Chapter 184

Third-person POV Eric had stayed where he was, pressed into the shadowed corner of the corridor, silent as stone. He watched as Mr. Brown and Lady Valentina stepped out of the ICU, their faces drawn, grief-worn. Valentina didn’t look his way. Brown didn’t either. They walked past him as though he were part of the wall. The moment they were gone, Eric moved. He slipped into the ICU without a sound, the door sealing softly behind him. The room was dim, lit by monitors and the pale glow of machines that breathed for her. Elena lay exactly where they’d left her; still, beautiful and painfully untouched by the chaos she had caused. Eric stopped a few feet away. For a long moment, he just watched her. Gone was the Alpha. Gone was the fury. What remained was a man standing at the edge of something he could not command. He stepped closer, slowly, as if sudden movement might break her. “I failed you,” he whispered, his voice rough and low, meant only for her. “And I am so damn sorry for that.”