Chapter 9
Christian’s POV
“Carrie, are you feeling okay? Anywhere else hurting?”
The moment she opened her eyes, all of us rushed over, our faces full of worry.
Lysander was the first to speak. “Don’t ever do anything that dangerous again. You’ll always be our family.”
Carrie’s eyes turned red. Her face twisted with hurt as she reached out and grabbed my hand.
“I was just… scared you didn’t want me anymore. What happened back then… yes, it was my fault. But…”
Her voice broke as she lowered her head, soft cries escaping her lips–and it hit something deep in me.
The others looked just as heartbroken.
“Don’t be afraid, Blair. The past is the past. We’re here for you now.”
Lysander, Orion and Zayden nodded in agreement, their tones equally warm and doting.
I looked at her–and for some reason, a strange sense of unease started gnawing at my chest. Like I was losing
something important… and I didn’t even know what it was.
“Christian,” Carrie met my gaze, her voice soft and fragile. “Are you still mad at me?”
“No. Don’t overthink it,” I said quietly. “Just rest.”
That’s when the pack doctor walked in.
“How’s Carrie doing?”
“Physically, she’s fi-”
Before he could finish, Carrie suddenly clutched her chest and let out a sharp, panicked scream.
“It hurts–my chest–it hurts so bad!”
We all swarmed her at once, panicking.
“Lysander, Christian… I don’t want to stay here. I want to go home.”
Lysander frowned, clearly against the idea. “You’re not well. You need proper treatment.”
Carrie lowered her head, crying softly. “I know my own condition. But I don’t want to stay here. I want to be home–with
you.”
None of us could push back after that. So we took her home.
By the next day, it was already lunchtime–and I still hadn’t seen Blair.
“No discipline at all! What is this behavior?”
Lysander slammed his palm against the table, clearly annoyed.
“Lysander, calm down. Here, have some soup,” Carrie said sweetly, placing a bowl of chicken broth in front of him.
Chapter 9
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His anger faded instantly. His gaze softened, even smiling a little. “You’re always the thoughtful one.”
I glanced down at my phone. Blair’s chat window remained silent. Not a single new message. A heavy sense of dread pressed down on me.
“Go find Blair,” I told my beta. “See where she is.”
She wouldn’t just vanish on me like this. Normally, our chats were filled with her long–winded rants–and I’d just reply here and there, barely keeping up.
Orion shot me a look. “Why are you looking for her? So she can come back and hurt Carrie again?”
Zayden mumbled something in agreement.
The whole table felt warm and cheerful–but I couldn’t shake the knot in my gut.
Even when I was trying to serve Carrie food, I absentmindedly placed something on her plate she didn’t like.
“Christian, I don’t eat this. Did you-?”
She frowned slightly at me.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” I apologized quickly.
She didn’t take it to heart, instead asking the maid to bring out a bowl of soup.
“This is your favorite–pumpkin soup. I had the kitchen make it just for you. You’ve been working too hard lately, haven’t you?”
Pumpkin soup was my favorite. Also the one Blair made for me… more times than I could count over the past five years.
The taste was so familiar. And yet–it left a hollow ache in my chest.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice whispered: Something’s wrong. This isn’t right.
I blinked, shook it off, and forced a smile. “All these years, and you still remember my favorite.”
Carrie turned scarlet, even her ears glowing red. “Christian… I love you most. I remember everything you like.”
She hadn’t even finished her sentence when my beta–Finn–burst through the door in a panic.
“Alpha–it’s bad. The rope… it snapped!”
