Alaric’s POVI sat in the private waiting room dedicated to me and the Auburns, impatiently hoping to hear news of Cara. As Mia continued to rest in her own room, Cara had been taken to a room of her own. She was there now, in a bed all her own, presumably unconscious, while the doctors inspected he
Alaric’s POVSeeing Richard Auburn again felt like just another turn in this terrible nightmare. Immediately, I stood and placed myself between Richard and my son.Maybe Cara’s other brothers could forgive Richard’s actions against Cara, but I never would.“What the hell are you doing here?” I deman
Cara’s POVI blinked my eyes open, still expecting to be in Mia’s hospital room held by Alaric. I was surprised to find that I was somewhere else. No, just somewhere else, but in my own hospital bed…“What happened?” I asked groggily, not anticipating a response.Even so, I received one.“You passed
Cara’s POVFortunately, the room that I had been taken too wasn’t very far away from Mia’s, just down the hallway, so I didn’t have long to walk to return to her side.Entering Mia’s room, I was filled with relief to find Alaric standing at Mia’s bedside. His arms crossed, he stood there a protectiv
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
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 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
“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
None of them seemed even remotely guilty. They were all entirely confident, I could see it in their eyes.Only Lilia wore a different expression. When no one else could see her but me, she seemed smug, smirking. She pointed to a nearby camera.“I’ve been on camera this entire time, too, if you don’t
Cara’s POVIn my mind, there could only be one person responsible for this: Lilia.The beautiful embroidery, torn out. The rainbow-shimmering lace, in tatters.It had been such a gorgeous dress, a true work of art.To see it destroyed like this sent an icy chill down through my veins. This was worse
Cara’s POVThe night of the opening ceremony came much quicker than anyone would have liked. Even me. I’d been preparing as best I could for the events, and spending as much time with Alaric whenever possible to help revitalize Lucy.So far, I mostly just felt tired, not prepared, and Lucy remained
Cara’s POVKissing Alaric was as easy as breathing, especially when, after a moment, he gently opened his mouth and accepted my waiting tongue. His hands clenched at my waist, tugging me closer as he licked along the side of my tongue with his own before chasing mine back into my mouth and deepening
Alaric’s POVRuby’s request for a physical seemed to come rather suddenly after I picked up Cara from the rehearsal and brought her home, but I wasn’t one to ignore a healer’s orders, especially when she claimed she wanted to check me to see if they could pinpoint some medical ways I could help Cara
Cara’s POVLater, as all the girls were being fitted for our gowns for the opening ceremony, Ruby surprised me by walking into my dressing room. I was in my gown, with the tailor marking where to make the hem at my feet.The gown needed some work yet. It was much too small in the chest, and far too
Cara’s POVI moved without even realizing it. One minute, I was on the stage. The next, I was down near the exit, standing beside Alaric. My hand clutched Lilia’s by the wrist, as I pried her touch away from his chest.Both Alaric and Lilia seemed surprised by my sudden appearance. A few breaths lat
Alaric’s POVTrue to my word, I stuck to Cara’s side as much as I could. It was no great ask to keep my arm slung around her waist, her torso pressed into my side.The kids looked at us strangely, but seemed otherwise pleased with themselves, like they had somehow facilitated this. I didn’t know how
Cara’s POVWhen we arrived back at my house, I knew it was only a matter of time before Alaric started talking me out of my desire to stay in the competition. His protective instincts were fierce, even though he clearly had been trying to fight them lately. I knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back at