Chapter 0331

Athena

Sebastian remained silent for a long time.

He sat completely still, holding my hand as we waited for news from Theodore.

It felt like hours had passed.

Maybe it had been.

I wondered if Alexander had felt this same dread every time I ended up in the medical wing.

Wondering if he’d never hear my voice again.

Somewhere along the way, I had started to care about Brianna’s survival.

I watched the room like a hawk, waiting for the slightest change.

Theodore had to be nearly done.

I still wished Isabella was here to help.

She’s exceptional at what she does.

The door finally opened.

Theodore stepped out wearing a gown soaked in blood.

I pulled Sebastian up from the floor.

We stood in silence as he approached us.

“She’s alive. Barely.” He let out a heavy sigh of relief.

'Thank the moon.' Nyx whispered.

“Thank you, Theodore.”

“It wasn’t easy, but she’s a fighter. She refused to let go.”

Sebastian’s hand tightened around mine. “Her heart stopped.”

“And we brought her back. She’s extremely weak and has lost a lot of blood. I need to check if any of the Lycans are a match for a transfusion.”

“Me.” I muttered.

“No. Too risky.” Theodore said firmly.

“Can I see her?” Sebastian asked quietly.

“Of course. Give the nurses a few minutes to clean up. She’s unconscious and will be for a while.”

“I’ll tell Zachary.” I preferred to do it in person rather than through mind-link. “I’ll ask him to come get tested.”

I waited until Sebastian was cleared to go sit with his mate.

Then I headed to the packhouse.

I had a feeling Zachary had gone to question Isabella about why she wasn’t helping.

I wanted to know why, too.

Something felt off as I entered the packhouse.

It reminded me of the day the boys were killed in Alexander’s office.

An eerie feeling hung in the air.

I heard Alexander call someone delusional.

Isabella’s screech followed. “I’m not the delusional one! You’re the one who can’t see what’s right in front of you!”

Slowly, I climbed the stairs, listening to their argument.

It wasn’t just Alexander and Isabella.

Zachary and Lucas were there too.

But they could barely get a word in over the siblings’ yelling.

“Isabella, this isn’t you.” Zachary muttered, sounding lost.

His usual tricks to calm his mate weren’t working.

“Maybe this is me. You said it yourself, didn’t you Lucas? My soul died. Or was that another lie?”

“It wasn’t.” Lucas replied coldly.

He was probably staring at her the same way he did when curious about my reactions.

Or maybe his hand was already resting on a gun, ready to blow Isabella’s head off.

I hoped not.

'Something is wrong here.' Nyx groaned. 'Why wouldn’t she help? It’s her purpose.'

'I don’t know. I want to say she’s grieving, but that doesn’t fit. She checked over Hannah after the fire.'

“So you can tell the truth about some things.” Isabella’s tone dripped with sarcasm.

“That’s enough, Isabella!” Alexander warned.

“I don’t think it is.” She shouted back.

I heard glass shattering.

Hurrying to her room, I found Alexander and Lucas restraining Isabella.

The window behind her was shattered.

Her dark eyes locked onto me.

A twisted grin spread across her face. “You should never have come here. We were happy before you. We were powerful before you. We had control before you.”

'Does this seem like Isabella to you?' Nyx asked. 'It’s not her. She’s gone from quiet and grieving to outright vicious.'

I stared at Isabella, struggling between the two men.

Something was wrong.

It was more than just losing her twin.

Her words sounded exactly like Julian.

Too much like him when he didn’t get what he wanted.

'You don’t think....' It didn’t feel like Isabella. I could smell her scent. She looked like herself, but the words coming out of her mouth were nothing like her.

'I don’t know if that’s even possible.' Nyx muttered.

'There’s only one way to find out.'

I moved closer to Isabella. “You couldn’t help Brianna because you didn’t know how, did you?”