ELOWEN
The day my father died, my husband's voice was calm enough to ruin my life.
I should have been at the gala, smiling beside Gideon as the Goldbane heiress was expected to do. Instead, I was flooring the accelerator. My father had called earlier for an emergency meeting. I just had to get to him before…
Beep! Beep!
"Call from: Better Half," the car AI announced.
I clicked accept.
"Where are you?" Gideon's flat voice came through the car speakers. "Are you driving?"
I squinted at the urgency in his tone. "Yes, why?"
"Your father is dead."
"…"
I laughed at the unfunny joke anyway. "That's not funny, hubby."
"He collapsed and didn't make it, Ellie."
My foot slipped off the pedal. "NO! No, Gid. You don't get to say that to me!"
"I'm not joking," my husband blurted. "Calm down and stop driving."
"Calm down?!" I screamed, slamming my foot on the accelerator. I had to get to him. I had to see his body. My heart thumped against my ribs, nearly as hard as the seven-month-old baby kicking in my womb.
A sharp cramp shot through my abdomen. "Not now, baby," I gasped, clutching my belly. "Mommy's fine. We're going to see Grandpa."
But I wasn't fine. Gideon was still talking, but his voice was already dissolving into static as my grief took over. I didn't see the truck swerving into my lane until the horn blared.
"OH…"
The impact was an explosion. Metal shrieked as the car rolled. My world turned upside down with glass and airbags punching me on every side. Pain lanced through my stomach before silence descended.
I was hanging by my seatbelt while the smell of gasoline and smoke filled the cabin. My wolf, Nyla, made a whimper in my head.
'My baby', I thought, my hand shaking as I tried to reach my bump. 'Somebody save my baby.'
Just then, the car door groaned and screamed as it was ripped off its hinges. A man knelt in the dirt, and from his scent, I could tell he wasn't human. Yet, he didn't smell like my pack. He smelled of bergamot and the cold, possessing an aura of power that sent chills down my aching back. I blinked through the blood in my eyes, seeing the glint of his storm-blue irises.
"Who… a-are you?" I coughed as my fingers caught the front of his tactical jacket.
My skin tingled where I touched him in a spark of electricity that made my dying wolf howl.
The man scanned me with so much focus. "You're bleeding, love. But you're not dying today." Came, his bass voice.
All I could cry out was: "Don't let my baby die. I can't—I can't lose him too."
I felt his lips brush my ears as he licked off a streak of blood dripping from my temple. "You won't remember this clearly, but I won't let you forget me."
I swallowed. "Who… who are you?"
"You'll spend the next few years knowing me in ways you wouldn't understand yet, Elowen. For now, let's save you… and play your rival's game. The one who thinks he's already won."
I tried to talk but my lips felt too heavy. I could only stir under his warm hold.
"Stay awake," he ordered.
I tried but the darkness won.
********
I woke up drowning in beeping machines.
"Ellie?"
I blinked as the blurry figure of Gideon shaped beside me. He looked pale, but as my mind cleared, I realized he didn't look devastated. He looked annoyed.
"The man," I immediately wheezed. "The one with the blue eyes… Where is he?"
Gideon's eyes narrowed. "The paramedics found you alone, Elowen. You were unconscious. You're hallucinating."
I shook my head, but the movement sent a spike of pain through my skull. The scent of bergamot was gone. What I smelled now was the cloying smell of Gideon's expensive cologne.
Was it a dream? It felt too real. I-I mean, the spark when I touched him, the promise of…
"My baby," I gasped, my hand flying to my stomach realizing it was flat and empty. "Gideon, where is my baby?"
My husband took a long breath, then pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Elowen… the baby didn't make it."
A high-pitched scream broke out of me. I tried to thrash, but my body was caged with stitches. "No! No, please! Why didn't my wolf save him?"
Gideon grabbed my shoulders, pinning me to the bed. He wasn't crying, but I could see the pure annoyance blooming inside his eyes. He must be mad at me for losing our baby…
… our heir. The one who was…
I paused that thought when he whispered, leaning close so only I could hear. "There's something else. The damage was severe. The doctors couldn't save your womb."
My heart stopped working.
"You can't carry again, Elowen. You're officially barren and incapable of being a Luna."
You can't carry again.
The words hollowed me out. I didn't realize I was screaming until my throat went raw. I curled into a ball on the hospital bed, clutching my stomach.
Baby Goldbane was really gone.
"Ellie, please, sweetheart, breathe," Gideon whispered, pulling me into his chest.
His voice was full of concern. He rocked me as I fell apart, sobbing for my father, my baby, and my body. When the screams finally died down into shallow, jagged hiccups, I managed to whisper, "Gideon… tell me. My father, how did he die?"
Gideon's thumb brushed a tear from my cheek. "His heart, Elowen. It finally gave out."
"His heart? But he was an Alpha. He was strong."
"He wasn't honest with us, Ellie. His wolf was… sick."
Sick? My father was a legend. Alphas didn't just wither away. "That doesn't make sense, Gid. Someone must have…"
"I know," he cuts in. "It's a mystery. He had an attack in his study, fell, and hit his head."
I was about to descend into another fit of cries when the door swung open, and a doctor walked in. "Mrs. Vexwood, I'm glad you're awake. I need to talk to you about the surgery…"
"She already knows. I told her." Gideon interjected, clearing his throat.
The doctor's eyes widened. "Mr. Vexwood, that is not advised. Post-trauma patients need stabilization before receiving catastrophic news…"
"She is my wife!" Gideon snapped. "I felt it was better she heard it from me."
The doctor looked at me with deep pity, then stepped closer. "Mrs. Vexwood… I'm so sorry we had to make the impossible triage call."
My eyebrows arched. "Triage?"
"Your wolf was dying. To save her, we couldn't save the pregnancy. We had to choose one or the other."
What?! They saved my wolf at the expense of my BABY?
"And who made the choice?" I was ready to tear my claws into her human face.
The doctor's eyes flickered toward Gideon. "Your husband did."
I turned my head slowly toward Gideon. He looked devastated, but there wasn't a trace of guilt in his eyes.
"Elowen, I had to. The pack was in chaos. They needed an Alpha immediately. I was crowned temporary Alpha yesterday to keep the Vane family from seizing the Goldbane legacy. If you had lost your wolf, the Council would have stripped everything your father built from us by sundown."
He let his forehead touch mine. "I chose the throne, Elowen. I chose our future over a pup that might not have survived the crash anyway. It's what your father would have wanted."
********
LATER THAT NIGHT
I woke up at midnight, aching all over. The hospital was eerily quiet. I pushed myself up, needing to move and feel anything other than the hollowness in my gut.
As I neared the door, a shadow moved in the hallway. I instantly whipped my head in the direction to find a tall figure standing just outside my room. The dim lights only silhouetted his broad shoulders, sharp jawline, and storm-blue eyes.
'Those eyes…' I thought, 'Why did they seem familiar?' A sharp pain shot through my mind, forcing me to give up on trying to search through memory lane.
"Hello?" I whispered.
The man didn't move for a moment. Then, all of a second, he veered away, walking down the hall with confident and silent strides.
"Wait!" I staggered into the doorway, but he was already gone. The only thing left behind was the scent of bergamot and cold night air.
"Ma'am? You should be in bed," a human nurse spoke, appearing from the nurse's station.
"The man," I breathed, pointing down the hall. "Who was he?"
The nurse smiled softly. "That was the man who brought you in. He's been here every day, watching you from the door. He refuses to come in, but he stays for hours."
My heart skipped. "He's been here? Who is he? Is he a wolf?"
The nurse shook her head. "He didn't give a name. But he isn't human, and he definitely isn't from around here. There's something… strange about him though."
I leaned against the doorframe, my skin tingling. Gideon told me I was alone in the wreck. He told me the man was a hallucination.
So… Who the hell was this and why… why did I feel like there was an important piece of a puzzle I was missing?