LOGINDante's POVSeraphina's words reached me before I could turn around. For a moment, I wondered whether I had heard her correctly. Ivy stood beside the wall, one hand pressed against it for support. She had been trying not to cry over her daughter, and Seraphina had walked into that moment and called it manipulation.“What did you just say?” I asked, turning fully toward my fiancée. I kept my voice low because Nora's room was only a few steps away. “Explain what you meant about her using that child.”Seraphina stopped short. Her gaze flickered toward Ivy before returning to me. “Dante, I'm worried about you. Every time you try to move forward, Ivy has another reason to pull you back. First it was the company, and now it's her daughter. Our wedding is approaching. Surely you can see why I'm concerned.”Ivy straightened. I watched her wipe the dampness from beneath one eye, as though she regretted allowing either of us to see it. “Nora is in a hospital bed, Seraphina. Whatever you think i
Dante’s POVI had heard the doctor clearly. Every word. Yet I remained outside Nora's ward, staring at the closed door as though someone might come through it and tell me I had misunderstood. If they could not begin suitable treatment soon, they might lose the chance to save her. The warning followed me even after the doctor went back inside. Now I couldn't stop thinking about a little girl who had once solemnly informed me that powerful Alphas ought to know how to fix broken toys.Nora had laughed when I failed to repair hers on the first attempt. She had called me Cute Uncle as if it were an official title and trusted me to keep trying. I had given her an answer about doctors and patience. I hadn't known then how little patience her body might have left. I wanted to go to her, but Ivy had made it clear that my presence was not always a comfort.The consultation-room door opened. Ivy came out with one hand against the wall, her face drained of color. She saw me and stopped. I moved b
Wren's POV"Miss Sinclair! Is it true you're using your sick daughter to steal another woman's fiancé?"For one terrible second, I couldn't move. The reporter's voice carried across the hospital entrance, loud enough for the people waiting near the doors to turn and stare. I had come here because Nora needed me. Somehow, even that had become something strangers believed they had the right to question. A camera swung toward my face. Another followed when I stepped sideways, blocking my path to the entrance."Miss Sinclair, did Alpha Dante cancel your contracts after discovering your relationship?" a woman called, pushing her microphone between two shoulders. "And what does his fiancée have to say about all this?"I tightened my grip on my bag. "My company's contractual matters are being handled through the appropriate channels. My private life is not available for your entertainment. Move aside."Nobody moved. They seemed encouraged by the fact that I had answered at all. A man near th
Wren's POVI knew something was wrong before Maya reached me. The receptionist stopped speaking when I stepped through Thornbridge's doors, and two employees standing beside the lift abruptly turned away. Instead, Maya hurried toward me with her phone clutched in one hand. Her face was pale. “Ivy, please come into your office before you look at anything,” she said, lowering her voice as a few heads turned in our direction.“Is it the hospital?” I asked. She shook her head, but the relief lasted only until she added, “It's about you and Alpha Dante.”I followed her into my office and shut the door. Maya placed her phone in front of me. A headline filled the screen, calling me the woman who had tried to steal an engaged Alpha through a night in his bedroom. Below it was a photograph of me leaving Thornbridge, taken on a day I hadn't even noticed anyone watching. The article described the cancelled cooperation agreements as punishment for an alleged attempt to secure business advantages
Seraphina’s POV“Don't tell me you're planning to ask my fiancé for his blood.” The words came out sharper than I intended, but I made no effort to soften them.Ivy stood outside her daughter's ward with a hospital leaflet in one hand and her phone in the other. She looked exhausted. Yet when she saw me, she straightened as though she could summon strength simply by refusing to show weakness. I hated that about her. I hated even more that Dante always seemed to notice when she was struggling.I had come to the hospital for a scheduled discussion about the charity's upcoming patient-support program. Instead, I had barely reached the private wards before finding Ivy exactly where I least wanted her. After the disgrace at the packhouse, I had expected her to disappear from Dante's life. He had accused her himself. He had cancelled her company's agreements. Somehow, she was still here, and he was still asking after her child.I nodded toward the leaflet. “What is that? Has something hap
Wren's POVBy morning, I had learned to hate the sound of doctors lowering their voices. Every time one of them approached Nora's room, my stomach tightened before they spoke. I stood in the consultation room with a list of possible Alpha donors in my hands, reading names I had never heard before and trying to imagine which one might save my daughter."We can begin contacting these candidates," the doctor explained, indicating the first page. "But I need you to understand that willingness to donate is only the beginning. We must test for compatibility with Nora’s wolf nature. A powerful Alpha is not necessarily a suitable donor." He looked at me carefully, as though he knew I was searching his face for a promise he could not make."Then test as many as you need," I said, gripping the pages until they bent. "I can arrange the costs. If there are people we need to bring here, tell me where they are. Please don’t wait because you think I need time to decide."Adrian leaned forward in the







