Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Chapter 83 The Lost Sister

Victoria

The midnight moon cast long shadows across the courtyard as our convoy pulled into the Shadow Pack fortress. My hands were trembling, stained with my brother’s blood despite Leo’s best efforts to clean them during our frantic escape from the abandoned temple. The taste of fear still lingered on my tongue—metallic and bitter.

"He’s still breathing," Leo reassured me as warriors rushed forward to carefully extract Enzo’s battered body from the vehicle. My half-brother looked like a broken doll, his skin ashen where it wasn’t bruised or lacerated. The image of finding him chained to that altar, his chest carved with strange symbols, replayed in my mind like a horror film.

Leo’s arm around my waist was the only thing keeping me upright as we followed the medical team rushing Enzo toward the pack’s infirmary. "You need rest," he murmured against my hair, his voice rough with concern.

"I can’t," I whispered back, watching Enzo’s limp form disappear through swinging doors. "Not until I know he’ll survive."

"Victoria." Leo turned me to face him, his amber eyes searching mine with an intensity that made my heart stutter despite our circumstances. "What happened back there—"

"I don’t know," I admitted, cutting him off. "I felt something inside me snap, and suddenly the plants were... responding. Like they were extensions of my body." I lowered my voice. "Is that... normal for someone with Fae blood?"

Leo’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "We’ll figure it out," he promised, though I could sense his unease. "Right now, Enzo needs medical attention, and you need—"

"Victoria!"

We both turned to see Lilith running toward us, her normally perfect appearance disheveled, eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Please," she begged, her voice cracking. "Tell me he’s alive. They won’t let me see him."

Leo stepped forward protectively, but I squeezed his arm to hold him back. Lilith’s anguish seemed genuine, and despite everything, I couldn’t bring myself to turn away from her pain.

"He’s alive," I confirmed gently. "But it’s bad, Lilith. They’re doing everything they can."

Her knees seemed to buckle, and I caught her reflexively. To my shock, she clung to me like a drowning woman to driftwood. "This is all my fault," she sobbed against my shoulder. "If I hadn’t—if he hadn’t tried to help me—"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, pulling back to search her tear-stained face.

Leo cleared his throat. "Perhaps this conversation should happen somewhere private," he suggested, his gaze sweeping the gathering crowd of curious pack members.

I nodded, guiding Lilith toward a small waiting room adjacent to the infirmary. Leo followed at a respectful distance, positioning himself near the door—close enough to intervene if needed, but giving us space to talk.

Once inside, Lilith collapsed onto a leather sofa, her usual poise completely abandoned. I sat beside her, waiting as she struggled to compose herself.

"My family was drowning in debt," she finally managed, twisting her engagement ring nervously. "Three generations of bad investments, and the bank was going to take everything—our lands, our home, our status within the pack hierarchy." Her eyes, when they met mine, were filled with shame. "Enzo found out when we first started dating. He... he offered to help."

Understanding dawned slowly. "The money he embezzled from the Howlthorne accounts," I murmured. "It wasn’t just for gambling debts."

Lilith shook her head miserably. "Some was, yes. He has... problems with control. But much of it went to saving my family from ruin." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "That’s why I could never condemn him, no matter what he did. He sacrificed so much for me."

I sat back, trying to process this new information. The brother who had tormented me for years, who had sold me to Leo to clear his debts, had also sacrificed his inheritance to save the woman he loved. The contradiction made my head spin.

Before I could respond, a doctor appeared in the doorway, his scrubs splattered with blood—Enzo’s blood. Leo immediately straightened, every inch the commanding Alpha.

"Report," he ordered tersely.

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