Chapter 3

Tania’s POV

The first thing I noticed was the smell of antiseptic again. I hated that smell. It clung to me like guilt. Every breath reminded me of everything I’d lost; my job, my wolves, my baby, my husband, my damn mind.

I pushed the blanket off and sat up. My chest hurt, but I didn’t care. I wanted air, not pity.

The door opened before I could swing my legs down. West walked in with his usual face; flat, unreadable, like he didn’t even bother pretending to have moods. Dr Marcus followed, holding a clipboard and looking more human about it.

“You should be resting,” Marcus said.

“I’ve rested enough,” I said. “If I lie down any longer, I’ll grow moss.”

West didn’t smile, but his eyes moved, the tiniest flicker. 

*Still too stubborn to die. That’s something.* West

“I’m fine,” I added. “I can walk.”

Marcus sighed. “You fainted twice last night. That’s not fine.”

“I fainted because you keep giving me rabbit food,” I muttered. “I’m not a bunny.”

West’s voice came, low and calm. “Eat. Recover. Then talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “You sound like my husband.”

“That’s not a compliment,” Marcus said dryly.

I gave him a small smirk. “I wasn’t offering one.”

They shared a look I didn’t like; some silent exchange between men who thought they understood things better than me.

“You said I’d heal,” I said finally. “You said you could fix the wolves inside me.”

Marcus nodded slowly. “We’re trying. But the poison in your blood is old. It’s bound to your core. It’s like your wolves are asleep, and something keeps them from waking.”

“Something or someone?” I asked.

He didn’t answer. That told me enough.

“I’m not staying in this room another day,” I said, standing up even though the floor tilted under my feet. “If I stay still, I’ll rot.”

Marcus glanced at West, like he expected him to stop me. West didn’t.

Let her try. Pain reminds her she’s alive.

He finally said, “Fine. You want out? Come with me.”

I followed him down the hall, ignoring Marcus’s protests. We stepped out into the cold evening air. The sun was sinking, turning everything soft and gold, and for the first time in months, I wanted to breathe for real.

Then West did something I didn’t expect. He took off his coat, dropped it on the ground, and shifted.

It wasn’t the slow, painful kind of shift most wolves did. It was clean, smooth, and almost quiet. One second, he was a man. The next, he was this massive black wolf with eyes that burned gold in the half-light. His fur looked like a shadow turned solid. I’d seen plenty of wolves; alphas, betas, omegas, elites, even my own husband but West wasn’t like them. His wolf didn’t feel like something that followed orders. It was the order.

He looked at me, and somehow, I understood.

“You want me to ride you?” I said. “That’s new.”

You can’t shift. This is the only way.

I hesitated. “You know, where I come from, climbing onto someone’s back means something.”

Get on, Tania.

I almost smiled. Almost. “Fine.”

I climbed onto his back. His fur was warm and thick under my hands, steady like heartbeat against chaos.

Then we moved.

He ran like he didn’t touch the ground. Fast, silent, confident. I’d seen fast before, Damian was fast but West moved differently. He didn’t just avoid being seen. He commanded the space around him. The air shifted for him. The city blurred. Even the patrol scents faded when we passed. He didn’t leave a trace. No sound. No smell.

“Most wolves can’t do this,” I whispered against the wind.

Most wolves follow rules.

I held tighter, laughing softly even though my throat burned. “You’re not most wolves, huh?”

Not even close.

When we stopped, I knew where we were before I saw it. My chest tightened. My house. The one I used to call home.

The lights were on. The windows glowed with warmth that didn’t belong to me anymore.

West crouched low so I could see better. I moved closer, hiding behind the shrubs.

Inside, Damian sat at the head of the table, still handsome in that perfect, hollow way. Kella sat beside him, hair loose, laughing at something he said. Veronica was pouring wine, her voice sweet, gentle. My daughter my little Amara was talking with her hands, smiling like she’d never known sorrow.

“I made a drawing today,” she said, showing something. “It’s me and Mommy Kella and Daddy and Grandma!”

Kella laughed softly. “That’s beautiful, sweetie.”

Mommy Kella.

The words hit like a punch.

I stared so long my eyes burned. Every sound, every smile, felt like acid under my skin. I pressed my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t make a sound.

“They look happy,” West said quietly.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

Veronica reached across the table, touching Kella’s hand. “You’re such a blessing, dear. I thank the moon every day that you came into our lives.”

Blessing.

I’d been the curse.

Amara laughed again, eating, talking, glowing. Not one question about me. Not one glance toward the door.

My throat closed. I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood.

West stayed silent. I could feel his presence behind me, solid and heavy, like he was waiting for me to break.

I turned to him instead.

“Help me,” I said.

He didn’t move.

“I know you hate him,” I continued, my voice shaking. “I know what he did to your family. I know what he’s done to others. You of all people should want him destroyed.”

He didn’t look at me.

“Please,” I whispered. “Help me make them pay. I can’t do this alone.”

*Begging doesn’t suit you, Tania.

* West

I sank to my knees anyway. The dirt was cold, but I didn’t care. “You think I care how I look right now? You think I care about pride? I lost everything. I’ll crawl if I have to.”

He exhaled slowly. *She’s burning herself from the inside.*

“Please,” I said again. “I know you can. You’re powerful enough to sneak into a guarded house with me on your back. You could do anything. You could end him or help me get him back.”

He finally looked down at me, eyes gold and steady. “The most I’ll do,” he said with a raw and calm voice, “is help you heal your wolves. You’re dying, Tania. You won’t last another month like this, I just wanted to show you the man you want so much has moved on.”

“I don’t care about dying, I know someone wanted me dead, while I try to find my killer, I need my husband by my side.”

“You should.”

“I only care about making them pay and the traitor Kella.”

He shook his head once. “Then you’ll die for nothing.”

I stared at him, tears hot and stupid on my face. “Then let me.”

He didn’t answer. He turned away and shifted back into his wolf form. I climbed onto his back again, this time without a word.

The ride back was silent. The city passed in flashes of light and shadow. My fingers curled in his fur, but it wasn’t comfort anymore it was anchor.

When we reached the hospital, Marcus was waiting at the gate. “You shouldn’t have taken her,” he said sharply.

“She needed to see,” West said.

Marcus’s eyes flicked to me, then softened. “And what did you see?”

I didn’t answer. I just walked past him. My voice would have broken if I tried.

Later, in my room, I lay there staring at the ceiling. My body was exhausted, but my mind wouldn’t stop spinning. Every laugh, every smile from that dinner table replayed behind my eyelids.

They moved on. They lived like I’d never existed. Maybe they wanted it that way. Maybe I’d been the ghost long before I died. It had already been announced on TV that I tried to commit suicide and my body was never found but they never cared. 

When the door opened again, I didn’t turn.

“You shouldn’t have shown me that,” I said quietly.

“You needed to see the truth,” West said.

I looked at him. “Then you’d better help me change it.”

He didn’t reply. Just stood there, arms crossed, like he was studying a problem he hadn’t decided to solve.

*She’ll break herself to fi

x what’s already gone. But sometimes destruction is the only cure left.*

Then he left the room.

And now I wasn’t sure if I wanted to heal or burn everything down first.