Aria’s POV
The words hit me like a physical blow.
I stood frozen in the doorway. My hands gripping the frame so hard my knuckles went white.
Kael’s mother was still crying. Still clinging to her son’s unconscious body. Still pouring out years of pain and rage.
And I understood.
Because she was right.
My family had done this. My brother Cain had sold the drugs that destroyed Lucian the first time. And now Serena—my own sister—had given him more.
The same poison. The same destruction. The same cursed bloodline.
My throat was so tight I could barely breathe.
I wanted to run. Wanted to disappear. Wanted to erase myself from this moment.
But my feet wouldn’t move.
Kael was kneeling beside Lucian. His hands checking his brother’s pulse. His face carved from stone.
"Mother." His voice was calm. Too calm. The kind of control that came from years of practice. "I need you to focus. Where is Serena now?"
His mother shook her head. Tears streaming down her face.
"I don’t know." Her voice cracked. "Only Lucian knows where to find her. He was so careful. So secretive. He wouldn’t tell me anything."
She pressed her hand to Lucian’s pale cheek.
"We have to wait until he wakes up." The words came out broken. Desperate. "If he wakes up."
Kael’s jaw tightened. But he didn’t argue.
Just pulled out his phone. Started making calls.
"Damon. Help me find some doctors at the mansion. Now. Medical emergency." A pause. "My brother. Overdose. Wolfsbane."
I heard Damon’s sharp intake of breath even from where I stood.
"I’m on my way."
Kael hung up. Turned back to his mother.
"He’s going to be okay." His voice was firm. Certain. The Alpha giving orders. "Doctors will be here in ten minutes. We’ll get Lucian stabilized. Then we’ll find this girl. And we’ll make sure she never hurts anyone again."
His mother nodded. Wiping her eyes with shaking hands.
Then Kael looked at me.
Those black-gold eyes finding mine across the room.
He gestured slightly. A small movement of his head. *Come here.*
My heart was pounding. My palms were sweating.
I took one step forward.
Then another.
My legs felt like lead. Like I was walking through water.
The room was too hot. The air too thick.
Every instinct was screaming at me to leave. To get out before things got worse.
But I kept walking.
"They sold him poison! They broke him! They took my brilliant, beautiful boy and turned him into an ADDICT!"
Tears streamed down her face. But these weren’t tears of grief anymore.
These were tears of rage.
"And now you’re HERE!" Her voice rose to a scream. "In my HOME! Standing in front of my dying son!"
She took a step toward me.
Kael moved immediately. Putting himself between us.
"Mother. Stop."
"No!" She tried to push past him. "Get her OUT! Get her out of this house! Away from my son! Away from my family!"
Her voice cracked completely.
"Your family took everything from me!" The words came out as a howl. Raw. Broken. "They destroyed my firstborn! Turned him into a shell! Made him into THIS!"
She was crying so hard she could barely speak.
"And now—" She pointed at me again. "Now you bring one of them HERE? Into our home? After everything they’ve DONE?"
She looked at me with absolute hatred.
I stood there. Frozen. My whole body shaking.
Kael’s mother was crying again. Deep, wrenching sobs that shook her entire frame.
"Get out." The words came out quiet now. Deadly quiet. "Get out of this house."

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