جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 250

Ciara’s POVMy father’s hand froze in the air.For one terrible second, nobody moved. His palm remained raised, my mother’s fingers tightened around mine and I stood between them with my heart pounding so hard that the room seemed to pulse with it. Then his eyes shifted towards the doorway, and the anger on his face disappeared beneath something I rarely see in him...Fear.I followed his gaze and Dax stood at the entrance.I had been so focused on my father that I had not heard the doors open, and the sight of him there pulled the breath from my lungs. His face was calm, but his eyes had turned crimson. The colour burned against the cold stillness of his expression, and the pressure coming from him made the air inside the room feel thick.Lance stood beside him, silent and rigid. He did not look as openly furious as Dax, but the dark look in his eyes suggested someone had offended him personally. His current pressed faintly against the walls, controlled but heavy enough to make the se

Ciara’s pov.The tune came slowly at first, pulled from a memory I had not touched in years. It was an old Italian lullaby she used to sing whenever I woke from nightmares as a child. I could not remember every word, so I hummed the parts I knew, running my hand gently over her back the same way she used to do for me.My mother went still and her grip tightened painfully around my waist but I ignored the pain and continued humming.The room seemed to soften around us. Ella quietly moved farther away, giving us privacy, while I held the woman who had once sung the same melody beside my bed.For a few minutes, I was no longer a pregnant woman sitting inside a dangerous estate. I was a child again, and she was still the mother I believed could protect me from anything.Her sobs slowly weakened and her breathing steadied, though she did not release me. When the last note faded from my throat, silence settled between us and I blinked back the tears that were taking form in my eyes “You re

Ciara’s pov.Dax held me closer, patting my back lightly and more tears fell“It’s all right, little moon,” he murmured, one hand settling against the back of my head. “Daddy's here, I'm sorry I left you all alone.”“I don’t know what happened,” I whispered against him. “She was speaking and then those things appeared around her neck. We couldn’t touch them, Dax. She couldn’t breathe.”“I know.”“They said she was already sick. How could she be that sick without anyone treating her?”“We will find out.”His calm voice did not dismiss my fear. It held it, giving me room to fall apart without feeling ashamed.I clutched the front of his shirt. “What if she doesn’t wake up?”“She will, love, she definitely will.” he planted a kiss on my head and I sobbed more “You don’t know that.”“No,” he said quietly. “But I know she is receiving the best care available, and I know you need to breathe before you frighten the pup.”I tried to breathe, but another sob rose instead. Dax held me closer,

Ciara’s povHearing Dax, my father knew he had lost and since he could not shout at Dax the way he shouted at me. He knew better. The rage remained in his eyes, trapped behind the caution he was forced to show the Alpha King, so he turned back to the person he believed he could still control.Me.“You have become unfilial,” he spat. “A daughter who humiliates her father and turns a wife against her husband has no respect for the people who raised her. You stand there wearing another family’s power and believe it gives you permission to dishonour your own blood.”The words hurt.Not because I believed them, but because part of me had always feared becoming exactly what he accused me of being. A bad daughter. An ungrateful child. Someone who failed the family because she wanted too much freedom.I inhaled slowly and stared at his bloodshot eyes,“If caring about my mother’s life makes me unfilial, then so be it.”His eyes widened slightly.“I will not apologise for refusing to put her i

Ciara’s pov.Dax stood in the doorway and the moment he saw my face, his expression changed. He crossed the room before I could wipe away the tears, his steps quick and heavy with concern.“What happened?”He reached me and crouched beside the chair, one hand going to my cheek while his eyes moved immediately towards my mother and the monitors.“Did her condition change?”I shook my head.“No. She’s still stable.”His attention returned to me. His thumb brushed beneath my eye, collecting the tears I had failed to hide.“Then why are you crying?”The gentleness in his voice made another wave of emotion rise inside me.“I don’t know.”It was not true, and he knew it.Dax remained quiet, waiting rather than forcing me to explain.I looked at my mother.“She still hasn’t woken up.” I mumbled “She will.” he assured me and I just sighed “The doctors keep saying that.”“They are right.”“You cannot know that.”My voice broke, and Dax stood, drawing me out of the chair and into his arms bef