Cara’s POV“What does your heart say?” Colin asks me.He must already know the answer, to be asking me something like that.Looking inward, there’s really no question.I’ve held a lot of guilt over the years over allowing Alaric to believe my pregnancy ended from that accident. At the time, to prote
Cara’s POVFor a moment, I stand there totally stunned and unsure what to do, how to continue, how to fully process what I’m seeing.Alaric doesn’t appear to be holding the woman in return, but I know that doesn’t mean anything. He’s not pulling away either. At least, not fast enough to signal his r
“It’s not what it looks like, Cara. Please. Just hear me out.”“I’m not sure what else it could be,” she says. “It’s very clear what was happening, even from this distance.”“This is a misunderstanding,” I say, very aware of how closely Colin is observing the scene. He looks ready to intervene at a
Alaric’s POVFury, regret, and guilt all filling me at once, I turn on Melinda. She’s looking at the door, where Cara just disappeared through, and smirking like this has all worked out for her in the best possible way.My anger intensifies. Who is she to show up and interfere in my life like this?
Alaric’s POVComing off the elevator, I walk briskly down to the room I use as an office. As I open the door, John stands from behind his makeshift desk.“Welcome back, Alpha,” he says, his eyes filled with curiosity, though he startles when he gazes at the woman following along behind me.The woman
“DuskWood needs heirs, Alpha,” says another elder. “You were attacked recently. We could have lost you. Without an heir, the entire pack would have been thrust into chaos. Surely you can understand that.”“Cara is the mate I want,” I say. “I will not be pushed into choosing another.”“Melinda is a g
Alaric’s POVThe first thing I do, after hanging up with the elders, is tell John, “Book a flight for Melinda and get her to the airport.”I don’t acknowledge her at all, even when she stands from the couch and attempts to approach me.“We should talk about this,” she says. “The elders agree making
Cara’s POVMelinda seems stricken by Alaric’s words.“The elders prefer me for you,” she says. “You heard it from them yourself. How can you continue to be so stubborn?”“The elders will not be making my life choices for me, especially not in board rooms without me even being present. And for you to
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