Chapter 3

~Freya~

I groaned, the sharp throb in my head relentless. I reached up, feeling the pain reverberate through my skull. My vision was blurred, and the ache in my body was almost unbearable.

“You are awake,Luna,” came a familiar voice. Pack doctor Cruella’s tone was filed with relief, though I couldn’t fathom why she was so pleased to see me awake. 

“Here,drink this ,” he said, offering me a pungent herbal concoction. My instincts screamed to push it away, but the pain intensified, and I groaned in protest.

“I know it’s bad, but please drink it,” he urged, his voice gentle but insistent. I had a nagging feeling that something was off, but with no other choice, I took the foul smelling liquid. The bitterness was so overpowering, I nearly gagged. I fought it down, my face contorting as I swallowed the last of it.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting,” I muttered, my voice thick.

I looked around, realizing I was lying in the healer’s wing.

“Why am I here? What happened?” I asked, struggling to sit up, the exhaustion making my body feel heavy.

“You don’t remember?” Cruella asked, the question slipping from her lips more out of curiosity than concern. I shook my head and frowned.

“How long have I been here? And what do you mean, I don’t remember?” My pulse quickened. Something didn’t sit right.

“You have been out for several hours,” he said quietly. “It’s evening now.”

Several hours? I had been unconscious that long? My thoughts raced, and I instinctively placed a hand on my stomach. But the moment I touched it, a cold sense of dread filled me.

“What happened? What happened to my baby?” My voice came out barely a whisper, a sickening flear flooring my chest. The party, the argument with Ethan, the rogues, everything came rushing back immediately.

I gasped “No…no” I shook my head, desperately trying to deny the sinking feeling in my gut. “Tell me my baby’s okay,” I demanded, panic rising in me.

Cruella bowed her head, her silence confirming what I feared the most.

“Lunaria…please tell me the pup is fine,” I called out to my wolf, hoping for some glimmer of hope.

But Lunaria was silent. She just whimpered in the back of my mind.

“I am so sorry, Luna,” Cruella muttered, her eyes avoiding mine.

“No…” I screamed, the words tearing out of me as my chest heaved with the force of my grief. Tears spilled down my face in torrents. My heart shattered in a way I had never known, the loss of my child searing through me.

The pain in my chest felt like an open wound, a deep, hollow ache that I couldn’t escape.

“Why?” I sobbed , my voice breaking, “Why is this happening?” 

I wiped my tears away with shaking hands and stood up, the pain in my body forgotten in the wake of agony in my heart.

“You need to rest, Luna” Cruella warned, concerned in her eyes as she tried to guide me back to the bed.

But I ignored her. The pain of losing my pup was far worse than any injury.

“Where is Ethan?” I demanded, my focus sharp, every word laced with the fury burning in my chest.

Cruella hesitated, her gaze flickering away from mine.

“I asked you a question, Cruella,” I snapped, the authority in my tone making him flinch. “Where is your Alpha?”

“In the guest wing, tending to the wounded,” she answered, but her discomfort didn’t go unnoticed, I clenched my fists, the fire inside me burning.

I didn’t know if it was Emilia but I know it could be her, how dare he stay with her while I am here mourning the loss of our pup?

I stormed out of the room, ignoring the protests of the guards and sting in my shoulder. Each step felt like a battle, but my rage kept me moving.

I found him quickly. Ethan was lying beside Emilia on her bed, cradling close to her, whispering words I couldn’t hear and smiling. As he saw me, his eyes widened in shock, and he hurried to his feet, pulling me away from the room.

“Ava,” he said softly, trying to calm me.

I slapped him. Very hard.

Without thinking, I raised my hand to slap him again, but he held my hand the second time.

“Ava, you need to rest”, he said, his voice tight, but I didn’t care.

I raised my hand and slapped him for the third time this time he didn’t know my hand was coming.

“Ava!” His voice rose, veins popping in his neck, but I wasn’t done.

“Don’t you dare raise your filthy voice at me,” I hissed, my composure completely gone. “You left me to fend for myself, Ethan. You knew I couldn’t shift because of your pup, and you abandoned me. You hovered over Emilia like she was the only one that mattered to you. Not me. Not our child.”

His sigh was heavy, like he was weighed down by guilt. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to explain himself. “I was protecting the pack,” he muttered, as if that excuse meant something.

“No!” I shot back, stepping forward, fury blazing in my eyes. “You were protecting her!” 

“Why are you like this?”

“Don’t insult me,” I growled, taking a step closer to him. “I lost my baby because of you and it’s only right I act this way, you don’t even feel a fraction of the pain I am in. You are holding her while I am here losing everything.”

“She is important to the pack, Ava,” he said, his voice rising again. “You don’t understand the burden of leadership, Emilia is—“

“StopStop2”, I interrupted with a bitter laugh. “Of course, it’s all about the pack, right? Just like you always remind me that I am from nothing, that I don't understand. But it’s clear, Ethan, your ‘Ex’ means more to you than our child. Than me”

He closed his eyes, the words heavy on his lips. “Emilia  is more than just a wolf from my past,” he said, his voice low, but filled with something darker. “She’s my life. I can’t lose her, even if it means risking everything.”

I froze. His words hit me like a blow, a punch to my gut.

“Are you serious?” I stammered, my voice a mixture of disbelief and horror. “You’d choose her over our pup? After everything?”

He didn’t answer. His silence was more than enough.

“You’ve made your choice tonight, Ethan,” I said quietly, but with a finality that seemed to echo in the room. “And it wasn’t me.”

“Ava, please,” he said softly, his tone shifting, trying to reach me. “You’re overreacting. You’re strong. You don’t need me—”

“No,” I said, shaking my head, tears threatening to fall. “I needed you, Ethan. I needed you, but I’ve been nothing to you. Emilia comes first, doesn’t she?”

His eyes flickered with hesitation.

“I, Ava Bryson, reject you, Alpha Ethan Hunter  of the Nightshade Pack, as my mate and Alpha,” I said, my voice raw, my emotions laid bare.

I waited for him to reject me back. I needed it.

“Reject me, Ethan,” I pleaded, my voice barely a whisper. “Please. This is the only thing I ask of you now.”

He hesitated, his face torn. “You’re hurt. You could die if I reject you,” he murmured, his concern for me flickering through.

“It doesn’t matter anymore. You have Emilia now. You’ve decided,” I spat.

He didn’t hesitate any longer. “I, Alpha Ethan, accept your rejection,” he said quietly, the words ripping through the air.

I stumbled, my body failing to stay steady. He reached out to steady me, but I pushed him away. I couldn’t stand him touching me anymore.

“You can stay here just for tonight and after tonight you should lesve,” he offered, but I ignored him. My heart was already gone. I turned, my breath shaky, and walked away, leaving him behind.

It was over.