Rhydor's POV
My mother did not move a single inch.
She just stood there on the plush rug, frozen like a statue carved from ice.
Her hands, usually so steady when she practiced or did her things, were trembling violently at her sides.
Her wide, pale eyes were locked onto Azura's pale, blood-stained face, staring down at her with a look of dread.
The silence stretching between us was heavy, thick, and suffocating, broken only by the crackle of the wood burning in the massive stone fireplace behind her.
"What are you waiting for?" I demanded, my chest heaving as I tightened my arms around Azura's limp waist.
"Do something! Ma"
My voice cracked loudly, the sound raw and empty of the deep authority I usually carried as an Alpha.
I looked up at her, my vision blurring with hot, angry tears that I could no longer hold back.
"I just begged you," I said, my voice breaking completely as a sob caught in my throat.
