Chapter 4: The Alpha’s Despair

Caspian Blackwood (The Eldest Triplet) pov: ​"ARIA!" ​The scream ripped from my throat, a raw, guttural sound that didn't feel human. It felt like my soul was being torn in half as I watched the white halo of her hair vanish beneath the black, glass-like surface of the Frost Lake. ​There was no thought. No hesitation. No plan. ​There was only the instinct—primal, violent, and consuming. ​MATE. DYING. SAVE HER. ​My wolf, Koda, roared in my mind, a sound so loud it drowned out the wind and the terrified shouts of my brothers. I launched myself off the embankment, my boots crushing the gravel, and dove headfirst into the icy abyss. ​The water hit me like a sledgehammer. ​It was colder than anything I had ever felt, a freezing shock that instantly seized my muscles and stole the breath from my lungs. The Frost Lake was legendary for a reason; elders said the water was fed by underground glaciers, cold enough to stop a human heart in minutes. ​And Aria... Aria was in her human form. She was fragile. She was already hurt. ​Swim! I commanded my limbs to move, fighting against the crushing weight of the water. ​Darkness enveloped me. The moonlight that had been so bright on the surface couldn't penetrate the murky depths of the lake. I opened my eyes, the stinging water blurring my vision, searching frantically for a flash of white. ​Where is she? Where is she? ​To my left and right, I felt the turbulence of Killian and Lucian diving in after me. We were a unit, three parts of a whole, and right now, we shared a singular, terrifying panic. Our bond, usually a steady hum of connection, was now a chaotic storm of fear. ​There. ​Deep below, caught in a sluggish current, I saw a pale shape drifting toward the bottom. ​It looked like a ghost. Her white dress billowed around her like a shroud, and her long hair floated in a suspended halo. She wasn't struggling. She wasn't fighting. She was just... sinking. ​A fresh wave of horror crashed over me. She gave up. She didn't fall; she let go. Because of us. ​I kicked harder, my powerful Alpha muscles burning as I propelled myself downward. The pressure built in my ears, but I ignored it. I reached out, my fingers stretching, straining, until I brushed the fabric of her dress. ​I grabbed her arm. ​Her skin was ice. It felt like touching marble, not flesh. ​I yanked her toward me, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her flush against my chest. I waited for the spark. I waited for the electric jolt that every Alpha describes when they touch their mate for the first time—the fireworks, the heat, the overwhelming sense of completeness. ​But there was only a faint, dying flicker. A weak pulse of energy that felt like a candle flame struggling in a hurricane. ​No. No, no, no. Don't you dare fade out. ​I kicked for the surface, my lungs burning for air, dragging her dead weight with me. The ascent felt like it took a lifetime. Every second was a countdown to my own destruction. If she died, my wolf would go mad. We would become Feral. There was no life for an Alpha without his True Mate. ​My head broke the surface with a gasp, water streaming from my face. ​"I’ve got her!" I roared, the sound echoing off the trees. "I have her!" ​Killian and Lucian surfaced seconds later, their heads whipping toward my voice. Their eyes were wild, glowing with their wolves' panic—Red and Silver cutting through the darkness. ​"Get her to the bank!" Killian screamed, swimming toward me with frantic strokes. ​We dragged her through the shallows. The mud sucked at my boots as I hauled her onto the grassy bank, falling to my knees. I laid her down gently, my hands trembling so hard I could barely control them. ​"She’s not breathing," Lucian whispered. ​The Strategist. The calm one. The brother who always had a plan. But now, Lucian sounded like a terrified child. His face was as pale as the moon, his silver eyes wide with horror as he pressed two fingers to the side of her neck. ​"Caspian..." Lucian’s voice cracked. "Her pulse. It’s... I can barely find it. It's skipping." ​"Move!" Killian shouted, shoving Lucian aside. The Warrior dropped to his knees on the other side of her, grabbing her limp hand and rubbing it frantically between his own, trying to generate heat. "Aria! Wake up! Damn it, wake up!" ​I didn't wait. Alpha training kicked in, overriding the panic. ​I leaned over her, tilting her head back to clear her airway. Her lips... God, her lips. They were usually a soft, shy pink. Now they were blue. A deadly, bruised violet. ​I placed the heel of my hand on the center of her chest, interlocked my fingers, and pushed. ​One. Two. Three. Four. ​"Come on, Aria," I growled, the vibration of my voice shaking my own chest. "Breathe. You don't get to leave. We just found you. You don't get to run away now!" ​Push. Push. Push. ​I could feel her ribs shifting under my hands. She was so small. So terribly thin. I was terrified I would break her bones with my Alpha strength, but I had to keep the blood flowing. I had to be her heart because hers was failing. ​"Breathe, damn it!" Killian yelled, tears streaming down his face, mixing with the lake water. He pressed his forehead against her cold hand. "Please, Moon Goddess, don't take her. Take me instead. Just don't take her." ​I pinched her nose and sealed my mouth over hers. Her lips were freezing. I blew air into her lungs, watching her chest rise, then fall lifelessly. ​I pulled back and resumed compressions. One. Two. Three. ​"It’s not working," Lucian choked out, his hands hovering over her body, glowing with a faint silver light as he tried to share his energy with her. "Caspian, she’s slipping away. I can feel the bond fading." ​"Shut up!" I snapped, pumping harder. "She is not dying today! I forbid it!" ​Thirty compressions. Two breaths. Repeat. ​My own heart was hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every second of silence from her was a dagger in my soul. I looked at her face—peaceful, pale, wet lashes fanned against her cheeks. She looked like a sleeping angel, too good for the hell we had put her through. ​Suddenly, her body convulsed. ​Water spilled from her lips as she gagged. A ragged, wet cough tore from her throat. ​"Turn her!" I shouted. ​Killian and I instantly rolled her onto her side. She vomited up lake water, her small body shaking violently with the effort. She gasped, a horrible, wheezing sound as air finally rushed into her starving lungs. ​"She's breathing," Killian sobbed, collapsing back onto his heels, burying his face in his hands. "Oh God, she's breathing." ​But she didn't wake up. ​Her eyes remained closed. Her body went limp again in the grass, shivering uncontrollably. ​"Aria?" I touched her cheek. It was still freezing. "Baby, open your eyes. Look at me." ​Nothing. She was unconscious, lost in a place we couldn't reach. ​"We need to get her to the hospital," Lucian barked, finally snapping back into focus. He scrambled for his phone, his wet fingers slipping on the screen. "I’m calling Dr. Vance. I’m telling him to prep the trauma unit. Trauma One. NOW!" ​I moved to scoop her up into my arms, but as the moonlight hit her fully for the first time, I froze. ​Now that she was out of the water, the mud washed away... I could see it. ​I could see everything. ​My breath hitched in my throat. ​"What is that?" Killian whispered, his voice turning from relief to a low, dangerous growl. ​Her white dress was torn at the shoulder and the waist. Beneath the wet fabric, her skin was a canvas of violence. ​There was a massive, dark purple bruise blossoming on her side—the shape of a boot print. Her arms were covered in scratches and finger-shaped bruises, as if someone had grabbed her and shaken her. Her lip was split. Her eye was already starting to swell. ​The rage that hit me then was unlike anything I had ever felt. It wasn't just anger; it was a nuclear explosion in my chest. ​She hadn't just fallen. She hadn't just slipped. ​"Someone did this," I said, my voice sounding hollow, detached. "Someone beat her." ​Killian let out a roar that shook the leaves off the trees. His eyes turned a glowing, demonic crimson. "WHO? WHO TOUCHED HER?" ​"Someone chased her into the water," Lucian deduced, his silver eyes narrowing as he scanned the treeline, his strategist brain piecing together the crime scene. "She was running. She was terrified." ​My grip on her tightened. I pulled her wet, broken body against my chest, shielding her from the world. ​"We find them later," I commanded, though my wolf was screaming for blood right now. "Right now, she needs heat. She’s hypothermic." ​I stood up, holding her effortlessly. She weighed nothing. It felt like I was holding a bird with broken wings. ​"Get the car," I ordered Killian. ​We ran back to the SUVs. Killian threw the back door open, and I climbed in, cradling Aria in my lap. Lucian jumped in the driver's seat, slamming his foot on the gas before the door was even fully closed. ​The tires spun, gravel spraying everywhere as we rocketed down the road. ​"Turn up the heat!" I barked. ​I pulled a blanket from the emergency kit and wrapped it tightly around her, tucking the edges under her chin. I pulled her close, pressing her freezing face into the crook of my neck, trying to transfer my Alpha heat to her. ​"I've got you," I whispered into her wet hair, rocking her gently as the car swerved around a corner. "I've got you, Aria. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." ​As I looked down at her battered face, a memory flashed in my mind. A memory from two years ago. Me, standing in my living room, laughing. ​“Ghost Girl,” I had mocked her. “Try not to disappear.” ​A tear leaked from my eye and fell onto her cheek, mixing with the lake water. ​I had called her a ghost because she was quiet. I had called her a ghost because she was pale. ​But now, holding her limp, cold body in my arms, realized the cruel irony of fate. We had treated her like she didn't exist. We had made her invisible. ​And now, she really looked like a ghost. ​And the crushing weight in my chest told me that if she died—if her light went out because we were too blind to see it—I wouldn't survive it. I would follow her into the dark. ​"Drive faster, Lucian," I choked out, burying my face in her neck. "Drive faster."