Chapter 3

I pushed the door shut with my foot, the lock clicking loudly. The sound echoed through the small apartment,, followed by muffled voices from down the hall… breathless moans coming from a man and a woman. I froze, one hand gripping my side, the other pressed protectively over the curve of my stomach

A sharp pain flared along my ribs as I took another step.

“Lila,” I called The noises in the bedroom stopped. A moment later, hurried shuffling, a low male curse, then the door cracked open. Lila’s face appeared first, hair tangled, cheeks flushed, shirt half-buttoned. I half expected her to grumble her irritation but then, she locked eyes with me,

“Oh my God,” Lila said. She swung the door open fully, rushing toward me. “What happened?”

I tried to wave it off, but my legs gave a slight tremor, and Lila caught my elbow before I could pretend I was fine. Behind Lila, a man hovered awkwardly, grabbing his jacket.

“I should—uh—go,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Lila snapped without looking back. “Go.”

The door closed again, leaving the apartment quiet except for my uneven breathing. Lila guided me to the couch, her hands gentle,her eyes scanned me like she was taking inventory of every bruise and scrape. I couldn't tell her about the wolf that attacked me, her protective rogue side would flare up and hunt the rogue down because of me. I didn't want that. 

“Sit. Don’t argue,” Lila said, already grabbing the first-aid kit from under the coffee table. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s not that bad,” I murmured, though my sleeve was darkened at the elbow, and my side ached with every breath.

Lila shot me a look. “You’re pregnant, Amaris. Everything is that bad.”

She knelt in front of me, carefully rolling up my sleeve. The skin beneath was scraped raw, angry red with a thin line of blood still seeping through. Lila sucked in a breath through her teeth.

“Did you fall?”

I hesitated. “I… got pushed.”

Lila’s hands stilled. “Pushed.”

“It was an accident,” I said quickly. “I was in the wrong place.”

Lila snorted softly. “You’re always in the wrong place, somehow. Did you lose your way on the way to the doctor?”

She cleaned the wound anyway, her touch surprisingly tender for someone who usually treated life like a joke. 

I flinched, and Lila immediately softened.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “I know it hurts.”

I leaned back against the couch cushions, exhaustion finally catching up with me now that I am safe. The baby shifted inside me, a small, reassuring movement that made my throat tighten.

Lila noticed. “I am sorry I couldn't go with you. What did the doctor say? Is the baby okay?”

“Yes,” I said after a moment. “I- just need to reduce my stress.”

Lila sighed and leaned back against the couch. “Federic is not the devil.”

Federic was a man that Lila had been trying to set me up with. I just couldn't. I couldn't open my heart for another man. I can't get through without thinking about the Alpha. I didnt want to be with any other man apart from my mate.“He’s not a saint either.”

“So what?” Lila shot back. “Neither are you. Neither am I. He’s offering support, Amaris. Real support. A safe place. Money. Protection.”

“Everyone seems to be offering that lately,” 

Lila crossed her arms. “You don’t get to be picky right now.”

“I get to protect myself,” I said. “And my child.”

“And how exactly are you doing that?” Lila demanded. “By coming home bleeding? By jumping every time there’s a knock at the door?”

Silence stretched between us.

Lila’s voice softened. “I’m not saying marry him. I’m not saying sleep with him. I’m saying… let him help. Let someone help.”

I looked down at my hands, at the faint tremor I couldn’t quite control anymore. I hated that Lila could see right through me, hated even more that part of me knew Lila was right.

“I won’t trade one cage for another,” I said finally.

Lila exhaled slowly. “You always think it’s a cage.”

“Because it always is.”

The next morning, I moved slowly, deliberately, as I dressed. Every motion tugged at the bruise along my ribs, a dull ache that reminded me of yesterday no matter how carefully I tried to ignore it. I chose a loose sweater, one that wouldn’t press too tightly against my stomach, and a long skirt that hid the swelling in my ankles. Practical. Unremarkable. Safe.

Or as safe as anything ever was.

I was tying my shoes when Lila appeared in the doorway, arms crossed,“You’re not going to work.”

I didn’t look up. “I am.”

“Absolutely not.”

I straightened slowly and met her gaze. “Lila—”

“The doctor said no stress,” Lila interrupted. “She didn’t say ‘no stress unless you really feel like it’ or ‘no stress unless rent is due.’ she said no stress.”

“I’m not planning on getting stressed,” I said, forcing calm into my voice.

Lila laughed, short and humorless. “You work in a bookstore that barely pays you, with a manager who already thinks you’re unreliable, and customers who ask invasive questions about your stomach. Stress is part of the job description.”

I grabbed my bag from the chair. “I need to go.”

Lila stepped fully into the room now, blocking my path. “I’ll give you the money for today. For the week, if you want. You can rest. Heal. Let your body do what it needs to do.”

My grip tightened on the strap of my bag. “I don’t want your money.”

“It’s not charity.”

“It feels like it,” I said quietly. “And I can’t afford to feel like that right now.”

Lila softened, her voice dropping. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

“I do to myself.”

She moved past Lila, but Lila followed her into the small kitchen. 

“You’ve already missed too many shifts,” Lila said. “They don’t care that you’re pregnant. They don’t care that you got hurt. They care that the register is covered.”

“That’s exactly why I have to go,” I replied. “If I miss today, they’ll fire me. I can feel it.”

Lila opened her mouth, closed it again. She dragged a hand through her hair, frustration giving way to reluctant understanding.

“You’re impossible,” she muttered.

I managed a small, tired smile. “You love me anyway.”

“Against my better judgment.”

Lila sighed and grabbed her jacket from the hook by the door, pressing it into my hands. “Fine. Go. But you call me if anything feels off. Anything. Pain, dizziness, some creep looking at you wrong…I don’t care how small it is.”

“I will.”

“I mean it,” Lila said, eyes narrowing. “No more heroic nonsense.”