I Left Before He Learned My Worth novel Chapter 12

**TITLE: I Left Before He Learned My Worth**

**Chapter 12**

**ARIA**

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In that fleeting moment, something within those golden eyes softened, a flicker of emotion that hinted at relief or perhaps a sense of fulfillment that he had managed to shield what was rightfully his.

But then, without warning, his powerful legs buckled beneath him.

The enormous wolf crumpled onto his side, his breath coming in ragged gasps, a pool of crimson seeping into the earth beneath him.

“No!” I screamed, panic surging through me as I momentarily forgot my own pain. I scrambled toward him, desperate. “Kael, no, please! Stay with me!”

His eyelids fluttered, already beginning to succumb to the darkness, his breaths becoming more shallow with each passing second.

“HELP!” I cried out, my voice raw and desperate, a prayer escaping my lips. “SOMEONE HELP US! THE ALPHA IS HURT!”

My hands trembled violently as I tore strips from my jacket, pressing them against the worst of his wounds. The blood seeped through almost instantly, hot and slick against my palms, a stark reminder of the urgency of the situation.

“You can’t die,” I said fiercely, my voice trembling as tears streamed down my cheeks, mingling with the dark fur beneath my fingers. “Do you hear me? You saved my life, so you don’t get to leave me now. You have to stay alive. You have to let me save you.”

His eyes flickered open just a fraction, searching for mine. In that brief connection, I saw a glimmer of recognition—not the wild ferocity of his curse, but something deeper, something undeniably human.

He was still there, still fighting against the encroaching shadows.

“That’s right,” I encouraged, keeping pressure on his wounds even as my arms quaked with the effort. “Stay with me, Kael. Help is on the way. Just hold on, please.”

At last, a chorus of shouts broke through the stillness of the forest, echoing in the distance. The border patrol had responded to my frantic cries.

“Over here!” I called out, my voice cracking with urgency. “The Alpha is injured! We need the healers now!”

Suddenly, six wolves burst through the underbrush, shifting seamlessly into their human forms as they took in the chaotic scene—Kael, their Alpha, lying vulnerable and bleeding on the forest floor, the remnants of the nightwalkers dissolving into smoke around us, and me, frantically trying to keep him alive.

“Get the healers!” one of them, a man I recognized as Marcus from the kitchen, barked at the youngest guard. “Tell them it’s an emergency! And bring a stretcher!”

I tried to follow, my injured leg screaming in protest until it finally buckled beneath me. Strong hands caught me—Nina, her face pale with worry and determination.

“Let them work,” she urged gently, her voice soothing. “You’re hurt too, Aria. You need treatment.”

“I need to be with him,” I protested, my heart racing with fear. “He saved my life. I can’t just—”

“And you saved his,” Nina interrupted, gesturing to the makeshift bandages I’d hastily applied. “You kept him alive long enough for help to arrive. But now, you need to let the healers do their job.”

She was right, but that knowledge did little to mend the ache in my heart as I watched them carry Kael away, his blood leaving a stark trail on the forest floor.

Around us, the bodies of the nightwalkers had completely dissolved, leaving only charred marks on the ground where they had fallen.

Five nightwalkers. He had faced five of them and emerged victorious, all to protect me.

And as Nina helped me limp back toward the settlement, my thoughts were consumed by a single plea: *Please let him survive this. Please let him live long enough for me to thank him properly.*

Please don’t let me lose someone else I’m starting to care about.