Happy family back together!
Dante’s POVFor the next two days, I didn’t leave the house. I stayed right here, with the love of my life and our daughter, like the three of us had been stitched into a single soul. We were inseparable. After two brutal months of war, pain, and distance, we needed nothing more than each other.The weight of those weeks hadn’t just bruised our minds and hearts; it had bruised our bodies too. Scarlet had lost so much weight despite eating regularly and being cared for by the best, she had been constantly worried and overworked. She should’ve been pampered and surrounded by peace in this stage of pregnancy, not thrust into war and responsibility. But somehow, she carried it all. And now, as she slept with her head on my chest, arms gently wrapped around the bump that held our second child, her face finally wore a peaceful smile. It was the first real rest I had seen in her since all this began.I glanced at Amy, who lay on my other side, holding her iPad like it was her treasure chest.
Scarlet’s POV“Luna, there’s an injured soldier,” someone called out behind me.I turned to see a woman staggering toward the medical tent, dressed in tattered soldier’s uniform, blood seeping through her sleeve. They kept calling me Luna even though Dante and I weren’t married yet. Even though I wasn’t officially anything. But to them, I was already their Luna. The war had been raging for almost two months now. Most of the civilians—families, elders, children—had been moved into the deep bunkers scattered across Phantom Moon’s territory. As head of the medical organization, I had stayed behind in the safe zone alongside the other doctors, treating the wounded, the old, the dying. I couldn’t leave for outside to help other soldiers in unsafe areas.And truth be told, no one would let me leave even if I tried.I was twenty-five weeks pregnant now, and the protectiveness around me was so much. But I understood it. In war, women and children were often the first victims—kidnapped, assau
Rome arrived with the remaining soldiers just as I collapsed beside Ace. They carefully lifted him from the ground, his body bloodied and broken, and carried him to the medivac unit.“Alpha, are you alright?” Rome asked as he supported my arm, seeing the torn flesh, deep bruises, and claw marks covering my body.I didn’t answer his question. I only asked one of my own, my voice hoarse. “What’s the situation?”Rome’s expression darkened. “Worse than we expected. The Moonlord and Blood Moon Pack has joined forces with the rebels. Our borders are on fire, literally. Entire watchposts have fallen. If we don’t hold them back now, they will take the southern gate by dusk.”I nodded grimly, the pain in my body secondary to the one ripping through my chest.“Take me to Ace,” I said, my voice hard and strained.We reached the hospital, and I stood like stone as I watched doctors and nurses rush him into the ICU. Tubes and wires snaked around his body. He looked so still. So pale. As if death we
Hector.And the other wolf, bloodied, beaten nearly to the edge of death, his breathing ragged but still fighting, was Ace.I didn’t think. I just pounced.I threw myself at Hector, slamming him into the rocks, my fangs ripping into his flesh with a fury I didn’t know I possessed. Blood splattered the snow around us as we tore at each other.But even as I fought, I heard Hector’s voice through broken gasps.“He’s dead,” he groaned, laughing between cracked ribs and spit. “I killed him.”I snapped his shoulder out of place, but he kept talking, a madman who wouldn’t stop. “So what if I failed to kill him at birth? I did it now. I finally did it.”I ripped into him, but he laughed again, a cruel, high-pitched sound.“You think you’ve won?” Hector spat blood. “My reinforcements are coming. You won’t survive. I’m too strong for you. You think this is over? You took the girl from me. You stole the woman I wanted. This time, I killed the boy. Next time, I’ll kill you, your bastard daughter,
Dante’s POV“Scarlet,” I said quietly, my voice more serious than I intended. “Have you ever felt that sudden drop in your stomach? Like something bad is about to happen, even though you don’t know what?”She looked up from where she was folding baby clothes, her brow creasing. “What happened, Dante?”“I don’t know, honey,” I admitted, trying to brush it off but unable to shake the unease crawling under my skin. “Just a really bad feeling. Something’s off.”I was supposed to head to the office for a regular meeting, but before I left, I grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. “Don’t leave the house today, okay? Please. Stay here. If you can, call Ves and ask her to bring the kids over. I’ll feel better if everyone’s in one place, safe.”Her eyes widened. “Did something happen?”“No,” I said slowly, “not yet. But my gut’s screaming at me, and it never does that without a reason.”She nodded. “Okay. I’ll call Vespara right now.”I left the house with my heart tight in my chest, like
Dante’s POV“Scarlet, do you feel like something’s off with Ace lately?” I asked as I leaned back, watching her run her hand across her growing belly.She turned to me, her brows drawn together. “No… What happened?”“He has been distant,” I said slowly. “I mean, really distant. He doesn’t banter with me like he used to. Doesn’t even roll his eyes when I annoy him. Just gives these clipped answers. Yes or no, nothing in between.”Scarlet tilted her head, genuinely confused. “Dante, he literally talks to my bump every day like it’s already born. He tells this baby bedtime stories, and you know what else? He spends extra time with Amy, especially now that I can’t do as much. He even gives her mini speech therapy lessons. That boy’s got a heart made of gold.”I sighed. “I know. But still… It feels like he is pulling away from me, specifically. Not you. Not Amy. Just me.”She was quiet for a moment, considering my words.“Maybe he’s just growing up,” she said. “You know… boys change. One d