While He Played Daddy, Our Pup Died

My fingers dug into the bedsheets as a tidal wave of pain crashed over me, radiating from my belly.

Cold sweat soaked through my nightgown in an instant. I could feel our pup's life force fading away.

I reached out desperately to Asher through our mate bond.

"Asher! I need you to get me to the medical center, now!"

The sound of loud music and children's laughter echoed from his end of the link. The cheerful tune of a birthday song was a razor blade against my nerves.

"What is it now, Aurora?" Asher's voice was sharp with impatience.

"I'm bleeding! The pup, our baby…" I gritted my teeth, each word a painful effort. "Please, just come!"

"Bleeding?" He scoffed. "How long are you going to keep up this act? Last time, it was a headache that turned out to be nothing. Now it's bleeding. Aurora, enough is enough. I'm at Leo's first shift party. This is a huge day for him. I can't just leave."

"I'm not faking it!" I was practically begging. "Please, just believe me this once! The baby is really—"

"Alpha Daddy! Alpha Daddy!" A little boy's voice piped up on the other end. "Come look! I turned into a wolfie!"

"Wow, Leo, you're amazing!" Asher's voice instantly softened, becoming warm and doting. He sounded like a completely different person. "Alpha Daddy is so proud of you!"

My heart felt like it was being ripped apart by claws.

Our pup was dying, and he was letting another child call him 'Daddy.'

"Asher, please—"

"That's enough! Stop being so dramatic!" he snapped, cutting me off. "I'm busy!"

The link went dead.

Shaking, I had no choice but to call Seraphina's phone, hoping she could get a message to him. But before I could even speak, Seraphina was already sobbing. "Aurora, please, I'm just borrowing Asher for one day. For Leo's sake..."

The next second, the phone was snatched away.

"Have you lost your mind?" Asher roared. "Now you're harassing Seraphina?"

"Aurora, when did you become so vicious? Picking a fight with a child for my attention?"

The call ended.

I collapsed in a pool of my own blood, feeling my life draining away.

Moon Goddess, please, save my baby.

But no one came.

Using the last of my strength, I dragged myself out of bed.

Three hours later, I stumbled into the medical center.

The doctor shook his head, his face grim. "I'm so sorry, Luna. You were too late. The pup has no heartbeat."

In that instant, my world turned to ash.

Numbly, I signed the release forms for the pup's remains.

"Please send this to my husband," I said, handing the nurse a mahogany box containing the wolfstone. "To the Black Moon Pack headquarters."

The wolfstone held the soul of a deceased pup. Any wolf would know what it meant at a single glance.

After three days in the medical center, I went home.

The house was empty, as silent as the night I lost our baby. I quietly stripped the bloodstained sheets from the bed.

Just then, I heard the lock turn.

Asher was home, a cheerful look still on his face from the party.

He saw me and grinned.

"You look much better," he said, casually shrugging off his jacket. "See? I told you it was nothing."

I stared at him, silent.

He hadn't even noticed my belly was flat.

"I know you don't like me spending time with Seraphina's kid," he said smugly as he changed his shirt, "but I was just practicing how to be a good Alpha father. I learned a lot. Leo's a smart kid, too. His wolf form is perfect."

"By the way," he said, turning to me, "I loved the gift you sent to the office."