#Chapter 2: Dream or Nightmare

Claire's POV

I wake up from a haze. My head feels heavy and full of water. Had I just been dreaming?

When my eyes focus, I realize I'm still in the hospital, but my son. Where is my son?

My neck aches, flooding my mind with memories.

The birth. Leo. Daphne pulling him from my arms. The recording. The sedative.

She must have. I would never let her get far with my son. I need to find them. Maybe if I call security, they'll get in contact with Gideon.

This all has to be fake. Daphne must have made that recording. He wouldn't have...

My thoughts stutter. Wouldn't he, though? He's always been cold to me. Why wouldn't he use me just to bear the wolf of prophecy?

I sit up, the pain from childbirth making me slow. I tear the IV out of my arm and push the nurse call button at least four times.

"Hello?! I need help in here!" I shout.

A nurse with short blonde hair and a hawk nose walks in. She brings a sour attitude with her.

"What?" The nurse says shortly.

"Where is my baby?" The words come out roughly from my chest.

"You mean the Alpha's baby?" A cruel smile curls on her lips. "Spending some quality time with his family."

My wolf is struggling against my patience. Kill her. Rip out her throat.

I breathe through the panic. "I would like to see Nurse Emily, please."

Emily will listen to me. She held my hand throughout my birth. She had a kindness in her eyes that this bitch extremely lacks.

The nurse rolls her eyes, "Can't. She went home for the day. Now, what do you need? I want to get back to the real patients."

I grit my teeth together and shift into a seated position. "I want to speak to Gideon.”

"I need you to stay calm, alright?" Nurse Hawk Face rubs at her temples. "Listen, the Alpha does not want you. We all heard the recording. Now, quit dreaming before I call Psych to come and pick you up."

My wolf growls in my ear once more. Find our pup.

She turns her back on me. "You will be discharged tomorrow afternoon if you stay reasonable."

I leap from my bed and swipe a pair of surgical scissors that were left on the counter. I'm so fast the nurse doesn't even register I've moved until I grab her limp blonde hair and press the scissors to her jugular.

"Oh, I'll be reasonable." I snarl in her ear. "Tell me where my son and the Alpha are, and we won't have any trouble."

"You won't do anything to me. The whole pack knows you're obedient."

I press the blade into her skin, letting some blood dribble down her neck. "Am I? I've just never had a reason to bare my teeth. After all, I was prophesied to be the strongest she-wolf of my generation." My voice is rough and dangerous. A sound that is unfamiliar to me.

"Now, tell me where my son is before I cut your neck. Or I can sink my claws into your back and rip you to tiny pieces. Your choice."

Hawk Face hesitates.

I push the blade against her. "Quickly, now."

She gasps in pain. "Okay! Okay! They are both in the newborn ward in the east wing of the hospital.  The code to the door is 6062. Please, just let me go. I was just doing what I was told." She blubbers.

I shove the nurse toward the wall, letting her stumble into a chair as I drop the scissors into a nearby sharps bin. I’m not a murderer.

The moment she’s out of my way, I tear out of the room. I’m still dizzy and my legs are shaking beneath me, but I don’t stop. I can’t. I have to get to my child.

The halls are dim and mostly quiet, besides the beeping of monitors.  Probably close to the end of the night shift. I clutch the side rails for balance as I move, every step sending a dull ache radiating from between my legs and deep into my hips.

I almost can't believe that this is real. That my son was ripped from my arms right after giving birth to him.

My hospital gown is soaked through with sweat. The nurse's blood smeared at the neck of my gown. I must look feral, crazed.

Good. Let them see me as I am. A mother with nothing left to lose.

I pass a nurse at the far end of the hallway, and she gives me a startled look but doesn’t approach. Maybe she senses my wolf on the edge of madness. Maybe she sees the gleam in my eyes and knows I’m one more step away from bloodshed.

When I reach the east wing, I pause at the door to the newborn ward. The keypad glows faintly in the dark.

My fingers tremble as I type in the code. A soft beep and the door unlocks with a click.

The smell hits me first—powder, sterile linens, and that faint, warm scent of new life. I sense Leo's scent and follow it.

The hallway is dimmed so as not to disturb the babies at this hour. I round the corner and see a few doors with windows. I look into one and pause.

Gideon sits in a rocking chair, a bundle in his arms. My baby. My Leo. He’s swaddled in what looks like a scratchy blue blanket with a tiny cap covering his head.

Daphne sits beside Gideon, cooing and brushing the baby’s cheek as if she belongs there, like she didn’t steal my son out of my arms. Like, she didn’t stage the whole thing.

They look like a happy little family.

I stop breathing.

The pain that stabs through me is not just emotional—it’s physical. My heart clenches so hard I nearly crumple to the floor. My vision swims.

That's supposed to be my family. My adoring husband. My beautiful son.

How dare he? How dare they.

My wolf howls inside me, her fury rising like a wave. Take him back. Take what’s ours. Kill the impostor posing as his mother.

I shove open the door, hard enough to crash against the wall.