CHAPTER 5

(Elvina POV)

The morning air was crisp as I dropped Iris off at her elementary school. Seeing her bright, innocent smile as she waved goodbye from the school entrance gave me a moment of clarity. 

Whatever storm was coming, I had to keep my head up for her.

After parking my car at the hospital, I put on my white coat, draped my stethoscope around my neck, and officially stepped into my role as a general surgeon. 

Medicine was the one place where I felt in total control. 

The chaos of pack politics, ex-husbands, and mysterious Alpha strangers couldn't touch me inside an operating room.

After finishing morning rounds and reviewing a few patient charts, I sat down at my desk to catch up on paperwork. 

After finishing morning rounds and reviewing a few patient charts, I sat down at my desk to catch up on paperwork. 

Thinking it might be an emergency regarding my family, I quickly answered. "Mom? Is everything okay?"

"Elvina," my mother’s voice came through the speaker, crisp and entirely unbothered by my worried tone. "Felix came by the house earlier this morning."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling an instant headache coming on. "Mom, please,"

"He was so sincere, Elvina," she interrupted smoothly, ignoring my protest. "He brought flowers, he sat with your father and me, and he admitted he made a massive mistake. He genuinely wants to fix your marriage and bring your family back together. You really need to consider forgiving him."

A bitter laugh escaped my throat. "Forgive him? Mom, Felix betrayed me! He was the one who asked for the divorce in the first place, and he didn't give a damn about Iris when he was running off with his secretary. Now he only wants me back because he needs to maintain the image of a respectable Gamma for his pack position. He's using me! Why is everyone taking his side?!"

"Elvina, don't be naive," my mother scolded, her voice hardening. "All men make mistakes. All men cheat at some point! But Felix is a respected Gamma, he comes from a good family, and he's willing to come back to you. You just need to endure it and tolerate it like a mature woman."

Tears of frustration pricked my eyes. "Tolerate it?!"

"Look at yourself," she continued coldly. "You aren't getting any younger, Elvina. No high-status wolf or wealthy man is going to want to marry a divorced single mother with baggage. Who else is going to take care of you? You need to think about Iris’s future!"

"I am thinking about Iris!" Tears finally spilled down my cheeks, hot and angry. "I am showing her that a woman doesn't have to stay with a man who disrespects and degrades her! Even if I spend the rest of my life entirely alone, even if no one ever accepts me, I will NEVER go back to Felix!"

Before she could say another word, I slammed my finger onto the screen, ending the call.

I leaned over my desk, resting my head in my hands as heavy sobs shook my shoulders. 

The cruel weight of her words pressed down on me, made infinitely heavier by the secret growing inside me. 

I was pregnant. I was carrying the child of an Alpha I barely knew, while my own family treated me like damaged goods.

A sudden, sickening thought hit me: *What if Arthur is married? What if I unknowingly became another woman's mistress?*

The thought sent a jolt of panic through my chest. Desperate for answers, I pulled up the search bar on my office computer and typed in his name: Arthur Thornridge.

Dozens of high-resolution news articles, business profiles, and financial magazines flooded the screen. 

I clicked through the photo galleries, scanning through years of public appearances. In every single photograph, whether at international corporate summits, charity galas, or pack ceremonies, he stood alone. 

Broad-shouldered, imposing, and breathtakingly stern, he was never accompanied by a female companion.

Seeing his sharp jawline and those intense gray eyes on my monitor made my cheeks burn instantly. 

Memories of his hands on my hips, his deep voice growling low in my ear, and the feverish heat of his body against mine sent a sudden, unwanted blush spreading all the way down to my collarbone.

Just as my heart began to hammer against my ribs, the office desk phone rang sharply, shattering the quiet room.

I gasped, quickly closing the browser window before grabbing the receiver. "Dr. Patrick," I said, clearing my throat to hide the tremor in my voice.

"Dr. Patrick, your next consultation has arrived," the nurse at the front desk announced.

"I understand," I replied, taking a deep breath and wiping the stray tears from my face. "Send them in."

I adjusted my white coat, stood up, and pulled a fresh chart toward me, forcing myself into a professional demeanor.

A firm, heavy knock echoed against the wooden door.

"Come in," I called out smoothly.

The door handle turned, swinging open without hesitation.

A towering silhouette stepped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind him with a quiet click. My breath hitched in my throat, the clipboard slipping an inch in my grip.

Standing in the center of my small hospital office, filling the entire room with his overwhelming Alpha presence, was Arthur.