LAYLA'S POV
The words hit me hard.
The palace is under siege.
For a moment, I can't breathe. Then the ground shudders beneath my feet. Chandeliers above sway violently before pieces of crystal shatter to the floor. Explosions roar through the palace walls. Smoke rolls in through the corridors.
Screams echo everywhere. Servants, guards, nobles. Outside, everyone is running, colliding with one another.
The library door bursts open wider as we run into the hall.
Kaiden barks orders at the guards. "Protect the east wing. Move the nobles to the lower chambers! Make sure everyone is protected"
Kieran is already shoving people out of the way. Killian turns to face me.
"Stay here." His hand grips my shoulder "Find a corner. Don't move until we return."
I open my mouth to argue, but before I can speak, a guard rams into me, shoving me aside like I am nothing.
"Get the royals to safety!" he barks, ignoring me completely as he pushes the brothers forward.
Royals. Not me. Never me.
The smell hits next. I can smell smoke and blood to the point that my lungs ache with it. My heart keeps pounding against my ribs. Fear grips me tightly. The feeling of fear begs me to obey, to hide. But my wolf… my wolf is very weak but it keeps pacing inside me.
Run? Hide? No. Not while others die.
My feet move before thought catches up. I run down the hall, against the tide of screaming nobles, I run toward the courtyard, where the smoke is thickest.
The sight steals my breath.
There are warriors all across the ground. They keep groaning as they try their best to crawl. Their armors are cracked and blackened with fire. Some are dragging themselves by their arms. Their legs are twisted in impossible angles.
I don't think. I drop to my knees beside the nearest soldier who is twice my size. His chest rises and falls slowly. My hands grip his arm and shoulder, and when I pull. he moves.
Not inches. Feet.
My muscles burn, but the impossible happens. I am dragging him out of the smoke, faster than my mind can understand. My strength is wrong, unnatural. An omega shouldn't have that power.
"Layla!"
I hear my name through the chaos.
It is Kieran.
He storms toward me with anger in his eyes. "What the hell are you doing?! Get back inside before you're killed!"
I ignore him. My body doesn't stop, doesn't care. Another warrior lies close, clutching his side, coughing blood. I grab him too, dragging him across the courtyard even as sparks come down from above. Explosions rock the ground.
"Layla!" Kieran grabs my arm, pulling me back hard. "Enough!"
I turn to face him. I can feel the adrenaline burning through my veins. I shove him off with a force that startles even me.
"I won't just stand by while people die!" I say.
For a heartbeat, his eyes widen. There is shock there, not at my words, but at my strength. He stumbles back half a step, staring at me like he doesn't recognize me.
But the chaos doesn't let us stay for too long. The ground shakes again and debris rains down between us, separating us.
And then I see her.
"Janet!"
She is pinned beneath a broken pillar. Her face is pale and her breaths are shallow. My heart twists at the sight of her.
I claw at the stone with bleeding hands. Pain doesn't matter. Nothing matters except the need to pull her free.
With a scream, I push the stone with all my strength. I think it is impossible till it actually happens. The stone shifts, groans, then rolls away. Janet gasps for air as I pull her out. I drag her into the open just as another blast shakes the courtyard.
She clutches my hand. Tears stain her cheeks.
"You - you saved me…" Her voice trembles as she speaks.
I squeeze her hand back. "I'm not leaving you."
But then something hits me from behind.
Suddenly, I feel a crushing weight on me. Stone, maybe fire, I can't tell. The world turns upside down. My body slams into rubble and the sharp edges bite me deep. I scream in pain.
White-hot pain tears through me, stealing my breath.
Dust fills my lungs, choking me. My vision blurs and my ears keep ringing with the distant roar of chaos. My limbs refuse to move. For a moment, I think to myself - this is it. This is how I die.
I see a shadow on top of me.
I brace for death. But it is him.
Lucian.
He tears through smoke and fire like the world can't touch him. His hands grip me in a desperate way as he pulls me free of the stone. His eyes meet mine. For a heartbeat, the war fades.
"Layla," he breathes, cupping my cheeks in his hand "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
My chest burns. My body shakes. And yet, even bloodied, even broken, I hear it.
A child's cry.
"Wait" I gasp, shoving weakly against his chest.
Through the smoke, a little boy is under a collapsing beam. His tiny hands cover his ears as he screams. Instinct takes over. I twist out of Lucian's hold. My body screams in pain but I don't care. I rush toward the sound.
"Layla!" he shouts behind me, but I don't stop.
I reach the child just as the beam cracks. I throw myself over him and my arms shield his trembling body. Wood crashes down around us, but Lucian is there, covering us both with his body. He braces against the falling debris until the weight rolls aside.
The boy sobs into my chest. I hold him tighter, whispering, "You're safe. I've got you. I won't let go."
When I look up, nobles stand frozen nearby. They look at me with wide eyes as they whisper.
"That's her…"
"The omega - she's saving them…"
While they flee, I stay. And their disbelief is obvious.
Then I hear him.
"Layla!"
Kaiden storms into the courtyard. His armor is burned. His face is full of rage. His eyes lock on me - bloodied, bruised, holding a child.
His voice breaks as he shouts. "You were told to run! Do you want to die, Layla?!"
I force myself to my feet, even as the boy keeps clinging to me.
"Because I'm not weak!" I scream at him.
For a moment, there is silence between us.
Kaiden freezes. His eyes widen in shock then something else. I am not sure what it is? Pride? Pain?.
He looks at me then. Not as the omega beneath them. Not as the servant everyone mocks. But as the woman who stands bloodied before him.
There is still chaos around us but in that moment, it is just him and me.
And the way he sees me changes everything.