h4Chapter 82: Insufferable, Arrogant Bastards/h4

    strongLiam’s POV/strong

    When I entered the room, Eira was still in a deep sleep. I expected her to wake soon—there were things I needed to speak to her about.

    I pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, reaching for her wrist to check her pulse. Last night, it had been erratic from the sudden shock her body had endured when she used her powers. Now, it was steady.

    Good.

    She stirred slightly beneath the sheets, perhaps sensing my presence. I was about to call her name when I noticed the distress etched across her face. Her brows were drawn, her lips moving faintly. She was still caught in the grip of some nightmare.

    I let her be, listening as she murmured weakly, "Alice... I am sorry... Don’t leave me, please... I am sorry..."

    Poor soul. Still chained to the past. I could see her pain—the raw wound of losing her friend. Yet the question would always remain: why had she killed Alice? Maybe one day she would tell me. Until then, I would wait.

    "Eira..." I finally said, keeping my voice gentle so as not to startle her.

    Her brows furrowed further at the sound, and then her eyes flew open, wide with shock. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her breath harsh, as if she had been pulled from drowning. Beads of sweat glistened along her forehead. She looked terrified.

    "Are you alright?" I asked quietly.

    Her gaze found mine, and in an instant she sat upright, gripping my hand tightly—her fingers digging into my skin. "Alice..." She shook her head sharply. "No... Lucian... he... where is he? He’s—"

    "He’s alright. Alive and perfectly fine," I told her before she could spiral further.

    She exhaled a deep, shaky breath and released my hand, my words slowly sinking in.

    "You saved him—just in time—using your powers. Without that, we would have lost him," I said.

    Her eyes fixed on mine, but there was puzzlement there, as though she didn’t understand what I was saying.

    I pulled out my phone and quickly sent a message to Kael, asking him to send me the video file. Then I looked back at her.

    "I’ll exin it to you in a moment," I promised. "But the truth is—you saved him."

    She stayed quiet, her expression vacant, as though her mind couldn’t quite process what I had said.

    So I asked, "Are you relieved that he’s alive?"

    Her gaze wavered, a flicker of something unreadable passing through her eyes before she lowered her head. "I don’t want anyone to die because of me. I just... want myself to die. But death betrays me every time."

    "Would it have hurt you if Lucian—or any of them—had died?" I pressed.

    Her head snapped up, a hint of irritation in her eyes. "Didn’t I just say I don’t want anyone to die because of me?"

    Before I could respond, my phone vibrated with a message—the video file from Kael. I opened it, turned the screen toward her, and let her watch.

    Her expression shifted to one of disbelief as she saw herself—the glow pouring from her hands into Lucian’s chest, her scream, and her copse.

    When it ended, I said simply, "See? You saved him using your power. You’re a healer."

    She stared down at her hands, turning them over slowly, as if searching for some trace of the magic she’d just witnessed. Her eyes told me she didn’t believe it—not yet.

    "So it was your first time using your power?" I asked, though my tone made it more of a conclusion than a question.

    She frowned faintly. "It never happened before..."

    "Well, if you can use your power, that means your wolf is still there—and strong," I told her. "It won’t be long until you’re fully in sync with her again. And then you’ll go through all the milestones in a werewolf’s life. Shifting. Heat."

    Her face tightened, herck of enthusiasm in. And why would she be thrilled? She had no reason to be.

    I nced down at her injured toes—they were almost healed. Likely the stronger presence of her wolf had elerated her self-healing, though notpletely.

    "The nails will grow back soon," I said, reaching for the bandages to wrap them again.

    But before I could, she suddenly sprang from the bed and bolted for the door.

    "Eira—" I called after her, but she didn’t stop.

    Unease coiled in my gut. I hurried after her, one thought echoing in my mind: iI hope she’s not trying to take her own life again./i

    She was already descending the stairs at a dangerous pace. "Be careful," I warned sharply. "Don’t fall."

    She didn’t listen. Instead, she sprinted through the drawing room, heading straight toward the wall-sized ss window that faced the side house.

    Kael, Roman, and Rafe were already in the drawing room. Seeing her, they rose to their feet, their eyes shifting to me with silent questions.

    "I don’t know," I told them quickly, breaking into a run after her. They followed without hesitation.

    Outside, the ground was still littered with shards of broken ss as the servants continued clearing the estate. She didn’t care. She ran barefoot over them, the sharp edges slicing into her skin, leaving crimson marks in her wake—yet she moved as if she felt no pain at all.

    "Eira..." I called after her, trying to slow her, but she didn’t stop.

    Lucian and Jason were in the garden, assessing the wreckage from the night before. They turned toward us as we passed, their expressions sharpening at the sight of her.

    Eira didn’t spare them a nce. She pushed into the side house, stepping into the chaos of the room that had yet to be cleaned. Without hesitation, she went straight to the bookshelf, swung it aside, and vanished behind it.

    "Damn bitch," Lucian muttered. "She wouldn’t stay there when we told her to, and now she’s running to hide? Seeing the enemiesst night must’ve scared her enough."

    "Let me check," Roman said, striding forward.

    But before he could reach the hidden door, she emerged. In her arms, she cradled a cat, her hand moving in slow, gentle strokes over its fur. Her gaze was soft, tender—fixed entirely on the creature in her arms as if nothing else existed.

    She didn’t seem to register our presence. She didn’t seem to notice her own pain. Her feet were bleeding freely, leaving a trail of red footprints across the dusty floor.

    We all stood there, momentarily speechless.

    So that’s why she had run here—out of worry for the cat.

    I stepped toward her. "Eira, your feet—"

    "Liam," she interrupted, looking up at me, "can you check if she’s alright? She was locked in here overnight. She must’ve been scared. Not good for a pregnant kitty."

    I stared at her in silence. I wanted to ask, iWhat about your own pain?/i

    But I didn’t. I simply let out a low hum and reached to take the cat from her arms.

    Of course the cat was fine, but for her sake, I checked her thoroughly before saying, "She’s fine. We can take her to the vetter if you want."

    Eira simply nodded and took the cat back from me, her hands resuming their gentle strokes over its fur. "You’re fine now," she murmured softly to the animal. "Don’t be scared."

    Meanwhile, I nced toward the five giants standing in the doorway. Their expressions told me they were as stunned as I was. I raised a brow at them in mockery.

    That seemed to jolt them from their daze, and they looked away.

    "This side house will take time to repair," Kael said, his gaze flicking to me. But I caught the meaning behind his words. "Everyone will have to stay in the main house until then." Without waiting for a response, he turned and left.

    The others followed him out, leaving me alone with Eira.

    "Sit," I told her, guiding her to the intact section of the half-destroyed sofa. She obeyed, still holding the cat, and I knelt before her to tend to her feet.

    Carefully, I removed the embedded ss shards, rinsed her wounds with water, and wrapped them with the cleanest pieces of cloth I could find. Throughout it all, she didn’t flinch or hiss in pain—her focus remained fixed entirely on the soft fur beneath her fingertips.

    From outside, the voices of those five bastards.

    "Where the fuck are these servants? Useless roons still haven’t cleared the ss shards from the ground," Lucian barked.

    "I’ll get them moving," Jason replied. "They all need a good beating to hurry up their work."

    "Tell the head servant to hire more hands," Kael’s voice cut through. "I want this entire ce clean today."

    "The side house needs to be repaired quickly," Roman added.

    And then Rafe’s voice—sharp as ever—followed. "I don’t want any trace of that bitch’s blood here. Her scent is suffocating. If they don’t clear those shards immediately, I’ll drain everyst one of them dry."

    I couldn’t help the low chuckle that escaped me. They were worried about her—whether they’d admit it or not.

    I finished wrapping her feet, but before I could say anything, she jolted upright and stood suddenly, startling the cat in her arms.

    "Your feet are hurt—"

    I didn’t even finish before she stepped out of the house. "Fluffy..." she called, her voice hoarse and dry.

    A few momentster, barking echoed across the yard. Fluffy came bounding toward her, tail wagging despite the chaos that still lingered in the air.

    She knelt down without hesitation—right onto the shards of ss—and wrapped her arms around him. The cat remained cradled in one hand while her free hand moved over Fluffy, checking him from head to tail.

    "Are you hurt?" she asked softly.

    Fluffy barked again and licked her face, as if answering her. Only when she was certain that both her pets were unharmed did her shoulders finally rx.

    A girl who cared more for her pets than for herself... how could she ever truly harm anyone?

    Leaving her with them, I walked toward the five, who were still growling at the servants already working themselves to exhaustion to clean this warzone of an estate.

    "By the way," I said, drawing their attention, "do you know what she asked me the moment she woke up?"

    They nced at me with questioning looks, then followed my gaze toward her—kneeling in the yard, stroking her pets—before turning back to me.

    "She asked if Lucian was alright," I told them evenly. "If he was safe and sound."

    Silence.

    Not one of them had anything to say.

    I smirked. I’d always enjoyed leaving these insufferable, arrogant bastards speechless, though the opportunities were rare. Thankfully, with Eira around, that wish of mine was being granted more often these days.