My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 05

My Brother Stole My Crown, My Fiancé Stole My Heart Chapter 05

Grief spread through me, cold and endless.

As I felt my blood being drained from my body little by little, my mind began to blur.

With the last of my strength, I tried to pull the needle from my arm.

But my wrists were pinned down.

Logan frowned, his voice tight with irritation.

“Wren, why do you have to be so heartless? It’s just a little blood. It’s not going to kill you.”

I forced my head up.

“I’m cold, Logan.”

But Logan only held me down while soothing Sadie in that soft voice, telling her not to worry.

Ryker walked in and stared at me without a trace of warmth.

“Stop acting, Wren. Once this is done, I’ll hire the best nutritionist in the territory for you. Happy now?”

I fought to stay conscious. My fingers shook as I caught the edge of Ryker’s shirt.

My brother.

—

The man who had once sworn he would protect me for the rest of his life.

—

The pain had made me dizzy, almost delirious, and instinct drove me toward the person who had once been closest to me.

I really couldn’t hold on anymore.

But he only pried my fingers loose.

“Wren, don’t fight me on this,” he said, his voice low. “Sadie can’t survive another shock. You can.”

“After this, I’ll make it up to you. Anything you want. Just don’t make me choose between you two.”

“I can’t lose Sadie. She’s family, just like you.”

My hand fell limply to my side.

To them, I would never be the first choice.

The moment my consciousness finally scattered, every sensation faded with it.

The pack doctor announced that I had no vital signs.

Ryker and Logan, who had sounded so certain moments ago, went deathly pale.

They dropped to their knees, lost and frantic, calling my name like the world had collapsed around them.

I watched it all with a strange, quiet calm.

In twenty-four hours, I would finally be free.

All the color drained from Ryker’s face. His eyes went red as he grabbed the pack doctor by the throat.

“You said it was only a little blood. Why is Wren dead?” he roared. “Bring her back. If you don’t, I’ll bury you with her.”

Logan stared at my body, frozen.

I lay there cold and still.

He reached out with trembling disbelief, like one touch might prove this wasn’t real. His whole body looked ready to break.

He didn’t even react when Sadie called his name.

Sadie weakly reached for him.

“Logan, what happened to Wren? This can’t be real. She’s always been so strong. Is she trying to scare us?”

Logan didn’t answer.

He half-kneeled beside me, a low, broken sound tearing from his throat like a wounded animal.

“Wren.”

He buried his face against my chest, his fingers brushing my cold skin and the hideous scars winding over my body.

“Wren, don’t leave me. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I thought you’d come back to me. I thought you’d behave and come home.”

Ryker slammed his fist into Logan’s face.

“Don’t you dare talk like she’s dead. Wren isn’t dead. She’s my only family. She’s supposed to stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Blood seeped from the corner of Logan’s mouth, and rage snapped through him.

He swung back, his expression vicious.

“You killed her,” Logan snarled. “If you hadn’t sent her to that prison, she never would’ve given up.”

The two of them crashed into each other, fighting like animals, tearing at the places they knew would hurt most.

Only when they were exhausted did they finally stop.

Both of them were covered in injuries.

They looked at my body as it grew colder, despair swallowing them whole.

They had sent me into the Trial Cavern together.

Ryker slapped himself hard across the face.

He knew I had been weak since childhood. When I was little, even a scraped knee had been enough to make him panic.

But he had still sent me to prison with his own hands.

Then the pack doctor’s next words destroyed what was left of him.

“Besides the scars from her wrists, Wren has extensive bruising across her back. Judging by the injuries, she was abused for a long time and lived in constant fear.”

“Her body is damaged, but that isn’t the worst of it. She lost the will to live long ago. There’s nothing we can do.”

Logan went completely rigid.

He had given orders.

He had told them not to hurt Wren.

Beside him, Sadie looked away, guilt flickering across her face. Then she reached for Logan again.

“Logan, Wren is strong. She’ll be okay. Please don’t worry.”

Logan shoved her hand away.

His eyes were glacial as he stared at the pitiful omega in front of him.

At first, his feelings for Sadie had been nothing more than curiosity and pity.

But she showed up at every gathering. Whenever anything happened, she came to him first.

She wasn’t like Wren.

Sadie depended on him.

She worshipped him.

Little by little, he had grown addicted to being needed.

On the day he proposed to Wren, Sadie threw herself into his arms. He had been drinking, and they ended up in bed.

“Logan, I have no one but you,” she had cried. “Wren only helps me because it makes her feel superior.”

He had pitied her.

He had wanted to protect her.

And before he realized it, he had sunk too deep to climb out.

As for Ryker, he had been captivated the first time he saw Sadie.

Her eyes had been so clear. So innocent. Almost exactly like our dead mother’s.

They filled the hollow place buried deep inside him.

Whenever he felt tired, he found himself telling her things he never said to anyone else.

He had thought that when Wren came out after three years, he would still have time to make it up to her.

“Find out who did this.”

Ryker and Logan spoke at the same time, their voices cold enough to kill.

Sadie curled in on herself and didn’t dare meet their eyes.