Chapter 8
1660 Words
Chapter Eight – The Choice
Christa’s P.O.V.
Some memories refused to stay buried.
No matter how much time passed.
No matter how many mornings I convinced myself I had done the right thing.
They always found their way back.
This one smelled like smoke.
⸻
Six Months Earlier
The first thing I remembered was Carlos’s voice.
“Christa…”
It sounded far away.
Like he was calling to me from the other side of the world.
Then the pain came.
Every bone in my body screamed as I forced my eyes open.
The infirmary ceiling blurred above me.
White.
Cracked.
Familiar.
“Easy.”
Carlos was beside my bed before I could move.
His face was streaked with ash.
His hands were covered in dried blood.
My blood.
“Anna.”
The word scraped against my throat.
“She’s alive.”
Relief flooded through me so suddenly I nearly cried.
“She’ll recover.”
I closed my eyes.
“Antonio?”
“Safe.”
“Aaliyah?”
“Safe.”
“Serenity?”
“Safe.”
Silence.
I didn’t have to ask.
Carlos looked away.
My heart sank.
“Carter.”
His jaw tightened.
“I found him.”
The room became unbearably still.
“I carried him back.”
His voice cracked.
“I wasn’t going to leave him there.”
I reached for Carlos’s hand.
He took mine immediately.
“I want to see him.”
“Christa…”
“I need to.”
⸻
The east wing of the infirmary had fallen quiet.
The living had been moved.
The dead remained.
Carlos supported most of my weight as we walked.
Every step reopened wounds that had barely stopped bleeding.
At the end of the room…
Carter lay beneath a white sheet.
Doña Isolde stood beside the bed.
Her face was heavy with exhaustion.
She looked at us sadly.
“I’m sorry.”
She rested a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“I checked twice.”
“There was nothing I could do.”
I nodded.
She squeezed my shoulder once before quietly leaving to tend to the wounded.
The door closed behind her.
Only Carlos and I remained.
Carlos folded back the white sheet.
For a long moment…
I couldn’t breathe.
Carter looked as though he were sleeping.
His clothes were torn and stained with blood from the battle, but his body bore surprisingly few visible injuries.
A deep wound cut across his side.
Bruises darkened his ribs.
His hands were scraped raw.
His skin was pale.
Too pale.
His chest didn’t rise.
He was still.
Peacefully still.
If I hadn’t known better, I would have believed he might open his eyes at any moment.
I stepped closer.
Slowly, I brushed a lock of dark hair away from his forehead.
He looked so young.
Not like Dorian’s weapon.
Not like the hybrid the world feared.
Just…
Carter.
Just the young man who had loved my daughter enough to lay down his life for her.
A tear slipped down my cheek.
“I was wrong about you.”
The words barely escaped my lips.
“I spent so much time seeing your father…”
“…that I forgot to see the man standing in front of me.”
Carlos stood beside me, staring silently at Carter.
“He died protecting Anna.”
I nodded.
“He never stopped choosing her.”
Silence settled over us.
The kind that only came after war.
The kind that came when there was nothing left to fight.
Carlos finally spoke again.
“I should’ve called you son while you could still hear it.”
His voice broke.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Neither of us noticed the private service door opening behind us.
The rear service door creaked open.
Carlos was moving before I could even turn my head.
His hand fell instinctively to the knife at his hip as he stepped between the stranger and Carter’s bed.
Then he stopped.
“…Navarro.”
The Alpha of Iron Fang quietly closed the door behind him.
He wasn’t dressed for war.
There were no guards.
No weapons drawn.
Only a long black coat stained with rain and ash from the battle that had consumed us all.
For a long moment…
No one spoke.
Navarro’s eyes rested on Carter.
Respect.
Sadness.
Something else I couldn’t quite place.
“I came as soon as I heard.”
Carlos’s voice remained hard.
“This isn’t the time.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
Navarro slowly approached the bed.
He never once reached for Carter.
He simply looked down at the young man lying before us.
“He fought well.”
Carlos nodded.
“He died well.”
Navarro closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes.”
Silence settled over the room.
The kind only warriors understood.
Finally, Navarro looked at me.
“Christa…”
“There is something I need to ask of you.”
I straightened despite the pain tearing through my ribs.
“What is it?”
He hesitated.
Long enough for me to know whatever came next carried weight.
“You know what Dorian was.”
“I do.”
“You know what he spent years trying to accomplish.”
My jaw tightened.
“I do.”
Navarro looked back at Carter.
“Dorian failed.”
His voice softened.
“But this…”
He gestured toward Carter.
“…this was the closest he ever came.”
Carlos stepped closer.
“Get to the point.”
Navarro nodded.
“I’ve spent years studying Dorian’s work.”
“I’ve destroyed every laboratory I could find.”
“Every journal.”
“Every experiment.”
“But there are still questions no one can answer.”
His eyes met mine.
“And Carter’s body may be the only way to answer them.”
The words hung in the air.
I frowned.
“What are you asking?”
“I want you to release his body into my custody.”
Carlos’s expression darkened instantly.
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Navarro never flinched.
“If we bury him…”
“…everything Dorian learned is buried with him.”
Carlos took another step forward.
“And that’s exactly where it belongs.”
“I disagree.”
The room grew quiet.
Navarro looked at Carter again.
“The man is gone.”
“The soul has crossed.”
“The mind has died.”
He spoke with complete certainty.
“But the body…”
He exhaled slowly.
“…the body is unlike anything our world has ever seen.”
“If I can understand how Dorian created him…”
“…I can make certain no child is ever turned into a weapon again.”
I looked at Carter.
He looked peaceful.
Like he was sleeping.
Not a monster.
Not Dorian’s experiment.
Just…
A young man.
One who loved my daughter enough to give everything for her.
I swallowed hard.
“You would use him…”
Navarro shook his head immediately.
“No.”
“I would honor him.”
“He spent his life being used.”
“I refuse to let his death be meaningless.”
Carlos looked at me.
I could see the conflict in his eyes.
Everything in us wanted to bury Carter with honor.
To let him rest.
But if Navarro was right…
If Carter’s body could prevent another Dorian…
Could prevent another child from suffering what he had…
Didn’t we owe him that?
I closed my eyes.
Moon Goddess…
Guide me.
When I opened them again…
I nodded.
“You have him.”
Carlos lowered his head.
His shoulders sagged beneath the weight of the decision.
Navarro stepped forward.
With surprising gentleness…
He lifted Carter into his arms.
Almost like a father carrying a sleeping son.
Then…
Carlos spoke.
“Wait.”
Navarro stopped.
Carlos walked over one last time.
He rested his hand on Carter’s shoulder.
“I was wrong about you.”
His voice cracked.
“I thought I saw your father.”
He shook his head.
“I should’ve looked harder.”
A tear escaped despite his efforts.
“You deserved better from me.”
“I’m proud my daughter loved you.”
“And I hope…”
His voice broke completely.
“…wherever you are now…”
“…you know that.”
Navarro lowered his head respectfully.
“I’ll see that he’s treated with dignity.”
As he turned toward the door…
The realization struck me like lightning.
“The funeral.”
Everyone stopped.
Carlos slowly looked at me.
His face drained of color.
“There isn’t…”
He couldn’t finish.
“There isn’t a body.”
Silence.
Navarro looked between us.
“Anna.”
I whispered her name.
“She watched him die.”
“She’ll need somewhere to grieve.”
“The pack will too.”
Navarro was quiet for several moments.
Then he spoke.
“There were many casualties today.”
His voice was solemn.
“Some were burned beyond recognition.”
“My healers can prepare one.”
Carlos stared at him.
“A substitute?”
“No.”
Navarro answered gently.
“A fallen warrior who deserves to be honored.”
“The world will remember him as Carter.”
“The Moon Goddess will know his true name.”
I felt sick.
Every instinct screamed that this was wrong.
But what choice did we have?
Anna had already watched Carter sacrifice himself.
Taking away his funeral too…
Would only leave another wound that could never heal.
I looked at Carlos.
He nodded once.
Reluctantly.
Painfully.
I looked back at Navarro.
“Make certain he’s laid to rest with honor.”
“You have my word.”
Navarro inclined his head.
Then he disappeared through the service door…
Carrying the greatest mistake of my life.
And I never once imagined…
The body in his arms still held a beating heart.
- Writer
