Chapter 24
Joe's POV.
I jolted awake to the frantic pounding on my bedroom door.
"Prince Joe! "It's urgent!" shouted Connor, my personal guide and aide-de-camp. My heart slammed against my ribs, the word 'urgent' never meant a good thing.
I threw off the covers and sprinted down the corridor, my bare feet slapping on marble. "What is it?" I barked as I burst into the grand throne room. Inside, Palace Guards and the royal physician hovered around the dais. My father, Alpha King Aiden Wellington, lay sprawled on the floor behind the throne, unresponsive.
"Your Majesty!" one guard knelt, checking for a pulse. "His heart is barely beating, it's very faint."
"He's not waking up."
My father. The King. The Alpha.
We'd always been at odds. Every word exchanged between us came with tension, sometimes even venom. But despite everything, the thought of him not waking up? It cut through me like ice.
"Everybody out," I barked, and they all scattered without a word.
I walked to the massive throne and knelt beside him, pressing two fingers against the temple of my father's neck. He looked so still. Too still.
I placed two fingers on his wrist.
There is a beat. It's faint, but it's there.
That was all I needed.
"Stay alive, old man," I muttered, putting his head into my arms.
"Connor," I said, urgency sharpening every syllable. "Get the royal ambulance. Now!!."
He saluted and bolted for the door. I turned back to my father's silent form. "Come on, stay with me," I murmured, brushing a lock of silver hair off his brow. Fear coiled in my gut. I'd never seen him like this.
Within minutes, the palace's sleek, black medical transport arrived. I helped Connor lift my father onto the stretcher. His form felt unnaturally light in my arms. "Hold on," I whispered as we loaded him into the vehicle.
The doors slid shut, and I took the driver's seat. Connor sat beside me, checking his vitals on a small monitor. "His pulse is stable, but weak," he reported, his eyes flicking between the monitor and me.
I didn't reply. My knuckles were white on the wheel as I navigated the palace gates and onto the winding carriage road. Every bump jolted my father, and my panic.
We screeched into the Royal Hospital's emergency courtyard. Doctors and nurses were waiting with a crash cart. They whisked my father inside, and I followed, breath fogging in the chill.
Inside the emergency unit, glaring lights and the beeping of machines pressed in. I hovered at the foot of the bed as surgeons and nurses whipped into action. The head physician, Dr. Hayward snapped orders.
"Prep for intubation! Bring EPINEPHrine, stat!
"He's the King. If he dies, you all die with him," I snapped at the doctor as they did their work.
Time blurred. Every second felt like an hour.
When the doctor finally returned, his expression wasn't comforting.
"We managed to stabilize him," he said cautiously. "But he's fallen into an induced coma. His vitals are... unstable. We can't say when or if he will wake up."
The words hit me like a truck.
"Say that again," I growled.
Dr. Hayward's eyes were tired but firm. "An… An induced coma is the safest way to reduce brain swelling. He's suffered a massive stroke…"
"A stroke?" My blood froze. "You're kidding."
"No. We're doing everything we can." Dr. Hayward pressed a button, and the heart monitor beeped steadily. "He's stable for now."
"We…we did our best, Alpha Joe. He's not out of the woods yet." One of the nurses chipped in.
My fists clenched. I could feel my wolf clawing at my insides. Rage boiled inside me.
"You call that your best? If he dies, I swear I'll level this entire building with every last one of you inside!"
The medical team froze, terror flashing in their eyes.
Dr. Hayward looked at the other doctors. "Your Highness, please…"
I cut him off. "Or what? You'll lose your title?" I turned and seized a tray. "If he dies…if any harm comes to him…" My voice cracked. "I swear to God, I will tear this place down."
Silence fell. Dr. Hayward swallowed hard. "Your Highness, sedatives…"
"Shut the fuck up. Shut your fucking mouth up," I warned and grabbed the doctor by his collar." I don't want a single word coming from you."
That's when I heard footsteps behind me.
"Enough, Joe," said a familiar voice.
I turned. It was my uncle Ivan. My father's younger brother. The Beta appeared, accompanied by two of my father's guards.
He approached with deliberate slowness, his eyes sharp.
"Come with me," he said, placing a firm hand on my shoulder. Then he glanced over to the guards. "Make sure no word of this spreads. You know what to do."
The soldiers nodded and surrounded the staff.
I let Ivan guide me out. My rage was still simmering, but I let it be. There was too much noise in my head.
***
The ride back to the palace was silent.
I stared out the window, but my mind was a whirlwind. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I rubbed them against my pants, trying to steady my breathing. Why hadn't my father told me he was sick? Was that why he'd been acting strange lately?
Ivan said nothing. He just drove.
When we arrived, he didn't lead me to my room. He led me to the throne room.
My pulse quickened.
Inside, the royal council stood in a circle, the air thick with formality and dread. I recognized every face: the head of security, the royal advisor, the elders from the High Court.
Ivan gestured for me to sit on the side seat beside the throne. It felt like ice against my skin.
"Joe," he said gently, but with authority, "your father has been sick for a long time. Only a few of us knew. It got worse. He didn't want to burden you before you were ready."
"Ready for what?" I asked, my voice cracking.
Ivan looked at the others, then back at me.
"There can't be a vacant throne. Not now. Not with everything going on in the outer packs. We need leadership. The people need to know they're protected."
He stepped forward.
"That means, effective immediately... you are the new Alpha."
My breath caught. I didn't move.
The weight of those words felt heavier than anything I had ever carried.