But I didn’t move.
Until the gate creaked open.
That sound alone was enough to shove panic into my chest. A dozen questions rushed through my head.
Where was he going? Why now? Why alone?
Before I could talk myself out of it, I stood and followed.
His scent was easy to track in the night air. I saw him just ahead, walking into the woods, his steps slow.
“Levi,” I called out.
He turned, caught off guard. His face was pale in the moonlight, and the bags under his eyes looked darker than ever.
“You look like hell,” I murmured, taking a step closer. “Not even your wolf could fake fine right now. Go back to the house.”
“I’m fine,” he said too fast-like he was trying to convince himself.
But I could see the tremble in his hand as he shoved it into his pocket. I could see it in the way he swayed just slightly on his feet. The way his wolf energy felt… hollow.
And for a stupid reason-I cared. I hated myself for it, but I did.
“No, you’re not.”
He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Just needed some air. I wasn’t going far.”
I crossed my arms. “Into the woods in the middle of the night? Come on, Levi.”
There was a pause.
He finally sighed, nodding once. “Okay. I’ll go back.”
We turned together, walking in silence down the dirt path toward the gate. His steps dragged now, slower than before, like every one took something out of him.
I glanced at him-his shoulders hunched, his breaths shallow. His hand trembled slightly before he shoved it back into his pocket.
“Levi,” I said cautiously, “you’re swaying.”
“I’m fine,” he mumbled, not even looking at me. But he didn’t sound fine at all.
Something in the air felt off. Even his scent was different-faint and strange, like something was wrong deep inside him.
I stayed close, watching him carefully. The woods were quiet, but my heart wasn’t.
Then, just as we passed through the gate-his body crumpled.
“Levi!”
I barely caught him before he hit the ground, his weight slumping into my arms. His skin was cold, too cold, and his breathing was shallow.
Something shot through the bond, cold and sharp like something breaking inside me.
Panic exploded in my chest.
“Levi!”
I shook him. “Levi, wake up-come on!”
But he didn’t move.
He Just lay there. Heavy. Still.
Olivia’s POV
“Levi!” I called out in panic, dropping to my knees as his body slumped into me. “Levi, wake up!”
But he didn’t move. He felt ice-cold and terrifyingly still. Something in me cracked. I pressed my hand against his chest, trying to feel his heartbeat-faint, but there.
I placed my palm firmly, trying to do something, anything-maybe unleash my ability- but nothing was working.
Footsteps pounded behind me.
“Alpha!” a guard shouted. “Is everything alright?”
“No, get help!” I snapped. “He needs a healer-now!”
But before the guard could even react, two familiar scents hit me. Lennox and Louis appeared from the darkness, worry carved into their faces.
“What the hell happened?” Louis asked, eyes narrowing as he dropped beside me.
“I-I don’t know,” I stammered. “He just collapsed. I tried to stop him-he said he was fine-he lied.”
Lennox’s jaw tightened, and for a split second, his expression wasn’t surprised. It was… grim. Like he had expected this.
“Get the healer,” Lennox barked at the guards, his voice sharp with Alpha command.
“Now.”
Two of them shifted into their wolves and bolted off without hesitation.
Lennox knelt and effortlessly lifted Levi into his arms like he weighed nothing. “Come,” he said, already moving. “We need to get him back to his room.”
I scrambled to my feet and followed them closely, my heart racing with every step. The walk back felt endless, but finally, we reached Levi’s room.
Lennox laid him down carefully on the bed, adjusting his head on the pillow. I hovered at the edge of the mattress, unsure, afraid, watching Levi’s pale face like it might disappear.
Louis moved to the drawer, rifled through it, and pulled out a small glass vial. He uncorked it and held it to Levi’s nose.
A sharp, herbal smell hit the air.
Levi didn’t move.
“What is that?” I asked quickly.
“Stimroot extract,” Louis replied, still watching Levi. “Supposed to wake him. It usually works.”
Usually? That single word made the panic inside me swell.
My frown deepened. “What’s happening to him?”
They hesitated. The air in the room felt too still-like everything was holding its breath.
Then Lennox sighed and leaned back against the wall. “He has a condition. It started when we turned twelve.”
I blinked. “What kind of condition?”
Louis answered, quieter. “It’s called Lunar Respiris. A rare magical illness. It runs in our lineage. Our grandfather had it. Our father didn’t. Neither did we. But Levi… he inherited it.”
“What does it do?” I whispered.
Lennox looked at me, his voice tight. “Sometimes, his lungs just stop responding. Like they forget how to breathe. It comes with warnings and signs. Sometimes once a year. Sometimes it doesn’t come.”
I stared at Levi’s chest. His breath was slowing down.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “He just… stops breathing? Just like that?”
“Yes,” Louis said. “And when that happens, it’s like his body shuts down.”
My breath caught.
+5
“You’re lying.”
“We’re not,” Lennox said evenly. “He didn’t.want you to find out. He thought you’d feel pitiful for him.”
I blinked, shaking my head. “But… he was fine. He looked fine.”
Louis glanced at Levi, voice softer now. “He’s been hiding it for years. No one knows except family.”
I couldn’t breathe.
All these years… and I never knew.
“But why?” I whispered again, almost to myself. “Why not tell me all these years?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.