6.

ELLARIA.

He told me to stop making a fuss and walked away.

Katerina at his side and the little boy trotting along between them, and the three of them moved down their path together like a unit, like something complete, like something that had existed long before I came into the picture and would exist long after I was gone.

I stood there and watched them until they turned the corner and disappeared.

Then the tears came and I didn't try to stop them despite how tired I was of crying

There was no point anymore.

No performance left in me, no composure left to arrange.

I just stood there and the prenatal checkup report tumbled to the floor, crumpled and crinkled from my grip. And I laughed a little at that.

Katerina had been right about everything.

She and Arren were a match made in heaven.

Fated mates, childhood sweethearts, with a child already between them. Everything about them made sense together in a way that Arren and I never had and never would.

The only thing that had ever been wrong in this picture was me from the very beginning.

I had just been too foolish and too full of hope to let myself believe it.

I started walking even though I didn't have a destination. I just needed to move and to get out of this place and into air that didn't feel like it was closing in on me.

I made it a few steps down the path before I felt the ache.It was a sharp, tearing sensation deep in my abdomen that buckled my knees before I could do anything about it. I grabbed the nearest wall and held on, bending over and trying to breathe through it, telling myself it would pass.

But it didn't pass.It spread outward in waves that got bigger instead of smaller, each one worse than the last, and the air kept leaving my lungs faster than I could pull it back in.

I pressed my free hand against my stomach and felt something cold move through me that had nothing to do with the pain.

The babies.

I had never had a wolf and there was no mind link available to me.

I tried to call out. What came out of me was barely a sound, swallowed by the night, and I understood in that moment with complete clarity that nobody was going to hear it.

Goddess. My chances of being found were thin.

I slid down the wall until I was on my knees on the path.

Warm liquid was moving slowly down my thighs and the pain was everywhere now, filling every corner of me. My fingers reached down and came up bloody.

The pain was unbearable and I was flat on the ground now.The world was going dark around the edges of my vision.

No, no, no. My babies.

––•––

Mirela's voice was the first thing I heard when I came to.

She was talking to someone in a low urgent tone, and when she felt me move she was beside me in an instant, her hand warm on my face, her eyes red and swollen. "Ellaria, look at me."

“What happened?” My throat was dry and my memory was hazy.

"You're okay." Her voice was doing the thing where it was trying to be steady for my sake. "I found you on the road.” Her voice cracked. “You're at the hospital now. You're okay."

My hand went to my stomach before I could say a single word.

"The babies are okay." A tear slipped down her cheek, "They're okay, Ellaria. You got here in time."

The breath that came out of me took everything with it. I closed my eyes and lay there in that relief and let it be real, let it fill me up.

Those two small lives were still here and still holding on.

When I opened my eyes again the healer was beside the bed. She told me plainly that I needed to rest. Complete rest, for the days ahead. No stress, no strain, no more of whatever had put me on the ground tonight.

The risk of miscarriage was real and it was significant and I needed to take it seriously.

I nodded and said I understood and I meant it with everything I had.

Mirela waited until the healer left and then she stood up and her face had shifted into the expression she wore when she had already made a decision that likely involved bloodshed. "I'm going to find Alpha Arren," she said, reaching for her jacket. "He needs to know you're here. He needs to—"

"No." I said it quietly and I meant every part of it.

She stopped moving.

"Mirela." I looked at her and tried to find the words that would make her understand without making me feel the heart ache all over again. "He has Katerina. And I found out he has a... a child with her. He has everything he actually wants and it was never me." I pressed my palm flat against my stomach. "I don't want him to know about this. I would rather he never knows."

She looked at me for a long time with wet eyes and something in her face that was both understanding and grief at the same time.

Then she sat back down and took my hand and held it and didn't argue, which was the kindest thing she could have done.

The room went quiet around us.

Then my phone buzzed on the blanket.

I looked at the screen.

It was a formal email from Arren’s beta, Kade.

“Contract Marriage Financial Settlement:

The Alpha will provide a sum of cash and several properties after three months. Please check the attachment for details. Let me know if you require anything additional.”

The laugh that moved through my chest had nothing humorous in it whatsoever.

He was in such a hurry just to make room for Katerina.

And I will give it to him.

I picked up the phone, on the third call, I finally heard Arren’s voice.

No acting, no small talk.

"I don't want the money," I said, "Or the houses."

There was a pause on the other line. "Ellaria, what are you talking about?"

"You can terminate the marriage contract now." My voice was far calmer than I felt inside. "I want a divorce."