Batista POV
I shot up from my seat like something burned me. My gut twisted, chest tight, and before I even knew it, I was out. Storming across the open grounds like a madman.
I couldn't watch. I just—couldn't.
Not when they were throwing Rain into the Well.
Dan's ruthless, sure. He always has been. But this? Throwing your own mate in there like she was trash? Like she meant nothing?
Hell. No.
I wouldn't do that. Not in a million fucking years.
By the time I got to my chambers, I was vibrating with rage. My fists were clenched so hard my knuckles had gone pale, and my jaw? I probably cracked a molar grinding my teeth. I slammed the door behind me without even looking back.
And there he was. One of my guards, already waiting by the wall like he knew I'd be a wreck.
"What is it?" I snapped, dragging a hand over my face. I didn't have the patience for anything else right now—but the look on his face told me this wasn't just some minor crap.
"Your uncle is back," he said.
My head snapped up. "When?"
"Just now. He arrived through the east wing—looked pretty pissed."
I let out a sharp breath, shoulders sagging, just a little. "Tell him I need to see him. Now."
"Yes, Your Grace," he nodded and disappeared like his ass was on fire.
As soon as the door clicked shut, I grabbed the nearest bottle of whiskey off the table. No glass. No second thoughts. Just ripped the damn cork off with my teeth and downed it like my soul depended on it.
It burned. God, it burned. But I welcomed it. Needed it.
I slammed the bottle down with a loud thunk, then dropped onto the bed like my body gave out. I stared at the ceiling, breath heavy, trying to calm the riot inside me.
My uncle was gonna be pissed.
"Fucking furious," I muttered to myself, wiping the sweat from my brow with a trembling hand.
But honestly? That wasn't even the worst part.
No, the worst part was her.
The second I closed my eyes, there she was—Rain.
God, Rain.
Her eyes were so broken. Like she'd already accepted death. Like the light in her had been snuffed out by the very people who were supposed to protect her.
And that wound—fuck, that wound on her back. Still raw. Still bleeding. Refusing to heal. I could see the way she hunched from it, body curled like she was folding in on herself.
My chest ached. My throat closed up, tight as a vice. And before I even realized what was happening, a tear slid down my cheek.
I swiped it away, hard. Shaking my head. No. No, I couldn't fall apart. Not now.
I tried. I swear I tried to save her. I begged, I pleaded, I made threats I would've followed through on—but it wasn't enough.
She didn't deserve the Well.
A hard knock shattered the silence.
I jolted upright, breath caught in my throat, dragging a hand over my face to wipe away whatever trace of weakness dared linger there. The cold sweat clinging to my skin was gone in seconds—buried beneath the iron shell I wore every day as Alpha. I adjusted my shirt, squared my shoulders, and steeled my voice.
"Come in."
The door swung open.
Eric stepped in like a storm—his eyes blazing, his jaw tight with fury. He didn't need permission to speak. He never did.
"What the hell happened, Batista?" Uncle Eric's voice hit like a slap. Sharp. Furious. Laced with something worse than anger—disappointment. "Why did you have Rain sentenced to death? What could possibly make you do that—to a girl you've loved for years?"
I looked away. Of all the people in my life, only a rare few didn't call me by my title. My Luna. My children. Dan. And Eric. He never gave a damn about the power I held—not when it came to things like this.
"Calm down, Uncle," I said, trying to hold the last scraps of my control together. "There was nothing I could do. You think I wanted her dead?" I laughed bitterly. "My hands were tied."
"They said she was accused of trying to kill you," he growled, taking another step closer, "and ended up killing one of your concubines instead."
I nodded once. "Yeah."
Eric let out a breath that sounded like it had claws. "That doesn't sound like Rain at all. She might hate you, but she's no killer."
"Well," I muttered, reaching for the whiskey bottle, "she is one now."
I took a long, punishing gulp—burning my throat, my chest, my lies.
Eric's patience snapped like a brittle bone. "That's enough."
He yanked the bottle from my hand, and I let him.
"Drinking yourself into a stupor won't fix this," he barked, holding the bottle out of reach. "How are you holding up? And don't give me that Alpha bullshit. I know you, Batista. I know what she means to you."
My chest tightened like iron bands were being wound around my ribs. I couldn't breathe. My heart had been cracking slowly for days—now it was collapsing in on itself.
"I'm fine," I whispered.
But my voice cracked.
It split me open.
And then the words spilled out—quiet, trembling confessions from the part of me I never let anyone see.
"I tried to save her…" My fists clenched in my lap, nails biting into skin. "I begged her. I told her—just speak the truth, Rain, and I'll fight for you. I'll make it go away. I would've banished her, not killed her. But she looked at me like I was nothing. Like I was filth. She wouldn't even speak. She didn't give me a chance."
My eyes burned. I didn't want to cry in front of him. I didn't want to cry at all. But my body betrayed me.
The first tear slid down without warning.
"We used to be so close," I whispered, voice trembling. "She used to follow me around like a shadow. She'd smile when I walked into the room. Gods, she adored me once."
And I had adored her more than life.
"I went to the Elders," I confessed. "I asked them to let me take her as my concubine."
Eric said nothing. He didn't have to. The silence gave me permission to bleed.
"But everything fell apart," I choked out. "Her mother… she murdered her own mate. My father's best friend. The man who saved my life when I was just a pup. And then she plotted to have me assassinated." I buried my face in my hands. "What was I supposed to do?"
I gasped for breath.
"I sentenced her mother to death… and Rain—Rain watched it happen. And she said nothing. I thought she understood. She looked at me like she still trusted me."
I gave a bitter, broken laugh.
"And even then… I still wanted her. I still loved her. I didn't care what anyone thought. But then Dan told me she was his mate, and I… I stepped back. I thought, fine. If I can't have her, I'll protect her. I'll make her life better. I'll give her options."
Another wave of pain hit me.
"She refused every offer. Every damn opportunity. She wanted nothing from me. And then I felt it. The change." I looked up at Eric, my eyes stinging. "She hated me. Just like that. Like none of it ever mattered."
Eric's gaze was steady, unreadable. "The hatred."
I nodded slowly. "Dan said it was because I killed her mother. Because she thinks I betrayed her. That I'm a monster."
I couldn't sit still. I stood abruptly, pacing, dragging a hand down my face. "I thought she knew. I thought she saw it—the pressure, the politics, the sacrifice. I did everything right, Uncle. Everything. But she still hates me."
My voice broke.
"She tried to kill me."
The weight of those words collapsed inside me.
"She tried to kill me."
I collapsed into the chair again, burying my face in my hands. "I don't understand. I don't understand how she could do that to me. I love her. I fucking love her."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
And then Eric's voice, low and solemn: "She never knew, Batista. She never knew how much you loved her. You never told her."
I looked up, my face wet, my lips trembling. "That doesn't change the fact that I was good to her. I was good to her."
Eric gave me a long, mournful look. "You're still young, Batista. Twenty-five is not old enough to understand the cost of silence. You see the world through the eyes of a young Alpha—tall, proud, always from above. But what a boy sees from the tallest tree… is not the same as what an old wolf sees from the ground."
I blinked at him, not understanding.
"There's more to this than you know," he said, softer now. His eyes—once angry—were full of something else. Memory. Regret. "Your father, her father, and I… we were brothers in all but blood. We made promises. And that same reason—the one that bound us together…"
He stepped closer, his voice breaking just a little.
"…is why I can't let her die."