Chapter 25
CHARLOTTE’S POV
“Why are we going to your pack?” I queried. “I don’t want to go to your pack. I want to go home. Take me to my brasse.”
The thought of stepping into his territory unsettled me. My wolf, who had been silent all day, agreed with me. She twisted inside my head restlessly, clearly unhappy at the thought but beneath it, there was a spark of excitement she had under that
anger.
“I can’t do that,” he replied calmly, his eyes still on the road. That alone made me turn fully toward him. He was driving slower than usual, which was unlike him because he was used to speeding.
“What do you mean you can’t?” I snapped. “Just turn around and take us home. It’s that simple. Besides, I don’t want to go to your pack house.”
He threw me a quick glance.
“What happens if I take you home and your sickness gets worse? Liam told me Leslie isn’t home and Ethan isn’t around either.” His mouth tightened. “It’s not like I want that jerk anywhere around you.”
He kept driving with one hand. The other reached for mine, his fingers sliding between mine, locking our fingers together. “I won’t forgive myself if anything happens to you,” he continued. “And we’re not going to my pack house. We’re going to the penthouse, somewhere not close to the pack house.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m a doctor. I know how to take care of myself.” I tried to focus on the road, on anything but his hand on mine. He tightened his grip instead.
Then he lifted my hand and pressed his lips to it. Slowly kissing it multiple times.
The tingling exploded up my arm and spread through my body before I could stop it.
“What are you doing, Ace?”
“What am I doing?” A smirk tugged at his lips. “Whatever you’re imagining is in your head. I’m just holding your hand
“Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t hold my hand. Don’t touch me.” I pulled away. “Stop acting like we’re something. We’re not. And we can never be.” His eyes left the road.
He looked at me, and the hurt flashed across his face. He didn’t try to hide it. His jaw tightened as he turned back to driving.
After I woke up from the coma, I never pictured a man in my life. I didn’t know who I was before. I didn’t know how I got pregnant. I didn’t know if I had a mate, or a lover, or what went wrong between us. So many questions I’d asked with no answers and I decided to stop asking and focus on my son and work.
I get so many advances from men, both from Alphas, regular wolves. Humans as well but I turned them down. I wasn’t interested in being romantically involved with anyone just yet. And I especially wasn’t looking at an Alpha like Ace.
There was too much to him. His name, his power, his reputation. And somewhere out there, he had a wife. A Luna. The woman he is so in love with.
“I see you still dislike me that much, huh?” The hurt slipped into his voice before he could stop it.
“Do you really need to ask?” I turned slightly toward him. “You’re the most dangerous Alpha out there, evil and deadly Gosh, I can’t believe I’m associating myself with you.” That wasn’t even all of it.
1/5
puck 94
His eyes went back to the road His grip on the wheel tightened, his knuckles almost turning white. “I’m not that bad, f promier”
Believe me, you are. Any Alpha who can reject his mate for another woman can’t be trusted. You don’t deserve my respect?
He inhaled slowly. “I’m not asking you to love me,” he said after a moment. “Just… get to know me.”
“I don’t want to.” My words rushed out. “You keep forcing yourself into our lives when we don’t want you.”
He flashed me a wide smile. “You may not like me, but your son does. And I love him too.” His voice softened. “It’s fine if you don’t want me around you, but don’t keep me away from him”
“Why would I grant you that request? Liam is not your son, you’re nothing to him, to us.” I heard him wince. He didn’t say any more words and focused his eyes on the road.
I pressed the recliner button and turned my face away, I slept off almost immediately. Nothing I say would make him take me back home, so I better get some sleep. I didn’t know how long we drove. Maybe hours.
My mansion and hospital weren’t in any pack. I made sure of that. The hospital was built with humans in their world. My father’s mansion that we stayed in was built there too. Wolves started crossing over because of it, but I liked it that way.
I was still deep in sleep when I felt movements, except they weren’t my legs that were moving. Someone was carrying me in their strong arms. My eyes flew open, a sharp gasp leaving my throat.
My arms were locked around Ace’s neck. He held me in a bridal style, like I weighed nothing at all.
“What are you doing? Put me down.”
He chuckled. “With how weak your voice sounds, you’ll fall down the stairs if I drop you. Yeah, you might heal fast as a wolf, but I don’t want to put you through that.”
I didn’t hear his words as much as I felt them. The deep vibration came from his chest each time he spoke, and my face was pressed against it.
I only realized we had reached a room when he pushed the door open.
My body sank into a very soft mattress.
It was his room. The air smelled like him. I cleared my throat.
“Where is Liam?”
“I tucked him into the guest bedroom. He’s out like a light.”
“And why am I not in the guest bedroom with him?”
He stayed quiet and my eyes widened. “I’m not sleeping in the same room with you!”
“Don’t worry, feisty. I’ll sleep on the sofa in the living room.” He pulled the duvet over me, careful, tucking it around my shoulders before turning away.
“Press the buzzer on the stand if you need anything at night,” he muttered before closing the door behind him, taking his warmth with him.
I woke up feeling light. The headache was gone.Soft sunlight slipped through the half–open curtain, forcing me to close my
my chest. eyes. I tried to sit up but my body felt heavy. A damp towel rested on my forehead. An arm was draped across
2/5
#45 pm 57
The mom wasn’t mine, it felt unfamiliar and I shut my eyes, forcing myself to recall how I got here, and then I remembered Ace from the restaurant and bringing me to his penthouse.
Slowly, I turned my head to the side. My eyes landed on him. Ace lay beside me, sleeping in an awkward position. He was on his stomach, one arm stretched out, the other still wrapped around me. He was freaking shirtless. Just gray sweatpants clinging low on his hips.
Dark shadows sat under his eyes. His brows were drawn even in sleep.
He looked like someone who hadn’t rested at all.
He stirred and woke up. His gaze was fixed on my face, unmoving, and I suddenly felt conscious of myself. Was there something on my face?
“You look so beautiful when you wake up,” he murmured. “How’s your head? Do you feel better?”
“The headache is gone. Thank you for asking.” I shifted slightly. “Can you move your hand, I want to get up.” He groaned softly before lifting his arm, taking the damp towel from my forehead.
“Did you sleep here last night?” I asked curiously.He looked tired, like he barely got a good sleep and that made me feel a pang of guilt.
“I checked on you in the middle of the night,” he explained. “Your face was burning up. I had to bring your temperature down somehow.”
Whatever is going on with me has hit to stop. That dream messed my whole body up. I don’t remember what happened last night, I never sleep that deep, I’ve always had a little difficulty sleeping for over six years now.
The door opened slowly, and Liam peeked in before running inside.
“Good morning, mummy and Uncle Alpha.”
“You look better than yesterday, mummy.”
He climbed into my arms and hugged me tight. “You should be nice to Uncle Alpha. He’s the one who took care of you last night. He promised he would take care of you.”
Then he turned to Ace. “Uncle, do you like my mummy?”
The question caught me off guard.
Ace didn’t look bothered at all. “I believe I do.” He smiled, and Liam went straight into his arms.
Ace stood up and headed for the door with him. “We’re going to make breakfast,” he said. “Be down in ten minutes.”
Liam giggled. “Make it thirty minutes, Uncle. Mummy takes her time in the bathroom.” He thought for a second. “Thirty minutes isn’t even enough, but we can work with that.” Their laughter followed them out as the door closed behind them.
My mouth fell open. Where does Liam get his words from? He doesn’t talk like boys his age at all.
I took a shower and found new clothes laid out on the bed. Plain white pants and a blue shirt. Even the underwear was my exact size. How does he know my size? The thought made heat rush to my face.
I left the room and followed their voices to the kitchen.
Liam sat on the island, swinging his legs, while Ace flipped pancakes. Liam was already eating some of the pancakes, syrup on his little fingers, he licked them. Ace laughed loud at something Liam said, his head thrown back.
They–lankant toe cap ingeth Like father and wor
The thought made my chest tighten
They were getting close. Way too close. I wouldn’t let that happen. I had no plans of being with Ace. One day, I might get my memories back and find Liam’s real father. Or maybe I wouldn’t. Either way, I wasn’t staying in America for long. Five or six months, then I’d leave this country back to my pack in London and everything would return to normal.
I didn’t want my son crying over a stranger who had slipped into his young heart. He cries whenever Ethan leaves, I couldn’t bear to see him cry over Ace.
On a mission to break whatever was forming between them, I coughed.
Both of them turned.
Ace’s eyes traveled over me, slowly and shamelessly open, and a satisfied look settled on his face.
“You look perfect,” he breathed softly. “Come and have breakfast.”
He set a plate in front of me. It was blueberry pancakes drizzled with honey, filled with lots of blueberries and grapes. How does he know I love blueberries?
“Yay!” Liam cheered. “Mummy loves blueberries with her pancakes.”
Ace placed a mug of hot chocolate beside my plate. “I wanted to make coffee with cream,” he said lightly, “but I didn’t want to mess with your system. Your headache just stopped. We don’t want to bring it back, do we?”
“You see, Mama,” Liam added proudly, “Uncle knows everything you like. And I didn’t even tell him all of it. He’s taking good care of you.”
We finished breakfast, and I got Liam ready. A few minutes later, we were set to leave.
I paused outside, taking in the compound. Even the little part I could see was massive. Clean and quiet.
We got into a bigger car, and the driver pulled us out of the compound.
Just before the engine fully came to life, I caught sight of two red eyes watching us from a distance.
I blinked. Then I waved it off.
I started sensing something strange when we entered a lonely path. The road went quiet. Ace felt it too because his body stiffened, and his eyes kept moving, scanning outside the window.
“Stop the car,” he ordered the driver and he pulled to a stop at once.
“Stay in the car,” Ace said, his voice dropping into his Alpha tone. He stepped out and moved into the bush, disappearing between the trees, leaving us with the driver.
“Mummy,” Liam whispered, fear in his eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I told him quickly, forcing a smile. “Everything is fine.” I kept looking in the direction Ace went.
Minutes passed. I leaned back in my seat, trying to calm myself.
A loud growl ripped through the air.
4:45 pm
Chapter 25
My head snapped to the left.
Two red eyes burst out of the bushes, racing toward us. Its body was dark green, covered in black fur, moving fast and wild.
“Mum, watch out!” Liam screamed.
The creature slammed into the window with full force.
The glass held, but it didn’t stop. Long claws dragged against the window, screeching, scraping, trying to get in.
My heart hammered in fear not for me but for my son.
Just then….
田

Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.