Chapter 70

ELLA

Leo pushed Andrea off him, and he slumped down onto the ground, his eyes wide open at the night sky and his limbs as still as the air.

He didn’t blink. His chest didn’t rise and fall in breath. There was no beating of a heart inside his rib cage.

Leo stared at his body in disbelief before he looked up at me, his mouth slightly ajar as I just stood there, gripping the gun as I felt the pumping adrenaline slowly fade away and the reality set in.

Andrea’s blood was splattered on Leo’s face from the gunshot, but it didn’t stop me from dropping the weapon and sprinting forward, throwing myself into Leo’s chest as he wrapped his arms around my back.

I buried my head into his shoulder as he held me tight and began to sob.

“You did it,” Leo whispered. “You saved us all.”

I only hugged him tighter as we sat on the forest floor next to the dead body of Andrea Martinez.

And he was definitely dead this time. I’d watched the bullet enter the back of his skull, shattering his brain and ending him instantly.

A few minutes later, Leo looked down on Andrea before reaching into his pocket and finding his phone. He then grimaced and picked up Andrea’s still warm thumb to unlock it before searching the contacts.

“Hola,” he said, placing his hand around my waist and pulling my head back onto his chest.

He made a lot of phone calls to both Andrea’s men and his own before he finally put the phones down.

“They’re retreating,” he said with a smile as he kissed my head. “It’s over.”

“Finally,” I replied.

“Are my children safe?” he asked.

“They’re with Milly. She was amazing, Leo,” I replied. “She saved them all.”

“With her…powers?” Leo asked hesitantly.

I nodded. “Andrea sent men after them, but they don’t stand a chance. Our kids are alive and safe because of her.”

“And we will ensure the entire pack knows that,” he said as he stood up, helping me to my feet too. “She will be known as a hero, and maybe Max will let her stay.”

I smiled as he took my hand. “Now let me get you safely home so I can go and clear all this shit up.”

Everything seemed to be working out so well. But it almost seemed too easy.

“Have we lost anyone tonight, Leo?” I asked.

Leo’s face dropped and he squeezed my hand. “Blair survived, as far as I know my brothers, sisters, and Max are all fine too…but…”

“Luca,” I choked.

“He’s missing,” Leo replied. “No one has seen him, but that doesn’t mean he’s dead.”

“But it means he’s at least injured,” I said, “badly.”

Leo nodded. “I have patrols searching for him, but the territory is vast, and he could be anywhere.”

“Then I’m not going home until we find him,” I announced, stopping and looking around. “Where was he last seen?”

Leo sighed and placed his hand on my waist. For a moment, I thought he was going to refuse my help, but then he sighed. “Just north of the base. That’s where he was when I phoned him two hours ago.”

I nodded. “Let’s go.”

We ran the ten miles to the area above the base. There were already men searching through the forest for both Luca and other wounded soldiers, but there was no sign of him yet.

“Luca,” I called. “Luca!”

Soon enough, every time I called his name, the coarse, dry skin in my throat ripped.

But it was as I paused in a clearing hours later in total despair, feeling so hopeless I could drop to my knees, that I finally heard a response.

“Ella,” a voice whispered.

I snapped my head to where it was coming from. A ditch filled with leaves and debris, but as I got closer, I could see the body of a man lying stretched out in agony.

“Leo!” I screamed as I dropped down to Luca’s side.

Leo was soon there too.

“I’ll get the doctor,” he announced before sprinting off.

“No,” I whispered, my eyes frantically searching Luca’s body for the source of his pain. “Luca.”

I pulled his shirt up to reveal a bullet wound in his stomach. Blood still gushed out, and instantly my hands were covered in red.

“It doesn’t hurt,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I can’t feel a thing.”

He then inched his hand to mine, his weak fingers slowly entwining around mine. His grip was loose, but he squeezed a little, and a slight smile appeared on his pale lips.

“Is Martinez dead?” he asked.

I nodded. “I shot him.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, and his body seemed to relax. “The nightmare is finally over.”

I looked down at his wound and struggled to agree.

“Leo will be back with the doctor soon,” I reassured him. “You’ll be fine.”

He slowly shook his head.

“No, you are not doing this,” I ordered. “Don’t you dare die on me, Luca Romano. Don’t you dare.”

He managed a sad smile. “Don’t worry, Ells. They’ll be other people to eat popsicles with at midnight and swap socks with. You’ll find other friends.”

“No one compares to you, Luca,” I replied. “I will never find a replacement even half as worthy.”

He gave my hand a little squeeze.

“You’re my best friend,” I said as tears swept down my cheeks. “You have been since the day we met. Please just hold on. A little longer.”

“You don’t need me, Ella Loren,” he said. “You are brave and strong and courageous. You defeated Martinez. And you’ll still have Leo and the kids and—”

“And that means you shouldn’t live!” I exclaimed. “Because you think I don’t need you? You don’t think you have worth in this world?!”

“I’m slipping,” he said, his voice fading with weakness. “There’s nothing to grip.”

I lifted his other hand and held them both tightly.

“Grip to everything you have to live for. Your future mate, your future children, your future life. You’ve been amazing to me and my family for seven years.

“But you’ve got so much to live for yourself too. Hold on, Luca. I am begging you. There is too much to be lost.”

But he was struggling to keep his eyes open, the color draining from his skin fast.

I soon felt someone lift me up by my waist and drag me away as three men with large briefcases and a stretcher swept in.

They attached wires to his chest and performed CPR and shoved tubes down his throat, but his eyes were now shut, and he responded to nothing they said.

“No!” I screeched as Leo held me away. “No!”

“The doctors will do everything they can,” Leo said as Luca was loaded onto the stretcher. “We have to let them do their jobs.”

I was sobbing as I watched them lift his limp body up and carry him out of the ditch to a truck a few meters away.

Leo hugged me tight before one of the doctors jogged over to us.

“We’re taking him straight to the ICU, Alpha,” he said. “We’ll keep you updated.”

“What are his chances?” Leo asked as I buried my head in his chest.

The doctor paused. “The wound is deep, and he’s been bleeding out for some time. At this point, it could go either way.”

Leo nodded before the doctor ran off to the truck, and they sped away as I just clutched Leo’s shirt in my hands.