LUCIEN'S POV
I had faced armies. I’d looked into the face of death more times in my centuries than I could count. I'd won wars, suffered betrayals and bearing losses that would've shattered lesser creatures. But not a damn thing — not a goddamn thing — had prepared me for this particular brand of helplessness.
Lena’s anguish bore through our teachers, powering down the mate bond like a fire through parched grass, and I could only feel it with her. I was pacing around outside the birthing room with my own body all tense and taut, my claws extending and retracting on their own volition as she roared yet again.
“She’ll be fine,” Riven said, but it was a lie and his voice lacked conviction. He was standing against the wall, his arms tightly crossed over his chest, and there wasn’t a single
