Chapter 11

I take one look at Ethan, a quick glance at everyone else around–grab a handful of my dress and rush out while trying not to trip over my feet in the process.

I couldn't care less whatever thoughts were going on through the minds of the guests in attendance.

Screw their whispers and questioning looks.

Not Aurora's bitchy sneer directed at me or even Ethan would be able to keep me here after such news of my dad's health.

I had better things to worry about than trying to steer clear of the petty beta and her standoffish Alpha.

My legs are shaking so much as I stumble my way through the crowd gathered around the entrance, attempting to push my way past, my breath short, sweat pouring from my pores.

I stagger once–then again, reaching out for something–anything to hold on to, but everything feels just unreachable.

“Move!” His voice slices through the swarm of people that had been pretending to not have taken note of my struggles.

One minute they're refusing to give me way to get some air and the second, everyone's backed up like I carried a plague…perks of being respected, I guess.

The panic attack I just on the surface, my eyes barely taking note of Ethan who was now grabbing onto my arms, steadying me in place.

“Take a deep breath, keep your eyes on me.” Soft words escape his lips, eyes shining with intense concern as he tried to soothe me.

Get a grip Lyra! He wasn't dead! There was still hope!

Collapsing didn't mean he wasn't going to wake up!

A few seconds of letting myself stay cradled in Ethan's arms amidst the gradually departing crowd following their alpha's orders and I slowly pull away.

My face is red as I wish for the ground to just open up and swallow me whole following what has just happened.

My eyes brimming with unshed tears that were getting futile to keep at bay as I looked back up at Ethan.

Thank goodness he had chased everyone away, the embarrassment I was feeling now coupled with even more and the worry eating at my soul would be just too much.

“I need to see him… please. I need to know what's happening to him”

Zero hesitation, zero complaints, he just faces the guard who had brought the news to us and gives him instructions.

“Change into something more simple and pack up whatever it is that you might need, meet me outside when you're done, we're leaving for silver moon.” I nod stiffly finding it difficult to believe my ears.

As I rush off back to my quarters, I can't help but glance back at Ethan once more, overwhelmed by the switch in his personality.

He couldn't possibly be the same man.

Not only, was he letting me go back to pay my sick dad a visit, but he was going with me himself?

Was he really setting aside his Alpha duties just to like my fake husband… or was there more it?

~~~

I'm fidgety all through the ride, the t-shirt I had changed into was beginning to wear from how I couldn't stop tugging at it, fidgeting with its edge.

I'd managed to nibble on my lips so much there were now sore, my heart was throbbing so hard, it was beginning to bring me discomfort

I've never wished to be out of a car faster in my life as I try my best to not just fly out the window and run my way all over back home on foot as I sit in the back seat with Alpha Ethan, two of the pack guards to accompany, seated at the front seats.

My mind continues to haunt me with replays of my dad's and I last conversation.

The regret is gnawing at my insides, guilt crunching at my bones.

What if I never got to saw him again?

What if my last words to him ending up being those harsh ones?

I hadn't even got to tell him just how much I loved him.

All he had ever done was try to look out for me and love me to the best of his ability.

And yet, I only cared about how I was hurting, not considering for a second how having to put his daughter out there must've broken him too.

How his pack seemed to be turning against him and overlooking the sacrifices his late wife made and making him have to choose between letting me go so I could leave, or keeping me and losing both our lives along the line.

The impenetrable veil of uncomfortable, heavy silence is snapped, my thoughts bouncing back to the present, once we're pulling up through pack boundaries having exchanged a few words with the patrol guards.

The car hasn't even been put to a proper stop before I all but stumble out, running up the interconnection of stairs to the Alpha's chambers.

Ignoring everyone lingering around outside, not interested in pretending to be in good relationships anyway, I burst into the familiar room of my father's.

I'm vaguely aware of Ethan's presence trailing behind me, he felt so close, but still managed to give me just enough space to not make me feel suffocated…his thoughtfulness was attractive.

Dad was laying down in bed, sun rays hitting his pale face–he looked too still, a few tubes connected to him here and there, his breath coming out in slow, shabby grunts.

His room had lost it's relaxing woodsy scent and was now replaced with the unpleasant one of hospitals… probably from all the antiseptics and numerous medications.

The pack doctor was bustling around, healers hovering about also, as guards flanked the sides of the room.

Beta Ryder and his supporting second, beta Bryce, were also in the room, alongside two maids.

It all didn't feel like the same room I used to love playing hide and seek in…

“Lyra!” The first person to acknowledge my presence and not just stare at me like I was some alien or had suddenly sprouted out a second head is Amanda.

As she pulls me into an embrace, my resolve breaks as I breathe in the comforting presence of my friend, beginning to let out sobs.

Everyone around us exchanged greetings in the presence of Alpha Ethan and after a few minutes, I forced myself to get a grasp of composure, wiping at my tears as I ready myself to listen to what the doctor had to say to us.

“We didn't mean to have you worry… But the omega insisted you had a right to know.” Beta Ryder comments referring to Amanda.

Amanda had always been my rock for as long as I can remember, didn't matter what situation I found myself in growing up, she was already ready to stand in for me and have my back.

I feel grateful to have someone around like her to think about me when something important like that came up…I could see beneath their facades of respect and pity that they hadn't intended to let me know.

They were the same people who had threatened to challenge my father's post!

They were only acting civil now because the wrath of Raven wood's alpha scared them.

“What happened to him? Why isn't he waking up?” I direct my question at the doctor who sighs, shaking his head with a sympathetic look.

I squeeze Amanda's hand tightly, dreading what he's about to say from just the look on his face, and she gives me a reassuring squeeze in return, her support for me unwavering and needing no words.

“We're trying everything we possibly can… Luna. But his condition remains unstable, we'll keep working though, I believe he'll be alright as long as we don't give up.” The doctor states, every word feeling like a hammer to my heart.

Ethan steps closer to me, Amanda stepping away to give him space.

If it wasn't for my mind being an absolute wreck already, I would've felt the fireworks from where he pulls me into his side, hugging me.

Only then did I realize the tears had returned, falling silently.

“You'll have to excuse us a moment, this is all becoming overwhelming for my wife.” He doesn't wait for anyone else's input, his word as good as law, as he leads us back out of the room.

What kind of stress was he undergoing to land him in such a situation?

What guaranteed that the best of the pack doctor and healers would end up being enough and he'd be alright?

As I stand outside the room, my face remains pressed into Ethan's chest for the second time today, letting the snot and salty liquid soak through his shirt while he rocked me gently on our feet.

He was holding on to me like I was some sort of fragile piece he feared cracking himself–like wanted to protect me from the world and yet didn't trust himself enough to not break me.

A side to the cold, deadly and bricked hearted Alpha I was finding hard to believe existed.

As he begins to run a hand through my hair, whispering soothing words, a nagging thought blooms in my mind.

One that had bugged in from the minute I stepped into pack grounds and worsened on seeing the betas sitting beside his sick bed.

Dad wasn't one to usually have health issues, he was resilient stressed, possibly one of the toughest men I knew.

Unstable? No–mysterious.

Whatever was going on, was beyond the assumptions of a mere illness, it was the doing of a trusted person.

Someone or–some people were out for my father's life.

And the line didn't end with either of the betas–everyone was a suspect.