CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2: Shattered Pieces

The steady beep of hospital monitors pulled me from darkness. Everything hurt – my body, my pride, my heart. But my first conscious thought went straight to my stomach.

*Please*, I prayed, trying to move my hands. They felt like lead. *Please let my baby be okay.*

"Don't move." A nurse's firm grip on my shoulder. "You've been in and out for three days. The pups are stable."

Pups. Plural.

My eyes flew open, vision blurry but focusing on the nurse's sympathetic face. "What did you say?"

"Twins," she said softly. "We almost lost all three of you, but your wolf... well, I've never seen maternal instincts that strong. You transformed while unconscious, created a protective cocoon around your stomach. Saved their lives."

Twins. Bryan's twins. The irony almost made me laugh, but it came out as a sob instead. He'd thrown away not just me, but three lives. All for his precious pack status.

The door opened, and Adam slipped in, looking like he hadn't slept in days. His face was grim.

"Jessica, we have a problem." He closed the door quietly. "Bryan's looking for you."

My heart monitor spiked. "He knows?"

"No, not about the pregnancy. About your accounts." Adam's voice dropped lower. "He's frozen all your pack-connected finances. Standard procedure for rejected mates, but..." He hesitated. "There's something else. Your medical bills – they found irregularities in your pack registration."

I tried to sit up, wincing. "What irregularities?"

"Your blood work. It doesn't match the Knox Pack genetic markers. At all." Adam pulled out a thick folder. "I did some digging. Jessica... you were adopted into the Knox Pack as a pup. Your real family – they were Alphas of the Rivera Pack."

The Rivera Pack. The wealthiest, most powerful pack in the region. The pack that had mysteriously lost their heir eighteen years ago.

"That's impossible," I whispered, but memories flooded back. The strange dreams, the unusual strength I'd always had to hide because Bryan said it wasn't "proper" for a Beta's mate.

"There's more." Adam looked over his shoulder before continuing. "Sandra's been named temporary pack administrator. She's petitioning to have you classified as a pack threat."

"A what?" The monitors beeped faster. "On what grounds?"

"She's claiming you knew about your heritage, that your mating with Bryan was an attempt to infiltrate the Knox Pack. If it sticks, you'll be banned from all pack territories. Including hospitals."

My hand went to my stomach. I was carrying twins, recovering from major injuries, and now...

A knock at the door made us both jump. A doctor entered, her face professionally neutral.

"Ms. Knox? We need to discuss your test results." She glanced at Adam. "Privately."

Adam squeezed my hand before leaving. The doctor waited until the door closed.

"Your pregnancy is high-risk," she said without preamble. "The accident caused complications. You'll need complete bed rest, specialized care. In a pack hospital."

The same pack hospitals I'd soon be banned from.

I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall. In one week, I'd lost my mate, my pack, my identity, and now possibly my children. Sandra had orchestrated the perfect trap – use pack law to cut me off from medical care when I'd need it most.

But as I lay there, something shifted inside me. Not just maternal instinct, but something deeper. The strength I'd always hidden, the power Bryan had always told me to suppress...

I opened my eyes, decision made. "How long until I can travel?"

The doctor blinked. "Travel? You can't possibly—"

"How. Long."

She checked my chart. "Minimum two weeks for basic stability, but—"

"Then I have two weeks." I looked out the window, toward the mountains that bordered Rivera Pack territory. "To figure out who I really am."

The monitors steadied as calm settled over me. Sandra thought she'd trapped me? She'd actually set me free. No more pack politics. No more hiding my strength.

I had two lives growing inside me, a secret heritage to uncover, and nothing left to lose.

I looked out the window, toward the mountains that bordered Rivera Pack territory. "Then I have two weeks."

The doctor started to protest, but her words cut off as my monitors suddenly spiked. A sharp pain ripped through my abdomen, and the familiar metallic scent of blood filled the air.

"Get me an ultrasound. Now!" The doctor barked orders as nurses rushed in. I caught fragments of their urgent whispers – "placental abruption," "stress levels," "critical situation."

Through the haze of pain, I heard the door slam open. Bryan's scent hit me before his voice did.

"What's going on? The pack hospital alerted me about—" He stopped dead, staring at the ultrasound screen. At the two tiny heartbeats fluttering on it.

Our eyes met. In that split second, I saw everything – the shock, the recognition, the devastating understanding of what he'd thrown away. His hand reached out, trembling.

I turned away, curling protectively around my stomach as another wave of pain hit. "Get. Out."

"Jess, are those—"

"OUT!" My wolf's roar shook the medical equipment. The lights flickered, and for a moment, even the medical staff froze. That wasn't the voice of a Beta's rejected mate. That was something else entirely.

As security dragged Bryan away, I heard Sandra's voice in the hallway: "The pack council meeting starts in an hour. Either you're there to sign those documents, or we lose everything."

I waited until their footsteps faded. Until the pain medication kicked in and the doctors assured me the twins were stable – for now. Then I pulled out my phone, fingers shaking as I typed a message to a number Adam had slipped me earlier:

"Found: Lost Rivera heir. Carrying next generation. Need extraction before Knox Pack council meeting ends. After that, it'll be too late."

The response came instantly: "Location marked. Hold on, little sister. We're coming."

I deleted the messages and closed my eyes, one hand on my stomach, the other clenched around a small object I'd palmed from Adam's folder – my real birth certificate. The one that proved everything.

Let Bryan run to his precious council meeting. Let Sandra play her political games. They thought they were fighting over pack leadership?

I had less than an hour to disappear with the next generation of two of the most powerful bloodlines in wolf history. And this time, I wasn't running away.

I was running toward something. Something even Bryan, with all his ambitions, had never seen coming.

The monitors beeped steadily as I felt another presence in the room. Through half-closed eyes, I saw Sandra slip in, a syringe in her hand.

Well. Looked like my hour just got a lot shorter.

I smiled, letting my wolf rise to the surface. Time to show her what a desperate mother was really capable of.