Chapter 242

Natalie~

I was burning out.

I pressed my hands to his chest again, fingers trembling. Warm, golden light poured from my palms into Zane’s body—liquid bright, divine and radiant—but still, I felt it.

The decay.

It was like pouring sunlight into a well with no bottom.

It worked. For a while.

Until it didn’t p>

I would cradle Zane’s fevered head in my lap, whispering encouragements that trembled at the edges with fear. His skin would glow beneath my touch, the gray fading from his cheeks, strength returning to his limbs. He’d open his eyes—those deep, unreadable oceans—and smile softly.

But I knew the drill by now.

By morning, the shadows would come creeping back in, like moss swallowing a statue, slow and inevitable. Like death curling its fingers around something that should’ve been eternal. He’d wake up screaming.

“Don’t say anything,” Zane had said one night, after I’d found him doubled over behind the throne room, biting down on his wrist to keep from groaning out loud. “Not to my father. Not to Alex. Not to anyone p>

I remember pressing him against the cold marble, my hands glowing, my heart thundering in my chest.

“You’re the bloody crown prince, Zane,” I hissed. “You can’t collapse in the middle of council meetings p>

“If they find out the heir to the Lycan throne is weakening like this… panic will tear this kingdom apart. And my poor Alex p>

His voice was hoarse, each word threaded with agony. “Please, Natalie p>

My heart screamed inside my chest. I wanted to argue, throw the moon itself at the problem. But I didn’t.

Because I knew him.

And I saw it in his eyes—he wasn’t protecting himself.

He was protecting me.

Protecting everyone.

“You’re asking me to lie,” I whispered, voice shaking. “To everyone who loves you p>

“I’m asking you to trust me,” he said, eyes like a dying storm. “Please my love. We can’t let the kingdom and the people that love us fall into fear p>

And damn it, I said yes. Because I loved him. Because I was terrified.

Because I didn’t know what else to do.

I pulled away gently, wrapping my arms around myself like they might hold me together. I couldn’t bear the sight of him lying there—this titan of a man, my unbreakable alpha—looking like glass on the verge of shattering.

Every day, I poured my celestial power into him and Griffin. Every day, it worked—for an hour. Maybe two. Then they’d wither again.

Like something was feeding on them.

And I hated it.

I hated the helplessness.

I hated Shadow.

I hated Kalmia.

Jasmine growled softly inside my mind, her voice ice and fire all at once. “They’re playing with us. They want to watch you suffer before Shadow takes him p>

“He won’t,” I hissed under my breath.

“What was that?” Zane asked, eyes fluttering closed as my light faded from his chest.

“Nothing. Just… don’t die,” I said flatly, forcing a smirk as I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Because if you do, I’ll kill you p>

He gave a ghost of a smile. “Feisty. I love it p>

“Yeah, you do p>

“This is insane!” I snapped hours later, pacing the gardens of Zane’s estate with Fox. Moonlight shimmered in his red-gold hair, and sparks danced along his fingertips as he conjured little flames to distract himself. “I’ve healed Zane until my veins feel empty. I’ve tried spells, blessings, ancestral invocations, every damn herb known to werewolves, and still—still—he’s getting worse p>

Fox flinched, his golden eyes dimming.

“I know,” he said quietly. “But the Soul Sucker is clever. It’s no ordinary curse stone. I’ve chased it through the hallways, the gardens, the bedrooms, even the goddamn roof. Every time I get close, it moves. Vanishes into thin air like it knows I’m coming p>

“Then use your magic to track it,” I hissed.

He looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “I am magic, Nat. And that thing’s older than me. It’s built from primal chaos. It eats energy like a parasite, and I can’t lock onto it—not with traditional methods p>

I turned away, pressing my hand against a cold marble pillar.

“Then maybe it’s time we stopped playing nice,” I muttered. “What about Jacob p>

Fox exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck. “He’s barely holding it together after the Easter fiasco. I didn’t want to dump this on him too p>

“Well, I do,” I shot back. “Because if we don’t fix this—Zane dies. Griffin too. And I’m not about to sit around while they rot p>

Yeah, maybe it was selfish. And sure, I knew very well, I was the reason Jacob was already drowning in chaos. But I couldn’t stop myself. Not now. Not when the person I cared about was running out of time.

Fox’s jaw clenched. “You’re right. Call him p>

I closed my eyes and reached for Jacob through the mind link. “Jacob?”…Nothing.

“Jacob, it’s me. I need you. Please, answer.” Still nothing.

A chill crept through my chest like ice water in my veins.

“He’s always answered before,” Jasmine whispered. “Something’s wrong, Mara p>

I opened my eyes slowly, heart pounding. “He’s not there. I can’t feel him at all p>

Fox went rigid. “That’s not possible p>

“No, it’s not,” I said, my voice choking with unshed tears. “But it’s happening p>

For the first time since I’d known him, Fox looked shaken. “Then something’s happening on more than one front p>

The next morning, Zane grunted in pain as I tried to lift his shirt to examine his chest. His muscles spasmed beneath my fingers, his breathing ragged. Red, whimpered inside my mind like an echo. I never knew he could do that.

“Zane, baby, please—just stay still,” I pleaded, tears brimming in my eyes.

His skin was hot—too hot. Like he was burning from the inside out.

“I’m fine,” he growled through clenched teeth.

“You’re not. And I swear, if you say that one more time, I will light your ass on fire p>

His lip twitched into a smirk. “You like my ass too much p>

“Not when it’s possessed by a soul-sucking demon, I don’t p>

He chuckled—then groaned, doubling over in pain.

That was it.

I dropped to my knees beside the bed and pressed my hands to his chest again. Light spilled from me in a blinding rush, sparks and starlight coiling through his veins. His body seized once—then relaxed.

And again… for a breath… he was at peace.

I collapsed into the chair beside him, utterly drained.

“Jasmine?” I murmured.

“Shadow’s still inside,” she answered grimly. “Still lurking. It’s like a ghost in his bones p>

I looked at Zane’s face. At the man I’d fallen so hard for. The man who once moved through life like a force of nature—terrifying, commanding, untouchable.

Now he looked barely human.

My chest ached. My hands shook.

And then I heard it—

A voice.

Soft. Feminine. Sad.

“Mara, darling, why don’t you ever ask me for help p>

I shot up like I’d been electrocuted, heart pounding. My chair crashed backward, hitting the stone floor with a bang.

“What the hell—who said that p>

Zane stirred but didn’t wake.

I turned in circles, eyes scanning the shadows.

“Jasmine p>

“I heard it too,” she said, her tone cold and coiled. “But it wasn’t me p>

I pressed my back to the wall, scanning the room like something might crawl out of it.

No one was there.

Just Zane’s soft breathing. The scented candlelight flickering along the edges of the room. My own ragged heartbeat in my ears.

“Mara p>

There it was again.

The name.

My real name?

No. No, that wasn’t right.

No one called me that name except Jasmine and p>

Could it be her?

I wrapped my arms around myself and whispered, “Mother p>