جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 60

Draven POVAn hour later, when I pulled into Healer's Grace lot with the wounded male, George's car was gone.That was the first thing I noticed. Only then did I admit that my Beta might be right. I had been finding excuses to stay close to this place. He hadn't come out and said it, but he didn't have to.A stretcher arrived almost as soon as I turned off the engine.Simon's deputy had spent the entire drive giving me strange sideways glances but wisely kept his thoughts to himself. He climbed out of the passenger seat quickly to help lift our guy.The medical staff wheeled the injured miner inside when he began to speak."Alpha. You don't need to wait around. I'll make sure he's taken care of. And I'll report to you as often as you want.""Good. I'll leave in a minute."I followed them inside and stood back for him to handle the paperwork while I lingered near the reception.For no reason at all, I reminded myself that Doctor Wallace wasn't even allowed to treat patients. And that

Draven POV"Alpha," the Gamma called gently.I couldn't answer.My eyes remained fixed on Layla as she took the boy's hand and led him towards her car.She never looked my way again after that single glance.The little boy who had chatted with me briefly at the reception lounge was not Travis’ but her son. My chest tightened painfully at this realization. I'd known she had a child for days now. But as it turned out, knowing is very different from seeing… no, meeting the child.For a moment, I considered going over to talk with them. Let the kid see that I knew his mother very well. But I couldn't move."Alpha?" Simon's deputy Gamma called again.He began saying something about the discharge papers. That the miner had been cleared and was on his way home. That the escort was ready whenever I was.His words barely registered.The boy stayed close beside Layla. He occasionally glanced my way as she unlocked the car.When he'd stepped out of the hospital moments ago, some unreasonable

Layla POVTwo days passed after I saw Draven at the hospital's parking lot. Then I woke up to get start the day, and relief was the first thing I felt. The familiar anxiety that always came with dawn ever since Draven showed up again was still there. But it was faint.Not that there was something special waiting for me. But because there was not a single Arctic Moon pack member nearby. No wounded miner. No warriors lurking. Aiden was no longer in the same small square mile as his father.Apart from all that, one thought that comforted me the most. Travis had texted me the night before.‘Your order has finally been released. It'll be here at dawn.’Why he'd felt the need to text me personally and quite late in the night, I didn't know. Maybe he felt guilty for forcing me into Stanley's consultation.Whatever the reason, those few words had lifted a heavy weight off my chest. Before this morning went by, I would have another two months' supply of the masking potion.There would be no m

Draven POVI'm six. Not five.The words reverberated in the forest. Or maybe inside my head. My whole body locked.I stopped walking. "What did you say?"The boy frowned up at me, confused by my reaction."I said... I'm six years old." He held up six fingers. "I blew six candles on my last birthday. So I'm past five now.""When was it? I mean your last birthday?""July twenty-eighth."My mind went still. That date was about eight months ago.Not a few days or even weeks ago.Layla had deliberately lied. And I hadn't even asked. She'd volunteered the boy's age on her own.The boy continued talking while my mind got busy doing the math."Duncan was at my party too. At the amusement park near my mom's hospital. I didn't want him there, but Mom said my friends from school had to come. He's not my friend. He's mean. Mom thinks we can be friends if we try. She also said I must never go into the woods because the beast people come out here, and they could get me. Mr. Clyde is one of the

Layla POV"H-how are you?" I asked my son. "What happened?"Aiden immediately launched into the story of how he ended up in the woods.He told me how he'd run and hid the way I'd taught him whenever there was trouble. He told me about the commotion at his school, the security guards trying to hold the attackers back, and how he'd kept moving whenever it sounded like they were getting closer.He'd seen the beast people fighting each other. Some had won. The bigger ones.He'd made sure he hid far from them.The idea that my son had witnessed a fierce battle and bloodshed did not bother me. Yet. I didn't let it.Then he got to the part where Alpha Draven had found him.The more he talked, the steadier my breathing became. He truly was unharmed. That was all that mattered. He even sounded excited."Mom, we're in a very big house now."My grip tightened around the edge of the table. Arctic Moon?"Where… What... big house?" I forced my voice to stay calm. "Did you tell Alpha Darkwood to br