Beneath the Alpha's Moon

LUCIAN’S P.O.V.

The moment Teresa collapsed in my arms, my entire world tilted. Her scream echoed in my head, replaying like a broken record, and her body had gone limp before I could even react. It was as if the universe itself had chosen this moment to remind me how easily everything could slip away.

"Teresa! No, no, no—wake up, sweetheart! Please!" My voice cracked, the words spilling out of me in frantic desperation.

Rylan was at my side in an instant, clutching the twins, who were both crying and screaming for their mother. "What do we do, Lucian?" he asked, his earlier excitement crumbling under the weight of the moment.

"Take them!" I barked, my voice sharp with a fear I couldn’t hide. "Get the twins out of here and call the pack doctor. Now!"

Rylan didn’t need to be told twice. He cradled the twins, murmuring assurances I couldn’t even process, and rushed out of the office. Their cries faded as the door closed, leaving me alone with Teresa’s still form.

I dropped to my knees, cradling her as though my touch alone could bring her back to me. "Teresa, please," I whispered, stroking her hair and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You can’t do this to me. Not now, not ever. Wake up, love. Please. Please wake up."

Ares growled restlessly in my mind. "Lucian, she’s strong. She’ll come back to us. She has to."

But she didn’t stir. Her chest rose and fell, steady but too shallow, too faint, as though her very life was slipping through my fingers.

Minutes felt like hours until the pack doctor finally burst into the room, his medical bag swinging haphazardly. "Alpha," he began, his voice measured despite the situation, "what happened?"

"She screamed, clutched her head, and collapsed," I said, barely keeping my frustration in check. "Fix her. Now."