Ethan’s POVRage bubbled in my chest.There was no sign of Selene or Serena anywhere in the house. Even though I knew they’d gone, I expected to find something - a toothbrush, one of Serena’s drawings, anything - but it was all gone. Our house was always clean, but now it was too clean. Too perfect. Too… empty. Their absence was everywhere I looked.Selene going didn’t bother me. If anything, it made my life easier. But taking my daughter? My hands curled into fists.It didn’t help that Aurora and Sammy were gone, too. Aurora’s exit had left a ragged, aching hole where my blackened heart was supposed to be.With my pack silent, save for the weak moans coming from the medical centre, I felt more alone than ever.I aided the few wolves still capable of working. I tried to understand the research Aurora had left for the last remaining member of staff in the hospital, but nothing about this illness made sense. Dragging my hands through my hair, I kicked my chair back from the desk and
Aurora’s POV I rushed to my son. I couldn’t hear over the rush of blood in my ears, but I could feel the tearing of my throat as I screamed. “Sammy,” I choked, grabbing him just as he hit the floor. I scrambled to keep him upright, clutching his head to my chest and stroking his clammy forehead. “Is he okay?” Zoe croaked, trying to sit up to see. “I don’t know.” My hands flapped uselessly. “I don’t know what’s happened to him.” ‘Calm down,’ said Violet, her voice firm. ‘You aren’t helping him by panicking.’ ‘You’re right. I can deal with this,’ I said, more to myself than to her. I was exhausted, and my nerves had been frayed to their ends - but dwelling on that wouldn’t help Sammy. “His heartbeat is strong, but too fast.” I spoke aloud, both to steady myself and to keep Zoe informed. “He’s breathing, but each breath is shallow.” I took a deep breath. “He’s alive.” I ran my eyes over him, giving myself one last second to be a caring, terrified mother. He looked so small
Aurora’s POV I knew it was Zoe - but if I hadn’t been made aware of her condition beforehand, I never would have recognised my dear friend. She sat hunched in the bed, frail shoulders curved in on themselves. She’d aged years since I’d last seen her; wrinkles carved into the skin of her face, like gorges left behind years after the rivers had evaporated. Zoe wore no makeup. Her eyes looked softer without her signature eyeliner, creased and small and sad. Her black bob hung limply about her shoulders, dishevelled and left to grow out longer than I’d ever seen it. Grey streaked through its lengths.“Zoe?” I breathed, my voice lodging in my throat. This couldn’t be her. It didn’t matter that her father was stood beside her bed, his expression drawn. It didn’t matter that she looked up at me when I said her name.This couldn’t be my friend.“Hi, Aria,” she croaked. “Hey, Sammy. You both look well.”I swallowed hard. “I wish I could say the same about you.”Alpha Brutus shot me a men
Aurora’s POVSammy slept the whole way to the Eternal Bonds pack. My heart throbbed painfully every time I looked at him. I was terrified for my friend, but I still had no answers about what had happened to my son.At least I finally felt peace about Ethan. He knew who I was and he knew that Sammy was his son. My shoulders were lighter after baring those truths to him.I just wished he could have come with me.Violet perked up like she had something to say. I spoke before she could. ‘I know why he couldn’t,’ I sighed. ‘I just wish he was here. We’ve just…’‘I know,’ she said softly. Sammy woke up just before I pulled into the car park. I’d told him what was happening and where we were going before we’d left, but he still looked around with a confused furrow to his brow.“Are you okay?” I murmured, reaching over to smooth his hair back from his forehead.He was too warm. He wasn’t sweating, but I could feel heat pooling in front of his skin. I held a worried hand there a moment longer
Ethan’s POVI stood outside my house, balling my hands into fists. ‘How do you want to do this?’ asked Sterling.‘No idea,’ I replied. I’d never been scared to go inside my own house before. Dawn had broken over the horizon, painting the sky in eerie shades of grey and purple. It swelled like a bruise over the quiet expanse of my pack.My heart felt too full to go and face Selene. Telling her I was leaving her for Aurora - no, I had to make sure I said Aria - was going to be hideous. ‘Do you have to say Aria?’ said Sterling. ‘I’m pretty sure Selene knows who she is. She keeps nearly saying Aurora when she’s meant to say Aria.’I cracked my knuckles. I wasn’t a coward; I wouldn’t hesitate out here a second longer. ‘Let’s go and find out.’I thought of my Aurora as I went inside. I was doing this for her, and for our son. I wouldn’t make Sammy grow up in a broken home. No more broken than it already had been…A tiny prickle of anger ran down my spine. I let it warm me.I held the ima
Ethan’s POVI couldn’t stop staring at Sammy. I’d been pummelled by revelations today - Aurora was alive, and here, and she was willing to forgive me - and, perhaps even more incredible than that…I had a son. We had a son.The woman I had pined for was here, her warm body pressed to mine, our son slumped against us, asleep, and I couldn’t believe it. My life had been turned upside down. That didn’t mean I wasn’t angry. Damn it, I was furious. She’d kept my boy from me. ‘You can’t blame her for that,’ sighed Sterling. ‘I know. Don’t make me remember,’ I replied, but it was too late. My mind was spinning down the one path I wanted to always avoid.I’d been swayed by idiocy and left my mate out in the cold. The fact she’d lost our other baby because of me…I wasn’t the same man I’d been then. I couldn’t believe I’d treated her like that.But I had.I’d pushed her to make those crazy choices. She’d gone to extremes to keep herself, and our child, safe from me. It made my throat fill