Surrogate for the Alpha Prince in a Coma novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25

“You can vouch for her?” the Queen asked. “She did this.”

“She did,” Prime Beta confirmed.

The Queen looked over to me. She pulled the ribbon away from Ophelia, where she had been about to pin it to Ophelia’s lapel.

“You did this?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I said.

“Then you are the winner, Luna Princess,” the Queen said.

The crowd looked at each other. Only a few started to cheer.

My vision grew dark once more and I swayed on the horse’s saddle. Between one long blink and the next, I started to fall.

I blacked out before I hit the ground.

Grayson’s POV

Yes, I was pacing the length of my bedroom, but I was not anxious. I was simply curious about how the hunt was proceeding. Ophelia usually brought home the prize, and likely would again,

Though it wasn’t a curiosity over the winner that had me send Prime Beta back to the forest to check on Lillian. I was unwilling to give a name to the feeling that drove me to make that command.

Perhaps I simply felt responsible for the girl who had become my surrogate. Yes, that must have been it.

My wolf, from the bed, gave me a disbelieving look before whining, low and pathetic.

“We don’t make noises like that,” I told him, but he chuffed at me, making it clear he would do whatever he wanted, whether I approved or not. “It’s your fault she’s even here. I would have sent her away.”

The wolf chuffed again.

Before I could scold him a second time, the door burst open.

“Forgive the intrusion,” Prime Beta said. Lillian was limp in his arms, blood pouring down her leg. The doctor was behind them. He closed the door, locked it, and then hurried to follow.

Prime Beta moved as if to put Lillian on the desk.

“Put her on the bed,” I said.

“She’s bleeding.”

“Sheets can be changed,” I said, an uncomfortable dark feeling taking hold of my stomach. “What is this? What happened?”

“She killed a boar,” Prime Beta said. “But not before it gored her.”

“She just needs some stitches,” the doctor said. “Look. Her wolf is already hard at work healing the wound. Poor thing is likely just so exhausted from all she has endured recently that things are moving a bit slower than we would like.”

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“Help her,” I commanded.

“Yes, Prince. Some stitches and a small boost to her wolf essence should speed up the process.”

I swallowed down the lump that had been rising up my throat. Her blood smelled of iron and made my stomach flip. It was the worst scent I had ever experienced. My leg started to hurt like hers was hurt, as if my body was mimicking her pain.

My wolf curled around the healthy side of Lillian, as if protecting her as much as he could.

I turned away as the doctor started cutting Lillian’s pants to get at the wound. I shot a glare at Prime Beta for him to do the same, but he was paying little attention to anything taking place on the bed. Instead, he was inspecting the broken weaponry he carried, just before he handed an imploded rifle to me.

“What is this?” I asked.

“The rifle Lillian had been assigned,” Prime Beta said. “And this, her pistol.”

Both clearly had been tampered with, no broken beyond repair. Neither of these weapons would have worked in

the moment.

“How did she kill a boar?” I asked.

“The knife,” Prime Beta said.

I remembered tying the knife to her belt, and was glad now that I had followed the impulse to see it properly secured. That act could have saved her life.

“Whoever did this is lucky she had enough skill and inner strength to survive,” I said. My anger surged like a blistering ice storm rising within me, cold and unyielding. “I want to know who did this. And they will pay for it.”

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