Chapter 66: Rescued

​Olivia’s POV

​Lucian’s hands moved quickly over my face, his eyes searching every inch of me as though he needed to make sure I was really standing there. He looked terrified. Not angry, not cold, but genuinely terrified. And suddenly, I remembered where I had seen that exact expression before. In the vision Dr. Vance had shown me, Lucian had worn the same look while holding Lillian’s bleeding body in his arms, terrified that his little sister was going to die. My chest tightened at the realization. He was looking at me with that same fear now.

​"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, his voice rough with panic.

​I shook my head, my throat still raw from the smoke. "No. I’m fine."

​Before he could say anything else, a woman came running toward us through the crowd.

​"Mia!"

​"Mommy!" Mia cried from my arms.

​The woman dropped to her knees in front of us and immediately pulled Mia into her arms. She hugged her daughter tightly, burying her face in Mia’s hair as she cried. After a few seconds, she looked up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks.

​"Thank you. Thank you so much, Princess. Thank you for saving my baby."

​"She’s safe now," I said softly, giving her a weak smile.

​Lucian stood and looked toward the burning square. Thick clouds of smoke were still rising into the sky, and although the pack’s fire service had already arrived, several stalls were still burning.

​His expression immediately changed, the fear on his face disappearing beneath the focused look of an Alpha taking control of the situation.

​"Stay here," he ordered. "I have to go back and check if anyone else is trapped."

​Panic immediately rushed through me. I looked toward the flames and then back at him. "Lucian, wait!"

​He didn’t. He released me and disappeared before I could say anything else, leaving me with Gloria and the four guards who had quickly gathered around me.

​My heart hammered as I stared at the burning square. Members of the pack’s fire service were already working quickly, spraying large streams of water over the flames from different directions while healers and medics gathered nearby to treat the injured. They were getting the fire under control, but all I could think about was Lucian somewhere inside it.

​Seconds later, he suddenly appeared near the edge of the square again, but this time, he wasn’t alone. He had two women with him, both coughing badly. Their clothes were partly burned, and there were small burns across their skin, but thankfully, they were conscious.

​Healers immediately rushed forward to take them from him, and before Lucian even stopped to catch his breath, he disappeared into the smoke again.

​My stomach tightened as I watched the place where he had vanished. I knew Lucian was powerful. I knew he could teleport and was much stronger than an ordinary werewolf, but apparently, my heart hadn’t received that information because it continued pounding anyway.

​The flames were getting smaller now as the fire service slowly brought the situation under control. A few moments later, Lucian appeared again, this time carrying a crying little boy. The child had both arms wrapped tightly around his neck but seemed unharmed. A woman immediately rushed toward them, and Lucian handed the boy to her before disappearing into the smoke again.

​"Lucian," I whispered, unable to stop myself.

​By then, almost all the flames had been put out. Thick gray smoke rose from the destroyed stalls, but Lucian still hadn’t returned. I wrapped my arms around myself, unable to take my eyes off the square. He could teleport. He was powerful. I knew all of that, so why was my heart still trying to beat its way out of my chest?

​Then the air shifted, and Lucian appeared in the middle of the clearing.

​He was alone.

​My shoulders relaxed the moment I saw him. His clothes were covered with ash, his hair was messy, and he looked tired, but he was standing in front of us completely unharmed.

​"No one else is inside," he announced.

​Relief immediately spread through the crowd. People began talking among themselves as a member of the pack’s fire service approached Lucian and bowed his head respectfully.

​"Alpha, the fire has been completely put out. There are no deaths. Several people have minor injuries, but the healers and medics are already attending to them."

​"Good."

​"Princess?"

​I turned at the sound of Mia’s mother’s voice. She was standing in front of me again with Mia in her arms, and the expression on her face was completely different from the cautious look she had given me earlier at the flower stall. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

​"Thank you," she said quietly. "I will never forget what you did for my daughter."

​"You don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad she’s safe."

​Mia suddenly leaned out of her mother’s arms and wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. "Thank you, Princess."

​A lump formed in my throat as I hugged her back. "You’re welcome, sweetheart."

​When I pulled away, I noticed several pack members watching us. They weren’t suddenly smiling at me, and I wasn’t foolish enough to believe saving one little girl could erase everything they had suffered during the war. Still, something had changed. For once, I didn’t see the same open hatred in their eyes. Maybe the wall between us hadn’t disappeared, but perhaps there was finally a small crack in it.

​"Leo."

​Lucian’s voice pulled my attention away from them. Beta Leo had arrived sometime during the chaos and was now standing beside him.

​"Find out what started this fire," Lucian ordered. "It spread too quickly. I want to know why. And make sure everyone affected gets proper medical care. No one leaves without being checked by a healer."

​"I’ll handle it, Alpha."

​Lucian gave a short nod before turning toward me. The moment our eyes met, I knew I was in trouble.

​Wonderful. Apparently, almost dying in a fire wasn’t enough excitement for one evening. Now I had to deal with an angry Alpha too.

​He walked straight toward me.

​"Lucian, I..."

​He grabbed my hand, and before I could even ask what he was doing, the festival disappeared.