Chapter 1 — The Cold Awakening

Selene POV 

"No, please!" I screamed into the darkness, choking on my own blood. "No no...NO!!"

I jolted upright.

My lungs hitched, pulling in a massive, ragged gasp of freezing air. My eyes flew open, wildly scanning my surroundings. 

The accident. I had an accident, I was sure of that. But right now, I wasn't in a crushed car. Instead, I was in a bright, blinding white room, the frantic squeal of a heart monitor echoing in my ears.

"Selene? Selene!"

A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders, pushing me gently back against a wall of pillows. My vision blurred, before finally settling on the face. My best friend, Nora, stood over me, her face pale and streaked with tears. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

"Nora?" My voice cracked, sounding hoarse. "Where..."

My hands moved on pure instinct, dropping instantly to my stomach.

It was flat.

The heavy, round life I had carried for six months was gone. My womb was completely empty.

A cold, paralyzing terror gripped my chest. "Nora. My baby. Where is my son?"

Nora froze. Her lower lip trembled, and she looked away, unable to meet my panicked eyes. A suffocating silence filled the hospital room, broken only by the erratic racing of the monitor.

"Nora, look at me!" I screamed, grabbing her wrist with sudden strength. "Where is my baby?!"

"Selene...I'm so sorry," Nora choked out, a sob finally breaking through. "The accident and attack. The trauma was just too much. The pack doctors tried everything, but by the time they pulled you from the wreckage...he was gone."

The words hit me like a blow.

Gone.

The little boy I had whispered to every night. The second child I prayed would finally soften my husband’s cold heart. Gone.

"You've been in a coma for three months, Selene," Nora whispered, squeezing my trembling hands. "It's a miracle you even woke up."

Three months.

I stared blankly at the ceiling. My son was buried in the cold ground, and I hadn't even been awake to say goodbye.

"Kieran," I gasped out, my chest heaving as the panic morphed into a desperate need for my mate. I looked frantically around the empty room. "Where is Kieran? He must be worried sick. Tell him I'm awake. What about Amelia, where is she?"

Nora’s grief instantly hardened into a fierce, boiling rage. She pulled her hands back. "Kieran hasn't been here, Selene."

I blinked. "What do you mean? Oh, he's the Alpha heir. He probably has a lot to handle with the rogue wolf investigation. He's busy with the pack..."

"For three months?!" Nora snapped, her voice cracking with fury. "Selene, look around this room! I have been the only person sitting in this chair every single day. Not one member of the Draven pack has stepped foot in here. Your parents haven't called. They didn't send a single flower. I had to fight the elders just to keep them from pulling your life support!"

"No," I shook my head, my mind rejecting the words. "No, you're wrong. He just...he didn't know if I would wake up. He's grieving. I need to go home. Amelia is five years old, she needs her mother."

"Selene, you can't leave, you just woke up..."

I didn't listen and threw the blankets off my legs. My bare feet hit the cold tile floor, and my knees buckled instantly. Luckily, Nora caught me before I hit the ground. Gritting my teeth, I reached over and ripped the IV needle straight out of the back of my hand. A drop of dark red blood welled up, but I didn't care.

"I am going home, Nora," I ordered, my voice eerily calm despite the violent shaking of my limbs. "Take me to my husband."

Seeing the manic, unyielding determination in my eyes, Nora didn't argue again. She grabbed a loose hoodie and sweatpants from her overnight bag, helping me dress before we bypassed the stunned nurses and slipped out into the parking lot.

The drive to the Draven pack territory was a blur. My heart hammered against my ribs with every mile. 

The massive iron gates of the Draven estate finally loomed ahead. Nora pulled her car up the driveway and threw it in park at the base of the grand steps.

"I'm coming with you," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"No," I stopped her, my hand on the door handle. "I need to see my family. Alone."

I pushed the car door open. Every step up to the mansion felt like walking through wet cement. My body screamed in agony, but the desperate need to see my husband and my daughter pushed me forward.

I pushed the front doors open. The grand foyer was silent. The familiar scent of expensive wood and Kieran’s dominant pine aura filled my lungs, making my wolf whimper for her mate.

Faint rustling and low murmurs drifted from the living room down the hall.

He was home.

I forced my weak legs to move faster, ignoring the burning pain in my muscles. I reached the tall, double doors of the living room, my heart swelling with a desperate need for comfort. I just wanted my husband to hold me. I wanted him to tell me we would be fine.

I pushed the doors open.

"Kieran...ahh...you're in so deep. What if Amelia comes?" my voice died in my throat.

The air was ripped completely from my lungs. 

There, on the couch in the center of the room and in broad daylight, was my supposed husband. Kieran’s shirt was completely unbuttoned, his hands gripping the waist of the woman straddling his lap.

And tangled tightly in his arms, her lips bruised and her hands buried in his dark hair, was my older sister, Jessica.