LOGINRaven's POV The doctor cleared me for discharge on the fourth day. I was ready before he finished telling me because I had been mentally packing since the morning Lord Thorne's message came through the nurse. Dante found out about the discharge before I could do anything with the information. He showed up that morning with a bag for me and one for the baby. He set them on the bed and started folding the newborn clothes he had brought over the past few days like it was already decided where I was going when I walked out of here. "I had your room prepared," he said. "My mother aired it out yesterday and we got a crib set up so you don't have to worry about any of that." "I didn't ask you to do that," I said. "I know, but I wanted to make sure everything was ready," he said. "The pack doctor can do your follow up appointments at the house so you don't have to travel far while you're still healing." I watched him fold a small white sleep suit and put it in the bag, then I said, "I
Raven's POV I spent most of the next morning watching the door and trying not to make it obvious, but every time footsteps came down the corridor, I looked up. Every time it wasn't the young nurse, I looked back down at my son and told myself to be patient. Dante came at ten, like he had the two mornings before. He brought coffee for himself, sat down, and talked to me for a while about the baby's feeding schedule and what the nurse had told him about my recovery progress. I let him talk because engaging with him took energy I didn't have to spare right now. He left before noon and about twenty minutes after that, the young nurse came in, but she didn't say anything straight away. She just checked my monitor and adjusted the IV. Then she leaned closer and said quietly, "He got the message." I felt something in my chest shift. "When." "This morning," she said. "My contact passed it through last night and Lord Thorne responded within the hour." "What did he say?" I said. She s
Raven's POV He came back the next morning before I had finished the small breakfast the nurse had brought me. He walked in like he belonged there which was something Dante had always been good at, walking into spaces like they were already his. He had a bag with him. He put it on the chair and started taking things out. A soft blanket for the baby, a small stuffed animal, and a set of newborn clothes, still in the packaging. He lined them up on the side table without asking me if I wanted any of it. "You didn't have to do that," I said. "I wanted to," he said. Then he went straight to the bassinet and looked at the baby for a moment before pulling up the chair and sitting beside it like that was a completely normal thing for him to do. I watched him and said nothing. The doctor came in about thirty minutes later to check my incision and update me on recovery. Dante stood up, introduced himself, and started asking questions before I had a chance to open my mouth. The doctor an
Raven's POV The first thing I noticed was the ceiling. Then the smell and the dull heavy pull low on my stomach told me something had happened to my body while I was out. Whatever it was, it was not small. I turned my head slowly and the room came into focus. White walls, a window with pale light coming through it, a monitor beside the bed making a soft, steady sound. Right next to the bed was a bassinet, and inside was a baby wrapped in a white blanket. He was breathing and he was real. I stared at him for a moment because my brain needed a second to catch up with what my eyes saw. My son. He was here and he was okay. I felt something in my chest loosen slightly because of that. Then I looked around the rest of the room and that was when I saw Dante. He was sitting in the chair across the room with his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap. He was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read. Not warm exactly, but not cold either. Somewhere in the middle like h
Alaric's POV I was at my desk going through documents when it started. I can't explain it better than that because it wasn't a thought, a sound, or anything specific. It was just a feeling that sat on my chest somewhere around mid afternoon and refused to move no matter what I did. I tried to ignore it and kept working, but it got worse, not better. After about twenty minutes of trying to push through it, I pushed my chair back, went downstairs, and looked around the house. It was too quiet. Raven should have been back from school by now. I checked my phone and there were no messages from her. I had told her to text me before she left school and she always did. I called her. It rang out and went to voicemail. I stood in the kitchen and called again and got the same thing. I grabbed my keys. I drove to the school first because that was the logical place to start. The building was mostly empty by that point, but I found one of her classmates leaving through the side gate and ask
Raven's POV I stayed at the school library longer than I meant to that evening. I had a paper due at the end of the week and I had been so focused on everything with Jake and Alaric that I had barely touched it, so I sat there until the librarian started turning off the lights in the back section. That was when I packed up and headed out. It was dark outside, but not completely dark. The kind of evening where you can still see everything clearly, but the sky has gone that deep grey color that means full dark is coming soon. The street lamps were already on along Birch road which was the route I always took, because it was the most direct way back to the Thorne house. I had my bag over one shoulder and my phone in my hand. I was thinking about the paper and about whether Alaric had eaten because he had a habit of skipping dinner when he was deep in research mode. I was going to text him when I got to the corner, but I didn't get to the corner. I heard it before I saw it. Even then,
Raven's POV Thursday morning, I woke up exhausted. I had stayed up until midnight finishing a history paper, then woke up at five to walk Mrs. Chen's dog. After that, I had school, then tutoring sessions, then homework. My body was screaming at me to rest, but I couldn't afford to. At school, I c
Raven's POV Saturday morning, I woke up to Alaric knocking on my door with breakfast on a tray. "You didn't have to do this," I said. He had made scrambled eggs, toast, and fresh fruit. There was also orange juice and a glass of water. "This is too much," I said. "It's not enough," he said, s
Raven's POV Monday morning, I woke up with a bad feeling I couldn't shake. Breeze was restless, pacing inside me like something was wrong. "What is it?" I asked her. "I don't know," she said. "But something feels off, dangerous." "More dangerous than usual?" I asked. "Yeah," she said. "Like s
Raven's POV Friday afternoon, I was walking down the stairs between third and fourth period when I felt someone bump into me from behind. I stumbled forward, losing my balance. "Watch it," a voice said. Tyler. One of Dante's friends. I grabbed the railing, trying to steady myself, but someone el







