Chapter 2

Tania’s POV

I shouldn’t have let her run. Every alarm bell in my head screamed stay away, but my body betrayed me. My daughter’s scream “Mommy!” pulled me forward like I was some hero.

She barreled across the room, little sneakers thumping, hair flying. I opened my arms, waiting for her to leap into them. But instead, she ran straight into Kella.

Kella; my husband’s ex, his secretary, my daughter’s favorite person. She had somehow become my friend too. I’d ignored her past and clung to her, thinking she could teach me to be a better wife, maybe even help me earn Damian’s love.

But when I saw Amara hugging her, the truth hit hard. My daughter was in the arms of my enemy.

“Amara, no! Get off her!” I shouted. The maid jumped. Kella just looked up, smirking.

“Oh, hi, Tania,” she said sweetly, like I was interrupting her peace.

I didn’t think. I went for my baby. But when Damian walked in and Kella kissed his jaw, I snapped. I grabbed her hair and yanked hard. “What the hell are you doing with my husband and daughter?”

Damian stepped in, calm as ever. “She’s not worth it,” he said to me, but looked at Kella like I was the leech.

“Ten years, Damian! Ten years and that’s all you have to say?”

He didn’t even look at me. “You’re too precious to waste energy on her. Go sit down.”

I blinked fast, trying not to cry. Then his mother came in; Veronica, my personal nightmare. Sharp perfume, sharper eyes.

“Heartless. Wicked,” she hissed. “Absolutely unhinged. Have you lost your mind?”

“I…she….”

“You’ve been acting crazy,” she cut me off. “After all, Damian finally brought someone Amara can call mother, and you nearly killed your own child. Do you even understand what’s happening to you?”

I froze. The words from the hospital echoed in my head: Cognitive Identity Regression Disorder. They said I forget myself, lose control. But never not my daughter. Never her.

Veronica went on. “You’ve been told over and over you’re cursed. You’re sick. You can’t understand properly.”

“Cursed?” I whispered. “You mean magic? Blood? You’re lying. I may be sick, but I’d never hurt Damian or Amara.”

“Yes,” she said coldly. “You’re cursed. You’re endangering our family. Stop pretending.”

My knees weakened. Cursed. Crazy. My daughter’s laughter echoed while I felt like a ghost in my own house.

Then Damian’s voice came again, calm and final. “Tania, listen. You’re not my Luna. You were never my true mate. You’re only a bloodmate. Let Kella raise Amara. Focus on getting well. I’ve never loved you and I never will.”

My head snapped toward him. “Only a bloodmate? That’s all I get?”

In the werewolf system, a wife could be Luna; your true mate, Consort; the one you love, or Bloodmate; the one you marry for power or heirs. That’s what I was. The woman chosen for breeding. And I gave him a daughter, not the heir he wanted.

Kella crouched beside Amara, whispering. Smiling. Like she’d won. My chest burned; my vision blurred. I tried to walk but my legs gave out, and everything went dark.

When I woke, everything felt wrong. My head was heavy, my stomach sick. I left the house early and walked to the hospital. 

“She’s here.”

“She shouldn’t be.”

I ignored them and walked to the reception desk. “I need to see Dr. Hane.”

The girl at the counter, someone I’d trained once looked terrified. “Uh, he’s busy.”

I pushed through anyway. Hane opened the door, surprise flickering in his eyes. “Tania, you came back.”

“Of course. I work here,” I said.

He sighed. “You were let go months ago.”

I laughed. “What? I’ve been here every day!”

“You weren’t,” he said quietly. “There was an incident. A child. She didn’t make it. You gave the wrong dose. You were compromised.”

My throat tightened. “Compromised?”

“You were poisoned. Or cursed. We don’t know. It led to your CIRD. You forget. You return like nothing happened. Every time.”

“Poisoned by who?”

He shook his head. “We don’t know. We tried to protect you because of your husband’s name. But we can’t keep doing it.”

“Protect me?” I snapped. “You ruined me! You covered lies with lies and called it help!”

“Tania, please..”

“I trusted you,” I shouted. “I trusted this place! Now you tell me I killed a child? You think I’ll just sit and accept that?”

He rubbed his temples. “You need treatment.”

“Treatment? I need truth!” I screamed. “Who poisoned me? Who destroyed my life?”

A nurse entered. “Dr. Tania, maybe you should leave.”

“No!” I yelled. “You all hid the truth because it was convenient. Because Damian’s name protects everyone but me!”

Hane’s face went blank. “You’re not thinking clearly.”

“Oh, I’m thinking clearly. I see everything now.” I turned and stormed off.

I reached the roof without knowing why. The wind hit my face, cold and final. The city lights blurred below. My hands gripped the railing, white-knuckled.

“Maybe it’s easier if I’m not here,” I whispered. Then I let go. I screamed halfway down, realizing too late that I didn’t want to die. But my wolf was silent gone. What was happening ? Then everything vanished.

***

I woke again to blinding white. Not heavenly white cold, sterile white. My body was weak, heavy, broken.

Then I saw him.

Alpha West. The detective. Damian’s rival. The man known for rewriting rules and breaking anyone who crossed him.

He stood against the wall, watching me. His presence filled the room, silent and heavy.

“Why?” I croaked. “Why did you save me?”

He shrugged. “I’m human. I wouldn’t want anyone to die.”

Before I could ask more, Dr. Marcus walked in, West’s calm, unreadable friend. “You’re alive,” he said flatly. “You were pregnant. You miscarried during your attempt. We stabilized you.”

My chest caved in. Tears came. I hadn’t just lost the baby I’d lost the one hope I had left.

“It’s not fair,” I whispered. “Amara should know right from wrong. She should’ve seen what’s happening.”

West ignored me, typing on his laptop.

“You’re all traitors,” I snapped. “Damian, Kella, even Amara. Maybe if I’d just held on a bit longer, I’d have given him the son he wanted…”

Marcus adjusted the blanket. “She’s a child,” he said softly.

“A child?” I laughed bitterly. “She’s Damian’s clone. Kella’s puppet. And I was the fool who cared.”

West didn’t react. That calm, cold stare made me want to scream. So I talked. Maybe because I wanted the sympathy m

“Damian used me,” I said. “For heirs, for power, for whatever his father wanted. My senses, my genes, everything just tools in their game. They always said I was special. Smart, quick, too aware for my age. I shifted earlier than any wolf my pack had seen before my thirteenth birthday. I could smell lies, hear emotions, feel when someone’s heart skipped out of guilt. Everyone said I’d be a great Luna someday. I was even so smart I became a licensed medical doctor who was already specializing at 22 years old. 

But instead, I became the mistake. The bloodmate. The woman chosen because of her genes, not her heart. They used what made me powerful to cage me, to make me useful. Even Damian said once, “You were born with too much sense for your own good.”

Now that same sense keeps me awake at night. I know something’s wrong with my blood, my memories, everything they told me about being cursed. I know it didn’t just happen it was done to me.

And Kella smiled through it all. Even Amara found comfort in her arms.”

I shivered. The poison, the betrayal, the miscarriage they all came back at once.

“What now?” I asked quietly. “Do I lie here and rot, or rise and make them pay?”

Marcus said softly, “You need rest.”

“I don’t need rest,” I hissed. “I need revenge. I need my husband back.”

That made West look up. His eyes were cold but sharp, assessing. “You’re going to need strength,” he said. “For what comes next.”

“What comes next?” I asked bitterly.

He paused at the door. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Then he left.

I stared after him, chest heaving. A part of me felt alive again. If he wouldn’t help, I’d make him.

When he came back into the room later, I was ready. “The hospital fired me months ago,” I said, layering my voice with despair. “They covered it up for Damian’s sake. They used me. Everyone lied. Do you know what that feels like?”

West typed, ignoring me. His silence only made me talk more.

“I’ll get him back,” I whispered. “Damian. No matter what it takes. I love him. I won’t stop. He’s mine.”

He finally looked up, unimpressed. “You really think love will fix this? Are you that stupid? You think you can undo all that’s been done?”

“I don’t need you to understand,” I said. “I need you to help. Or stay out of my way.”

He leaned back, arms crossed. “And if I don’t?”

“You’ll watch anyway,” I said, my voice sharp. “Because you’re not the kind of man who ignores someone drowning when you can pull them out.”

His jaw tightened. “You must be crazy. I suggest you r

ot in your bed and die peacefully, because I’ll never help you get Damian back.”

I didn’t flinch. He didn’t know me yet. When I set my mind to something, I do it.