Chapter 7

Erin’s POV

“Carlos…” I mumbled in my sleep. My hand reached out to him. My fingers brushed over cold sheets. I opened my eyes, staring at the empty space beside me.

Carlos wasn’t there.

I reached out again, like somehow I had missed him the first time.

Nothing.

Where was he?

The sheets were cold.

How long had he been gone?

I pushed myself up too fast, panic rushing through me before I could stop it. Both hands flew straight to my stomach.

The baby.

I pressed my palms over the curve of my belly, holding my breath.

Nothing.

My heart started pounding harder.

“Please.”

I rubbed my stomach gently, waiting.

Then a small flutter moved in my stomach.

I let out a shaky breath.

I looked back at Carlos’s side of the bed. The room was dark, the bathroom light off.

“Carlos?”

No answer.

Blue stirred inside me.

‘Where is he?’

‘I don’t know.’

I looked towards the door.

He had been here when I fell asleep. I remembered his hand resting over my stomach, his fingers moving through my hair while the tablets dragged me under.

So where had he gone?

I pushed the blankets away.

Dr. Sasha’s warning ran through my head. Bed rest.

Complete bed rest.

I hesitated with my feet hanging over the side of the mattress. Carlos would be angry if he knew I was getting up alone. But I wasn’t going to lie here wondering where my husband was.

Keeping one hand over my stomach, I slowly stood up, heading for the door and pushing it open.

The hall was quiet and dark. I stood there for a second, listening.

Nothing.

No footsteps or voices.

I started down the hall, one hand trailing along the wall while the other stayed over my stomach.

Carlos wouldn’t just disappear in the middle of the night without saying anything.

I reached the stairs and looked down.

A faint strip of light stretched across the floor below his office door.

Some of the tension in my chest loosened.

Of course.

He had probably woken up and remembered something he needed to deal with.

I carefully made my way downstairs, annoyed with myself for panicking so quickly.

Carlos had been amazing over the last few months, never leaving my side unless he truly had to for pack business. So I shouldn’t have let myself go straight to doubt.

By the time I reached the bottom, I could see the office door wasn’t closed all the way. Light spilt through the small gap.

I walked towards it.

A low groan came from inside.

I smiled, and half rolled my eyes.

He must have fallen asleep at his desk again.

He had worked himself into the ground plenty of times before.

I moved closer to the door, my hand reaching for it.

“You’re going to complain about your neck all morning,” I muttered under my breath.

“Yes,” Carlos groaned, making me freeze.

He wasn’t asleep.

I stood there frozen, holding my breath.

Carlos only groaned like that when we were…

I stopped that thought.

There had to be another reason.

Maybe he was hurt.

‘Open the door,’ Blue growled. My mouth went dry as I shook my head.

I couldn’t open the door.

I took a deep breath in through my nose. I couldn’t smell anyone else in there. Carefully, I stepped closer, listening harder.

Only the sound of Carlos breathing reached my ears.

He was alone.

“Good girl, Julia. Open your mouth wider. I want to…”

My stomach flipped so violently I grabbed the wall to steady myself, my nails digging into the wood.

Julia.

Blue surged forward inside me so violently that my nails scraped against the wall.

‘Open it.’

I had spent months convincing myself that giving him another chance hadn’t made me stupid. Every time he came home on time, every meal he tried to cook, and every night he sat beside me reading those stupid pregnancy books, I had let myself believe he was choosing us.

And now, only hours after holding me while I cried over our baby, he had waited until I was asleep and called her.

‘I can’t.’ My body was shaking so hard I feared my knees would give way.

None of this made sense, though.

I couldn’t smell her or hear her, and I couldn’t feel Carlos’s betrayal through our bond either.

‘Open it,’ Blue screamed, slamming again and again into my chest.

“Julia,” Carlos moaned again.

Bile rose in my throat.

Oh goddess, I was going to be sick.

I let go of the door frame, spinning around and rushing towards the stairs, taking two at a time.

Carlos had promised.

He had promised me that it was over with her.

I rushed back into my room, the smell of Carlos making the bile rise faster until the vile taste filled my mouth. I fell to my knees in front of the toilet, my body heaving as my insides tried to become my outsides.

Tears streamed from my eyes. “He promised, Blue,” I cried out loud. Still heaving, but nothing came out. “He promised.”