Chapter 135: Come On, Baby.

Bryce and Vincent spent the rest of the day drafting the rules that would govern the new leadership about to take over.

They worked at the Moonlight Packhouse, and as night approached, they returned to the palace.

Both could feel the restlessness brought on by the full moon, along with the urges that came naturally with their wolf natures.

Beneath those familiar sensations was another source of unease, the knowledge of what awaited them that night.

Bryce used his powers to suppress his wolf nature, while Vincent relied on his usual Alpha control.

By the time they arrived at the palace, Agatha appeared restless as well. However, the moment she saw them, she put on a composed expression, pretending everything was fine.

The workers gathered around the palace looked weak and tense. Their bodies trembled faintly even as they stood with their heads bowed, and none of them looked well as Bryce and Vincent entered.

"Are you both ready?" Agatha asked.

"Yeah," Bryce and Vincent answered simultaneously.

Bryce studied her face before asking, "Why do you look so tense? It can’t be the full moon. You looked fine the last time it came around."

"Your mother was here, claiming she wanted to speak to her son. She caused chaos, and we had to drag her away. I should have asked you first whether you wanted to speak to her before having her removed like that," Agatha explained, catching Bryce completely off guard.

"Never speak to me about such a thing again. You know perfectly well that I don’t have a mother! And I don’t appreciate you bringing something like that up, especially at a time like this," Bryce snapped, making no attempt to conceal his displeasure.

Agatha bowed her head slightly, clearly regretting her words.

"I apologize, Your Majesty."

"What is wrong with you today? I’ve already told you not to call me that, yet you keep insisting," Bryce snapped again, his patience wearing thin.

"I can’t help it. It comes naturally," Agatha replied, keeping her head bowed.

"Raise your head," Bryce said.

She obeyed immediately.

"We’re going to have those people come here, one pack at a time, and I need you to..."

Bryce didn’t get to finish his sentence before Vincent suddenly groaned and staggered backward before collapsing to the ground.

"What the fuck?!"

Bryce rushed toward him, with Agatha following close behind. Before either of them could do anything, the workers standing nearby began collapsing as well, one after another, their bodies crumpling to the ground just as Vincent’s had.

"I think the wrath has begun," Agatha said.

"Are you telling me he’s being affected too? What for?! He’s supposed to be an exception! I saw what he did, and he regrets all of it! Why is he being affected?!"

Panic threaded through every word Bryce spoke as he knelt beside Vincent, his hands moving restlessly over him as though he could somehow ease his suffering.

Vincent’s body grew cold and dark as violent tremors shook him. His groans grew louder with every passing second, leaving no doubt about the severity of his pain.

Bryce could almost feel what Vincent was enduring simply by watching him struggle on the ground, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.

"Calm down," Agatha urged, placing a hand on Bryce as though trying to steady him. Her voice carried an unmistakable sense of urgency.

"Calm down?! Are you serious right now?! You’re asking me to calm down while this is happening to him? Wasn’t he chosen by the goddess because she knew he regretted his actions, and that some of what he did was the result of manipulation? She’s allowing him to participate in judging everyone else, and she’s still punishing him?!"

Bryce wasn’t listening to her.

"Just calm down first!" Agatha raised her voice, cutting him off and forcing him to stop speaking for a moment.

"Everyone who has done something wrong will face the wrath, whether they’ve already regretted their actions or not. Vincent is no different. The difference is that he won’t die from it. Aren’t you the one who’s supposed to heal him? You’re allowing panic to overwhelm you instead of focusing on what needs to be done."

Agatha’s voice grew firmer with every word, leaving Bryce no choice but to listen.

He struggled to steady himself before asking, "What should I do?"

"Exactly what you’ve been doing to make your powers respond. Command them to heal him, and he’ll be fine. But if he doesn’t deserve that kind of relief so soon, your powers won’t respond the way you want them to."

Bryce immediately closed his eyes, his hands trembling at his sides.

He was the one who had to decide whether someone deserved that kind of relief, so what exactly did Agatha mean when she said his powers might not respond if Vincent didn’t deserve it so soon?

Reaching for his powers, Bryce hoped with everything he had that Vincent would recover. He couldn’t bear to see him suffering like that.

As usual, he concentrated on what he wanted and summoned his powers to mend Vincent, but nothing happened. Instead, Vincent went completely still. The groans stopped, the tremors ceased, and his body no longer moved at all.

Bryce lost control of himself. Abandoning his attempt to heal Vincent, he leaned closer to him, his panic overwhelming his concentration.

Vincent’s body was completely cold, and his skin continued to darken with every passing moment.

"What is happening to him?!" Bryce demanded, his breathing growing increasingly forceful.

"It’s not working because you’re not concentrating on healing him! You’re focusing on what’s happening to him and what he’s feeling instead," Agatha answered, forcing Bryce to refocus his attention on what he needed to do.

This time, Bryce felt his powers take effect. He opened his eyes and watched as Vincent’s skin gradually returned to its normal color.

He immediately moved closer and gathered Vincent into his arms, feeling his body temperature rise until his skin was warm again.

Vincent coughed and slowly opened his eyes.

"Am I alive?" Vincent muttered against Bryce’s neck. "I was certain I was in hell."

"It’s over. You’re okay," Bryce murmured, holding him even tighter.

"If it’s that bad, then I think you should tend to the people who don’t deserve to suffer so much a little earlier. I’m certain these people here don’t deserve it either," Agatha said, gesturing toward the servants and guards who were still struggling on the ground.

"If the Goddess knows they don’t deserve that much suffering, why is she inflicting it on them? Vincent almost died, and for what? Being manipulated? Making mistakes that he realized were wrong and genuinely never wanted to repeat? He almost died!" Bryce snapped.

Vincent covered Bryce’s mouth, as though trying to stop him from saying something he shouldn’t.

"Don’t speak about the Goddess like that. She knows what she’s doing!" Agatha warned, dread creeping into her voice even though she feared for Bryce.

"I’m not doing this. Someone else can be chosen to carry out the task. This punishment is being unjustly inflicted on people, and the fact that Vincent nearly died because of it is simply too much for me to accept."

"Bryce, stop it." Vincent warned him as though he feared the Goddess would become angry with Bryce for speaking that way. "I’m okay, aren’t I? I deserved it. I did a lot of things wrong, and not everything I did was because of manipulation. I made some of those choices knowing exactly what I was doing, and I know I deserved that punishment. So stop talking like that and just do what you’re supposed to do."

"I’m not doing it. I refuse to carry out the Goddess’s work if this is how she intends to punish people, even those who don’t deserve to suffer this much," Bryce insisted.

"Come on, stop being stubborn. If the Goddess chose me to accompany you in this task, it means she didn’t intend for me to die, okay? This was simply the wrath she promised would fall on anyone who had done terrible things. People are suffering out there, and you’re the only one who can relieve their pain. Come on, baby."

Hearing that people were suffering and that he was their only source of relief, Bryce’s resistance began to waver.

"Should I summon them here?" Vincent asked. The people would have to make their way to the palace themselves, as that was the only way Bryce could reach everyone in one place.

If he went out to search for them individually, he would risk missing others.

Bryce nodded and turned toward the servants and guards. "Can you walk? Move? Stand?" he asked, wanting to make sure those who were not there would be able to make their way to the palace once Vincent summoned them.

The servants and guards struggled to their feet before managing to stand and move.

In that moment, Bryce understood that Vincent’s punishment had been harsher than theirs. Vincent had collapsed completely, his body rendered motionless by the suffering, while the others could even stand and move.

That realization only deepened Bryce’s anger toward the Goddess.

But he reminded himself that being unhappy with the Goddess’s actions did not justify abandoning his task and leaving people to suffer.

He felt an overwhelming urge to reach everyone affected by the wrath and ensure that no one was being made to endure such agony without good reason.

He needed to save people like Vincent.