaped bruises. Her lip was split. Her eyes were already starting to swell.
The rage that hit me then was unlike anything I had ever felt. It wasn't just anger; it was a nuclear explosion in my chest.
"Someone did this," I said. "Someone beat her."
Killian let out a roar that shook the leaves off the trees. His eyes turned a glowing, demonic crimson. "WHO TOUCHED HER?"
My grip on her tightened. I pulled her wet, broken body against my chest, shielding her from the world.
"We find them later," I commanded, though my wolf was screaming for blood right now. "Right now, she needs heat."
I stood up, holding her effortlessly. She weighed nothing. It felt like I was holding a bird with broken wings.
We ran back to the SUVs. Killian threw the back door open, and I climbed in, cradling Aria in my lap. Lucian jumped in the driver's seat, slamming his foot on the gas before the door was even fully closed.
"Turn up the heat!" I barked.
I pulled a blanket and wrapped it tightly around her, tucking the edges under her chin.
"I've got you," I whispered into her wet hair, rocking her gently as the car swerved around a corner.
As I looked down at her battered face, a memory flashed from two years ago. Me, standing in my living room, laughing.
“Ghost Girl,” I mocked her.
“Try not to disappear.”
A tear leaked from my eye and fell onto her cheek.
I had called her a ghost because she was pale.
And the crushing weight in my chest told me that if she died because we were too blind to see it I wouldn't survive it. I would follow her into the dark.
"Drive faster, Lucian," I choked out, burying my face in her neck.
"Drive faster."
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