Chapter 4

When I woke, I was in a room at the pack infirmary.

The first thing I did was reach for my belly.

The healer beside the bed gently held me still and leaned close. “Your baby is alive and stable for now. You need to rest. No more stress.”

I stared at her, making sure I had heard correctly, before I finally let out my breath.

She pulled the blanket up around me.

“We’ve kept your pregnancy confidential, as you requested. Julian’s people only received a summary of your injuries. I have the full records.”

Footsteps sounded outside, and she straightened.

Julian came in, shadows beneath his eyes and a fresh burn on the back of his hand.

He put the document envelope on the bedside table. A blackened corner of our bond certificate stuck out.

“You nearly died for this?”

I reached over and took the envelope back.

“I was trying to get out through the back door.”

“The manager told me.” He closed his eyes. “But why did you stop to open the safe?”

I looked at the scorched edge of the envelope and said nothing.

That moment of wishful thinking had almost cost me something I could never replace. I would never risk my baby for a keepsake again, no matter how much it meant to me.

Julian bent over me, trying to see the wound on my shoulder.

“You fractured your leg. There’s silver dust in your wounds, so you can’t even heal properly. Do you have any idea what it was like to see that warrior carrying you out?”

He reached for my forehead. His fingers were shaking.

I pulled away, leaving his hand suspended between us.

“Sera, I know you didn’t start the fire. The patrol says someone threw firebombs laced with silver dust through the windows. They were targeting the merchant caravan. I was wrong to accuse you.”

“I know I didn’t do it,” I said quietly.

He fell silent.

After a while, he brought a glass of warm water to my lips.

“I took Mia out first because she couldn’t stand. You knew the apartment, and the manager was with you. I thought you’d be right behind us.”

I took the glass and drank from it myself.

“I see.”

“She’s in debt, and she has no family to help her. I used to feel sorry for her because she reminded me of you when you were little.”

“Now she works for me. I can’t just abandon her when she’s in danger.”

I set the glass down.

He told Mia he couldn’t leave me while I was unwell.

Then he told me he couldn’t turn his back on Mia when she was in danger.

Somehow, every betrayal became something he’d had no choice but to do.

Julian pulled up a chair and took my uninjured hand.

“I know you still care. Why else would you have been so desperate to save our certificate?”

I looked at his hand without explaining.

He seemed to have found an answer he could live with. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“When you’re better, I’ll take you north for a while. Just the two of us. Would you like that?”

His phone rang on the table.

He glanced at it and rejected the call. It rang again almost immediately.

The third time, he got up and went to the window to answer.

The room was quiet. I could hear Mia sobbing that she was frightened and couldn’t bear to be alone.

Julian murmured a few soothing words, then hung up and turned to me.

“The patrol needs to go over some things about the merchant caravan. I should go. I’ll be back later.”

I nodded.

He reached the door, then came back to tuck in my blanket and place the call button within reach.

“If you’re in pain, call the healer. Don’t try to tough it out.”

When the door closed, I called Elder Vittorio.

“I have the original. Please send someone to collect it.”

Over the next two days, Julian sent expensive medicinal herbs and flowers. He asked about my condition every day.

Sometimes I was having treatment. Sometimes I was asleep. I let the apprentices answer him.

On the third day, I was cleared to continue my recovery at Mooncrest. My medication had been prepared for the journey.

My escort went to arrange my departure papers. We agreed to meet at the estate that evening.

Leaning on a cane, I went to collect my medicine. In a side corridor, I found Julian with Mia.

She had no broken bones and could walk slowly on her own, but he still held her arm as he bent his head to listen to her.

The moment he saw me, he let go.

“Why did you come down by yourself? I was just about to come and get you.”

I handed my prescription through the dispensary window.

“I’m leaving as soon as I have my medicine.”

Mia stepped behind him. “Mrs. Marchetti, I’m only here to have my dressings changed. Please don’t get the wrong idea.”

I didn’t look at her.

The apprentice behind the window suddenly glanced up at me, as though she wanted to say something. The girl beside her was looking at a phone. My photograph was on the screen.

I took out my own phone and found a new post on the local forum.

One photograph showed Julian carrying Mia out of the fire. Another showed me at the apartment door with the building manager.

The caption read, “He took her in when she was a child, and she’s been using that to cling to him ever since. Now she’s gone so far as to set fire to his real mate’s home.”

The post didn’t give my name, but it identified the infirmary where I was staying.

People in the comments were already calling for someone to stand up for Mia.

I turned the screen toward Julian.

“What is this?”

His expression changed. He immediately took out his own phone.

“I’ll have it taken down.”

Mia’s eyes filled with tears. She said a friend had been worried about her and had misunderstood our relationship.

“I’ll explain everything, Mrs. Marchetti. Please don’t be upset.”

“Then explain it now,” I said.

She clutched Julian’s sleeve and began to cry.

He drew me aside and lowered his voice. “I’ll handle it. Don’t argue with her in front of everyone. She’s just survived a fire.”

He glanced at my cane and reached to help me.

I stepped away.

Behind me, Mia asked, “Does she hate me?”

Julian’s reply was quiet, but I heard every word.

“She grew up on her own. The slightest thing goes wrong, and she thinks everyone’s going to abandon her. She’ll be fine once she calms down.”