CaraMy body lay still in the hospital bed as my mind dreamed.*When I was young, barely old enough to be called a child instead of a baby. My hands were small, and I wasn’t quite sure on my feet. Looking around, the trees towered over me. I must have lost my way, there was no sign of a trail or f
“You’re up! Oh, thank goodness! We were worried about you for a second there,” Her smile was wide and genuine.I blinked at her, not sure exactly what circumstances brought me here.“Thank you,” I said humbly.She chuckled, “Well, it’s the least we could do after all you’ve done to help us here at t
CaraI look at Alaric’s beautiful blue eyes, his chiseled jawline, his perfectly disheveled dark hair.He’s absurdly handsome, the picture of a perfect man. An Alpha King no less, he had power and prestige to go with his devilish good looks.And I finally realize that I don’t want anything to do wit
In truth, it wouldn’t be unusual for the Alpha King to have a quick lunch with his Beta. I doubt any pack members who would see us together like this would think twice about it.But I can’t shake the idea that this is all part of his plan, that Alaric orchestrated this to keep our secret lover relat
AlaricAll it took was for me to say I’ll pay for the medical expenses and Cara’s kissing me. It stings to realize once again that money always wins with her.But after watching her lay motionless in that hospital bed, money is a price I’m willing to pay if it means I can have her back in my life. I
No, of course she doesn’t. Not after everything that’s happened in the last few weeks… Of course she wouldn’t want to have sex with me.Of course she’d reject me.She doesn’t love me. She’s never loved me.Unless…I think back to how she was crying after I proposed to Lilia. Maybe she was more inves
CaraI’ll do anything to protect my unborn baby. Even if that means pretending to be Alaric’s secret office mistress again.At least Alaric’s been much nicer to me since I “agreed” several days ago to go back to how things used to be.When I see him, that is. He’s been so busy with work that we have
CaraAfter a while, my pregnancy symptoms finally improved.Alaric let me return to the office as a Beta. My reward for being such an invaluable asset to the pack was to not only resume all of my usual Beta work but also planning Alaric’s wedding.One day, Alaric and I were reviewing details of some
Alaric’s POVCara’s words shook me to my core. She wanted to… leave?Until this health scare – or whatever this was – things had been going well for us. Just the other night, I had held her in my arms all night long. Our love felt rekindled. But now – she just wanted to go away and not have that any
Alaric’s POVThe first thing I wanted to do after seeing Cara enter Mia’s room was to get her alone so I could ask what was going on, but with the kids so happy to see her, I couldn’t subtly pull her away without upsetting them.For now, I had to push down on my curiosity and my fear and act like ev
Cara’s POVThe diagnosis was difficult to process, and I spent a lot of time in that small room in the hospital, trying to come to terms with everything.Grayson believed that unless I found my wolf, I would only have a few months left to live. I would of course find a second opinion, but I had no r
Alaric’s POV“Cara was feeling lightheaded again,” Colin said, claiming my attention away from Aidan and his fierce glare. “The nurses offered her a room to rest in for a while. She asked you to please continue to look after the kids and said she would join us again soon.”Of course I would look aft
Colin’s POVTo his credit, Grayson did not as much as flinch at my words steeped heavily in accusation. Instead, he just seemed sad and tired.“I diagnosed her,” he said. “Surely you’ve noticed her weakness?”My stomach dropped. I had, as did my brothers. Though she had collapsed, and the Healers lo
“If I can’t find my wolf,” I said, “How much time do you think I have before the deep sleep?”“With your current symptoms, I would give you three months before the sleep takes you,” he said. “In the sleep state, you could last for up to five years longer before…”Before I died.Facing my own mortali
Cara’s POV“I have been told the date of the car accident,” Grayson said. “You then confirmed with me that at that time, you lost contact with your wolf. Is that correct?”“Yes,” I said, trying to brace myself, but it was difficult when I had no idea what was coming.Or maybe I did, but I was still
Cara’s POVImmediately, I could see the understanding on Richard’s face. He could see this as the forgiveness that it was, and emotion started to overtake him.Mia turned on the bed to look at him. “Hi, Uncle Richard,” she said brightly.So much emotion was caught in his throat that he seemed to str
Cara’s POVA sense of joy flooded through the room at how quickly and how fully Mia had seemed to recover. Almost all at once, she had gone from being bedridden, too sick to get up from bed, to nearly bouncing out of it. It was all we could do to keep her still until all of the Healers could check h