He rejected his mate. He ignored their daughter. And by the time he learned the truth, it was too late. Iris was the mate Alpha Eric never wanted. For years, she raised their daughter, Evie, alone, while Eric poured all his love into his ex, Zara, and her child. Evie died without ever feeling her father’s love. And Iris? She finally walked away. But after her disappearance, Eric uncovers the painful truth he never saw coming: Iris was his true mate all along… and he was the one who destroyed everything. Now, another Alpha holds her heart. Can Eric win back the family he abandoned, or has he already lost everything that mattered?
View MoreIris’s POV
Iris’s hands shook as she stared at the report before her in shock. “Wh…What? How can this be? Tell me this is not true!” she pleaded with the Healer, but he shook his head with a sorrowful look on his face. “I’m sorry, Luna Iris. But it’s the truth. Your daughter has the Moonbane Curse,” the Healer said gently.
It felt like her whole world came crashing down at that moment. The Moonbane Curse was one of the rarest and deadliest diseases for young werewolves, and it had no cure.
She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
She glanced at her young innocent daughter, Evie, sitting across the room. When Evie saw her looking, she gave Iris a wide smile that caused her heart to ache. Evie had so much life in her. How could this be happening to her?
“How much time does she have?” Iris asked, returning her smile with a broken heart.
He sighed. “A month,” he replied.
She whirled around to face him with wide eyes. “What? A month?! But that’s not enough!” she cried, raising her voice.
The Healer gave her a sad smile. “There’s nothing like enough time to spend with a loved one. The only thing you can do is make sure her last days are her happiest.”
Tears welled up in Iris’s eyes. Evie had been having high fever, which was very uncommon for werewolves, so she had brought her to the pack hospital for a checkup.
“What do I do now?” she cried, covering her mouth in horror. “She’s only seven! I can’t lose her!”
The Healer shook his head sadly. “I’m really sorry, Luna Iris. I really wish there was something else we could do.”
Her hands trembled as she took the test report from him. Her chest tightened as reality dawned on her. Her Evie was going to die soon.
“I don’t want to give you false hope, Luna,” the Healer sighed, “but there might be a cure for it.”
She froze. “A cure?”
Hope flooded through her, and her heart pounded in her chest as her eyes widened.
“The hospital is currently working on a cure for the Moonbane Curse. There has been very little success with the trial phase, so we're not really optimistic. But we'll keep on trying, hopefully, we might get something.”
She didn’t want to hope, but she couldn’t help it. Evie had a chance. She could get the treatment that she needed if the healers had a breakthrough.
“Mommy?” Evie’s voice came from beside her. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? Will I be fine?”
Iris wiped her eyes quickly, turning to her daughter with a fake smile. “Oh baby, of course you’ll be fine. You just need to sleep and eat a lot.” She said quickly, trying to reassure her daughter.
She bit her lips as she tried not to cry, and she collected the files from the healer.
As they walked home, Evie rambled excitedly about her eighth year birthday coming up in a month’s time, and Iris tried to control herself from crying because without a cure, Evie was going to die in a month's time also.
Evie suddenly went silent, and Iris glanced at her with concern.
“Mom?” Evie said quietly, “Can daddy come for my birthday this time? I promise, I'll be good?”
Evie rarely asked for anything else. This had always been her only wish—for her father to be present for her, but Eric was never present.
Eric Cross was the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, and Iris’s mate
Alpha Eric hated Evie because of Iris, and Evie was really suffering because of it. She had always craved that fatherly affection.
Iris’s heart broke, and her vision blurred with tears. At that moment she swore that she would do whatever possible to make sure that Evie got that fatherly affection, at least, until she was sure that Evie wasn’t going to die.
Immediately Iris got home, she put Evie to sleep and called Eric.
“Eric, we need to talk.” She said softly.
Iris could feel Eric’s irritation from the phone as he replied sharply. “What is it? I am very busy right now.”
She brushed off her hurt at his irritation. It was a normal occurrence, but it still hurt. “Please, you need to spend more time with Evie.” Her voice shook.
Eric scoffed in annoyance. “Iris, you know that I don't have time for any of your games. Zara needs help with her daughter, Tiffany, so I have a lot on my plate right now.”
The mention of Zara, and Tiffany, her daughter, caused Iris's heart to bleed. Zara was Eric’s first love who had disappeared several years ago, but had just returned now with her daughter, Tiffany.
Iris insisted. “But this is important, Eric.” It took everything in her to keep herself from breaking down at that moment.
He released an annoyed growl. “What could be so important that you kee—”
She cut him off. “Evie is very sick. She's going to die soon.”
Iris’s POVThe air shifted the moment I realized it was Rowan beside me.I froze mid-step, my chest tightened. My breath caught, but I forced myself to keep walking forward, keeping my eyes straight ahead.When had Rowan taken Shane’s place without me noticing?It was the first time I had been this close to him since the kiss incident two weeks ago.If Rowan was aware of that too, he didn’t show it. He walked steadily with an unreadable expression . He kept his gaze forward, as if there was nothing unusual between us.I told myself not to think about it. I was too tired and in pain, to let him take up space in my head. So I walked in silence.The silence wasn’t awkward or tense, though. It was somehow comfortable.For some reason, as we reached the door to my quarters, my heart started pounding.I stopped to open the door, and Rowan slowed down too. When I opened the door, I noticed Rowan moving to follow me in.I hesitated, glancing up at him. “Are you sure it’s… advisable for you to
Iris’s POVLucas’s eyes hardened. “No one cares how much you’re trying if there are no results because trying without results is the same as failing,” he said flatly.I clenched my fists tightly, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through my hand. His words stung because he was right. The rogues that attacked me that night hadn’t cared how hard I was trying to bring my wolf out. If Rowan hadn’t shown up, my effort wouldn’t have mattered, I would have been dead. It wouldn’t matter how much I tried if Chloe cornered me again.I looked down, swallowing hard, as my heart ached.Lucas studied me, and for a second I saw his expression shift. His jaw tightened, and his eyes flickered, like he noticed something on my face. But whatever he saw, he didn’t say anything about it.Instead, he stepped back. “Enough,” he said coldly. “That’s all for today.”I opened my mouth to protest, but I closed it. Part of me wanted to argue, to demand to keep going, but the truth was my body was shaking, and m
Iris’s POVI hadn’t seen Rowan since the kiss incident two weeks ago. Or maybe it was more accurate to say that I had been avoiding him. Though I knew that he had been avoiding me too. We both knew it was easier not to cross paths.Every time I thought about it, my stomach tightened with a feeling that was not unpleasant. Instead, it left me uneasy, and restless, so I needed to keep busy to shake off the heat that memory brought up.So I focused on training.Lucas watched me closely as I slammed my fist into the training dummy again and again. It wasn’t a normal dummy, it was made for werewolves. It was heavy, strong and rough, like punching a tree. Each punch tore at my knuckles. I could feel my old wounds from the previous day opening again.“Again,” Lucas said flatly, his arms crossed.I grit my teeth and forced another punch. My arm shook from the impact, and my knuckles were probably about to start bleeding again.Pain shot up my wrist, but I ignored it and hit again. And again.
Iris’s POVShane furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I’m pretty sure that’s what Lucas has been doing… since yesterday.”“Yes,” I admitted, brushing past him as I walked toward the pack quarters, wincing at my throbbing muscles, “but I want to learn faster. I need to be able to practice and improve on my own. I can’t rely on him fully if I want to get better fast.”He froze mid-step with a frown on his face.“I… I mean, I can fight,” he said slowly with hesitation in his voice. “I know how to—” He stopped, biting the inside of his cheek. “Are you… are you sure you want me to do this? Training you… it’s not exactly a simple thing. It can be dangerous because Lucas is already pushing you hard. I—I don’t want to push you too far… or get you hurt.”I glanced at him, “I have to do this,” I said softly, “The only way I can get better fast is by practicing and trying to improve outside of Lucas’s teaching time.”He ran a hand through his hair, clenching his jaw. “I know, I get it… I just… I
Iris’s POVI slowly sat up. My bandaged fist tingled, but I ignored it. I turned to face Lucas. He stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. There was no trace of emotion on his face.I opened my mouth, not sure what I should say. Should I apologize? Beg for forgiveness? But before I could even form a word, he spoke.“And you didn’t break your fist this time,” Lucas said, his voice was flat but there was a subtle hint of approval in his tone. “It shows me you listened to my corrections. Which means that teaching you isn’t a complete waste of time. Good.”I froze. Good? I blinked at him as my brain struggled to process what I had just heard. He actually said good.“Good?” I whispered incredulously. “Really? You mean… good?”The word echoed in my head. I couldn’t believe this. After all the tension, all the fear, the guilt, all hours I spent dreading what he would say about Chloe? Good? I released a sharp, bitter incredulous laugh.“I—” I began, then I paused, shaking my head in
Iris’s POVI didn’t sleep well. Every time I closed my eyes, as the memory of yesterday’s incidents with Lucas and Chloe kept replaying over and over in my head. Even when I finally drifted off, I woke up repeatedly because of my throbbing bandaged hand.I woke up almost an hour before 6am. My chest was tight with dread. I couldn’t risk showing up late, especially not today. I rushed as much as I could, wincing as my bandaged hand brushed against surfaces in my hurry.Shane was already waiting outside when I stepped out of the room. “Good morning,” he murmured.I nodded absentmindedly.My stomach twisted with anxiety as I stepped outside, inhaling the cool air. Because of what Lucas said concerning the timing yesterday, I decided to be at the training ground at least 30 minutes early.The training ground was quiet.Shane walked quietly beside me. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were sharp and alert. “I’ll be nearby if you need anything,” he said.“I… I don’t think I’ll need you
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Comments