ARABELLA POVI woke up feeling better than most nights. This was the second day, and there was barely enough time to treat the woman who turned into a wolf from taking my drugs. What was her name again? I couldn’t even remember her fucking name. I stretched, then suddenly thought of James. We’d had a late-night discussion and talked about loads of crap, especially the part where he wanted to help me out with the treatment. That part wasn’t crap. That was hope. That was salvation. Jack was the best doctor to ever grace this earth. Even if people don’t remember him for his good deeds, I will. I’ll always remember that he was the one who coached me in this field, the one who literally gave me a helping hand when I was nothing. He was the closest thing I can call family right now.I washed my hair and showered as quickly as possible. He had promised to follow me to the hospital and examine the woman. This very part was crucial to my salvation, especially since I lied to everyone that I c
RHYS POVI turned around in my seat, my mind churning over the image over and over again. I couldn’t get it out of my head, and I couldn’t sleep either. The idea that Alpha Jack and Emma could be an item and even father children didn’t make sense to me. Not that he wasn’t her type—he was powerful, strong, and quite attractive and I’m not exactly sure what her types are—but for them to be an item when she already said they were cousins was just absurd.Hold on a minute. Now that I think about it, how likely are the chances that are types are the men in power? She’s always with the Alphas, just as she was with me. Did she only move to men more powerful than her? Okay, that was far-fetched and I just couldn’t imagine them together, no matter how hard I tried.Yet the image of them smiling at each other, holding each other, and hugging so tightly just won’t leave me alone…I jumped out of my seat, suddenly feeling hot. Were the children his? Were they? Gosh, I know I have no right to ques
RHYS POVI waited patiently in my car as I dialed the number of the nurse. Last night, Mia suddenly decided that she wanted to host Jack and Emma that very day. I was pleased; at least I’d get to see him and get his DNA too.The dinner had gone uneventful and tense. No one spoke for hours, only I and Jack conversed about the makings of our pack and the different troubles that came with it. They didn’t even stay up to an hour before Emma complained of a headache and Jack led her out. I wished I was the one doing the leading, taking her out, and holding her comfortably. I wished I could scream out my liking for her, but that would be unheard of. Mia commented about how this was the most boring dinner ever before retreating to her bedroom. I had the inkling suspicion that she didn’t like how I yelled to her about Bruno so she invited them to punish me. I would have to look at Emma all night while she studiously avoided my eyes and kept looking at Jack for comfort. I hated it.After the
ARABELLA POVI dropped my phone back into the pocket of my coat and stared into the restroom mirror. It happened that Rhys called me when I was having a little breakdown in the restroom. Jack had been trying for hours, yet nothing. Tomorrow was the deadline. It was fucking tomorrow. My head was spinning just from thinking about it. And then Rhys called and his voice soothed the storm inside of me… not until I heard his words.Now I was back into full-blown panic. What did he want? Jeez, why had he sounded like that, like the world was ending and he wanted me to go down with him? I thought of all the things that would have gone wrong, the things that would have made him call me and ask to see me just like that.I stared at my reflection for a while before picking up my phone to call Simon Walters. I don’t know if Rhys was deep into the investigation as he has claimed and had found out that I was hiding the guard. He sounded so disappointed, and now I was really worried. Rhys only sound
MIA POVWhen my phone rang, I glanced briefly at it before picking it. I knew who was calling before I placed it on my ear.“Diane. Have you got any good news for me?” I asked.“Yes,” she crooned on the phone. “Dr. Emma brought this new guy to the hospital—”“That’s Alpha James,” I said with a roll of my eyeballs.“Is he?” she gasped in delight. “Then you must like the surprise that I have packaged for you.”I stood up and walked aimlessly around my room, fingering this and that. “You have a surprise for me?”“Yes. After our chit-chat, of course.”“Of course. Now, what have you got on Dr. Emma?”“She’s been trying too hard to cure the patient but it’s impossible. They haven’t succeeded and she’s becoming frustrated. I expect that the patient will be dead in a few hours.”I stopped walking and placed a hand to my chest, delighted. Yet, no matter how happy I was, I needed to make sure that this dead would happen. Emma was always one step ahead of me, which I didn’t mind in the past unti
ARABELLA POVIt was midnight. I was bat shit scared and crazy. I stood in the patient room, out of options. Jack had joined me and went over his records three times in a row. We were running out of time, I knew it. He wanted to stay more and reassure me, but I honestly didn’t see any reason why we had to drag it out even further.“We have to stop,” I said to him. “There’s no use anymore Jack, let’s stop.”Jack turned away from the body. That’s what it was now, a body… or at least it would become that in a few hours.“We’ve tried everything,” I told him tiredly. “I’m tired. I can’t do this anymore, so I’ll just take the blame for it.”“You can’t do that,” Jack said. “Absolutely not, Arabella.”Calling me Arabella in the middle of my crises somehow made the moment intimate. He came close to me and cupped my face, then pressed his forehead to mine. Ever since he tried that earlier today, it seemed to calm me down and he seemed to want to keep up with it. our breath mingled while I saw my
ARABELLA POVMy mind was blank, focusing on the nothingness of my empty skull. I saw nothing for straight three minutes, before the nurse began to repeat her words as though recalling what I didn’t hear. While she recounted the mechanics of meeting the patient dead, I thought about the time and effort I had put into the whole thing, now even that was gone. Where was Jack when I needed him? Oh, right. I’d asked him to leave. I thought it was over, and so I asked him to leave.“She had already given up the ghost before you left the hospital,” the nurse continued to say. “I waited for a few minutes to try another revival method, but that was the last chance. She never came back after that.”I felt my chest constricting into itself. I looked like and probably felt like a ghost too. The patient is dead. The patient is dead.The patient is dead.“How could you let this happen?” I asked the nurse aloud. “I left her in your care. I was just going to take a rest, so how did this thing happen
ARABELLA POVIt was the noise of the crowd that woke me up. I yawned and stretched, realizing too late that my muscles were sore and cramped. It took me a minute to get the dizziness out of my head, and another long minute to stand.Damn, my whole body was aching in pain. When was the last time I was bent over like that and slept straight for an hour or two without moving? Was there enough time to do the stretches before going out there?I seriously considered the concept of doing some stretches and some core exercises before going out there, just to be agile. I realized again that it’d be futile because I was in my tightly covered work clothes that weren't flexible enough to stretch my muscles in. I groaned as I left my office, duly massaging the back of my neck so that at least it would cramp when I wanted to turn.I stopped by a water diffuser and downed three cups of water. It was a weekend; the sun would be up earlier than usual. That’s just how Saturdays usually are. You’re was