Chapter 241: Why Did You Do It?

Azura’s POV

I sat on a cushion in the center of the private room, the heavy oak door shut against the noise of the pack house outside.

Rhydor sat right beside me, so close that his arm brushed mine with every breath he took. His eyes were locked onto my face, staring at me without blinking, as if he expected me to vanish into thin air if he looked away for even a single second.

Genevieve sat across from us at the low wooden table. Her husband had his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders as she sobbed quietly into her hands. Her shoulders shook with every small breath she took, small gasps slipping past her lips as she wept.

Axel and Silas sat on the other side of the table. Axel held a cold, wet cloth pressed against the side of his head, wincing slightly whenever he moved his arm. His dark eyes were fixed on me. Silas sat right beside him, leaning his elbows on his knees, his jaw tight as he stared at me with the same stunned look.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" I asked, looking around the circle, my brow pulling down into a confused frown.

Axel let out a dry, breathy sigh. "When you watch someone die with your own eyes... and then that same person sits in front of you looking totally fine a month later... what do you expect us to do?"

"I was never actually dead," I replied, frowning a little more.

Silas leaned forward, his eyes searching my face carefully. "Azura, your body was lying right there on that tomb for weeks. You had no color in your skin. Your heart was not beating. There was no life inside you at all. To any normal person sitting in that room, you were dead."

"You lay there for a whole month, and none of us could feel your presence at all. How were we supposed to know you were alive?"

I shrugged my shoulders, looking down at my hands in my lap. "I do not know how my body looked in the physical world. All I know is that my soul was awake. I was just far away from my body."

"Exactly," Silas said, nodding his head sharply. "Which means you were dead to us."

I rolled my eyes at him, but I did not argue any further.

I turned my attention back to Genevieve, who was still weeping quietly across the table. Her eyes were red and swollen, and tears kept running down her pale cheeks.

"I thought you would believe in me a little more," I said softly, keeping my voice gentle. "You look just as shocked as everyone else."

She lifted her head, looking at me through her blurred vision, her voice cracking as she spoke. "I do not know what to say, Azura. The last time my heart felt this crushed was when I lost my own little boy years ago. Seeing you lie on that bed without moving... without breathing... it broke something inside me all over again."

She wiped a tear from her cheek and looked down at the floor, unable to meet my eyes. Her husband pulled her a little closer, kissing the top of her head as he held her tight.

I looked at her, and a strange warmth spread through my chest. I understood her. She cared for me like a real mother. She loved me like her own daughter in her heart. Seeing that made me truly happy inside.

A gentle squeeze on my wrist pulled my attention away from Genevieve.

I turned to look at Rhydor. He was staring at me with a soft, warm look in his eyes, his grip on my hand tight and protective. He looked at me like I was the most important thing in the world, refusing to let go of my skin for even a moment.

I squeezed his fingers back, letting him feel my warmth.

I thought back to the weeks I spent trapped inside that dark, floating realm. All I had wanted during those cold days was a chance to come back and fix things between us. I had wanted to make him pay a little for how he treated me in the past, but sitting here now, I knew I had pushed things too far before the battle.

If I had known I was going to lose my body like that, I would not have made life so hard for him before leaving. I had not realized how deeply my silence would shatter his spirit, but seeing him now, I could tell it had hurt him more than anything else in his life.

"Why?" Axel interrupted, his voice sharp enough to pull me out of my thoughts.

I turned my head back to face him across the table.

Axel set the wet cloth down on the wooden surface, his expression serious and tense. "I have two big questions for you. Why did you do it the first time? And why did you let him walk away the second time?"

"I do not understand what you are asking," I said, tilting my head slightly in confusion.

Silas leaned forward again, resting his forearms on the wood. "Why did you sacrifice your own life without talking to any of us first? Why did you jump into danger without checking if anyone was ready to support you? Why do you always act like you have to carry every burden alone?"

I lowered my eyes, staring down at my lap as I thought about his words.

"I do not really know why I did it," I said softly, my voice quiet in the room.

"I was just so tired of running in circles. We kept fighting small battles and losing people, and nothing was changing. I just wanted to end the war once and for all so everyone could finally live in peace."

No one in the room spoke for a long moment. The only sound was the crackle of the fireplace near the back wall.

"Now for the second question," Axel continued, leaning his chest against the edge of the table.

"Why did you let the Alpha King walk away today? You had him right where you wanted him. You froze him in the air with your magic. You had the power to destroy him right there on the grass, but you let him escape through a portal instead. It makes no sense at all."

I sat up straight, meeting his gaze with a firm look. "Because he is not alone inside that body. There is an innocent soul trapped inside that vessel with him. If I killed the Alpha King on that field, I would have killed that innocent person too."

Silas pulled his brow down into a deep frown. "The last time the Alpha King possessed a man, Rhydor killed him without hesitation. Rhydor told us that even if the host was freed, the man would be nothing more than a hollow shell. He would be dead inside anyway."

"I do not know about that other man," I said, shaking my head firmly.

"But this situation is different. The vessel he is using right now belongs to Isadora’s mate. I could not bring myself to destroy a man who belongs to someone who risked her life to help us. And since the Alpha King is using her living mate, the magic inside that vessel is entirely different from a normal host."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt Rhydor’s hand tighten around mine so hard it almost hurt.

I turned my head quickly to look at him.

Rhydor was not looking at me. He was staring straight down at the wooden floor between his feet, his jaw clenched so tight the muscles in his neck stood out.

I could tell right away that something was terribly wrong.

"Rhydor?" I asked carefully, my voice full of concern.

"What did he say to you on the field?"

He kept his head down for a few agonizing seconds, his breath coming out slow and heavy. Then, very slowly, he lifted his head to face me.

My heart sank in my chest. His eyes were completely glassy, filled with thick tears that threatened to spill over his lashes.

Rhydor never cried like this. He never showed this kind of raw vulnerability in front of his warriors or his pack leaders.

"He is not just Isadora’s mate, Azura," Rhydor whispered, his voice cracking violently on the last word as a single tear escaped and ran down his face.

"He is my younger brother. He is Nicholas."

Genevieve stood up from her chair in total shock, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. Her husband stood up right behind her, his mouth open in disbelief.

​"What did you just say?" Genevieve gasped out, walking closer to Rhydor with wide, terrified eyes.

​Rhydor looked away from me and stared down at his shaking hands again, his voice barely louder than a whisper. "The Alpha King was the one who kidnapped Nicholas."