Desired By Three Alphas; Fated To One-Chapter 283: Special

Nathan's POV

The moment Hailee collapsed into my arms, the entire throne room seemed to stop breathing.

Her body was limp—too limp. Her skin cold—too cold. Her pulse faint—too faint.

My arms tightened around her instinctively.

"Hailee… Hailee!" I whispered urgently, brushing her hair away from her face. "Open your eyes. Please… look at me."

Nothing.

Her head rolled slightly against my chest, completely unconscious.

Peter ran toward us, panic written across every inch of his face.

"What happened to her?" I shouted in panic.

Peter's eyes widened, fear swallowing his expression.

"That… must have been her gift. But it awakened too fast. Too violently." He pressed a trembling hand to his forehead. "If her power was forced out… then she's in danger. Her mind, her spirit—"

He stopped, staring at her.

At the blood on her dress.

At the weakness in her breaths.

My heart cracked.

I looked down at the woman in my arms—my mate, my soul—and felt something inside me twist painfully.

"Hailee," I whispered again, barely able to breathe. "Come back to me. Please."

She didn't move.

Didn't speak.

Didn't open her eyes.

I pressed her closer, burying my cheek in her hair. Her scent—sweet and warm—was fading. Not gone, but faint. Like a candle burning out.

I felt sick.

Terrified.

Because I had just come back from death…

And now she was slipping toward it.

Peter placed two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse.

His jaw tightened.

"It's weak… too weak. She's burning through her energy. Her life force was used to heal you."

Ice stabbed through my chest.

"No…" I whispered. "No, she—she shouldn't have done that. Why would she—" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Peter snapped his head toward me sharply.

"BECAUSE SHE LOVES YOU!" he roared, his voice breaking. "Because she couldn't watch you die the way we watched Father die!"

His words hit me like a physical blow.

My grip on Hailee tightened.

My voice cracked.

"I didn't ask her to sacrifice anything—"

"She didn't need you to ask," Peter shot back. "She always chooses you first. Always."

I closed my eyes, pain tearing through me.

Gods… she did.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to stand, lifting her carefully into my arms.

"We need the healers," I said, trying to stay composed despite how terrified I was. "She needs help now."

Peter nodded and ran ahead, shouting for assistance.

Suddenly I heard footsteps and noticed it was Oliver… He had run back into the throne room, tears still streaming down his small, frightened face.

His eyes were full of hate. A look a child his age shouldn't wear.

My body stiffened.

Oliver stared at the blood on her dress, at her unconscious form in my arms, and his expression twisted painfully.

"You killed my unborn sibling…" he whispered, voice breaking. "You… you killed him…"

My jaw clenched.

"Oliver—she wasn't in control," I said quietly. "You saw that."

But he shook his head violently.

"You're lying!" he screamed. "Mommy is not a monster! She wouldn't do that! She wouldn't hurt us—unless you made her! YOU and that stupid mate bond! YOU ruined everything!"

His words stabbed through me.

I couldn't even be angry.

He was a child.

A hurting child.

Watching his mother fall apart…

He needed someone to blame.

But Hailee flinched weakly in my arms at his shouting, even unconscious.

Her brows pulled together.

A small sound left her lips.

Pain.

Fear.

I turned my body slightly, shielding her.

"Oliver," I said softly but firmly, "I won't let you speak about her like that. Not now."

He trembled—angry, confused, devastated.

Then he spat:

"I hate you!"

Peter stepped between us before the boy could get any closer.

"That's enough," he said sharply.

Oliver's lip trembled. His face crumpled. And he ran—ran out of the hall, sobbing so loudly it echoed across the walls.

When the door slammed shut, the silence that followed was suffocating.

I exhaled shakily and looked down at Hailee again.

She was still unconscious.

"Peter," I said quietly, "we need to help her. Now."

Peter nodded immediately. "The healers are waiting. Come."

I followed him, clutching Hailee tightly.

Peter pushed the door to her room open, and the healers and seers were already waiting—like they had sensed her collapse.

Two healers hurried forward and gestured.

"Lay her down, Alpha Nathan."

I gently placed her on the bed.

Her hair spread across the pillow, and her lips had lost their color. She looked fragile… far too fragile for someone who had just thrown a full-grown Alpha across a room.

The seer—a woman with white eyes and gray hair woven with beads—stepped forward immediately and placed her glowing hands above Hailee's chest.

A soft hum filled the room… then a vibration… then a cold wave that brushed over my skin.

I froze, watching every tremor in Hailee's body.

"What is happening to her?" I demanded.

The healer beside me inhaled slowly. "She's burning out. Whatever power awakened inside her—it was too much, too fast."

The seer's brow furrowed.

"She is in between. Not awake. Not unconscious. Not fully herself. Something is trying to claim her spirit."

My heart stopped.

"NO," I snapped. "Do something! Help her!"

"We are," the seer said without looking at me. "But this is not physical. This is magic. Soul magic."

I felt sick.

Powerless.

Terrified.

"Peter…" I whispered, turning to him. "Tell me what is going on. Now."

Peter rubbed a hand over his face, pacing once before stopping beside me. His voice lowered, weighed down by fear.

"I should have told you sooner… but Father made me promise never to speak of it unless her life depended on it."

"Well, her life depends on it NOW," I growled. "So tell me."

He exhaled shakily.

"Hailee is… different. She always has been."

My chest tightened. "Different how?"

Peter glanced at her motionless body on the bed.

"In Father's lineage there is a special gift gifted to a chosen female."

I blinked.

"What?"

Peter nodded.

"An ancient spirit. A protector—and a destroyer. A force that once belonged to one of the first Lunas of our bloodline."

I stared at him, speechless.

"Hailee was chosen as its vessel," Peter continued quietly. "Father was warned that if her emotions ever spiraled too far… if her wolf awakened at the wrong moment… or if she experienced extreme trauma…"

He paused, swallowing.

"…the dark spirit would break free."

My heart hammered.

"And that's what happened today," I whispered.

"Yes," Peter whispered. "She saw you dying. Then she was forced into marrying Callum. Then her mate bond tore apart. All of that shattered the seal Father placed on her years ago."

I looked back at Hailee, my hands shaking.

She looked so innocent sleeping there.

So small.

So unaware of the power she carried in her soul.

"So she healed me," I said slowly, "not because she chose to… but because the spirit inside her took over?"

Peter nodded once. "Her true gift is healing—but the spirit amplifies everything. Including her darkness."

"And the… baby?" I whispered, my voice breaking.

Peter closed his eyes tightly.

"That wasn't Hailee. That was the spirit protecting her. It saw the child as a chain—something Callum could use to bind her forever. It acted… violently."

Guilt tore through me.

She did all of this…

Because of me.

Because I was dying.

I moved closer to the bed and took her cold hand in mine.

"Hailee…" I whispered, pressing her knuckles to my lips. "I'm here. Come back to me. Please."

The seer suddenly inhaled sharply.

"She's fighting," she murmured. "Her spirit is struggling to regain control."

My chest tightened.

"Can she win?"

The seer didn't answer immediately.

She finally looked at me, her white eyes shining.

"It depends."

"On what?"

"On who calls her back."

I straightened instantly.

"Then let me do it."

The seer nodded.

"She will hear you more than anyone. Speak to her. Anchor her. Pull her back."

I leaned closer, my forehead touching hers.

Her skin was cold, but her scent… faint as it was… still smelled like home.

"Hailee," I whispered softly, breathing her name into her lips, "come back to me. Please. Come back."

Her eyelids fluttered once.

Barely.

My heart jumped.

"I'm here," I whispered. "Your mate. Your Nathan. I'm alive because of you. You saved me, Hailee. Now let me save you. Come back. Please."

A tear slid down her cheek.

A single, trembling tear.

Peter gasped quietly.

"She can hear you," he whispered.

I held her face gently.

"I'm not letting you go," I whispered fiercely. "Not now. Not ever. So fight your way back to me. Fight the spirit. Fight the darkness. Fight for us."

Her lips trembled.

A tiny, tiny movement.

The seer stepped back.

"She's coming. Slowly. But she's coming."

I exhaled shakily and kissed her forehead.

"I'm not leaving this bed," I murmured. "Not until you open your eyes. Not until you return to me."

I slid onto the bed beside her, pulling her carefully into my arms.

Her body curled toward mine instinctively.

Even unconscious…

She sought me.

She clung to me.

She knew me.

Peter watched silently from the side, relief slowly softening his features.

"She'll wake," he said quietly. "She just needs time… and you."