Chapter 6: The Weight of Guilt

Lucian Blackwood pov: ​I returned to the hospital an hour later. The rain had stopped, but the storm inside the building was just beginning. ​I could hear the shouting before I even reached the ICU. ​I ran down the hallway, my heart pounding, and burst into Aria’s room. ​It was chaos. ​Caspian and Killian were standing in front of Aria’s bed, forming a protective wall. On the other side stood Beta Marcus and Aria’s mother and three brothers—Ethan, Leo, and Jax. ​Beta Marcus looked wrecked. His usually kind face was twisted in grief and fury. her mother is crying... Ethan was holding him back, but Ethan looked ready to shift and tear my brothers apart right there in the sterile room. ​"Get out!" Marcus shouted, pointing a shaking finger at Caspian. "Get away from her!" ​"We aren't leaving her, Marcus," Caspian said, his voice strained but firm. He didn't move an inch. "She is our mate. We belong here." ​"You belong in hell!" Leo spat, stepping forward, his fists clenched. "Where were you when she was being bullied for two years? Huh? Where were you today when she was beaten to a pulp?" ​"We didn't know!" Killian argued, though his voice cracked with guilt. "We were at the Academy! We didn't know it was this bad!" ​"BECAUSE YOU STARTED IT!" ​The room went deadly silent. ​Ethan stepped forward, his green eyes blazing with accusation. "You think Selina did this on her own? No. You three gave the pack permission to treat her like trash. Two years ago. Do you remember?" ​I froze in the doorway. The memory hit me again, harder this time. ​“Ghost Girl.” ​"You laughed at her," Ethan continued, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "You called her a ghost. You called her weak. You made her a joke. The pack saw that. They thought, 'If the Alphas don't respect her, why should we?' You loaded the gun, Blackwood. Selina just pulled the trigger." ​The truth was a physical blow. It knocked the air out of me. I looked at Caspian; his golden eyes were wide, filled with horror. Killian looked like he was about to be sick. ​We did this. ​We were the villains in her story. ​"You're right," I whispered. ​Everyone turned to look at me. I walked past my brothers and stood in front of Beta Marcus. ​I dropped to my knees. ​An Alpha never kneels. It goes against our biology, our pride. But I didn't care. ​"Lucian?" Caspian breathed, shocked. ​"He's right," I said, looking up at Aria’s father. "We failed her. We were arrogant children who broke something precious because we didn't understand it. We don't deserve her." ​I looked over at the bed. Aria lay there, so still, hooked up to machines that beeped in a steady rhythm. She looked peaceful, but it was the peace of the nearly dead. ​"But we are bound to her," I said, my voice thick with emotion. "Our souls are tied. If we leave now... if we leave her alone in the dark... she might not find her way back. We need to be here. Not as her Alphas. But as her anchors." ​Beta Marcus looked down at me. The anger in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by a deep, crushing sorrow. He looked at his daughter, then back at the three of us—the most powerful wolves in the pack, brought to our knees by guilt. ​"Fine," Marcus whispered. "You can stay." ​He walked over to the bed and brushed a stray hair from Aria’s forehead. ​"But listen to me closely," he said, his voice hardening. "If she wakes up... and she doesn't want you... I will take her away. I don't care if you are the Alphas. I don't care about the bond. I will take my daughter where you can never find her again." ​"Deal," Caspian said instantly. ​"Deal," Killian echoed. ​I nodded. "Deal." ​The brothers—Ethan, Leo, and Jax—didn't look happy, but they backed down, taking seats on the far side of the room to keep watch. ​We settled into the uncomfortable chairs beside her bed. Outside, the night was dark and cold. Inside, the only sound was the steady beep... beep... beep of the monitor. ​I reached out and took her small, cold hand in mine. ​Fight, Aria, I pleaded silently. Wake up and scream at us. Wake up and hate us. Just... wake up. ​But she didn't move. She slept on, drifting in a sea of darkness where we couldn't follow. ​