2 - A BABY

No one moved. The guards, the omegas, the senior pack members lingering in the archways, they all stood frozen, staring at Tobias and the woman bleeding in his arms.

I lost our baby.

The words rang in my ears. A cold numbness started at my fingertips and rushed straight to my chest. My breath caught in my throat. I stared at my husband, waiting for him to say something. I waited for him to look at Lily and tell her she was confused, or to look at me and swear he didn't know what she was talking about.

Tobias just lowered his gaze to the floor.

He couldn't even look at me.

My survival instincts kicked in. I had spent three years training myself to swallow my pride and manage this pack when Tobias couldn't handle the pressure. My heart was cracking down the middle, but my pack was watching. I refused to break in front of them. I shoved the devastation deep down into my stomach and locked it away.

I took a breath and forced my voice to stay steady.

"Everyone, go back to your duties," I ordered.

A few people hesitated, their eyes darting between me and Lily.

"Now," I said.

The crowd finally scattered, murmuring as they disappeared down the corridors. I turned my attention back to my husband. He was still standing in the exact same spot, holding Lily against his chest like a lifeline.

Marcus, our lead healer, ran into the foyer with a canvas medical bag slung over his shoulder. He took one look at Lily’s bloodstained clothes and pointed down the hall.

"Bring her to the clinic, Alpha," Marcus said. "Quickly."

Tobias nodded once. He adjusted his grip on Lily and followed the healer. I walked a few steps behind them. My hands were shaking, so I curled them into tight fists at my sides.

The clinic was a sterile, brightly lit room near the back of the packhouse. Marcus pulled back the crisp white sheets on the examination bed. Tobias laid Lily down as gently as he could. She whimpered the moment her back hit the mattress.

"Alright, let's see where the bleeding is coming from," Marcus said, stepping forward with a pair of shears to cut away her torn sleeve.

Lily let out a sharp scream and slapped the healer’s hands away.

"Don't touch me!" she cried, scrambling backward on the bed until her spine hit the wall. Her chest heaved. She curled her knees to her chest, her eyes wide and frantic.

"Lily, he has to look at the wounds," Tobias said gently.

"No," she sobbed. She reached a shaking hand out toward him. "Toby, please. Don't let them touch me. Make them go away."

"I can't treat her if she won't let me near her," Marcus said, looking at Tobias for direction.

Tobias ran a hand through his messy hair. He sat on the very edge of the mattress and leaned toward her. He didn't ask Marcus to try again. He didn't ask me to step in and help calm her down.

He took both of her dirty, bloodstained hands in his.

"It's just me," Tobias whispered. "I'm right here."

Lily let out a breath that sounded like a broken sigh. She uncurled her legs and leaned forward, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

"It hurts so much," she cried softly. "I was so scared. I just kept thinking about the old storm cellar. Remember when we hid down there during the hurricane? When we were kids? You promised you would never let the dark get me."

Tobias closed his eyes. "I remember."

"You promised," she repeated, her voice cracking.

I stood in the corner of the room, near the counter of medical supplies. I watched my husband stroke the hair of his ex-fiancée. Lily was speaking quietly, tracing patterns on his knuckles, pulling up memories from a life they shared long before I ever existed.

She wasn't looking at me. She didn't have to. She was building an invisible wall around the two of them, making herself so small and dependent on him that there was no room for anyone else. I felt like an intruder in my own packhouse.

The clinic doors suddenly swung open.

Elder Eloise marched into the room. Her sharp eyes scanned the clinic before landing on the bed.

I opened my mouth to tell her to give the healers space.

Before I could speak, Eloise walked straight toward the bed. She didn't just ignore me. She bumped her shoulder hard against mine as she passed, forcing me to take a step back to keep my balance. She didn't apologize. She didn't even glance in my direction.

"Oh, by the heavens," Eloise gasped, pressing a hand to her chest.

She rushed to the bedside.

"My sweet girl," Eloise said, her voice thick with fake tears. She reached out and touched Lily’s knee. "We thought you were lost forever. The Goddess has returned you to us. It is a true blessing."

A blessing.

I stared at the back of the elder's head. Lily had just walked into the packhouse and announced she was carrying my husband's child, and Eloise was calling it a blessing. It was a blatant, calculated slap in the face. Eloise had never liked me. She hated that I came from nowhere and had no powerful family to fund Grimclaw's debts.

Tobias looked up at Eloise. Then he glanced over his shoulder at me.