Dante’s POVSuddenly, the quiet hum of the room was shattered.Ace woke with a start, golden eyes glowing with that eerie and unnatural light. His body jerked upright. He tore out the IV lines and monitors while sending machines clattering to the floor. He was heading straight for the door, straight for me.He saw me and froze.And I saw him.Not just the boy, but the storm beneath. The hollowness in his gaze. The death he had seen or caused. The blood on his soul he couldn’t wash off. I saw every monster he was trying to bury.Scarlet had said he was suffering from PTSD. That he had forgotten everything.I let out a dry, humourless chuckle.Naive, innocent Scarlet. She always trusts people too much. Especially, the weak ones. The one tortured by fate. Like herself. She must have seen herself in Ace. And the reason she was protecting him was that she might have seen herself in the boy. Ace might have PTSD, but he hadn’t forgotten a damn thing. He was hiding it. Pretending. Playing th
Dante’s POVI entered Rome’s hospital room without knocking. The door slammed against the wall behind me, making him flinch where he lay bandaged and bruised. His arm was in a sling, and his face was a mess of swollen flesh and gauze, but I had no sympathy.“What the hell did you do?” I asked coldly.He looked up, startled. “Alpha?”His voice faltered. He couldn’t even meet my gaze. I saw it in his eyes, the guilt, the fear. He knew damn well he had crossed a line, and now he was scrambling inside for excuses. But I was not here for his excuses.“You are not going to speak?” I said, my voice sharpening. “Then I will ask again. What the fuck did you do, Rome? Why did that boy beat you into a pulp? And let’s be honest here, you got your ass handed to you by a teenager.”Rome scowled, but it was weak. Defensive. “He was fucking strong,” he muttered. “I didn’t take him seriously at first. I will get him next time.”“Next time?” I narrowed my eyes, stepping closer. “Forget about your bruis
Scarlet’s POV“STOP IT!” I shouted, stepping between them again. “You will not kill him. You will not harm anyone else. You will lie down on that bed. And you will stay there. Your punishment is that no one speaks to you until you reflect on what you have done.”Ace’s chest rose and fell with fury, his entire body coiled like a loaded spring. But then, like a storm suddenly silenced, he lowered his head.“Yes, Doctor,” he murmured.The wild wolf who had just challenged the Alpha of the pack obeyed.I took a breath, wiped the blood from my brow with the back of my hand, and stepped forward.“Alpha,” I said, my voice clear despite the pain pulsing in my skull. “Can we please talk alone, if possible?”Alpha Dante’s eyes locked onto mine. For a long moment, he said nothing. His gaze flicked briefly to the blood on my forehead, and I saw the tension twitch in his jaw. Then, with a curt nod, he gestured for his men to follow. I led the way, pausing only to lock the door to Ace’s room.Once
Scarlet’s POVHe looked exactly the same. Smelled the same.His eyes locked with mine, and for a heartbeat, everything stopped. I saw the flicker of recognition. Saw something shift in his expression, maybe surprise, guilt, something older, deeper.My breath caught.Vespara, her jaw clenched so tight I could hear her teeth grinding, said in a clipped tone, “Let’s go, Scarlet.”But my feet… they didn't move.Vespara was still guiding me out of the hallway, her hand firm around mine, when I caught movement from the side of my eye. My heart stopped.Through the ICU window, I saw uniformed wolves entering Ace’s room, three of them were armed and tense with their expressions grim.“What is happening?” I asked sharply, pulling away and rushing toward the room.One of the officers turned, his eyes hard. “He is under arrest. For attacking our Beta.”I stepped forward instinctively, placing myself between them and Ace, who was now sitting upright in bed while his expression was unreadable. “Ba
Scarlet’s POVThe stretcher arrived swiftly. Nurses carefully lifted Ace’s limp, bloodied body and wheeled him into the ICU. As they disappeared behind the swinging double doors, a burden settled in my chest like a stone. We had no idea which version of Ace we would wake up to, the gentle soul we knew, or the uncontrollable storm trapped within him.Rome, unconscious and bloodied, was also taken away. A separate team of doctors rushed him to a private room down the corridor. Vespara followed them. Hours passed in a haze of blood, antiseptic, and anxiety.Rome’s condition eventually stabilised. He was bruised and battered, but he would recover. Ace, though… he was still. Too still. His wounds ran deeper than skin. He looked like someone who had fought not just an enemy, but a part of himself.It was just after dawn when I heard a soft whisper from the ICU bed.“Doctor… are you okay?”His voice was fragile. A child’s voice. Ace’s voice. The one we knew. His golden eyes blinked open, gl
Scarlet’s POV“Are you even my Luna?” he spat. “Do I owe you anything? You were nothing but my Alpha’s whore. And in the end, he discarded you.”The words hit me like a slap.For a heartbeat, everything went still. The buzzing of hospital lights, the soft murmurs of nearby patients, and the beeping of machines all faded into a dull silence.I felt Vespara shift beside me, ready to explode again. But this was my moment now.“You bastard!” Vespara snarled, her voice shaking with pure, undiluted rage. She reeked of bloodlust, her entire aura pulsing with the need to destroy. Her fists clenched at her sides, ready to strike. She wanted to kill him, right there in the ward.I stepped between them and gently pushed her back with one hand, never taking my eyes off Rome.I let out a small humourless chuckle. “At least I was good enough in bed to earn the title of being your Alpha’s whore,” I said, my voice dripping with venom and clarity. “But what about you, Rome?”He flinched.I said, “How
Scarlet’s POV"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, stepping into my office and catching sight of Vespara lounging on the couch like she owned the place. "Are the kids okay? Don’t tell me Nora jumped off the stairs again?"Vespara waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, please. I dropped them off at Elizabeth’s. They are fine. You, on the other hand, are working way too much. I have been juggling those three like a double-duty nanny all week, I’m done. Tonight, we are going on the ultimate best friend date."I laughed, walking over to pinch her cheeks. "So my husband is taking me on a date, huh?"It was a running joke. People constantly mistook us for a couple, specifically a lesbian one. They always assumed Vespara was the dominant one, all tall and fierce, while I was the dainty, doting wife. We leaned into it now, mostly for laughs. Truthfully, Vespara did act like the kids’ father, while I naturally slipped into the mom role. That’s just how we were.Vespara rolled her eyes, already half
Dante’s POV“Anne,” I said, eyes still locked on the scene outside.“Yes?”“Would you mind waiting inside that café? The driver will pick you up from there in a moment.”She blinked at me. “Why?”“There is a pregnant woman in pain. She might go into labour in this storm. Let them use the limo, it’s the fastest way to get her to help.”Anette nodded quickly, no further questions. We stepped out into the rain and motioned for the woman in red. When she realised what we were offering, she wasted no time getting the injured woman and her husband into the limo, guiding them as if she’d done this a hundred times before.“She isn’t a doctor, is she?” Anette asked, watching beside me. “She is going to put that woman and baby in danger.”“I think,” I murmured, “she knows exactly what she’s doing.”We stood in the rain as the limo took off. Moments later, an ambulance finally arrived. The limo returned just as the medics were unloading stretchers. And stepping out of the car, soaked in rain and
Scarlet’s POVAmy smiled, just a little, then turned back to me and held her arms up, asking to be carried.I lifted her gently. “Mommy has to finish helping people who are in pain. Will you be a good girl and wait on that chair while I finish?”She wasn’t happy about the idea. But Amy hated seeing people hurt more than she hated being apart. She gave a solemn little nod and sat down quietly.I left her under the watch of a nurse, though I knew she wouldn’t wander.When I came back later, I froze in the doorway.Amy was sitting in front of Ace, signing to him with small, deliberate gestures. Ace watched her, brow furrowed, trying to make sense of what she was saying.Then, he reached for a doctor’s notepad and began to draw.Simple figures. Lines. Shapes.He was trying to communicate.Amy watched carefully, then took the pen and began to draw her own replies. Crude, a little shaky, but surprisingly clear.She was talking to him.Trying.My little girl…She had stepped outside of her s