1

After I lost the baby, my wolf sank into despair and never surfaced again.

Without my rapid healing, I spent a year convalescing at the recovery center.

Ryan came to pick me up the day I was discharged.

He walked to my bed and stopped a full step away, head down, not daring to meet my eyes.

I could smell his cedar scent, which had once belonged to me alone, fading beneath the sweet, cloying scent of an Omega eager to please.

I forced a smile and turned toward him. "It's all right... I'm feeling much better now..."

Ryan's fingers clenched around the hem of his shirt. His eyes were already red-rimmed.

"Vera... I don't know how to face you..."

Grief lodged in my throat, and I fought to keep a sob from escaping.

We would never have children of our own.

We had been bonded for five years, yet time had never dulled our love. We were as happy as the day we completed our marking ceremony.

We had always longed for a child of our own. We were supposed to give the pack a strong pup, but a year ago, that future became an impossible dream.

I was about to speak when Nina appeared in the doorway.

Compared with a year earlier, her complexion was rosier, and she gave off the rich scent of a mature she-wolf.

Tears streamed down her face, and she looked wounded and lost.

"Mom, it was all my fault. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

The memory came rushing back, and rage surged through me. I swept the glass off the table and said between ragged breaths, "Don't call me Mom. Get out!"

Ryan frowned, pulled her to her feet, and said coldly, "All this time has passed. What good is crying now? Learn from what you did. From now on, take care of Vera and try to atone. Don't ever do anything that stupid again."

Nina dried her eyes and nodded.

I froze, too stunned to react.

How could something that had devastated me so completely be brushed aside so casually?

I knew Ryan had always doted on her as a daughter, but the baby I had lost was his flesh and blood.

He ran a hand over my hair and told Nina, "Pack Vera's things. We're going home so Vera can recover."

Still teary-eyed, Nina cut her finger on a dish as she cleared the table.

Ryan's lips tightened. To my shock, he instinctively leaned over and licked the bead of blood from her finger.

"You're all thumbs. What am I going to do with you? I'll finish here. Go bring the car around."

But Nina was a werewolf. A cut that small had healed completely the instant it broke her skin.

Standing beside them, I felt my stomach churn.

Once the two of us were alone in the room, a long silence set in.

I had thought that once we left the recovery center he would have a great deal to say to me.

But now that he was facing me, he had nothing left but silence.

I watched him pack in silence, my gaze resting on his handsome face.

Every move he made could still tug at my heart.

But he didn't seem to want to look at me anymore.

Only after we met Nina downstairs did Ryan start talking again.

He laughed as he recounted all the trouble she had caused since she started working for the pack.

He said that at twenty, she was still like a child and could not even start a fire or cook.

I listened quietly, and my heart sank lower and lower.

Only when Nina slipped naturally into the passenger seat and Ryan started the engine did he notice that I was still standing outside the recovery center.

He hurried out, opened the passenger door, and ordered Nina into the back seat.

"You were gone for a year. Nina got used to sitting up front."

I didn't say anything and got in.

Nina might have been our adopted daughter in name, but she had taken my place in the passenger seat.

My werewolf instincts told me that an illicit blood attraction had formed between them long ago.

When the car stopped outside the house, Ryan gave me an apologetic look.

"Go on inside. A last-minute meeting came up, and we both have to be there."

I said nothing as Nina happily climbed back into the passenger seat and the taillights disappeared from view.

As I walked into the familiar house and remembered how happy I had been while pregnant, tears burned my eyes.

I sank into a crouch and wept quietly, too weak to move.

The dust in the air made me sneeze.

When I turned on the lights, I found a thin layer of dust coating every piece of furniture. The sprawling house was deserted.

I remained crouched in that corner until midnight. Ryan still had not come home.

Shaking, I got out my phone and called him. "Ryan, why aren't you home yet?"

He yawned on the other end of the line and said lazily, "You never told me I was supposed to stay with you at the recovery center tonight, did you?"

My tears came pouring out. "You brought me home today!"