CHAPTER 3

XARION’S POV

The last place I expected to see Megan was here.

In Arkon General Hospital, with two pups who look like me.

I don’t breathe for a full second as I stare at her. She looks really different. Fierce. And more beautiful than I remember, but her beauty has a sharp edge now.

Her eyes are full of fire and fury. She doesn’t look like the woman I once knew.

I take a step towards her, my voice low and rough from the shock, “Megan,” 

But she moves quickly and pulls the two children behind her like I’m some kind of monster.

That breaks something inside me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she snaps, her voice laced with venom as her hazel eyes burn into me.

I open my mouth to reply but she doesn’t wait for an answer. 

“No, actually… I don’t care. Just leave.”

Her voice is filled with intense anger, like she's finally releasing years of held back emotions.

I freeze as I feel the air become heavy with tension. Then my eyes drop to the two kids hiding behind her legs.

The little girl looks at me curiously and the boy glares like he’s trying to protect her. There’s something so familiar about them.

I initially didn’t come here for Megan. I didn’t even know she was here. I was on my way out after checking on one of my pack elders, Elder Johnson, who had been injured while trying to settle a border fight with the Scar Ridge Pack.

I hate hospitals, always have, but I owed the old wolf a visit.

And then… I saw them.

The two kids were bickering over a crumpled drawing in the hallway, right near the elevator. Just kids being kids. But something in me changed. My wolf went from drowsy to feral quickly.

“Mine!”

That was all he kept growling. Mine. Ours.

And when I asked the children who they were here with, they said, “Our mommy.”

I never expected “mommy” to be Megan.

And now, I'm standing in front of a woman whose hatred for me is so strong and deadly.

My voice is barely above a whisper as I bring myself to ask, “Are they…?”

“Don’t,” Megan snaps before I can even finish. “Don’t you dare ask me that. You lost the right to ask anything when you stood there and told Doctor Phillips to do ‘you know what’.”

I close my eyes for half a second, and the memory crashes into me like a slap to the face.

I know I told Megan to abort her pregnancy. 

But she doesn't know it wasn't because Danielle was back or because I didn't want the child. Goddess, never. I’d wanted that child more than anything. 

But the prophecy from my pack seer, Hyram, rang in my head,

“If she gets pregnant and carries your pup to term, she will die. Her body cannot handle it. Make sure she doesn’t get pregnant, Alpha, or you’ll lose both her and the child.”

I was trying to protect her. Even if it meant destroying myself in the process.

The guilt wraps around my throat like a snake.

“Megan, but…”

“Save it.” She turns her back to me and crouches down to her children. “Mave, May, we’re leaving.”

“But Mommy…” the little boy starts. “What about Grandpa’s card? We haven’t given it to him yet.” He holds up a colorful paper in his small hand.

“Another time, sweetheart,” Megan says gently, brushing his hair back. “Let’s go.”

My heart skips a beat and I take a step forward. “Please, just give me five minutes. We need to talk. Alone.”

“Talk?” she scoffs as she narrows her eyes. “About what? How you treated me while I was still with you?”

Her voice cracks, just a bit, and it hurts me.

“Megan…” Her father speaks weakly from the hospital bed behind her. “Maybe… maybe you should let him explain…”

“Don’t, Dad.” She swiftly turns to look at him with a fierce voice. “Don’t defend him. You warned me once, remember? You were right.”

I wince at her words.

Just then, she grabs the kids’ hands and starts walking towards the door.

I move after her. “Megan, wait.”

She doesn’t stop.

I follow her out into the hallway, past the nurses who glance at us with curiosity, and then out into the bright hospital parking lot.

A black SUV is already waiting.

The driver, a tall, broad-shouldered wolf, nods as Megan approaches and opens the door.

She helps the twins into the backseat and then moves to follow.

But I catch up, grabbing her wrist before she can step in.

Her skin is warm under my palm, but the look she gives me is colder than ice.

“Please, Megan,” I whisper. “Don’t shut me out. Just let me explain.”

“Let you what?” she spits, ripping her arm free. “Explain why you chose Danielle over me? Why you treated me like trash? Why you tried to kill the only part of you that was ever worth a damn?”

I can’t breathe.

She steps back, her voice shaking now. “You stay away from me, Xarion. From them. From everything. They're not yours if that's what you wanted to hear.”

Her eyes flash for a split second, and I see a golden flare pulse, but it dies. Just as quickly, her irises dull back to hazel.

My heart sinks because this could only mean one thing.

Oh goddess. She’s not wolfless. She must've lied back then that she was. But why?

Megan opens the door and slides inside, slamming it behind her.

I watch helplessly as the SUV drives away, the tires crunching over gravel. The twins turn to look out the back window.

The boy’s piercing blue eyes meet mine just for a second and my wolf growls again.

I clench my fists at my sides as my heart races.

They’re mine. They must be. I feel it in every bone in my body. The boy’s eyes, the girl’s scent… they’re my pups.

And she’s been raising them alone for four years.

The guilt hits me hard.

I can’t lose her again. I can’t lose them. No matter what.

Immediately, I take a deep breath, shutting out the roaring in my chest, and open a mind-link.

“Andrew,” I say.

“What is it, Alpha?” My beta’s respond instantly.

I stare at the road, my heart pounding as I order, “I need you to do something for me. Now.”