Chapter 2

After answering Sloane, Declan turned toward the bedroom. I watched him walk away and asked, “Do you always see her messages that quickly?”

He stopped and looked back. “Sloane is my executive assistant. Most of what she sends me concerns pack business. Of course I check.”

“I see.”

The night before, Sloane had contacted him because she had twisted her ankle during training.

Impatience entered Declan’s voice. “What are you trying to say, Mara?”

I held his gaze for a few seconds. “Nothing.”

The bedroom door closed. I slowly looked away. My chest still felt tight, but I no longer had the energy to follow him and explain.

Julia called the next morning. “Ms. Quinn, I need to confirm your current mate registration and property arrangements.”

I explained the situation. The home Declan and I shared belonged to the Hawthorne family, and our vehicles were registered to the pack. My design studio had always operated independently and had no financial connection to Declan or the pack.

Three years earlier, we had publicly taken mate vows at the pack altar. Declan had insisted that the permanent mark should wait until he formally succeeded as Alpha. Without that mark, there was no irreversible physical bond and no shared pain. The only matters left to resolve were our public mate registration and my status as future Luna.

“I don’t want any pack assets,” I said. “I only want the relationship terminated as quickly as possible.”

“Understood,” Julia replied. “I’ll draft the termination agreement and submit your Luna withdrawal to the Council.”

After the call, I returned to the medical center. The doctor reviewed my examination results. “You’re still anemic from the blood loss. Avoid full-moon runs and any high-intensity shifts for now.”

I nodded.

She glanced toward the door. “Your mate didn’t come today either? It would be better if he heard some of the postoperative instructions himself.”

“He’s busy.”

The doctor paused, then handed me the report without further questions.

I did not leave immediately. “Doctor, please state clearly in the complete record that the traffic accident caused the pregnancy loss.”

She looked at me. “Is it for the insurance claim?”

“No.” I put away the report. “I may need it when I terminate my mate registration.”

She did not try to change my mind. She only nodded. “I’ll have Records prepare a complete copy.”

As I left the examination room, Declan sent a message. [Dinner at the family estate tonight. Be there before six.]

He did not ask whether I was still in pain. He did not mention the accident or the medical center.

I arrived at the Hawthorne estate at five thirty. The current Luna frowned the moment she saw me. “Why have you lost so much weight? You look unwell.”

After studying me for a moment, she continued, “You and Declan have been publicly acknowledged mates for three years. The permanent mark keeps being delayed, and there is still no pup. You are the future Luna. Your health concerns the succession of the entire pack.”

My gaze dropped. My hand rested briefly over my still-tender abdomen. She did not know that only days earlier, there had been a pup inside me. The pup had remained for eight weeks. By the time I learned of its existence, I was already losing it.

I lowered my hand. “I haven’t felt well recently.”

The Luna did not notice anything unusual. “I invited Sloane as well. Declan told me she was injured during training, so I asked the kitchen to prepare food suitable for her recovery.”

Sloane arrived soon afterward. A brace circled her ankle, but she walked with little difficulty. “Luna, you truly didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” she said as soon as she entered. “I only sent Declan a message after training. I never expected him to come all the way to the medical center.”

The Luna invited her to sit. “A young woman was injured with no family nearby. It was only right for Declan to check on you.”

I looked down at the food on my plate. So everyone agreed that a person in pain should not be alone at a medical center. It simply had not applied when that person was me.

Halfway through dinner, the Luna turned to me again. “You and Declan should complete the mark before he formally becomes Alpha. You cannot continue postponing a pup either.”

My hand stilled around my fork. After several seconds, I looked at Declan. “There’s no need to arrange anything.”

The table went silent. I continued calmly. “I was pregnant a few days ago. The pup did not survive the accident.”

Declan’s head snapped up.

Sloane froze, then forced a faint smile. “Mara, don’t say something like that to frighten the Luna. She’ll believe you.”

The Luna’s face immediately darkened. “A pup is not something you joke about.”

I did not smile. Declan stared at me for several seconds, but his expression slowly turned cold. “Enough, Mara. I already explained what happened last night. You don’t need to invent something like this because you’re angry about Sloane.”

I looked at him. The last trace of hesitation inside me disappeared. I had placed the truth directly before him, and he had pushed it away with his own hands.

I set down my fork.

“I lost my pup, Declan. I won’t sit here and be accused of inventing it.”

My hands shook as I folded my napkin beside the plate. I wanted my pup back. I wanted to have learned about the pregnancy somewhere other than an emergency department. I could have none of that, and I would not spend this evening begging him to believe it had happened.

I stood and picked up my bag. “I’m going home.”

Declan followed me outside and unlocked the car. Neither of us spoke until we were well away from the estate.

“Don’t joke about pups again,” he said.

“I told you what happened. You chose not to believe me.”

I watched the forest and passing lights outside the window.

He kept both hands on the steering wheel. “Sloane is my assistant, and she is expected to become the pack’s Gamma. It’s normal for me to look after her.”

“Mm.”

Declan glanced at me. I kept watching the trees beyond the window.

At the next red light, he noticed my hands tucked into my sleeves and turned up the heat.

“There’s a blanket behind your seat.”

I reached back and pulled it over my knees.

“Go straight to bed when we get home,” he said. “You look exhausted.”

“All right.”

His shoulders relaxed at my answer.

He seemed to think I had made up the pregnancy and the loss because I was angry about Sloane. Now that I had accepted the blanket and stopped arguing, he could consider the matter settled.

I leaned against the window and closed my eyes. I had told him the truth. I wasn’t going to explain it again.